Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 106

The front of the shop was a hive of activity. The two ladies with the goat disappeared through the door that led up to the apartments. All along the curb and sidewalk, were planters full of plants. It almost looked like someone had dug up and potted an entire garden. There were a least two tomato plants heavy with fruit.

The glass window was covered with fabric on the inside. However, there were two half naked manikins between the glass and fabric. Both were wearing blouses. One was red. One was green. They contrasted against each other and drew the eye.

Natalia stepped out of the limo, staring at the window.

Kimi and Yiggy came out of the door where the goat disappeared.

‘Yiggy,’ Natalia said.

‘Busy. Very busy,’ Yiggy said, waving her off.

She grabbed a potted plant. So did Kimi. They disappeared back through the door.

Natalia stared at the door while Bonnie unloaded the boxes from the limo.

“At least it’s only the second floor,” Lisa said. “Can I have the key to the front?”

Natalia automatically handed it to her. She was still perturbed at seeing the goat.

Lisa and Kate headed toward the apartment building next door with boxes and cleaning supplies.

‘Momma.’

Natalia turned to unstrap Victoria from her seat.

“Let’s go look at this,” Natalia said, heading toward the door, following Yiggy and Kimi.

The front foyer was spotless. There was a carpet runner between the door and the stairs to catch dirt tracked in. The rest of the floor had a polished shine to it. She could smell the strong cleaning solution that was used to wipe everything down. Her nose and eyes told her that even the ceiling had been wiped down.

She headed up the stairs.

All the dust and cobwebs were gone. She could tell the stairwell had also been cleaned and painted. The hallway she stepped into wasn’t empty. There were plants, boxes, furniture, and more. She was surprised to see pictures hung on the walls.

Two ladies stepped out and grabbed some boxes. They chattered in another language. Natalia figured it was the same language Yiggy used to talk with Kimi.

Before Natalia could decide where to go next, a young woman stepped out.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

She was looking at her suspiciously and didn’t sound happy to see her.

“I’m Nattie. I own the building.”

The woman’s attitude immediately changed.

“Oh, Nattie. So nice to meet you. I’m Annchi. If you are looking for Yiggy, she is upstairs.”

“Thanks,” Natalia said, feeling somewhat speechless by what she was seeing.

Annchi disappeared.

Natalia headed up the stairs.

The next floor was a repeat of the floor below except it seemed busier. There were more women. There were children running around. No one had empty hands or arms. Two men were jostling a large dresser through a door. Everyone was busy.

Natalia could smell fresh paint.

Kimi came out of the door to the roof. However, she disappeared down the stairs before Natalia could say a word. She figured that had to be where Yiggy was. Natalia headed toward the roof door and trotted up the stairs.

“Oh, my word.”

Natalia stopped in her tracks.

“Hey, Nattie,” Lisa said coming up behind her. “Oh, my word.”

“Yiggy,” Natalia said.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. In the middle of the roof was a pen with two goats. Along the edge of the entire roof, were planters full of plants.

“Yiggy, you can’t keep goats on the roof. I won’t allow the slaughtering of goats on this property.”

Yiggy walked over with a mean glare on her face.

“Goats are not for killing,” Yiggy said with some disdain.

“What are they for?”

“Goat milk,” Yiggy said. “For the kitchen.”

“You can’t keep goats up here. Or… chickens?”

Behind a flush of greenery, she spied chickens.

“Why not? They have livestock up here.”

Natalia followed where she was pointing to see some men working on a building across the street.

“What are those?”

“Bees,” Lisa said. “Those are beehives.”

“Bees are not livestock,” Natalia said.

“Yes, bees livestock.”

“And the building can’t handle the weight of all these pots. Wait… Is that a raised garden?”

Two young men were pouring dirt into raised garden bed. Natalia figured it had to be four feet wide by fifteen feet long.

“The roof can handle the weight. We checked,” one young man said, coming over. “I’m Bao. Grandson.”

He gave a little bow, then returned to his work.

“But...”

“This is so cool,” Lisa said.

“What are they doing?”

Three other men were working on the roof next door.

“You can’t put a garden on the roof next door,” Natalia said, realizing what they were doing. “You only get this building.”

“No one else will use it,” Yiggy said.

“I would so love a garden,” Lisa said.

“It’s her rooftop. You’ll have to work with her,” Natalia said, thinking fast.

Lisa smiled big.

Yiggy backed off, staring at the ground.

“That’s Tail,” Natalia said, realizing what she was staring at.

Yiggy seemed leery of the kitten.

Lisa stooped down and scooped her up.

“Tail,” Victoria said in English.

“Oh, I came over to tell you the plumbing isn’t working,” Lisa said.

“I know Uri is here somewhere with the person who is going to handle those things. Grazie is his name. I’ll call him.”

Natalia still felt perturbed by what she was seeing. She did a slow spin, then stopped. There were other buildings with greenery. She felt the full effect that Hell was changing to a living and vibrant community.

Natalia’s phone rang before she could make her call.

“Yes?”

“Where are you?” Uri said.

“Roof of the shop.”

“Are they cooking yet?”

“Cooking?”

“Lunch ready by eleven,” Yiggy said as if she was following the conversation.

“Yes. Lunch will be served.”

“Grazie is working on getting a plumber and an electrician here,” he said. “Oh, and a locksmith to get doors rekeyed.”

“Lisa said the plumbing wasn’t working next door.”

“We know that. Both buildings have electrical issues as well.”

“Have you seen the roof?” she said.

“Yeah.”

“And the goats?”

“Goats?” he said.

“Chickens.”

“I saw chickens.”

“Fresh milk and eggs for the kitchen I hear.”

“Whatever. They better locked them up at night.”

Natalia had this vision of Viperians scaling the outside of the building and dining on goat.

“We’re heading over to Lisa’s place,” Natalia said to him.

“I’ll find you,” Uri said, ending the call.

Natalia relayed the information to Lisa.

“We’ll manage until then,” Lisa said.

“Yiggy.”

Yiggy had gone over to yell at the men on the other roof. There was no gap between the buildings, just a short wall, but she was yelling at them like they were far away.

“Yiggy,” Natalia said again louder. “The goats and chickens have to be locked up at night. There are… big birds that would get them.”

“We have shed,” Yiggy said.

Natalia didn’t see one but suspected one would appear by the end of the day.

“I’m going next door to clean.”

Yiggy nodded.

“I send girls.”

Natalia didn’t know what that meant. She followed Lisa. When they reached the other building, Tail squirmed and Lisa put her down. Natalia was worried she would run off, but she followed right behind Lisa.

Kate was wiping out kitchen cabinets.

“We can’t really do too much. We have water, but no drains are working. I looked at the back alley to see if we could throw it out that way, but there are too many people using it,” she said.

“Grazie and Uri were through here and are calling in a plumber,” Natalia said.

‘Down.’

Natalia put Victoria down.

“I say fill up the tub with the dirty water,” Lisa said. “That will let us keep going.”

“Good idea,” Kate said.

“I’d like the kitchen cleaned first,” Lisa said.

“Good place as any,” Natalia said.

They almost had the kitchen cleaned when five ladies appeared at the door. They were all armed with buckets and rags.