It Had to Be You
Her Point of View.
The city bus stopped a mile from the zoo. In a short amount of time, my feet started aching from the frigid temperature. While making tracks through the snow, I passed a few teenagers who were smoking Ganja. My nerves were on top of my skin, “Five minutes to go,” I encourage myself and continued treading through the deep snow.
Uptown had the smell of mistletoe and yuletide. All I could smell now was danger.
The weatherman predicted the winter would be a bad one, funny how they never mention bad summers.
Once inside, I removed my coat and shoes and headed toward the kitchen. The lights were dim, and I could feel the cold air seeping through the cracks surrounding the window. I turned the oven on to heat the area when I thought I saw something scurry across the floor. I was too tired to investigate, so I didn’t.
Despite the failing heating system, my place was warmer than the outside.
Inside my cage, I was protected from the elements, but still, I had no peace, you see, Halloween was underway yet in this neighborhood, it never ends.
I made a small pot of coffee and heated the leftovers in the microwave, envisioning the families Uptown preparing for dinner on this dark-frosty night.
Johnny and Elizabeth were told it was dinnertime; and Dad, he was likely relaxing in the den drinking a Brandy, unwinding from his hectic, high- salaried job. “One day” I thought, sinking my teeth on a seasoned meatball.
I finished dinner, then turned the oven off and disposed the paper plate and utensils in the garbage when I heard a knock at my door.
I opened the door, and Chris walked in, handing me two plates of what smelled like heaven. His mother had made roast beef, red potatoes, and a side dish of asparagus.
I took the plate to the kitchen and put it inside the refrigerator.
Chris opened a bottle of whiskey, and I went upstairs to take a shower.
He followed.
During my shower he made himself comfortable in my bedroom, scanning for something interesting to watch.
After showering, I flopped on my bed and took a sip of Jack. I was wearing a T-shirt with panties, but it was no big deal. Chris and I had been friends since high school, nothing more, nothing less. He was like a brother to me, a handsome one but clearly family.
Chris lived in a duplex about three blocks from me and worked at the bank Uptown, and usually arrived home about an hour or so after I did. He had mounting concerns about me walking home alone from the bus stop.
“Do you still have the gun I gave you?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Good.” He replied.
We sat in silence and continued watching T.V. while sirens and outside drama competed with the streaming movie.
Eventually, the howling wind drowned the outside distraction making it easier to focus on the movie and the Jack Daniels.
Chris spread the blanket over his body and reclined as far as the chair would go.
The portable heater had my bedroom feeling all warm and cozy.
After a while, he began to doze off. I continued watching the movie and eventually did the same.
It would be daylight in a couple of hours, and the trick-or-treaters would disappear until sundown.
After what seemed like a few hours, it was already morning.
I looked over at the chair; it was empty.
I could hear Chris talking on the phone downstairs. I opened the curtain and looked outside. More snow had accumulated, and for a split second, I was glad I didn’t have to leave the zoo.
Chris started making breakfast, and when he was done, he brought it upstairs. The look on his face had me concerned. He was up to something.
I took a bite of eggs and drank my coffee.
After swallowing his eggs, he put his fork down and sat back in the recliner.
I kept eating.
And I listened. I listened to every crazy but surreal detail that came out of his mouth. Funny thing, I wasn’t shocked. At that very moment, I looked at Chris with a different lens. He still looked like the Chris I knew. He talked like Chris and walked like Chris, but he wasn’t Chris. He was something I had waited for all my life. A way out.
After two days of doing nothing at home, I returned to work. Uptown, the Halloween ornaments were being replaced with Thanksgiving décor.
I watched the early Christmas shoppers pick up items for their loved ones, or maybe even for themselves. I must have taken in $8,000.00 in sales from elegantly dressed housewives taking advantage of the pre-holiday deals.
It was an exciting time.
After work I caught the bus home — my nerves were calm, and my mind was light when the city bus came to a stop dropping me off at the usual mile outside the zoo.
The fifteen-minute walk to the cage was met with the same hostilities, but the peace I was feeling managed to silence the commotion.
I opened the door to my house, removed my attire, and made my way to the kitchen.
I was in the middle of dinner when Chris called.
We went over everything again.
No detail was left uncovered.
We talked for what seemed like hours, strategizing, implementing, and rehearsing our lines. The show was scheduled for debut in twenty-four hours. With any mistake, it would be curtains. No encore. It had to be right. It had to be airtight.
The following morning, I slept in a little longer — watching the television but not really cognizant of what was on the screen.
Around 4pm I started getting ready. It would be dark by 6:30 P.M.
As I continued preparing, I removed everything from my refrigerator and threw it in the dumpster outside.
Inside, I could still hear the gunfire followed by a series of helicopters circling the area alongside flashing lights and blue cars parading down the street in search of trick-or-treaters.
I put my gloves on and zipped my coat. By that time, Chris arrived.
We both looked at the clock.
It was time.
We walked a block to the first vehicle, got inside, and drove to the destination.
The ride to the performance was peaceful. Although my heart was racing, I wasn’t nervous. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this alive.
Chris parked the car, and we walked the remaining distance.
When we arrived at the set, Bundy was already inside, and our second vehicle was parked behind the building.
Most people would probably start experiencing stage fright at this time.
Was it normal to be this calm?
We continued waiting.
And just like that scene 5 started.
I rushed to the location while Chris went in the opposite direction.
Within a few minutes, the antagonist leaves the building.
Like a trained sniper, I covered the area, watching to the left, the right, and then the left again, making sure no surprises ruined the performance.
Bundy was right. It was like taking candy from a baby.
As the antagonist continued walking to his car, Chris intercepted and escorted him inside his vehicle.
With a Magnum pointed at his head, the antagonist did as he was told — he started the ignition and drove away from the building while Chris kept the gun aimed at his head from the backseat.
My palms became sweaty, and I continued watching the venue.
One by one, the remaining villains left the building and dispersed from the area.
About fifteen minutes later, Chris sent an all-clear text to me.
I immediately left my sniper post and opened the door to Bundy’s truck, the third vehicle, and positioned myself on the backseat floor.
Minutes later, Bundy was the last person to exit the building.
I was still on the backseat when he opened the door to his truck, got inside, and lit a cigarette.
I stayed on the floor of his truck until we arrived at the next scene.
SCENE 6
I exited Bundy’s truck and joined Chris and the antagonist, who were parked near the antagonist’s home.
I got out of Bundy’s truck and started transferring the bags to our final vehicle.
Once all the bags were in the final vehicle, Bundy pulled his truck around to the front of the church and waited for his grandmother to exit the sanctuary. He dropped his grandmother off at her home, and he headed toward his own house, where he remained until morning.
Our new vehicle was now en route to scene seven, the Riverside Park.
When we reached Riverside, the mid-size RV Bundy purchased under a pseudo name was put in park, and Chris removed the antagonist from the vehicle, prepping him for scene eight.
The antagonist and well-known drug dealer was not selected to participate in scene 9.
We drove a few feet to Riverside Lake where Chris forced the antagonist to snort a line of high-powered cocaine every few minutes for half of an hour, followed by a copious amount of alcohol. But it would be me who would deliver the fatal blow, 50mg/10ml of Amitriptyline Hydrochloride to the neck.
The antagonist began shifting to a state of unconsciousness as we dragged him to the shallow portion of the lake. The weights tied to his body would keep him from resurfacing. The river’s current floated the bad guy away from the shore, we watched his body sink in the deep part of the lake.
He would not be missed.
Everyone knew he shot Chris ten years ago, but no one came forward to testify. And why would they? The 3-5-7 Boys had terrorized our neighborhood for years. It started to snow as we watched Ceejay disappear into his final scene.
On the way back to the RV,
I caught a snowflake on my tongue, and the wind howled as Chris started the ignition.
Feeling like I would turn to stone if I looked back, I continued facing forward.
We arrived at the last stop and dropped off 2 of 4 duffle bags containing 1.5 million to a location where Bundy would pick up in the morning.
On the interstate, there was a calmness I couldn’t explain, a deep sense of tranquility I hadn’t felt in years. Chris and I were starting a new chapter, and there was nothing but open road ahead. Chris took off his ski mask, and I did the same.
I went to the kitchen and fixed us a snack. There were approximately twenty hours of travel ahead of us, and we were both excited.
We scheduled an appointment at a chapel right outside of Miami where we would pronounce our nuptials before heading to Key West, Florida.
I was looking forward to a series of never-ending summers and realized there was no one in the world who made me feel this safe. I smiled, reaching over to kiss Chris and whispered in his ear,
“It had to be you.”
.
