Weight
000
There's a reverberation in his eardrums caused by the news on the radio. The words seem to rotate in circles, one by one making a slow descent into his hollowed out insides. Settling in the nothingness that he is. He turns the volume on his car radio up.
''White, the former Albuquerque school teacher who was the subject of a six month international manhunt was found dead late Tuesday.''
Somewhere in his brain the words make sense. After all, the last time Jesse saw him he had been bleeding from a gunshot wound to his stomach. It was to be expected. The broadcaster goes on talking -sweeps the former news aside- moving onto the dollar dropping in foreign exchange markets and something about a Nasdaq report. Jesse's still stuck in a moment from a few seconds ago.
The tail lights of a tow truck passing by his parked car make him tear his gaze away from the radio. As he's shielding his face from the lights, the action is enough for him to notice he's breathing a little faster than he was only moments ago. He smooths the creases from his forehead, clicks the radio off, slows his breathing down to normal. His fingers turn the key in the ignition, and he takes just a second to get his brain to function enough to move the car and himself forward.
In the silence that follows, a rumination of what he heard plays in his mind-
''White, found dead late Tuesday.''
''White, found dead.''
''White, found-.''
''Dead.''
The weight of the words searing onto his bones as he drives.