Good Criminals

CHAPTER 1
“Order up!”
“I need a side of nachos with that.”
“Let’s get a move on, Hupfer, customers are waiting!”
It was a typical day at his part-time job at the local pizza joint, and Daniel Hupfer was ready to clock out. He was on his way out the door, when his boss' voice boomed behind him:
“Hupfer! Take out the trash on your way out, please.”
He let out an exhausted sigh.
So he went back, got the trash, and trotted out the back door. He tossed the garbage in the dumpster and his phone vibrated. There was a new message from a weird number that said: “I see you”
Daniel looked around, but saw no one. The parking lot looked like a ghost town, and there wasn’t anyone around the building except Lizzie, who was smoking her quite medicinal marijuana, as usual. Maybe the text was just another one of her clever pranks.
Daniel arrived back at his cluttered dorm around 5:50. He had ten minutes to get ready and be to his six o’clock Web Design class, and he looked like a wreck as usual. His dark brown hair scattered every which-way, dark circles under his eyes, and he’d forgotten to put on his anti-acne cream again. His pale skin looked as if it hadn't seen daylight in years.
Yuck, he thought as he looked in the mirror. What did I ever do to deserve these looks? Maybe it was that time I put a roach in Mrs. Sanberg’s desk drawer in 4th grade. But it’s okay, I suppose. I mean, look at Mark Zuckerberg. He’s a nerdy Harvard drop-out. No one thought he would ever be anything, but now he’s laughing all the way to the bank. Maybe I’ll do something like him.
Daniel’s thoughts were interrupted by his phone. He had another message from the same odd number as earlier. It said: “Where did u go?” Who’s the douchebag that keeps acting like they’re stalking me? Daniel thought. Seriously, get a life. Well, I guess I better get going.
He arrived at his Web Design class fashionably late.
The professor, did not bother to stop his lecture, but of course the class turned and stared at him. Why do they always do that? he wondered.
At 7:15, Daniel headed straight for the campus library so he could study for a while, and perhaps get a sufficient amount of sleep, which was something he hadn't had in several weeks. He was supposed to be researching the 1960's in order to relate it to a current event for American History. Instead, he browsed the true crime section, which interested him more. Reading a fairly interesting book, he lost track of time. At 8:57, the librarian reminded him the library was closing. He put the book back and said nothing to her, even when she wished him a good night. She was confused because usually Daniel was quite cordial whenever he came in.
“Daniel, is everything alright?” But he was already out the door. He was exhausted and just wanted to get back to his dorm and sleep for an eternity
Daniel was walking across the campus park as fast as he could, when he noticed a man; no, maybe a woman? He couldn't tell which. They were sitting on a bench and staring at him. He was startled by his phone vibrating. He looked at his messages and there was yet another text from the same number. This time, it said: “Hey there u r! Now I can see u.”
When he looked up, the person was gone.
CHAPTER 2
The next morning, the sky was gray and Daniel was tired. A good night’s rest? Whatever. He should have known that sleeping was unheard of when you have neighbors like Doug Weismann and Cameron Comly. (Who think that Skrillex is actual music.)
“Would you turn that crap down?!” Daniel had shouted as he knocked furiously at Cameron and Doug's door.
“Goddammit I swear I'm going to kick this door down and come in there! And don't think I won't because I've just about h –
He was cut off when Cameron's ever-stoned looking face opened the door and stared at Daniel.
“Dude, chill. It's great music,” he said.
“It's shit music,” Daniel retorted angrily. “And I'm going to report you to the dean if you don't keep it down. There are other people in this building, you know.”
“Fine man,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Some people...” he mumbled something idiotic about appreciating art as he slammed the door.
Daniel was just glad that it was Saturday which meant no college classes, just his Taco Bell job from noon to five.
He looked out his window to find the mysterious person from the park bench, standing on the sidewalk diagonally from his dorm, staring straight up at him. The person was wearing the same outfit; a brown hoodie, denim jeans, skateboard sneakers. A typical college kid outfit, except for one thing. They were wearing a blue mask over their face. Daniel realized that he too was wearing the same outfit he had worn last night. He walked back to his bathroom to change.
Just as he was slipping on a new pair of socks, someone rang Daniel’s doorbell. He answered the door, hesitantly, only to find that there was no one there. Am I hearing things? Daniel wondered. That guy is really starting to creep me out. Maybe I should go pull off his mask and hoodie and find out who he really is. And he would’ve done so, but by the time he was down the stairs, the person was gone. Nowhere to be seen. Daniel checked the sidewalk, the parking lot, the commons area. There was no one.
When he arrived back at his dorm after his useless trip to find the mysterious man, Daniel checked his phone. Oh my God, he thought, ANOTHER text from this number? It said: “TRYING TO FIND ME? CHECK THE CAFETERIA!”
Okay, now Daniel was officially freaked out. Whoever this guy, or girl, was, and whatever sick joke they was playing, needed to end now. He had a growing suspicion that the texts were coming from the mysterious masked hoodie person, though he couldn’t be sure. But neither here nor there, he texted the number back saying: “Stop contacting me.” There was no response.
Good, maybe they’ll knock it off now, he thought.
He walked down the long stairwell (he lived on the 6th floor of the dorm building) and out the door to his car, a 1996 Dodge Neon. It was maroon red, with an all gray interior, and other than the fact that it was too small for a midget to fit in, it had no problems.
On his way to work, he turned up his radio up full blast and sang along, off-key, with all the lyrics he knew. He had to get the stranger off his mind. It was probably nothing anyway. I'm just overreacting, Daniel thought.
He arrived to work ten minutes early.
“Hupfer!” his boss, John Lovell, cried. “You're early! I guess miracles really do happen!”
Yes, a miracle. Right. Daniel thought.
“Well good,” John said, “I need you at register three, pronto! We got busy ‘cuz of the motorcycle show being in town.”
“Of course, I'm on it,” Daniel said with fake enthusiasm. Yay, my favorite post of duty, he thought. Talking to greasy, smelly old motorcycle riders about whether or not they would like that alone or as a combo.
“Hey, Danny-boy!” said Austin, a co-worker and not-so-close friend of Daniel’s. “You here already? Are you trying to suck up to the boss?”
Daniel did not feel like responding to his nonsense.
“Cat got your tongue, Danny-boy?” he said.
“Hey, somebody pull Danny-boy’s string, he’s not talking!” Austin yelled back to the rest of the team.
Still, as they all laughed, Danny-boy said nothing.
After an hour of cash register duty, all the smelly old men decided to leave.
Danny-boy pretended to be sanitizing the silver tables in the kitchen. He still couldn’t get this guy out of his head, although he tried to convince himself it was petty. Just some useless bullshit. Fairly certain it was a man at this point, Daniel remembered that he had blue eyes, but that was all he could make out about his face. They were not very tall, maybe about 5’9” at best. That was it, there couldn’t see any other distinguishing factors about hoodie-man except his clothing. Even that was not very “distinguishing” so to speak. The guy looked like any other typical college kid at Ohio State University. Daniel tried and tried to think of someone, anyone, at the college, that would want to stalk or terrorize him... he came up empty He hadn’t ever done anything to anyone that would make them want to stalk him. Or so he thought, anyway.
As Daniel pulled into the parking lot at his dorm, someone was standing at the corner. Guess who? His phone vibrated. No, he thought, I am not going to look down. I’ll just wait. As he waited, Daniel noticed that this “man” had a very soft complexion for a male. Maybe this was a girl he was dealing with. Still it wasn't clear what gender the hoodie-person was, but did it matter really? He continued to wait. However, it soon became clear that they weren't moving.
Daniel put his car in reverse and skidded out of the parking lot.
CHAPTER 3Daniel decided to go to the mall for a while.
He went to the food court and ordered a pretzel and a Coke, and sat down at a table. He just hoped that the hoodie-guy didn’t follow him to the mall.
Making sure nobody was following him, Daniel got up to leave with his Coke still mostly full, and his pretzel only partially eaten. He wasn’t hungry. Outside, the clouds from earlier had mostly cleared up; it was now sunny. But you couldn’t let that deceive you. The actual temperature was somewhere around thirty degrees. The sun glistened off the mall parking lot and all the cars, yet it felt like there should have been a foot of snow on the ground.
Still making sure nobody was following him, he hopped in. Well, more like he slid in. Remember, this was a midget car.
When he got back to the dormitory, he didn’t see the hoodie-guy, so he figured it was safe to go in. He quickly got on his laptop to finish his paper for his sports medicine class. He wasn’t looking to become a doctor, but figured the class would be interesting anyway. He was actually going for a master’s degree in computer science.
Luckily he didn’t have any other homework to do, so he put his computer away and ordered pizza. The woman on the phone said it would be about a twenty minute wait. Forty minutes later, his doorbell rang. When he got to the door and answered it, nobody was there, but they had left a note. It said in chicken scratch handwriting:
I’m watching you.
Every phone call you make, I can listen to.
Every move you make, I can watch.
Want more answers? Meet me in the cafeteria tomorrow, 8AM.
-Caliban
Daniel felt his blood run cold. He broke out in a sweat. His heart rate began to rise rapidly and he felt nauseous. All of this was not out of fear, but anger. That’s it, he thought, this person has gotten on my last nerve.
So he started down the staircase, and halfway down, he met the pizza delivery woman. He told her she could take the pizza back, he didn’t want it. “You still have to pay for it, sir!” she called after him.
“No I don’t, your website says so. Just take it back.” Daniel called back, never breaking his trot. Pizza woman said something else, but he couldn’t hear her, and frankly, he didn’t care.
He started walking around the building, looking for “Caliban.” His mind was going at thousand miles a minute. So his name is Caliban, he thought. It’s probably just an alias, but what the hell does he want from me? My lunch money? He could just ask, like a normal person. But that’s just it, he’s no normal person. And how can I be so sure it’s a guy? It could be a woman. Whoever they are, they’re not normal. No normal person wears a mask and hoodie and stalks people with creepy texts and notes.
Caliban was nowhere to be found. Daniel’s adrenaline was running on high, but it was no use, since he couldn’t find Caliban. He returned to his dorm, clueless and hungry.
#
The next morning was difficult. Daniel had endured an evening of relentless nightmares and restless sleep. He kept telling himself to stop being so sensitive. But luckily it was Sunday and he didn’t have anything pressing to do. But he couldn’t get this Caliban character off his mind.
Daniel decided not to use his cellphone, just in case Caliban was telling the truth and really could listen to his calls. But he decided he would go visit his friend, Matthew Castagneto for a while. Perhaps he would have some advice about what to do.
“Hey, Dan! What’s up?” Matthew said.
“Well, nothing much. How about you?”
“Same, dude. How ya living these days?”
“A little bit on the edge, honestly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I think someone is stalking me and I can't figure out their identity.”
“Oh, that's a tough one. Is it like cyber-stalking, or are they going the old fashioned way?”
“Both. Texting me and leaving random notes at my door.”
“Wow, that's super creepy. Guy or girl?”
“I don't know.
There was silence for a minute, which was unusual. Typically, Matt was full of musings on wide variety of topics. Quite the opposite of Daniel, who could never seem to find the right words for anything.
“I had a stalker once,” Matt returned to the conversation. “She was an ex, but she was pretty sneaky about it. I didn't really, well... there wasn't much I could do. But one day, I just had sort of an epiphany, and I guessed it was her. I was right and got a restraining order. I wish I knew what to do to help you, man, but I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Do you have any solid evidence?”
Daniel pulled out the note and said, “I've got this,” and handed it to Matt.
Matt closely examined the specimen. “Woah,” he said. “That's some scary shit. You must be really freaked out... I would take it to the police.”
“Yeah, probably the best idea,” Daniel said.
They sat there in another deafening silence. Daniel made up a lie about having a drum gig and left.
“Bye!” Matthew called after him.
Daniel was up late that night working on the final version of his sports medicine paper, and getting distracted with Facebook. He realized that he had not had anything to eat since the day before and decided to cautiously go down to the vending machine. He got a candy bar and a soda and decided to go sit out on the front entrance to think.
When he walked out the front door, he bumped into somebody he would regret bumping into for the rest of his life.
CHAPTER 4
“Don't move!” they said grimly.
Daniel immediately knew it was a woman by the sound of her voice. She had him in a choke hold, with a knife in one hand and a rope in the other.
Daniel's heart was racing. It felt like it would burst right out of his chest. At first, he didn't even know what hit him. But he quickly realized who was attacking him. So this is it? he thought, she's going to kill me and I have no clue why.
“Don't say a word or I'll cut your throat!” she hissed. She began pushing him forward and down the stairs slowly; tying his hands behind his back at the same time. Shivers slithered down his back and he felt light-headed as he stumbled down each step.
“Keep your balance, dumb ass,” she said.
Eventually Daniel and Caliban were standing in front of the parking lot.
“Which one of these is yours?” she asked.
“I don't have to-
“Tell me or you die!” she snapped.
Daniel did not object further. He pointed to his little red Mercury.
“Lead us over there,” Caliban said, “and don't try anything stupid.” She still held him tightly around the neck. It was becoming difficult for him to breathe and his mouth felt like sand.
Daniel slid into the driver side, as Caliban advised him to, and she in the passenger side.
“Drive,” she said.
“Well, I can't exactly drive with my hands tied,” Daniel said. He almost laughed... almost.
She sighed, hurriedly untied him and said again, “Drive.”
“Where?”
“Just drive,” she said, “and hurry up.”
“I don't have my keys,” Daniel said. Which was a lie.
Caliban reached over into his pocket and pulled out his key ring before he could even react, and dangled them from her hand. So much for that idea.
“You think you're funny?” she said, and slapped the keys down on Daniel's lap. “Now drive, smart ass!”
Soon they were on the road, driving along in silence. You could smell the fear in the air. Caliban decided to break the silence.
“So, how 'bout them Bengals today?”
I'm being abducted, and she's making small talk? Daniel thought. What is this? He didn't say a word.
“Don't want to talk about it?” she said. “Fine, let's start with something simple. What's your name?”
Daniel remained quiet, nervously batting his eyes from the road to her and back.
“Look, I know this isn't something you wanted to happen. But now we're together, so let's talk. What's your name?”
“Here's a question for you.” Daniel said. “Was that note you left at my door true, or was it a lie?”
“Fine, I'll answer that.” she replied. “No, it wasn't true. It was meant to scare you, possibly confuse you. But I could not tap into everything you did. Get on the interstate here. Okay, your turn. What's your name?”
“Daniel. And Caliban isn't your real name, is it?”
“No, my name is Nora.”
“So what do you want from me, Nora?” He felt like he was going to puke.
“I shouldn't tell you now. But just to be clear, I didn't kidnap you to kill or rape you. Right now, just keep driving. To my house.”
“So that's where I'm taking you? Your house? For what?”
“Just keep driving.”
“No!” Daniel shouted, and pulled off to the side of the highway abruptly and slammed the car in to park. “No, I'm not moving another inch until you tell me why in the fuck you're abducting me and taking me to your goddamn house!” He regretted saying it, and the sweat was pouring out of him.
Nora stared at him for several moments before saying, “Fine. I need you to help me kill someone.”
Daniel just looked at her for a minute. “Please, do elaborate,” he said satirically.
“My brother Mark was hurt in a car accident recently that wasn’t his fault. And by hurt, I mean badly. Paralyzed. His car was flipped onto it’s side. The guy who caused the wreck was drunk. Normally, that would have gotten him some prison time and a hefty fine. They even had evidence found at the scene, a six-pack in the back of the guy’s car; but it was never officially turned into the police. But that doesn’t matter, the problem is that the dumb ass who did it is the son of a cop. A dirty cop. A cop that would do anything to protect his child from facing their consequences. So now his little shit faced coward of a son is pretty much off the hook for almost killing my brother.”
Daniel sat and considered this. After a while, he said, “So you want me to help you kill… the cop?”
“No, his son. He’s a career drunk. We get rid of him, it’ll mean one less scumbag for the earth to deal with, and it’ll teach his dad a lesson.”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting just the slightest bit here?” Daniel said.
“Not at all. And if you help me, there’ll be a reward. A nice reward,” Nora replied.
“Even so, why would I want to risk my entire life to help you, a stranger, kill someone that I have very sketchy details about?”
“You’re looking at it the wrong way.”
“Looking at it the wrong way?” Daniel repeated. He was becoming slightly irritated with this woman. “How exactly am I looking at it wrong?”
“Well, that reward I mentioned, it’s five thousand dollars and plus…”
“And what if we get caught, Nora?” Daniel interrupted. “Both our lives would be over. Completely. Done. We’d be in prison for the rest of our days. I have a life, you know. I have friends, a family, a college degree to get, a career to pursue. And I’m sure you have other things to take care of in your life.”
“Not really. I mean, I had a job, but it was minimum wage and...”
“Sure. Right,” Daniel said angrily. “Well, I’m not helping you, and since you promised not to kill me, just get out of my car and walk yourself home. I don’t have to take-”
“Please!” Nora said with a sudden despair in her voice. “Please, you have to help me. You don’t know what this means to me. Justice for my baby brother. One less monster to deal with…” She trailed off. She was nearly in tears. “All my life, I’ve had nothing but pain. My mom died when I was eight, my dad was a drug addict. I had one friend in school, and she died in a motorcycle accident. I barely graduated high school and everyone hated me. Just, please help me do this one thing. Please.”
Daniel couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. There was something sincere about they way she spoke, something tragic as well. He slowly began to have a change of heart. He didn’t really know why, but he felt something within himself. Maybe it was because of her painful story, maybe it was his underlying desire for justice in the world, or maybe it was just because she was damn good looking. Whatever the reason, Daniel made the mental decision to help Nora in whatever way possible. Never in his later life did he begin to understand this conviction. This woman threatened to slit his throat no less than a half-hour ago, and now he was agreeing to help her kill someone else. What a coincidence.
“Alright, I’ll do it,” Daniel said after much hesitation.
“Really? You promise?” Nora asked, surprised.
“I promise.”
CHAPTER 5
Daniel immediately regretted what he had said. He began to realize the full effect this could have on his life. The thought of killing someone utterly terrified him. How could he let her suck him into this? But there was no going back now; a promise is a promise. So he pulled back onto the interstate without looking behind him. For the remainder of the trip, they both remained silent, except for when Nora had to give directions.
When they arrived at Nora's mobile home, she told Daniel to be extremely quiet so her boyfriend wouldn't wake up. Well, that turned out to be a wasted effort.
“Who the hell is this?” he said furiously.
“Brett, calm down. This is Daniel. He's here to help us,” Nora replied gently.
“No! You're cheating on me, aren't you? Is he ?” he demanded.
Nora just chuckled, “No, silly. Remember how I told you I was going to find someone to help us kill that bastard Cam? Well, I found him.”
Daniel just looked on, his eyes darting back and forth between the two. He hoped he didn't look as scared as he felt. Brett was quite a hefty man, tall as well. He could easily take him out.
Brett turned to Daniel. “You...” he said viciously, “You ever so much as put your arm around her, and I'll pump so much lead in you're chest you won't never see the light of day again!”
It was all Daniel could do not to scream in horror.
“Brett!” Nora said, clearly becoming frustrated. “That's enough. Daniel's only here to help because you were too much of a pussy to help me, and if you think anything otherwise, you clearly don't trust me.”
That was enough to completely bend him out of shape.
“You think I don't trust you?!” he shouted. “Well, I shouldn't, since obviously you have another lover.”
Nora looked stunned. “Stop it, Brett!” she barked. “You know I would never cheat on you. And even if I did have feelings for another man, I would be strong enough to tell you! So just shut your fucking mouth!”
Brett's eyes looked like they would bulge out of his head. He suddenly turned to Daniel and grabbed him by the neck and began yelling profanities in his face, and pushing him against the stove.
“Brett, get off of him!” Nora screamed as she tried to fend him off. “Stop, you'll hurt him!”
But Nora was not needed for much longer. Daniel pulled himself away from Brett's grip, and in the sheer force of adrenaline and fear, ducked down, made a fist, and punched Brett right where the sun don't shine. Hard as he could.
Brett made an awful groaning noise and fell backwards, grabbing the table to keep his balance. Panting, sweat rolling down his face, holding his groin, Brett just stared for a moment.
Then he pointed his finger at Daniel and said, “You better watch yourself, tough guy.” He then retreated to the back bedroom, but not before banging his head on a light in the hallway.
Daniel and Nora looked at each other, both breathing hard. Nora pulled her hair back.
“Sorry, he can be a little overprotective sometimes,” she said.
“You think?” Daniel replied.
“Come on over here. You can sleep on the couch. Or the floor, whichever you prefer,” she said.
He followed hesitantly. After all, he only met her an hour or two ago. Why did he even trust her in the first place? Unknowingly, he continued.
As they entered the living room, she said, “Okay, well, I am going to stay with Brett even though he's being pissy. Wouldn't want him to get any ideas.”
“No shit,” Daniel said. “So are we going to work on a plan, or...”
“Nah, it's kind of late. We should just get some rest.”
“Fine by me,” he said, and flopped down on his new bed.
He laid up for a while, contemplating the day's events.
Wow, he thought, what have I gotten myself in to? Let's see, this morning I woke up with a perfectly normal life. I had nothing on my mind but work and college. Then, in the middle of the night I'm abducted by a somewhat psychopathic, yet uncannily sweet woman. She wants me to help her kill someone. Murder them in cold blood. All because they hurt her little brother in an alcoholic accident. I barely know her, she barely knows me, and I haven't even met her brother. How do I even know any if what she told me is true. Hell, how can I know any of her motives, what with all that stalker business. But now I've dragged myself into this; put my entire life on hold, to help a stranger bring her brother justice. Am I really that stupid?
#
The next morning, Daniel woke up with a very itchy back.
Oh no. Does she have bed bugs? he thought. He scratched his back furiously.
He found Nora in the kitchen making eggs and bacon, and Brett sitting at the table pretending to read the newspaper. They refused to make eye contact with each other.
“Good morning!” Nora said brightly. “You hungry? Oh, who am I kidding. You're probably starving!”
“Yeah, probably takes a lot of energy to punch someone in the balls,” Brett said smugly.
“Oh get over it,” Nora said. “You brought yourself into it by trying to kill him, so drop it. Anyway, Daniel, do you want some eggs and bacon?”
“Yes, please,” he replied quietly.
They both sat at down at the table and ate in silence.
When everyone was done, Brett folded up his newspaper and said, “Well, I'm off to work.” He kissed Nora on the head.
“Bye baby,” she said.
“Don't try anything funny,” he said coldly to Daniel.
“Yes, sir,” Daniel replied.
Once he was safely gone, Nora said, “God, sometimes I wonder if we were really meant to be together.” She shook her head and continued to eat. Daniel dared not give his opinion on the matter.
“So how old are you?” Nora asked.
“Twenty.”
“I'm twenty-one,” she said. “So you're in college, right? What degree are going for?”
“Does it matter?” he asked. “We're both going to rot in jail if we do what you want us to.”
“Oh, don't be so negative. Let's not talk about that until later.”
Don't be negative? he thought. How can I possibly be positive about this?
“Well, I'm planning on getting a degree in criminal justice.” His back continued to itch terribly.
“Really?” Nora gasped. She seemed genuinely intrigued by this. “What's college like, anyway? I never went.”
“Pretty ho-hum, really. Especially when you get to your second year. But I guess you have to pay your dues if you want to be prosecutor or judge someday.”
“Come on, it can't be that boring,” she said.
“When you have to have a job on the side and you behind on your loan payments, trust me, it is.”
She seemed content with this. They continued to eat quietly for a while. Daniel started to notice that Nora was very beautiful. That long, silky black hair, dark eyes, perfectly toned dark skin. So gorgeous. Certainly not deserving of a man like... Brett. Brett, who was anything but attractive. Other than being extremely masculine, he was just ugly, on the outside and the inside. Just not right for a kind, beautiful woman like Nora. Not at all, he thought.
Nora got up quickly and put her plate in the sink.
“Well, you want to take me to run some errands?” she asked.
“Sure,” Daniel replied and got up to help her. He realized that she did not own a car.
“How do you usually get around, with Brett having the only car?” he asked. Too intrusive, he thought? Oh well, too late for intrusive feelings now.
“Oh, I have girlfriends in the neighborhood who help me out. They help me do stuff during the day, sometimes we go to the mall, see a movie on Saturdays... you know, typical stuff. I get around. But this'll be a nice change.”
“Yes, I'm sure it will be.” He was still not sure why he was suddenly treating Nora like his best friend or something. How long could he keep up the act?
CHAPTER 6
After a large and frustrating amount of traffic, Daniel and Nora arrived at the post office. As Nora had explained, Brett had run over their mailbox one night when coming home drunk. Now they only had a PO box.
As they were walking into the post office, Daniel received a text. It was from Matthew, asking where he'd been all day. Of course, Daniel lied and said he was sick with a stomach bug. Probably one of those 24 hour things, he added. He should be back to class tomorrow.
“Who was that?” asked Nora.
“Just a friend,” Daniel said.
“Oh. Well here, hold this for a second,” she said, handing him a stack of mail.
Daniel's phone vibrated again. Now Matthew said he better call the attendance clerk to let them know. He also asked why Daniel was not in his dorm if he was sick.
Again, Daniel made up a lie and said he had gone to the drug store to get some Nyquil. Matthew seemed satisfied with this answer and said “Ok, well c u toms! :)” (Which is texting lingo for “see you tomorrow.”)
Relieved, Daniel put his phone back in his pocket.
“Thanks,” Nora said and took the mail back. “Alright, let's go.” And they proceeded back to the car.
“Where to now?” Daniel said as he dialed the college office's number.
“Um, I don't know, do you want to pick up some lunch?”
“Sure. Oh, yes hello. This is Daniel Hupfer. I just wanted to let you know I'm going to be absent today due to an illness. Yes, I should return to class tomorrow. I will not have a doctors note, ma'am. Ok, yes I understand. Thank you. You too. Bye.”
“Who was that?” Nora asked.
“The attendance office at my college.”
“Oh,” Nora said. She seemed a bit ashamed.
“So anyway, how about Subway for lunch?” Daniel said after a long pause.
“Sounds great.”
#
Daniel and Nora sat on a bench outside Subway in front of a nice little park. They struck up a conversation about their high school days.
“Did you do any sports?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah, actually I played basketball up until my junior year.”
“No way!” Daniel said. “I played too, through my sophomore year. Then I gave it up because the coach said there was no way I could get a sports scholarship even though I was a really good player. It was because my GPA didn't meet the requirements. After that I just decided to focus more on my music and percussion. Why did you quit, if you don't mind me asking?”
“That's not a very supportive coach,” said Nora. “And I quit because things got really bad my junior year. My mother had already passed away, and I was living with my dad. Things had always been pretty rough without mom around, but basketball used to be my escape. Then around my junior year my dad started abusing me.”
“He did?” Daniel said, shocked.
“Yeah,” she sighed, “he was depressed and addicted to drugs, and he started getting high and taking things out on me. It was mostly verbal abuse, but the last straw was the night he decided to beat me. He got really high and drank beer all night, and then proceeded to wake me up and beat the living shit out of me.”
Daniel just sat and listened as Nora went on.
“I tried to fight back, but he just kept going until...” her voice was cracking and she was wiping away a tear, “until I guess he just got tired and passed out on the couch. So I managed to gather up some clothes and a couple other things, and I went out to my car and drove out of there as fast as I could.” Now she spoke with strongly, with conviction. “And I haven't talked to him or seen him since. He tried to call me, but I never answered.”
“Wow,” Daniel said. “I'm really sorry to hear that.”
“Well, I had already started dating Brett at the time, even though he lived in the next city. This one of course. My dad and I lived in Dayton. I moved in with Brett and now, well, here I am. Alive and... okay I suppose. Hey, so you played high school ball, huh? Well I see a hoop and a ball right behind us...” Nora said playfully.
After a moment, Daniel said, “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”
“Oh yeah. It's on!” she shouted and they both jumped up and ran over to the net. The sky was clouding up and probably about to rain, but they didn't seem to notice. Nora picked up the ball and shot from behind the three point line, and made it in the net off the backboard.
“Hey!” Daniel laughed. “You didn't even check it to me.”
“Who said I had to?” Nora replied, giggling.
“Well look who's got the ball now,” he teased.
They played basketball and goofed around until it got dark and they headed back to Daniel's car. He had parked quite a ways away from the basketball hoops. As they were walking over, it started raining lightly, but then proceeded to pour.
“Oh my God, I didn't even see it clouding up!” Nora said.
“Neither did I,” Daniel laughed.
“We're soaked,” Nora observed as the climbed into the car.
“No kidding?”
“Shut up!” she retorted.
They both laughed again for a moment, then Daniel put the car in drive and they drove back to Nora's house, sweating to the oldies on the radio. At least, it felt like they were sweating.
As they arrived, it was getting late and Nora became nervous.
“Oh, I hope Brett's out playing poker or something,” she said.
“Don't worry. Even if he's here, we can just tell him we bought him dinner.”
“But... we didn't,” Nora said, confused.
“Actually, I picked him up something at Subway after I used the bathroom. While you were fixing your makeup.”
“You clever bastard!” Nora whispered, grinning.
“I try.”
When they opened the door, Brett was waiting for them, naturally.
“Where the hell have you been, sweet pea?” he asked.
“Well, we got you something to eat, if you don't mind,” Nora said defensively.
“Oh. Well, uh, ok.” he said.
“Yeah, Daniel bought it. Perhaps you should thank him.”
“Oh, thanks man,” he said, obviously puzzled by this sudden act of generosity.
“Not a problem,” Daniel said nonchalantly, as if they had known one another for years.
He laid down on the couch and relaxed as Brett was momentarily contained to peace. Nora sat in the worn leather loveseat next to him.
“Thank you.” she whispered in his ear. “Really, you just saved my ass.”
Daniel just chuckled and said, “I know, right?”
CHAPTER 7
Daniel slept like he was in a coma. He had fallen asleep on the couch in an awkward position, and woke up very sore. He continued to the kitchen, much in the same way he had yesterday. This time, he didn't even think about the oddness of his situation. Nora had not cooked anything for breakfast, she and Brett were eating cheerios.
“Morning!” Nora said with a mouthful, “Cereal's in the top cupboard if you want some.”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, and bowls are right there to your left,” she pointed out.
Daniel poured himself some milk and Lucky Charms and joined the two somewhat estranged lovers for breakfast. Before he was even on his third spoonful, Brett got up and quickly discarded his bowl and announced he was leaving for work. Nora kissed him goodbye, a bit half-heartedly.
After several minutes of the ear crushing silence of cereal eating, Nora finally spoke as she arose from her seat.
“What do you want to do today?” she asked openly.
“I don't know, do you have anything pressing to get done?” Daniel said.
“I wouldn't call it 'pressing',” she said, making air quotation marks.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, ugh,” she scoffed, “Brett just wants me to go pick up some silly new protein shake he ordered off the internet.”
“Oh I see,” Daniel said. “We can do that.”
“Meh, but I don't feel like it,” Nora laughed. “You play video games?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “My favorite is Call of Duty.”
“Nice!” she said. “I like that one, and I have to admit I'm a sucker for a good old-fashioned round of Mario Kart.” She smiled her beautiful smile and Daniel laughed.
They walked over to the TV and Nora pulled out Call of Duty for the X-Box. They sat down on the couch and started playing. Nora got pretty competitive and Daniel felt like he had met his match. He suggested they switch to Mario Kart.
“What? My skills too hot for you to handle?” Nora laughed.
“No, just thought you might want to play something a little easier,” he smirked.
“Oh, well I was thinking the same thing about you,” she replied.
They played various games for hours and hours, and talked on and on about just about everything. Nora told him the story of how her and Brett met: at his job, at the dump. Yes, she had said, it was true. She had been cleaning out the garage and shed at her dad's house, and made several trips to the city dump on different days. Brett was working the cashier window each time. Finally, on her last trip, he asked her out to dinner. The first few months, she told Daniel, were very fun.
“But then things just got too routine for me, you know?” she said. “I wanted to have fun, and he just worked and came home and got drunk mostly. Plus he's like seven years older than me.”
Then it was Daniel's turn. He said he had never really had a girlfriend, but he had chased a few chicks. Nora giggled at his attempt to use macho words.
“There was this one blonde girl,” he said. “Smokin'. I tried to get 'close' with her, if you know what I'm saying...”
“Naturally,” Nora commented sarcastically.
“Anyway, I was making out with her hard-core, right? It was awesome; I had never kissed a girl before. And then she looked deeply into my eyes... and whispered, 'I have mono.' Then she laughed and walked away.”
“Ha! You're kidding!” Nora said.
“Nope. I missed two weeks of school, out sick with mono.”
“What a bitch!” she exclaimed.
They continued to shoot the breeze for a while, and played almost all the games in Nora's collection.
“Can I tell you something?” Nora asked softly, and got very close to Daniel.
“Of course,” he replied. “You can tell me anything.”
“I fucking love you,” she said and leaned in and kissed him. Daniel had no time to react and simply accepted.
“I – I love you too,” he stuttered.
“Shh,” Nora chided gently, “just let it happen.”
“But, I've never –” Daniel started, but Nora just put her finger on his lips.
And the rest, let's just say, he let happen....
CHAPTER 8
They were both in a daze. The line between reality and fantasy had been blurred. Nora lit a cigarette to commemorate their love-making. Normally, Daniel would object to anyone smoking around him, but this was different. He was in love.
“You okay with me smoking?” she asked.
“It's fine. As a matter of fact, mind if I have one?”
She handed him a Pall Mall and lighter. “You ready to get serious with things?”
“Haven't we done that already?” Daniel smirked.
“You're hilarious. A real riot, but really... are we still going to do this?”
“Of course. I told you I would do anything to help you out.”
“I know, but I was just wondering if maybe you changed your mind.”
“Why would I? You're very convincing.”
Seeming content with this, Nora got up to grab something to eat. Daniel considered himself for a moment. He felt very smug, like a thief who had just made off with thousands of dollars. But it was a good kind of smug. Is this really what I want, he thought for a moment. Well of course it is, dumbass! You're a smart guy, he told himself. You'll find a way out if you need to.
Nora came back into the living room with two Pop Tarts. “Want one?” she asked.
“Sure, baby,” Daniel replied.
He thought Nora was going to sit down and cuddle with him, but instead she pulled a glock out of her jacket and handed it to him.
“Let's go,” she said, her tone of voice suddenly changing.
“What?” Daniel asked, surprised.
“I said come on, silly. We have to do this tonight. And maybe afterwards, we'll have a romantic dinner somewhere. But hurry up, we have to get going before umbass gets back.”
“You mean Brett?”
“Ugh, don't even say his name,” Nora said disgustedly.
“Okay, but you carry the pistol,” Daniel said.
“Haha, no you dork!” she said playfully, and pulled him up off the couch. “I have to carry my gun. And besides, they're not even loaded yet, so don't worry.”
Once in the car and heading down the road, Daniel asks where to go.
“Your dorm room.”
“Wait, what? Why there?”
“Cam is there.”
“Cam?”
“Yes, Cam,” she repeated. “Cameron Comly. I thought I already told you all this.”
Daniel was frozen for a moment. He was still driving, but his body was stuck. He was going to kill his neighbor? No, he thought, this can't be happening to me! What have I gotten myself into??
After recollecting his thoughts, he said, “No, you never explained anything to me, really.” His voice was shaky.
“Oh, well yeah. Hand me your glock.” Daniel forked over the weapon.
Nora continued, “He's the one who paralyzed my brother in the car wreck, and so our mission is to seek revenge on him. That is, of course, if you'll still help.”
“Well, Nora, I – I just don't know... I mean , I didn't realize it would be my neighbor, and, uh... Look I don't know if I'm going to be able to go through with this. Not that I don't like you and all, just that –
He was interrupted by the ringing of Nora's cellphone.
“Hello? Yes, this is Nora speaking. What is it?”
After a long pause “Oh, I see. Okay, thank you.” Her voice cracked when she said this. She hung up the phone.
Through her misty eyes, she said, “Go to the hospital. Bethesda North, please.”
#
The hospital was crowded and chaotic, and Daniel could tell that Nora was barely hanging on to sanity by a thread when as they walked through the glass doors into the ICU. Everyone, all of the nurses and doctors, looked sympathetically at Nora as she made her way through the corridor to room number 24 A. When she entered, their was a small, pale-looking nurse.
“I'm so sorry,” she said, almost too quiet to hear.
“thank you.”
The nurse did not need to say anything more because Nora had already been informed of the situation. Mark had gone into a coma about an hour ago.
Daniel remained quiet; he had no words at this point. Nora walked around and touched her brother on the forehead and was mumbling some things to him. She'd been so strong up until this point, but couldn't contain it any longer. Like a leaky faucet, she began to cry. First a whimper, then a quiet sobbing. Daniel, not know what else do, simply wrapped his arms around her and tried to reassure her that everything would be alright. He just kept repeating it, “Everything will be alright... Don't you worry, it'll all be alright.”
A doctor buzzed into the room. “Are you Nora Sandoval?”
The two left the room in a rush, leaving Daniel behind with Mark.
“I don't know you, but I feel bad for you. I'm really sorry about what happened to you; I'm sure you didn't deserve that. Nobody would deserve that. I know you can't hear me, but I just want you to know that I'm helping your sister in any way I possibly can. For you. This is all for you.”
Well, mostly... like 90% is for you. Okay, maybe more like 75- no like 50, well 31. Yeah, 31% for you, 59% for me. Oh, who am I kidding? Daniel's thoughts were scattered. He began to wonder why he was sitting here talking to someone who couldn't understand him. After, what seemed like an eternity, Nora and the doctor returned to 24 A.
“You sir.”
Daniel realized the man was talking to him. “Oh, yes?”
“Are you related?”
“No, I'm Nora's...” he nearly hesitated, “boyfriend.”
“Oh, I see. Well, Mark is in a coma as of current. We're going to see how he does overnight, but if he's not better by the week's end, the best option really is to take him off life support.” The doctor had only a slight hint of empathy in his voice. Probably because he had dealt with this situation countless times before. He left the room.
Nora sat in the chair next to Daniel, still and blank-faced, staring at the floor.
After a while, she said with a tear still in her eye, “Come on, Daniel. We have work to do.”
She grabbed his hand and they dashed out of room 24 A at full speed.
CHAPTER 9
The evening air was cool and crisp as they stepped onto the newly paved sidewalk outside of Bethesda. The wind was blowing gently with an occasional gust. Dark, ominous clouds gathered in the distance, making part of the dimly lit sky look like a black hole. A small crackle of far-off thunder could be heard. A formidable storm loomed in the near future.
Nora walked with such purpose Daniel could hardly keep up.
[This chapter not complete yet]