The Crime

“I fell?”

“You sure did!” she said laughing. I liked her laugh. The sound of someone laughing was so foreign to my ears. It was going to take some getting used to.

“Oh… and I am…?”

“In my apartment! Can’t you tell, silly?” she giggled. Why was she smiling so much? Why the hell was she so happy?

“Well… I should… go?”

“…Well, how about we…go?...get some lunch?!”

I stared at her blankly. I really had no idea what she was talking about.

Twenty minutes later and we were walking to lunch. She said she was taking me to some place that hardly anybody in town knew. It actually made me feel better because I knew Jim wouldn’t see. We walked through the Christmas lights and all that holiday cheer and eventually made our way to a place that was more quiet and contained. To tell you the truth, I have only been to about three or four places around town. She could have taken me anywhere and it would have been new. But I could tell that she thought this place was pretty special. It honestly scared me a bit- we had to walk through a parking lot to get there.  And…well, it was a parking lot of a strip club. The only reason I knew it was a strip club was because Jim took weekly trips there with his friends. Or…whenever he got sick of me. He never kept it a secret where he was going… at least he was honest.

As we were walking through the lot, we began to hear yelling. It wasn’t an angry yelling, but something more desperate.

“Do you hear that?”

Suddenly, a man came stumbling out from behind a building. His face was bloody and he began to fall to the ground.

“Call 911!” missy yelled as she ran over to him. I fumbled through my pockets before I even realized the fact that I didn’t even own a cell phone. Suddenly Missy was standing over the man holding her jacket to his bloody face.

“Missy, I need your phone!” She used her other hand to dig her phone out of her boot. Just as she went to hand me the phone, I noticed something reflecting the light from the light post above us. I slowly stepped over to it as I had an idea of what it could be.

I picked it up to get a closer look. It was in that moment that I realized what had happened…

“What the fuck is that?” Missy desperately yelled to me, even though I was only a couple steps away. The man was coughing and crying, and I had no idea what was even going through my head.

I froze as suddenly lights began to shine from behind us.

“Drop the weapon,” said a voice from behind me. I saw the look on Missy’s face as she began to realize the picture that was being formed.

“Drop the weapon.”

“Wait! This man needs help!” Missy was trying to change the obvious image that was putting both of us  in danger.

“yeah, I bet he does. Now DROP THE WEAPON.”

I slowly turned around to see a police officer pointing a gun in my direction.

“No, it’s not mine! It was HERE!” I tried pointing at the ground and yelling and doing whatever I could, but I could tell he was not having it. One look at Missy and I and there was no convincing him differently.

The next thing I knew, Missy and I were in her apartment. Bags packed. Frantic and desperate.  Headed for her car.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….