Chapter 5: Back to the Present
---- 1 day before the present ----
It was Sunday, The weekend was over, time to get back to work.
I once more did my morning routine, grabbed a coffee and Almond Croissant from Bonjour Barista and went to work.
Opening the shop, I started my morning tasks. Watering the plants, weeding the pots, mopping the floor, reorienting the display shelf, and flipping the sign on the door from closed to open.
Half an hour after I opened the store, I got my first customer.
"Good Morning Sir, Welcome to Forrest Flowers, please call if you need any help" I welcomed the customer with our usual greeting.
The man who entered the store was dressed in a heavy coat, A fedora covering his bald black head, and a small scar was cut horizontally on the bridge of his nose. He looked like your typical mobster.
But that was also normal in Gotham, The amount of customers we get at Forrest Flowers that could fit the description of any type of criminal is higher than the amount of average looking people we get. It's a perk of the store being in the cheaper part of the city.
"Eh, Yeah-" The customer started saying before another man entered the store, Short and round, a black top hat on his balding scalp and an umbrella in his hands.
"Good Morning Kid, Is Delilah in yet?" Mr Oswald said as he looked at me before he took a brief glance at the large man who was talking to me.
"Oh, Good Morning Mr. Oswald, I'm sorry but Delilah isn't in at the moment, She's making sure her new ward is taken care of at school so she won't be here till the afternoon. Is there anything else I can help you with?" I reply, momentarily ignoring the large man, who now seems to be shaking like a leaf in the wind.
An empty look washes over Oswald's face as he looks at the large man shaking under his stare before turning back to me, a small glimmer in his eye as he opens his mouth.
"I see you're busy with a costumer already, I'll wait till you're done with him, I'll just be looking around for now" And so he turned around and started looking at the flowers on display.
Now Turning back to the large man, his previously dark skin looks almost paper white with how pale he's become. "Sir, are you alright?" I ask the man, worried about his health, as a small voice in the back of my head tries to scream at me something.
"I- I'm fine, I'll just be taking my leave" He mumbled out before turning around and leaving through the door, although not before almost freezing when he passed by Oswald.
The Voice in the back of my head screams at me to be careful with him.
Now with the large costumer outside, Oswald turns back to me and asks for a bouquet of Colorful Delilah's.
With his flowers in hand, Oswald pays for the bouquet and leaves the shop.
Five hours later Delilah enters the shop from the back entrance with Rose following her.
"Good Afternoon" I say as the two walk into the shop, They return the greeting.
"Richard, I need you to show Rose the ropes here, you two will be working together until Rose resumes her education here, I'm telling you Richard, these schools are way too-" And I zone her out, ignoring her tirade about The Good Old Days and how schools should be cheaper.
The rest of the day consisted of showing Rose the ropes on how to take care of the flowers in the greenhouse.
---- The Day of the Present, Several Hours Earlier ----
Once more I did my morning routine, we can skip forward a bit you got enough context from what I've been telling you.
Take care of the shop. Go about mopping the floor and weeding the plants, no costumers because it's a weekday morning, Richard should really get to the point already. We introduced the important characters, set the scenes, even had a useless detour about his usual coffee spot, what a bore.
The day was normal, We opened up the shop, Minimal costumers, Delilah came in late. The Usual.
"Rose will be staying at home today, she's not feeling well." She said, the girl who has our masked name is unwell today, she gets to stay at home and watch Television, brat.
Why do I need to narrate this part anyway? Why cant Richard just be a better narrator? It's not like this happened years ago, we're reaching the present soon, we'll be changing perspectives and everything.
But it doesn't matter, here is where the action finally starts. Nobody reads a comic about a regular florist, he has unique memories, he should use them for something other than growing flowers! What a waste of an opportunity.
Suddenly the storefront gets blasted open and a hail of bullets fly into the store.
Richard, with his faster and younger reflexes, quickly ducks behind the store counter, holding his arms around his head to make himself smaller, like a ball.
Granny Delilah Forrest wasn't so quick, a bullet shot through her abdomen and she crumpled on to the ground.
"Take this Penguin" One of the gunmen shouted from outside "This is what happens when the 100 want you gone!" As he kept firing into the store.
After a minute the shots stopped and the store was silent. The floor was littered with broken ceramics and glass, potted soil was frown everywhere, a pool of blood was beginning to grow under Delilah, but worst of all, a bullet managed to hit an electric box, and one of the flowers near it was caught aflame.
We had to get out now.
Slowly peaking from behind the counter to check if the coast is clear, I grab Delilah's body and carefully move her towards the store front, around the shards of glass and into the street outside.
Almost as soon as we get outside, the shop explodes into flames. A gas pipe must have leaked.
And as I lay on the road outside the burning storefront, I noticed a familiar figure walking towards us with a waddle in his step and a briefcase in his hands.
"Who did this?" Mr Oswald asked, his face devoid of humor as he looked at the burning wreck in front of us.
"I- I don't know, they shouted something about the 100 and- Oh my god I need to tell Rose, oh god!" soon the panic hit me, Delilah is dead, my job is gone, and now there's a girl who's only remaining family willing to take her has died and she has no clue.
What am I supposed to do now?
"The 100," Oswald mutters before looking at Delilah and at the briefcase in his arms. "Kid, Listen, This case contains all the money I owed Delilah for the past twenty-four years. Take it and leave, Take Delilah's girl with you and go somewhere else." Oswald says as he put the briefcase down next to me.
"Leave this neighborhood, Move somewhere else, go to Metropolis if you want, Open up a new shop or what have you, just stay out of this District." He said as he started walking away "I'll send you some papers soon, take care of the kid, alright Kid?" He said and I numbly nodded, not really understanding what's going on.
He's a gangster you idiot, you have my brain in your head, use it.
"Oh, actually I'll drop this briefcase off at your place. A lot less suspicious when the cops arrive" Oswald quickly turns back and takes the briefcase back with him.
Wait, How does he know where I live?
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