"She is afraid of blood, she has hemophilia," the old man said in his deep voice.
"How much is this knife?” A girl with a noticeable dark blue eyes asked.
An old, gray-haired man placed the newspaper he was reading on a small wooden chair beside him. He smiled widely revealing his yellowish teeth. Behind his smile were eyes full of sincerity and concern.
“Lujille, I heard about what happened last week, how are you?,” the old man asked.
“How much is this?” Lujille repeated without paying attention to what the old man was asking. Her big blue eyes stayed focused on the small knife.
The old man sighed heavily.
“Take that as my birthday gift for you,” the old man said and picked up his newspaper. He went back to his small wooden chair and continued reading.
Lujille took the small knife and put it carefully inside her purse. She pulled out a 10 dollar bill, she was hesitant whether to give it or not but at the end she still handed it to the old man. He just continued reading and obviously, has no intention to get the money.
“You seems to be in a rush, going to school?” the old man asked as he turned the pages of his newspaper trying to look for something interesting on each page.
Lujille closed her purse and left her payment on top of the lined up knives. She left the old man without answering any of his questions.
She entered a narrow, crowded, noisy market place. Vendors shouting on top of their lungs just to get customer’s attention.
Lujille was able to maintain her poker face despite the disgusting smell of raw meats piled on row of tables. Next to the meat products were tons of fruits and vegetables.
“Mommy, I want those apples,” a little girl cried to an elder woman who was busy picking tomatoes.
Lujille clenched her fist as she heard those words from the little girl. She quickened her pace, hoping to leave the market place quickly.
Upon entering the main highway, she saw a bench occupied by two disabled person. There was still a little space. She tried her best to fit on the bench. She took the small knife out of her purse, she looked around hoping that no one was looking at her.
She thought that if she goes to the police station, the police will check her purse. She needed to hide the knife where no one will bother to check so that she can be able to pursue her plan.
A moment later, an idea popped out her mind.
She again looked around and when no on was looking, she bent down and squeezed the small knife into her black leather boots. She did everything she could to fit the knife without leaving any trace.
Forthwith, she continued walking.
“You’re in my class right? Ms. Morgann,” a guy about 6’1 tall with a braided gray hair approached her direction and joined her as she crossed the road. She turned her head to see who was accompanying her, she realized that it was her P.E. instructor. She then averted her gaze and focused on the highway.
“You hadn’t attended P.E. class for five consecutive days. Do you have an excuse letter? If none, then you need to take an extra class from me for you to complete your grade,” the young looking guy with a braided hair said.
Lujille hailed a taxi and boarded, leaving her instructor not even a word.
“Take me to the police station,” she said in a soft voice but enough for the driver to hear.
One by one, street lights started to open bringing a brighter view to the whole city, a hint that it was almost six o’clock. Darkness approaching. A lot of people are heading back home. They can finally rest after a stressful day.
Lujille leaned her head against the taxi window and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. She wiped it several times but her tears won’t stop. She sobbed.
“You okay?” the cab driver asked, breaking the deafening silence between them.
Lujille looked in the front mirror and saw the driver’s eyes looking at her. Their eyes met but Lujille immediately looked away, she tried to stop the sound she was producing from her sobbing. She felt awkward. Silence enveloped the taxi.
“Central police station here you go, 5 dollars madam.” Lujille took a 5 dollar bill from her purse and quickly got out of the cab.
“You’re Ms. Morgann? The witness?,” a police officer compiling white envelopes asked Lujille as she entered the police station. She nodded and obviously had no intention of speaking.
“Interrogation room number three please and would you mind leaving your purse here for weapon inspection?”
“Sure,” she answered and placed her purse on the chair next to the officer’s desk.
There were five doors, each has a big number written on it. The station was silent, the only noise was the sound of water splashing coming from a small aquarium. Five golden fishes were happily swimming, wagging their tails to and fro. Lujille could also hear her own heartbeat as she walked closer to the interrogation room.
Upon opening the interrogation room, Lujille’s aura suddenly changed. Anger filled her large blue eyes. An obvious visage of anger was all over her face.
A fat man who had not been shaved and a man wearing a tuxedo were already waiting inside.
Lujille took a deep breath and walked onto the unoccupied chair infront of the two men. She bent down, pretending to fix her shoe lace. She quickly picked up the knife she had squeezed into her shoe. She hold it tightly and in a flash, immediately targeted the bearded man’s face. But the man wearing a tuxedo was fast enough, he elbowed Lujille’s hand.
The interrogation room was filled with intensity.
Lujille’s anger and eagerness drove her to transfer the knife from her right hand to her left hand and attempted again to cut the old man’s face. The tuxedoed man was just on time, he extended his harm holding a tight grip ok Lujille’s hand. The tuxedoed man twisted Lujille’s arm, the pressure from the twist caused the knife to slip in her hand. The old man stayed calm, his face stayed expressionless. The knife fell on the floor. Droplets of clear water and blood started dripping on Lujille’s shoes.
Two police men entered the room where they found Lujille shaking, looking at her bleeding palm which was caused when the knife slipped off her hand.
One of the policeman escorted the old man out of the room. The tuxedoed man followed outside.
A couple seconds later, two medics came in.
“Hey!” the police man snapped his finger infront of Lujille to catch her attention. She started breathing heavily, still staring at her wound.
One of the medics started to sanitize Lujille’s wound. The police officer stood up and picked up the knife with traces of blood on the floor.
The other police officer and the old man reappeared on the door. They found Lujille crying.
“Take him out of here!” the police officer inside commanded.
“He has something to say sire.”
“She is afraid of blood, she has hemophilia,” the old man said in a deep voice.
“Killer!,” Lujille shouted followed by a heavy breathing. Her eyes half closed and her lips turned pale.