Monday 26 May 2014

Z is for The Zoot Suit Jazz Club and the Zambezi Zither Quartet

Link to Part Three

(Part Four)  
Boris was up early the following morning he needed to be in the office. Since the announcements of the official closure due to government cutbacks things had already started getting packed up, and fast.  He usually walked or used the bus most days but today he felt he was being watched, he got a flash of an elderly guy on the bus, then in a shop window, and then two old chaps on a park bench. He shrugged it off, after all he is a spy and spies are paranoid and they were all old, but he doubled back and took a taxi anyway. Once a spy always a spy.


 As he entered the department it was a shock, it was half empty and even as he looked around he saw his own desk being loaded up into a van. . . . Its like the last day of the closing down sale at Woolworths he said to one of the men sifting everything . . . . Sorry sir, yes sir but its orders from the top was the reply. Boris was angry he needed to find out what was going on. He made a few phone calls, but was told he was old school, field agents were not needed anymore it was all desk jobs now, monitoring social media and reading email, Boris was a dinosaur and was being pensioned off. It was a big pension and he should not rock the boat or else.

As evening fell Boris headed to the Zoot Suit Jazz Club alone, he was confused and very angry. He and Irene were a good team and he could not understand how she could be working for someone else. As he entered the half light of the old jazz club he heard a voice saying Well thank you Zelda and the Zodiacs that was a great song. . . . . we will have a sort break and then it will be tonight’s special guests The Zambezi Zither Quartet followed by our very own BLACK WIDOW AND THE SPIDER JAZZ BAND  

As Boris looked round the club he saw the old men he had seen in the morning, alarm bells rang in his head and in the gloom he checked his revolver. As he did so a voice behind said You don’t need that Boris . . . He turned, it was Irene  . . . . . . whats going on he said I thought we were a team. . . . . We are . . . let the general explain she said smiling.

Sorry Boris . . . you cracked things quicker than we thought, caught us on the hop. . . .We are intelligence Deep INTELLIGENCE; Irene says you are one of the best. we heard about the impending closure of your department months ago and she suggested we recruit you, we need some younger blood here we are now all very old field agents.  Another elderly man joined them, how did you work out the Link with the Zoot Suit Jazz Club and the spider so quickly. . . . Boris looked puzzled I DIDN'T it was the old guy; the strange one, he told me to listen to the live show on Jazz FM last night THAT IRENE did with her band. Irene now looked puzzled that’s not until next week Boris.  The General also confused asked Boris what he knew about the old man. . . I don’t know much, he had an old MATCHBOX and a spider said Boris And he did say he played piano in a bar in Berlin back in the days of the cold war. The two old men looked like they had seen a ghost  . . . . One then said Zackary . . Agent Z . .  but he’s dead, he was shot in October 1963. They say he had a story so big it would bring down the governments of several counties; but rumour has it he was sold out by his own side; a command from the very top.  As the two old men looked at one another Irene took Boris to a table and they sat and chatted until Irene joined her band singing long into the night, Boris finally able to relax.

Later in the early hours as Irene and Boris drove back to Boris’s home in a black Mercedes they pass an old man, he watches them as they drive past; then he bends down and carefully slides a small spider into an old matchbox. As he does so the owner of the Italian coffee shop opposite shouts across the road . . . Another Job done . . . . The old man nods and turns into the park and through the undergrowth to his forest shack deep in the Patagonian rain forests.


Back at Boris’s flat Boris says to Irene Is it true that female spiders eat the male. But Irene just smiles and says. . . This is a child friendly blog Boris.


THE END

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13 comments:

  1. Well that may well be the very last A to Z I do . . . . Quit while you're ahead is always best . . . . . . . . .

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  2. Hahahaha! I'm still as confused as hell, but damn, I enjoyed that, especially the end line.

    Well done Mr Z. I don't know how you did it, but you did.

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    1. I make it up as I go Miss Lily so it is not entirely surprising its confusing, but it allows scope to twist and turn the story on a whim. But the original old chap is the Ghost of Agent Z who was shot in Oct 1963, an important date as Nov 1963 was the assassination of JFK and there have been many a conspiracy theory about that. But as the Ghost of a Spy he is slowly putting things right.

      The Spider (thats the spider not the spy) is a red herring (not the fish they dont make webs) and is the Ghost Pet of the Ghost of Agent Z. All the old spies are old spies, who like all old spies just need the buzz of the job, ducking and weaving in the world of spying. . . lets face it no old spy is going to be happy watching Eastenders all day in a comfy seat eating ginger nuts and drinking Nescafe.

      The Patagonian rain forests are in fact the twilight zone where the Ghost of Agent Z watches all. And Irene and Boris life happily ever after..

      And Boris learns to play the trombone and joins the Jazz band, and the get to keep the Mercedes.

      I knew you would like that last line, but it is a hint at their relationship not being just at a spy level.

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  3. HOW DOES BORIS END UP WITH IRENE!?! It's Boris and Natasha, not Boris and Irene! Is there anyone alive named Boris who doesn't couple with a Natasha!?! Maybe Boris Johnson because he's a monster, but non-monsters, all non-monster Boris's know to couple with a Natasha, don't they!?!
    (Good idea quitting after two consecutive months of non-stop blogging. It could lead to burnout if you go three months in a row.)

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    1. Three A to Z's in a row NO WAY . . . . Although its an interesting challenge, but I have other stuff happening in June so will be posting stuff much less often. . . . .

      As for Irene and Boris it makes sense as Irene is The Spider and Boris is a tradition name for both Spies and Spiders where Spies and Spiders look remarkably similar as a word. Natasha was the wife of the Italian coffee shop owner, who has known the ghost of Agent Z for a long time. . . .

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  4. Mr. R!

    The A to Zed, Zoots you, good sir. Very good. Very weird and with Zany, Zealous Zeal at your Zoo, you have done it again and again and now you reach the end.

    You left a brilliant comment on my last post. I thank you for that.

    And remember, my friend, as you reached the end, the A to Zed, was all in your head!

    Mr. G.

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    1. Yes that will be the very last A to Z ever Mr G . . . . maybe?

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  5. Color me impressed, Rob Z. I barely survived the first A-Z and here you are finishing up your second. Go You! No, really, go - get some rest you!

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    1. I may have a little rest tonight . . . Actually it does make you think so its not all bad. . . . .

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  6. If you get into a shoot out in a zoot suit, and get wounded, it is appropriate to say, "I've been zot!!!" ?

    Sorry I have been away for aday or atwo. It was someone's birthday far away and there was great eXhaustion involved, and luckily the car carnage was slight though the people are most likely stiLL in pain. I hope I survive to my 80th birthday as weLL with as much spunk and drive. I wiLL require scheduled naps to get there sanely.

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    1. Car carnage I hope everyone is OK . . . I too hope to make it to 80. . . Although I may fall over a lot more. naps sounds good.

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  7. Child friendly blog, this is great! Also loved the reference to Woolworths.

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    1. I'm sure you would do a better job of the story than me Miss laura, I always spot the errors a few days later

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