Saturday, July 22, 2006

"$8,400 Per Carat" or F.F.F. #45

She put on a tie-dyed western skirt and did the worst spin I've ever seen.

"What was that you just did? And you're not going to wear that thing, are you?"

"That was a pirouette and my impression of a whirling dervish," she said with still the slightest hint of a Columbian accent. If I didn't know she was Columbian, I would swear from her bronze skin and features, that she was from Brazil...

"Okay," I grinned. Then I mumbled, "more like a hurling side dish."

...because she reminded me of a risque poster I had when I was younger, of a Brazilian honey on a Rio beach with a thong on. Of course that was when American women were wearing granny panties and if you were extra lucky, you might see a bikini cut or something lacy...

"I'm a side dish that makes you sick now, eh? You were telling me...no, almost screaming to me how good it was last night."

...her resemblance to the model on that poster kept her mentally a half a step ahead of me, but this was her gig, after all. She spun around again and I caught before we almost collided. I realized from the gleam awkwardness that the akwardness in her spins was quite intentional.

"Why after so many months of telling me how pretty I am, would you find my unpretty now?"

"Yeah, well...you should lose the skirt. That tie-dye looks awful.

"The skirt belonged to my American aunt, she said it was to 'let the squares know that her freak flag was unfurled and flying.' I don't quite know what that means, other than she wanted to feel free-spritited.


"It's the only western skirt I could find on such short notice. It's not important if you like it, what's important is that he'll like it," she murmurred as she looked me at me with those beautiful green-flecked brown eyes. She curled my hair with fingers, sending a shiver right down to my toes.

He was the most important piece to the puzzle, a courier from Amsterdam carrying several dozen diamonds just under two carats apiece. At almost $8,400 per carat for each diamond, she could say and do whatever she wanted as long as she pointed him out to me. A courier who belonged to horse show jumping clubs and had a cowgirl fetish.

She used to be in a Columbian crew that hijacked diamonds, but now they're behind bars or scattered about in cemetaries in New York, California, and Brazil. Too much money involved for everyone not to double-cross each other and she came out broke, but realitvely unscathed. She still had the intelligence resources as to where and when a gem courier would appear here and there.

Not to mention, she could travel within the horsey set without them realizing that she was literally the fox in the hen house.

A wig, false eyelashes that actually took away from her beauty, a western granny blouse, and couple that with that tie-dye thing, you had a Columbian hippy that escaped "The Big Valley." Or Barbara Mandrell gone altogether wrong, but she went right for "Mr. Courier," long enough for me to hit him with over 20,000 volts from my stun gun.

God, I hate the smell of singed flesh that wafts into my nostrils after. I swear it stays in my nose for at least three days, except it's stronger this time. And, I'm not on my way to my favorite island, that coincidentally doesn't share an extradition treaty with the United States. I've got the same urine-soaked pants as Mr. Courier, who still hasn't come too.

We're almost lying in identical postions on the ground, he's four feet away and he's the luckier of us two, because he has insurance against being being double-crossed.

JJ required that we use the following words for this rendition of flash fiction: 1) A Girl 2)A Whirl 3)A Curl 4)Something that unfurls 5)A Hurl

http://purgatorian.blogspot.com/2006/07/flash-fiction-friday-45.html

13 Comments:

Blogger haahnster said...

Nice piece of writing.

I was starting to get a bit aroused by the Colombian-born, Brazilian-looking lady, until the "freak flag" reference pasted a mental image of David Crosby's face over hers.

Now...I'm...queasy...

Sun Jul 23, 08:42:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Cup said...

One of these days, I hope you take one of these and write a full novel or screenplay.

And I loved "more like a hurling side dish."

[Haahnster, you need to let the David Crosby thing go.]

Sun Jul 23, 11:51:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Writeprocrastinator said...

Haahnster,

Thanks, and...

"until the "freak flag" reference pasted a mental image of David Crosby's face over hers."

In the constant battle to keep the little big man motivated, I would've steered it over to Melissa Ethridge, then over to her latest steady.

I liken that somewhat to when I friend of mine used to like to bring up Hoffman as "Tootsie" (which still creeps me out on several levels). I'd chant "Jessica Lange, Jessica Lange," in my head until the oddity went away.

Beth,

Thank you.

You'll see a short story in a webmag before you'll see a book. And, you'll definitely see a book before a screenplay, or that is how it has been with my rejection letters and their apparent lack of further interest in my samples.

Sun Jul 23, 12:04:00 PM PDT  
Blogger AngelConradie said...

now that i enjoyed- i take it she's on the way to that non-extradition island sans eyelashes and wig!

Sun Jul 23, 01:45:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Writeprocrastinator said...

"now that i enjoyed- i take it she's on the way to that non-extradition island sans eyelashes and wig!"

Abosolutely, and Matty Walker has her eyes on the diamonds.

Mon Jul 24, 03:26:00 PM PDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice read : )~

I hope we all get autographed copies of the book!! I love Rio and the word Brazilian always makes me smile and cross my legs.

Here I am in front of my Brazilian Hottie poster!!!!

~Calli~

Mon Jul 24, 05:07:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Writeprocrastinator said...

Calli,

Obrigado, são gracioso. Isso é um quadro amável.

BTW, I don't speak Brazilian or Portuguese.

Mon Jul 24, 07:45:00 PM PDT  
Blogger sweet trini said...

not at all what i expected- what rut?
walk good.

Mon Jul 24, 11:28:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Writeprocrastinator said...

"what rut?"

I promise next week that-

No character will fall down.

There will be a happy relationship or at least a non-dysfunctional one.

Tue Jul 25, 03:27:00 PM PDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice. Thanks for your comment on my effort too. This would make a good film noir. Constructive criticism? Some annoying typos, although I DO realize this is a blog post; I expect the same from you with mine. Walk good, my friend!

Tue Jul 25, 05:10:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Writeprocrastinator said...

Mamalujo1,

Thanks.

"Some annoying typos"

Ah, be forewarned...if the Missus isn't around to proof my work...well...

Let me put it another way, I've sent many an English teacher to the mental hospital in Napa, California.

Tue Jul 25, 08:02:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Unknown said...

Very evocative. I'd like to know more about this guy's business.

Thu Jul 27, 08:44:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Writeprocrastinator said...

"Very evocative. I'd like to know more about this guy's business."

Thank you Sensei!

The guy is hold-up man for hire, everything but banks and liquor stores. He's still on the loose because there's not enough cicumstantial evidence and his lawyer is exceptional.

The problem being the Faustian deal he had to make to hire this lawyer on...

Thu Jul 27, 08:22:00 PM PDT  

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