“You should be dead in about one
hour, maybe less,” I said as I watched my dinner guest at the other end of my
wooden table in my kitchen.
Shannon stopped in mid-chew, eyes bulged as she stared at
me.
“What…what do you…mean? Why?” Food sprayed out of her mouth
as she spoke, almost incoherently.
“And our conversation had been going so well, hadn’t it?” I knew
my response was sarcastic. I was annoyed and I wanted it over, but I also
wanted her to know why she was going to die. I so wanted her to suffer for what
she had done to me. People who felt rules didn’t apply to them made me sick.
“Well, yeah…I thought so.” Shannon finished chewing and
stared me.
Swallowing her last bite looked painful. I don’t think she
quite grasped the situation…yet. Because she didn’t eat anymore and tears
streamed down her face, maybe she suspected I might be serious.
“What’s going on? You can’t be serious?”
“Serious as a heart attack. Pun intended.” Shannon continued
to stare at me, fork in hand. It was obvious she didn’t get the joke and I was
going to have to explain in detail what I had planned for her. Which was okay
because I rather enjoyed this part of killing someone. The part I didn’t like—was
having to figure out where to get rid of the body. So far I had been lucky. I
knocked my knuckles on the wooden tabletop.
“Why did you do that,” Shannon asked.
“Just for luck. Nothing you need to worry your pretty little
head about, Shannon. Why don’t you finish eating your dinner and we can talk
after. You look like you could use a drink of your wine.”
Tears still streaming down her face, she looked at me,
looked at the wine glass, looked back at me and I nodded. Reluctantly, she
picked up her glass and took a gulp. She wiped the tears off her face with the
back of her hand.
Hopefully, her drink would be enough because she hardly ate
much of her dinner. Perhaps I spoke too soon and she didn’t eat enough. I
realized I needed to tell her it was all a joke so she would eat more because I
couldn’t have her not die on me.
“Yes, Shannon, dry your eyes. I was kidding about the dying
part.” I continued under my breath, ‘for now anyway.’ “Let’s finish our dinner
and we can go watch a movie. This was supposed to be a fun girl’s night
together and I’m ruining it by playing jokes. I’m sorry.” I picked up my fork
and took a bite. I watched Shannon as she first smiled at me and begin to eat
again.
“You know, Shannon,” I began as I changed my mind about
being nice to her, “you are putting up a pretty big front considering what you
did. Why don’t you just admit that you think rules don’t apply to you and that
you feel justified in taking back the car you sold me.”
“Well, I don’t think rules don’t apply to me, but you didn’t
pay the last $200 and I needed the car back—“ Shannon trailed off.
“Because you wrecked your other one,” I calmly said between
bites. Shannon looked surprised at my comment. How could I possibly know why
she needed the car back?
“Oh, come on Shannon. You’ve lived in this town all your
life. Have you forgotten how small it is? That everyone knows everyone’s
business. You’re really not very smart, are you?”
“Hey,” Shannon’s voice got a bit louder, “you owed me that
money and when I needed it, you didn’t have it, so you left me with no choice
but to take my car back. I did, rather do, still have the title.”
“That’s because you told me you couldn’t find it, and I
didn’t pay you the last $200 because I told you I would pay it to you when you
got me the title so I could register it in my name. You can’t take the law into
your own hands and steal a car back from someone you sold it to. The law is on
my side. In fact, I could have even gone down to the DMV and filed for a lost
title. My big mistake for not doing so.” I set my fork on my plate and watched
her as she continued to eat. Hopefully, she would eat it all and kick the
bucket quickly.
“No, I think the law is on my side,” Shannon said as she
took a large drink of her wine. “When you didn’t pay me the last $200, I had
the right to take it back. Cops even said I did.”
“Uh, no they didn’t, Shannon. I know they told you it was a
civil matter and that you would need to file a civil claim against me, and you
know it.” I was getting madder at her the longer I tried talking sense into her.
I was losing
control of the situation and I couldn’t let that happen. She was looking a bit
pale and swiped her hand across her forehead. She was sweating.
“Is something wrong, Shannon?” I asked with some
enthusiastic interest. I didn’t want her to think I was heartless because we
had been friends, or so I thought until she stole the car back.
“Uh, I’m not feeling so good. Can you take me back to my
car, please?”
Before she could get up out of her chair, she turned her
head to the side and through up all over
my wooden floor. She vomited so violently and it made such a mess; it reminded
me of the movie “The Exorcist” where the character Reagan spewed out a straight
line of green vomit clear to the end of her bed. But that was ok, I was used to
it by now from all the others I’ve killed.
Would love to hear from you and your comments about this flash fiction piece.
