Laura
clutched at the paper in her hand, trying to make sense of the message written on
it. She shook uncontrollably as she
imagined the man who wrote it. The most
hated man: her father.
He had
written his message in bright blue ink.
Laura knew exactly which pen he had used. It used to be her mother’s favorite; she
would use it to write official letters with. Laura remembered watching her
mother craft her swooping signature in that same blue. She glowered, knowing he had used the pen to
upset her. She crumpled the note up in
her fist and strode to the door of her room.
She had
to go out, to walk around and let off some steam before she broke down from
stress. She punched the elevator button
furiously and stepped swiftly through the sliding doors, only to be met by Mr.
Lindsey. “Going somewhere?” Mr.
Lindsey’s eyebrows were raised slightly.
That was never a good sign.
“Yes,”
Laura hissed through her teeth, willing Mr. Lindsey not to interfere. He narrowed his eyes slightly but said nothing. As the elevator slid to a stop at the ground
floor he inclined his head and stepped out.
Sighing
in relief that she was alone again, Laura pressed the button for basement floor
one and entered the passcode. Luckily,
Suzy wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the basement garage, so all Laura had to do
was grab a set of keys and hop into the nearest car. She chose a simple, nondescript model that
wouldn’t attract much attention. Once
the car elevator reached ground level Laura shot off into traffic. As she sped through the city a plan began to
take shape in her mind. She could go
talk to Johnny. Maybe he would be able
to make sense their father’s strange message.
Finding a bit of solace in her new purpose, she turned sharply and began
her journey to Johnny’s current residence.
OOOOO
As
Laura’s car drew closer to the rather upscale neighborhood her brother occupied
she began to feel heavy with foreboding.
She kept passing more and more cop cars and crowds of people and soon
she could drive no further. Fire engines
and ambulances were scattered everywhere, blocking the whole street. Laura frantically parked the car and ran
forward. The police barricade kept her
from getting much further but she could still see all she needed in order to
understand. Her brother’s car was upside
down in a large crater. Scraps of metal
and other debris were scattered everywhere.
Tears filled Laura’s eyes as she saw two bodies being hoisted into a
nearby ambulance. The note’s cruel
message was now abundantly clear. “What
is the one thing better to go out with than your mother?”
A bang.
Laura
quickly got back in her car, quivering with fury. She knew what she should do.
OOOOO
“You
sure this is the kinda gun she ast for?”
Manuel looked a bit lost. “She
usually want the bigger ones.”
“Shut
up,” Laura snapped and snatched the handgun from Jennifer’s old
acquaintance. “This is the one she asked
for.”
“Awright
man, whatever you say.” Manuel took the money Laura thrust into his arms and
shrugged. “’S not my problem if you’re
wrong.”
Laura rolled
her eyes and stalked away. As soon as
she was out of his line of vision she gingerly placed the gun in the cotton bag
she had brought with her. Once she
reached the place she had left her vehicle she opened the driver side door and
slid in. She placed the cotton bag
gently on the passenger seat. Soon she
was off navigating the crowded city streets again, intent on her new
destination.
OOOOO
Mary
was very angry with her mother. She had
promised work would only take a few hours today and that she would be in time
to pick Mary up from school. Mary waited
excitedly for her mother in front of the school, but she never showed. So Mary decided she would walk home. That will show Mother!
Mary
scuffed her worn sneakers on the sidewalk, not really paying much attention to
where she was going. When she finally
did look up she realized she had no idea where she was. On her right was a large brick wall and on
her left, across the street, was a chain link fence. Behind the fence there were some old rusting
shipping containers. Mary had never seen
this part of town before and was even more upset that her mother had been
hiding such a wonderful-looking playground from her. All of those fantastically stacked storage
bins would make a great jungle gym for a little girl. Grinning at the brilliance of her discovery
she dashed across the street to stand before the fence. She gripped the links of the fence, deciding
what would be the best way to get over them.
Mary
decided that if she was grown-up enough to walk home alone that meant she was
also grown-up enough to climb a fence. As
she stuck her left foot into one of the links to hoist herself upward she
noticed a figure on top of one of the containers. It was a middle-aged man, Mary figured about
the same age as her Uncle Dan. Something
about the sight of the man both intrigued and frightened Mary very much. She could feel her heart fluttering in her
chest and it reminded her of the first time she jumped off the big kid swings
at school.
As Mary
was considering running away she noticed another figure approaching at a rapid
pace, jumping from container to container with hollow thuds. The new figure had obviously caught the
attention of the man as well. Mary
watched as the new person came to a halt about twenty feet away from the man. It was a young woman. She hardly looked any older than Mary’s own
mother. Mary’s eyes widened as the two
figures faced off.
“Hello
Laura, it’s been a while,” the man smirked slightly as he called out to the
woman. At his words the woman visibly
flinched but didn’t back up a single step.
“I take it you saw the present I left for your brother?” Now the woman was visibly shaking and glaring
with hatred in her eyes at the man before her.
Mary
suddenly got a strong feeling that she shouldn’t watch any more of this, but it
was already too late. The woman pulled a
small handgun out of the bag she had slung over her back and pointed it at the
man. Mary backed away from the fence
slightly but still managed to notice that the woman was the one who looked
terrified, even though she had the weapon.
The man just grinned. “As if you
could. You’re much too much of a coward.”
The
impact of his words on the woman was obvious.
She seemed to shrink into herself.
Her gun arm shook and almost faltered, but just then a lone car zoomed
past, startling her. Mary threw herself
on the ground, the sound of the gun’s discharge ringing in her ears. Completely shocked, Mary slowly lifted her
head to see the man fall to the ground with a sickening crunch.
The car
that had driven past just seconds before came back from the other direction and
came screeching to a halt in front of Mary.
Two men jumped out and vaulted quickly over the fence, drawing guns as
they went. They both pointed their
weapons at the woman, who still stood on top of the container.
OOOOO
Laura’s
eyes glazed over as she looked at the smoking barrel of the handgun. She barely even registered the presence of the
little girl who had squealed at the gunshot.
As the same car that had startled her into firing returned to her
line-of-sight, Laura blinked once. It
was an undercover cop car, for sure.
Laura lowered the gun down to her side as the two cops made their way
towards her. Suddenly, Laura realized
she recognized them. One was the deputy
of the local police department, and the other….
It
clicked. The night she had stolen some
files on one Jennifer D. from the police headquarters. This cop had been there, in that file. He was there on the night that Jennifer’s
family had been killed. Without really
realizing what she was doing, Laura raised her gun once more and let off two
shots into the man’s chest. The deputy
swore and then fired his own gun in Laura’s direction.
Laura
felt a searing pain as the cop’s first shot skated across her cheek and whizzed
by her ear. She felt her whole body jolt
as the second connected with her head as she turned to run. The last thing she remembered was the sound
of her gun clattering onto the rusted steel of the container beneath her.
ah-BLAAAAHHH
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