What If?

WHAT IF?


         It was always the same.  Running through the rain soaked forest.  Running for her life.  Looking back, hearing heavy footsteps behind her, gaining on her.  Deeper and deeper into the park.  Branches tearing at her clothes, scraping her face and arms.  She could taste the blood as it trickled down her face and on to her lips.  However, nothing slowed her down.  In fact, her growing fear made her run faster.
         She veered off to the left toward a thick grove of holly bushes.  Crouching down, she forced herself to control her breathing, willing herself to calm down.  The air around her was quiet.  She listened, straining to hear a twig snap, a piece of gravel scatter.  Standing up, she took a deep breath and turned toward home.  And stopped cold.  He was standing directly in front of her, grinning.  Ginny screamed.
         “Ginny!  Ginny!  Wake up!  You’re having that bad dream again!”  Her husband, Jason, was sitting on the edge of their bed, shaking her shoulders. 
         Hands clinched, Ginny tried to fight off her husband.  “Leave me alone”, nearly pushing Jason to the floor.
         “Stop it, Ginny.  Wake up.”  Jason shook her by the shoulders again, not so gently this time.
         Ginny stopped fighting him and slowing opened her eyes.  After a couple of long, quiet minutes, a small smile started to make its way on to her face.  “Jason, what on earth are you doing?  You’re going to be late for work.
         “You were having that bad dream again, honey.  Do you remember?”  Ginny just sat there, not saying a word.  He stood up, went to the master bathroom and returned carrying a small white capsule and a glass of water.  “Here, take one of these, it will help you relax.”
         As if in a trance, Ginny meekly held out her hand, took the capsule and, with a small sip, swallowed the medicine.  “You’re so good to me, Honey.  What would I do without you?”
         “That’s my goal in life, Sweet Thing.  Now, lie back and relax.  I’ll see you tonight.”  Giving her a light kiss on her forehead, Jason picked up his briefcase and quietly shut the bedroom door, locking it with a key.  He knew the medication would make her sleep for at least 10 hours.  Plenty of time for him to clean up some loose ends.
         The cute, young couple was the model of the perfect twosome.  Shortly after moving on to the upscale cul-de-sac, they became an integral part of a group consisting of four other couples.  Couples so identical to Ginny and Jason, it was as though the entire group had been cut from the same cloth.
         It soon became the norm to have get-togethers every weekend.  Progressive dinners, backyard barbeques, nights out on the town.  At the end of each occasion, they would vote on the next exciting thing to try.
         It had started at the Memorial Day pool party.  Everyone was sitting around, laughing, drinking wine, and playing their favorite game,”What If?”  Although the guys were the ones who originally created the game, the girls were quick to join in the fun.  The rules were simple.
        One person was chosen as the judge.  All the other names were put in a hat and the judge would pick a name.  That person became the suspect.  The remaining people then became the jury. The suspect had one week to commit a “crime”.  The jury and judge would then decide if
the suspect was guilty or innocent.  Ginny and Jason’s next-door neighbors, Sue and Paul were chosen judge and suspect, respectively.  However, what started out as harmless practical jokes soon turned more sinister.  Shortly after Jason was chosen as the suspect, the media started running stories about an alleged serial killer strangling young women who had been jogging in the park not far from the cul-de-sac.
          After the first murder, Jason had stood in front of the judge and jury, proclaiming his innocence.  “You all can’t be serious.  This is a game.  Nothing more.  What would make you think I would even consider such a horrible act?”  The judge, this time Paul had the honor, looked straight at Jason and spoke.  “Jason, it’s been common knowledge that you are an over-achiever.  You always want to be the best.  I agree that perhaps some of the previous “acts” were a bit risky, but no one got hurt.  Now, friend, we’re not so sure you might not have taken the game to a completely new level.  We’ll stand behind you, but we feel you need help.”
          Jason stood there.  He was at a loss for words for the first time in his life.  Looking at Ginny, and seeing the same look on her face that he saw on the rest of the group, he just shook his head and left the party. 
         “I’ll talk to him.”  Ginny grabbed her purse and headed after her husband.  When she entered the living room, Jason looked at her.  “You don’t believe me either, do you?”
         “Honey, it’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just the fact the group is right.  You have always had that “never lose” attitude and I’m not sure just how far you would take the game.”
         The couple argued for what seemed hours before Jason finally walked over to his hysterical wife and put his arms around her.  “Ginny, my love, I would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship.  You’ve got to believe me.”
         Ginny disappeared soon after that.  Jason told everyone she had gone back East to help her mother who was recovering from a broken hip.  What they didn’t know was Ginny was being drugged and had become a prisoner in her own home. 
         Ginny lay on her side, facing the bedroom window.  When she heard Jason lock the door, she slowly sat up, ran her fingers through her hair and spit the capsule into her hand.  Even after she was certain he was not coming back, Ginny waited.  Finally, she walked over to the large walk-in closet.  She opened the door, turned on the overhead light, and moved the two large storage boxes marked ‘winter blankets’.  Kneeling down on the hardwood floor where the boxes had been, she gently pried away the boards.  It took her almost an hour to remove and carefully stack the boards along the walls inside the closet. 
           She slowly lowered her nightgown-clad body into the hole that had once been the laundry chute to the basement.  She had thought of just dropping down out of the bedroom window, but realized just as she started to open it that Jason would have set the security system when he left.  He never forgot to do that.  Therefore, she had worked like a demon over the last few weeks until the opening was large enough for her to slip through and drop the five feet to the basement floor.  She brushed the cobwebs out of her hair and listened.  Nothing.  “This is your only chance”, she told herself.  Reaching the top of the basement stairs, she pulled the riser loose and pulled out a small bundle of clothes.  Once inside the kitchen, Ginny wasted no time.  She quickly changed out of her nightgown and into the shirt, jogging shorts and running shoes.
         With one last look around the kitchen, Ginny disarmed the security system, opened the back door and, for the first time in six weeks, stepped out into the bright sunshine.  She realized she was taking a huge chance.  If one of her friends spotted her, precious time would be lost trying to explain her absence.  She had to make it to the park before Jason.
        Dusk was approaching as Ginny reached the entrance to the park.  She was running out of time.  Jason was due home at 8:00 pm.  Taking a deep breath, she started to jog into the park.
         It was the crack of a tree branch that almost caused her to stop.  “I’ve got to stay calm,” she whispered to herself as she continued the light pace.  Then she heard the footsteps behind her.  Picking up speed, Ginny suddenly realized what was going to happen.  “It’s my nightmare coming to life!  I’ve got to keep running!”  Dodging off the path, she cut through the sparse trees first left, then right, never looking back.  She didn’t have to.  The footsteps were closer.
         Then she saw it.  The small stand of holly bushes off to her left.  With one final burst of speed, she ran into the center of the bushes and knelt down.  Crouching in the bushes, trying to control her breathing, the tears mixed with the blood from the scratches on her face.  All she could think was, “Why, Jason?”  She had discovered all the pieces of evidence in the garage while Jason was at work.  The mud-encrusted running shoes, the collection of silk scarves tucked inside his golf bag.  “Were you so fixated on that stupid game you didn’t consider the
consequences?”  Knowing what was going to happen next, Ginny slowly stood up and turned around.
         Not more than ten yards in front of her was the dark silhouette of the man she had loved for six years.  But, something was wrong.  In her nightmare, he was closer.  In fact, he was always right in front of her, smiling.  As she opened her mouth, a hand shot around her head and clamped it over her mouth, stifling her cry.  Struggling, she managed to turn around to see her assailant’s face. 
        It was Paul. And... he was smiling!  Just as he started to wrap the scarf around Ginny’s throat, she took a step back and stomped down hard on his foot.  The surprise move gave her just the half-second she needed to scream Jason’s name.
         Turning, Jason couldn’t believe what was happening.  “Detective Wilson!  This way!”  Running toward Ginny were four police officers and Jason.  “Let her go, you son of a bitch!” Jason growled.
         “Not a chance.”  As he tightened the scarf, the detective drew his gun and aimed it at Paul.  “Release her or I’ll shoot.”  One more tug on the scarf was all it took.  As Ginny’s legs began to buckle, the detective fired a single shot.  Paul dropped to the ground, his kneecap shattered.
         Jason ran over to his wife.  “Honey, are you ok?”  He wrapped his arms around her and rocked back and forth.
         Ginny looked up and wiped away her husband’s tears.  “Paul was the killer all the time, wasn’t he?”
        Not letting go of his young wife, Jason admitted,  “Yes.  Sue told me that Paul was so upset when the group couldn’t prove me guilty that he decided to take matters into his own hands.  He was obsessed with convincing everyone that I was the one responsible for the murders.  Unfortunately, he soon found out he actually enjoyed committing the crime.  I started following him, and even though I never caught him in the act, I alerted the police.  Knowing how much you love jogging in the park, I couldn’t risk Paul choosing you as one of his victims.  That’s why I pretty much drugged you on a daily basis and kept you locked in the bedroom.  By the way, how did you get out?”
         Ginny kissed him on the cheek and said, “Woman’s ingenuity.  I’ll tell you how some day.  Let’s go home.”
         The group doesn’t exist any more.  Two couples sold their homes and moved out of state.  One couple went through a rather nasty divorce with the wife keeping the house. Sue stood by Paul during his trial.  She continues to visit him at the state penitentiary where he is spending the next 30 years.  She hasn’t seen or talked with Ginny or Jason since the arrest.
         And, Ginny and Jason?  They moved up to the wine country of Napa Valley, purchased a small bed and breakfast and are anxiously awaiting the birth of their first child. 
         However, one thing remains the same.  Ginny and Jason still play a version of the game.  Only now, their answers revolve around two questions;

“WHAT IF IT’S A GIRL? …WHAT IF IT’S A BOY?”