The Yukon screeches to a halt barely missing the taxi's bumper. Nukpana throws open the door pausing to pull a couple of bucks from her bra then leaps up the stairs of a boarding house. We pull around the block parking out of sight.
"Okay," Rodger begins turning around in his seat to look at me. "Ready?"
I let out a rush of nervous air. The gravity of the situation rests in the bullet holes of my heart sinking me back against the seat so I can't will myself to move. I nod swallowing a lump of rock hard fear.
"And remember," Rodger says over his shoulder as he pulls away from the curb, "Riley's there for back up… just in case".
The lone clicks of my pumps sound forlorn and soft as I make my way down the sidewalk passing in front of the boarding house where Nukpana entered.
"Okay, Sam, she's pushing the curtains back. She looks shocked. Slow your walk down a little. And remember don't show your face!" Rodger comes in through the hearing device. I slow my pace ignoring the will to run. A door slams shut followed by another pair of footsteps. They're getting closer and closer. Static screeches full blast.
"AHH," I cry out pulling the device from my ear. I stuff it in my pocket realizing what I've just done. Just keep walking, keep…
"Excuse me!" Nukpana calls from behind jogging towards me, her feet clacking against the pavement. I break into a jog turning into the dark alley. Weeds dot the sides of the two brick buildings cradling the broken wine bottles and empty cigarette boxes.
The basement doors lie before me. I jerk them open causing several splinters to lodge themselves in my fingertips. Ignoring the pain I jump onto the stairs ducking just before the doors flop back down.
Just as planned, I plop myself into the chair facing away from the doors. They burst open causing a pool of light to shatter the darkness. One by one the stairs creak as she makes her way towards me.
"Samantha," She breathes pausing behind me. I'm shaking trying to keep the tears from swelling over, but it doesn't work. I flick on the lamp besides me and turn facing her head on. She jumps back, startled then recovers instantly pleased.
"Hello, Belinda." Her satisfied grin wavers, her cover blown.
"How do you," She begins then stops, her usual ice blue eyes have become emblazed. "How did you figure me out?"
"Please sit," I gesture to the chair opposite me. She complies hesitantly perching on the edge. The light from the outside world catches the dust particles like nature's own chandelier casting dancing dots across the basement. "You are not an only child," I begin unraveling Belinda's web of lies. "You have an identical twin sister named Abigail. She was the perfect, sensible one while you were the rebel always stirring up trouble. At age 18 you ran away to Las Vegas selling yourself on the streets drugging your clients with Rohypnol so you could steal their money and jewelry. But one night, you made a mistake. You tried your scheming tactic on an undercover cop, Rodger Locklear. You fled before he could catch you going back to Arizona because your sister offered for you to stay with her and her new husband Mr. Ames. You quickly began falling for Mr. Ames and slept with him. Both of you promised to keep it a secret but soon thereafter you got pregnant. He told you to get an abortion and even drove you to the clinic himself. Afterwards you began to despise him for making you destroy your child. Mr. Ames and Rodger Locklear have been friends forever so one day Rodger tells Mr. Ames that he's looking for a runaway and tells him that he suspects the prostitute to have gone to Arizona. After Rodger describes the prostitute, Mr. Ames quickly realizes that it is you and tells Rodger to arrest you. Now he did this because he felt paranoid that you were going to tell your sister what had transpired between you and her husband so he instantly jumped at the chance of having you arrested. After being thrown in jail, you soon learn that your sister is pregnant with Austin. Fueled with hate towards Mr. Ames and Rodger Locklear, you vow to punish them by all means. So this is where we are."
"Well you've certainly done your homework, but what took you so long?" She sniffs, her voice low. An eerie aura absorbs the room. Something's not right.
"Mr. Ames was too embarrassed to mention sleeping with Abigail's sister years ago." I shrug as if it were as simple as that.
"Dan Ames deserves the pain I have caused him what with a paralyzed son who'll soon be grieving over his dead girlfriend," She laughs, her voice thick with malice. A pistol appears from under the table. It shines in the speckles of floating dust. A car honks outside followed by a couple of dog barks. The click of the pistol makes me catch my breath. I wasn't expecting… Blast.
"SAM!" Riley dives in front of me covering me completely, blocking out the sun. We're both on the floor side by side except his back is to me. Images of the basement kiss bloom in my half-awake mind. I miss those lips. I miss…
There's about a lake's size of blood splattered every where.
"Riley, Riley!" I shake his shoulder. His hair blows with the sudden breeze that has swirled through. Nothing else moves.
Nukpana is dead. Riley is…
and I'm awake.
000 000 000
"Coma. It's a coma," I whisper to myself hugging my chest. I put my head between my knees grinding my back molars together. I must look insane. Oh, wait. I am.
"He'll pull through," Rodger says patting my knee, but he doesn't look so sure.
000 000 000
It's a closed casket funeral. For both of them. When I look behind the trees, I see movement. A young buck strides courageously across the field just on the outskirts of the tombstones. His chestnut winter hair is coarse and long but even through the thick coat a series of scars traipse across his chest and belly. It's a sign, the art of loss.
THE END