Diamonds Underground - Chapter 1 - Part 1

 Diamonds Underground

Chapter 1

A Holiday For Hyman

 

Part 1

Hyman worked as a private detective . At times it was very demanding, mentally and physically leaving him dreary and dangerous . He was often stressed but coped with the pressure of every challenge .  He always rose to the occasion when required and was equal to the given task . Every situation was different . The unknown quality would always present itself . Being a private investigator required special skills that no one could teach . You either had it or you didn’t . Insight , hindsight and foresight were assets . Knowing when to seize the moment played a major role in  every case Hyman took on board . The ability to grab any opportunity of a lead and follow up by  knocking on doors and asking questions was never ending . Not knowing what happened gave reasons to his line of work . Putting your face in front of others at any  given time was risky but to find out the facts was dangerous  especially when that involved gangland activity however Hyman was used ro laying his life on the line to tackle any job whatever and wherever the case may be .

At least that's how it used to be once upon a time in his heyday , Sadly though for Hyman it had been a long drink between those times, when he had been at the peak of his career . In fact it had been many years since Hyman put life and limb out for a client .  At one time when things were better, Hyman spent many hours on the warpath , pounding the pavements of London , scanning police channels , paying  identities for information , sniffing for clues . What had happened to that man with his finger on the pulse ?

A mixture of late nights,  booze and getting fed up with his lack of knowledge left Hyman disillusioned and discouraged in the here and now . His street wise eyes were closed and being in the know had become another yesterday’s man , someone they had forgotten . Hyman had lost the ball and was out of touch .

Some of the old network had tried  to make contact now and then but Gtman had taken the phone off the hook . Hyman stopped looking for jobs and waited for clients to come knocking on his door which didn’t happen that often . Maybe his early  success had made him lazy for now he was content to just sit back and enjoy some of the fruits of his labour . Hyman hadn’t noticed how far he had slipped away , how much he was drinking and how switched off he had become .  Hyman himself had become his very own mystery case but had no answer . He was missing a piece in  a puzzle didn’t know where to start looking . He felt like he didn’t fit it .In fact he just didn’t have a clue how to solve his problem .
Days went by like weeks and weeks went by years . Time was suspended as dust lay thick on old calendar’s of years that had past . The clock on the wall had not ticked for so long and even the plastic flowers in the vase had died .

 

Hyman had lost a grip on himself and had run out of excuses why his desk was littered with unopened letters and his phone messages were unanswered from pleas for assistance from possible clients  . Somehow Hyman had vanished inside his personal liquefied agenda , filed away in a decanter bottle near the out tray for future reference in a distant time and place when he could be the man he used to be .
Until that day Hyman was confronted by his demons who would never let that  happen . Apart from all that there was nothing else happening in his life .

One cold and rainy morning as he lay there on a three legged sofa propped up with a brick , he watched a mouse scurry across the floor of his dingy dusty office on the second floor of a condemned  building in East London . The mouse made its way inside the decanter that had fallen from the desk to the floor and drained the last few drops out of whisky that was there .
After convincing himself that was the final straw and the mouse had become the straw that broke the camels back . Hyman got up and tossed the decanter into the corner and chased the mouse around the room . The decanter lay there for a moment before rolling gently to his feet . Hyman looked at it where it lay like a symbol of his empty life , haunting and taunting him . He lifted the decanter and threw it on to the sofa and but the bottle fell off the chair and rolled back across the wooden floorboards to his feet . Hyman gave a grunt and a groan and said .
“ Another crazy day stuck in this tomb. I wish the phone would ring or a knock
would come upon the door . There is nothing to do and nowhere to go . All I
can do is wait . ”

He scratched his chin and felt the unshaven bristles with his fingers . Reality ran through high hm s mind like a freight train in a tunnel of time .  He had never realized he had grown a beard . As he slowly shuffled across the floor past the desk to the mirror he took a deep breath and wiped off some of the dust . He took a real close look at himself and shook his head before turning the mirror around backwards on the wall .  He slithered away to the desk and briefly sat down before standing up and returning to the mirror where he turned it back around the right way for another look at himself but the face that gazed back at him was a man he didn’t recognize . He had a stretch and bent over before shaking his head then said to himself .
“Hyman you need a holiday .”

He had another look at the reflection in the mirror and saw how much his  appearance had changed . He began to talk out loud ,

“ What are you doing stuck here in a dirty old place like this . Have a look at yourself .You’re an old man wasting away like a mouse inside a whisky decanter  .”

He had another look in the mirror and poked out his tongue and laughed . He ran his hand through his white curly hair . He took a step back and two to the side and spun around saying .

“You should be dancing . Yeah , dancing yeah , Maybe sunning yourself and running on the sand of some tropical island . Maybe even sailing a yacht on the open sea with a pretty woman on your knee but look at you Hyman . Those aren’t laughter lines under your eyes , they’re tracks of time under black holes in a distant galaxy where life doesn’t  exist . Hyman you need to get a life . You’re slowly dying I here and if you don’t get out quick you will be found buried in mouse shit by some stray alley cat looking for a home . Hyman I refuse to look at you anymore until you clean yourself up ”.

Hyman turned the mirror back around again to face the wall and sat down at his desk
He looked up at the ceiling and saw black patches of mould stained with nicotine . He looked at the plaster on the walls peeling off and the waste papers bins cluttered with food scraps and rubbish . The place was a disaster . Slowly he started to sort through the litter on his desk and discovered the unopened letters . Suddenly the phone rang . Hyman was shocked . It hadn’t rung for a long time . He was nervous and hesitant about answering the call . He decided to answer the phone just as it  stopped ringing . Hyman spat on the floor .
He opened the top drawer and took out the small metal cashbox that was there and wrote a message on a sheet of paper . The message was simple  .

“Back In A Week Or Two ”

He hammed the message with a few thumb tacks in the door of the office . After that he placed a few of his belongings in an overnight bag and walked out of the office . He closed the door behind him and headed off down the stairs that groaned and creaked under his feet . At he walked out on the pavement he squinted as the bright sunlight blinded him . Walking with the pedestrians on the footpath he stopped and got in the queue for a bus to Liverpool Street station . He stood there surrounded by people as If on a cloud above watching as the bus approached the stop . He took an upstairs seat at the back of the bus with thoughts pouring into his head about when  times were much different to now  . He recalled the eagerness of a young private detective chasing after the day before tomorrow like a bloodhound with a thirst for a kill . Those golden days were gone and the party was over . Hyman was out of the game now and his reputation was shot . Hyman realized he could never recapture the way things used to be but somehow he if he could change the person he had become maybe there could be a chance to redirect his thinking and set some new goals towards having a better future . He looked out the window in a dreamlike state and suddenly saw it was time to get off . As the bus pulled up near the Petticoat Lane market , Hyman made his way downstairs and jumped off the bus . He was lucky to have kept on his feet as he almost lost balance . Making his way to the underground, he took a tube to Piccadilly . He emerged back on the street at the  Western gate  where he walked to Nat West bank and made a large cash withdrawal that would cover his expenses for a week or two .

He had a shave and a haircut at the barbers and stopped at a café in Bond Street for a cup of coffee and cleared his head  for thinking . All that morning he noticed advertisement  signs on buses saying “Discover Ireland “.

For him it was like a sign .Everywhere he had been he had seen posters that promoted holidays in Ireland . Hyman was almost hypnotized with that and so he made an impulse decision that he would do it . He checked out some of the options available then found a travel agent and booked a flight to Ireland . That evening he was on a tube train  heading for a plane at Heathrow airport bound for the his  discovery tour of Ireland .
The plane was no sooner up and it was down again . Hyman had landed in the Irish republic . He stood there as a little taxi pulled up beside him . The driver of the taxi said .

“Welcome to Ireland  .”
Then he took his bag and put it in the taxi ‘

Hyman said ,
“How did you know I’m a tourist  ?”

“Well I’m  been driving this taxi here for sure I don’t I know how long but it must be  a long time and I know just about everybody in these parts and to be honest I can’t say I’ve ever seen you around here before .”

Hyman got into the front of the taxi .
The driver closed the door and got in and drove away . He looked over and said ,

“Right then . By the look of it you’re here for a holiday . Am I right ?”
Hyman replied ,

“ Yeah you’re right ” Hyman replied .

“So you’ve come to discover Ireland then ? “ The driver said .

“Tell me . Have you ever thought about becoming a private detective ? ”

Hyman asked

The driver laughed and replied ,
“If I could make a living out of it I would . ”

Hyman said ,
“Is there much money to be made driving taxis then ?”

The driver replied ,
“Oh just enough to get by . Now tell me sir , where are you headed ?”

“Do you know any good hotels ?” Hyman asked .
“Well now there the Jury’s hotel in Cork . That’s one of the best ” he answered.

“Where are we now “ Hyman asked .

“Well this is Dublin. “

“Well you better take me to that hotel in Cork. “

“The driver smiled and said ,,
“Ok then . I can do that . Just make yourself comfortable there . Now of you like for a small fee I will  five to you my personal guided tour of Ireland as we go . Sure I know every bed and breakfast , hotel, motel and boarding house from Blarney to here and back . How would you like that ?”

There was no answer as Hyman was asleep in the back of the taxi .

When Hyman woke up , the driver looked over and said ,
“Welcome to Jurys Hotel in Cork . ”
Hyman said ,
“Right then say no more . tell me exact amount I owe you .”

Twilight had fallen as the driver replied .

“Well I’ll round it off for you , it would be now , let me see ay ;four hundred and twelve pounds . That’s Irish pounds . Have you got Irish pounds .”
Hyman had a look of disbelief on his face and asked .
“Well I know a man of your station in life has to make a living but I asked for the taxi fare not the cost of buying your car. Now how much do I owe you for the fare ?”
The driver looked over a smiled .
He remained very quiet for a while and just when Hyman was about to speak the  driver said ,

“You asked me to take you to Cork “

“That’s right . I did “ Hyman said and the driver replied  .

“Well I did as you asked and you’re in Cork.“

“ How far from Dublin is Cork ?
Hyman asked .

“I took the short trip bypassing Kilkenny so it’s only took around two and a half hours which is quite fast seeing as I had to stop three times to fill the tank . “

Hyman was not happy .

“I came to discover Ireland and so far I’ve discovered that taxi drivers are the biggest crooks I’ve ever met in my life “

 

The driver got out of the taxi and said

“Don’t you dare call me a crook.  You asked me to drive you to Cork and that’s what I did . So if you’re not going to pay the fare I’ll call the Garda .”

Hyman pointed his finger at the driver and said .

“I asked if you knew any good hotels .“

The driver pointed at the Jurys hotel and said .

“This is a well established five star Hotel and in my opinion then best Hotel in the country . I think it would be the perfect place for you to stay.”

Hyman said .

“I’m not going to sit here all night arguing with you and I’ll pay you in English pounds if that’s all right .“

“Then that will be four hundred and fifty English pounds as I have to pay the transfer fee into Irish currency. “

Hyman opened his wallet and the driver caught a glimpse of the huge wad of notes that where inside .

Hyman counted out hundred after hundred and said

“Here’s your money. “ 

The driver smiled and said .

“Enjoy your stay in out country. The food here is as good as you’ll ever taste . There is room service and for what it’s my brother is the manager and he will get you  better value for your money than anywhere else in the country .”

It was now getting dark as Hyman got out of the taxi and he said ,
“Ok . Thank you for the friendly service next time I’ll know where to go .  ”
The driver looked at his watch and said ,
“Well the thing is it’s about time you know . My time you see on the  road for a while and with the cost of petrol the way it is , well I suppose a tip wouldn’t be an unwelcome token of your gratitude sir .”

“No problem . The best tip I can give you is to be honest with your customers .”

Said Hyman, who grabbed his bag and opened the passenger door of the taxi and goodbye . The taxi driver said .

“So are you off to discover Ireland ?”

“I am .”
Hyman replied and the driver said .
“Good luck then .”

The driver took off up the road and Hyman walked up the path to the front door of the Hotel . Hyman never saw the driver stop his car up at corner where he went to the door of a pub where a pretty young girl was standing .
The driver got out and went over to talk to this young red haired girl  and whispered something into her ear ad he pointed to the direction of the Jurys Hotel . The young red head quickly made her way in that direction as the taxi driver got back into his car and drove away at speed .

 

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https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/diamonds-underground-chapter-1-part-2

Link to Part 2

 

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