Extreme Malice

by R E Swirsky

  Chapter 24

  Saturday, December 3rd 4:55 pm

  The winter sun descended slowly from a cloudless sky and dropped in behind the mountains. The clear sky would cause the temperature to plummet overnight leaving the town immersed in an arctic freeze by morning. Jack could relate to the sudden drop in temperature as it mimicked the negativity that was descending upon the town.

  Jack stopped to pull the collar of his coat up high so it covered his cheeks and kept some of his body heat from escaping. He was nearly finished shoveling the sidewalks and driveway, a chore that could still be accomplished with a feeling of fresh purpose this time of year but would be downright mundane by the end of February. He spotted Fred's car coming down the snowy road. Tracey sat poised in the passenger seat and avoided eye contact with Jack as Fred pulled the car into the drive and into the garage.

  Jack stopped shoveling and hoped they would come out, but the garage door closed and Jack was left alone in the cold to finish his task.

  Jack missed their dinner parties. They began only months after Jack and Donna moved in and eventually turned into an expected, weekly event. The party was more often at Fred and Tracey's than at Jack and Donna’s, at Tracey's insistence. Donna was fine with that; she didn’t like to fuss with glamorous dinners as much as Tracey did. In the beginning, Josh did not even sit with them at the table and took dinner in his room instead. Sometimes Tracey let Josh order a pizza from Domino's rather than making him eat what they were eating. Parties are for adults, she always said. Jack laughed to himself when she said that the first time. Josh was already seventeen at the time, but that was just how Tracey saw things.

  Jack was left to spend another Saturday night alone. He did not much enjoy Saturday nights anymore. He certainly did not intend to allow the whiskey to steal his evening like it did last night, but it called to him from the cabinet and whispering sweet promises that it would behave tonight. Just a taste to wet the lips and warm the insides, it promised.

  Jack saw no harm in having just one tonight and pulled his amber colored friend from the cabinet again.

  He poured the Crown Royal over three ice cubes until the cubes lifted from the bottom of the glass and cracked in celebration and approval of Jack's choice. He retired to the front room where the fire was already aglow, snapping and crackling to create a calming charm about the room. It was a charm that made it simple for Jack to fall deep into thought about what to do with Josh and David Chow.

  Jack sat and rolled the options over in his mind. The trial was days away, and he would have to relive the product of his actions. He had the ability to change things, but he wasn’t sure whom he should use to start the chain of events. He mused, mulled, and let his brain route its own path through the possibilities.

  Hours pass and more logs are burned to ash on the fire. Jack's golden friend refused to stay tucked away in the cupboard, and by the end of the evening, the devil's liquid had won again. Jack did not mind at all because as the whiskey offered itself up in sacrifice for his cause. It continued to fuel the necessary fire deep down in his belly that was necessary in the task of sorting his thoughts. The passion to reach his goal grew again tonight. Each thought seemed to right the rails, and his thoughts soon began to realign back with his original plan. One demon deep down inside his soul finally beat down the other, and his focus was once again very clear. Jack was pleased.

  Jack felt the evil once again, and the warmth of the whiskey was his wanted companion. He had regained the cold, defined compassion he extolled over the past two years, and he knew he would be able to survive the inquisition of the trial. He knew he would relive all the moments over the last two years, including all the horrible things he had done. But there was comfort in knowing the evidence pointed elsewhere, and only Jack knew the real truth. He relished his own brilliance and fortitude.

  Jack grinned with pleasure and emptied the last of the whiskey into one last drink. The hour fell over onto a new day, and Jack's apprehension now shifted to one of anticipation.

  "Bring it on," he said and sipped on the whiskey, savoring every drop. "Bring it on."