by K. L Randis
Lightbulb.
“Yeah, yeah that’s exactly what I’m saying. I have no room here, no say in anything anymore and I’m done. This isn’t working.” He lowered his voice and sat down on the couch. He didn’t want the last memory Tina had of him to be overshadowed by a fit of rage. She deserved better than that for putting up with his crap since he returned from rehab.
“If it’s not working it’s because you don’t want it to,” Tina accused. He could already see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “You’ve done nothing but work day in and day out. We don’t go out anymore, I barely even see my friend Hailey because of the crap impression you left on them, I have no life!”
“You already didn’t have a life, way before me,” Jared muttered.
“You’re an asshole,” Tina said.
“I know.”
He’s being serious, he really thinks he’s an asshole, Tina thought as she watched his shoulders slump. He turned his face to look beyond the living room window, searching for something. Maybe someone. Tina didn’t care.
She had been sleeping around with a guy named Dex for the past three weeks anyway. He treated her better than Jared ever did. He even knew she had a boyfriend, not that he cared. Sometimes he would be a little too nosey about Jared but she didn’t mind. He bought her gifts ‘just because’ and he always seemed to have an unlimited supply of Lace he was more than willing to share with her. She was the one who originally got him to try it, finally, after slipping one into his mouth when she was on top of him in bed. His face was delicious with ecstasy when he realized what she did. Maybe now they could be together full-time and she could ditch the run-down apartment she lived in. Based on how he dressed she bet Dex had a magnificent bachelor pad somewhere.
“Well I’m glad you’re not disagreeing. Get out,” she said finally, pointing towards the door.
Jared sighed. There was no way he could show up at Hailey’s and explain why he needed to leave the following day to track down cases of VHS tapes. He needed one more night at the apartment to make it work the way he had planned.
“Tina I know you’re upset. You have work all day tomorrow, my shit is here and it’s ten o’clock at night. I’ll sleep on the couch if you want but I have nowhere else to go, you know that. I’ll make sure I pack up everything tomorrow and I won’t be here when you get home from work, okay?”
It was always her intent to be fair with Jared when she decided a week ago that she was going to leave him for Dex. One more night wouldn’t hurt either of them, especially since she made plans with a few of her girlfriends to go out. It wasn’t that he treated her badly, she just found someone who treated her better.
“Fine. I’m going out. Don’t take any of my stuff and leave your key on the counter when you go,” Tina said. She made her way into the bathroom and a few minutes later Jared could hear the shower running.
The ‘key on the counter’ remark buzzed in Jared’s head, taking him back to his first night out of rehab when he had to go to his parents house to get his things. He tried not to let the thought of Lacey and the welcoming and familiar scent of the living room when he had opened the front door cloud his mind.
“I have less than twenty four hours to get all these tapes back,” Jared whispered to himself, putting a sweatshirt behind his head and putting his feet up on the sofa.
***
Jared heard Tina stumble into the apartment around 3 A.M. She poured half a glass of water, the other half onto the counter, and slammed her bedroom door shut. When his alarm went off at seven, he pulled the sweatshirt out from behind his head and layered it over his t-shirt.
The Used Household Store was less than three miles from the apartment so he had plenty of time to get there before they opened at eight. There were two other cars in the parking lot, one he hoped belong to the owner. If Tina brought the VHS tapes down late enough last night, maybe there was a chance the owner didn’t put them out for sale yet.
A balding man in his fifties flipped the CLOSED sign over to OPEN and Jared was first to enter the store. A woman in her twenties followed behind him with a five year old dragging behind her.
The store itself was stocked with everything from furniture to kids toys. Most of the stuff was overpriced for what it was: dressers from ten years ago, china that had no particular value, even dog crates and outdoor patio furniture. There were some electronics too, several old VCR’s and some digital clocks. Usually it served as an emergency stop to people who needed furniture quickly who didn’t have the time to drive the hour away to the closest chain furniture store.
Jared stood next to a table that had random salt and pepper shakers as he waited for the balding man to open his register and look at him. He didn’t notice any boxes of tapes and didn’t want to waste time looking for them, he still had to make a stop at the pawn shop which was an extra fifteen minutes away.
“I can help you?” the man said, lazily raising one eye before continuing to count the singles in the drawer.
“Yeah last night my girlfriend came in with a few boxes of VHS tapes and dropped them off? They were actually supposed to go to my brother since he’s got some kids and I was hoping if I made it down here early enough I could get them back before any of them were sold.”
“Tapes huh?” said the man. He grabbed a yellowed notepad from the side of the counter, running his stubby finger down a list. “Yep here they are. Five boxes of VHS tapes, I gave her twenty per box.”
“Twenty what?”
“Dollars, son. She gave me the tapes, I gave her a hundred dollars total. Each box had about fifty tapes in it so I figured I could sell em’ for a buck each, make the money back and then some. You know how it goes.”
“She told me she donated them,” Jared said as he started to lose his patience.
“Well she lied. I have em’ if you want em’, going to need to pay me back the hundred bucks of course.”
“Damn it Tina…” Jared said. He reached into his pockets, slapping a few crinkled twenties on the counter.
“All right, let’s see where the wife put em’,” said the guy. He navigated through aisles of bunk beds and kitchen tables, passed the weaved basket section and finally arrived at the back of the store where the younger woman and her son were, bent over the box of tapes.
“Looks like you have some competition here,” the man said chuckling.
“Oh, ma’m? Those are actually mine,” Jared said, eyeing the little boy who was clutching a tape to his chest that had a cartoon logo on the front. “My girlfriend sold them here yesterday by accident. They weren’t supposed to be sold.”
“Mom I want this,” the little boy complained, “I wanted this tape for forever.”
“Would you mind if we bought this one?” the lady asked, smiling at the raggity head of hair standing next to her.
“Yes, I do. Sorry. The tapes were all supposed to go to my nephew so…”
“There’s quite a few tapes here,” the woman said, growing annoyed and eyeing the boxes, “do you really think he’ll miss one?”
“I do. I really, honestly do.”
“But I want it!” said the boy, growing irritated. “I want this one tape more than anything Mom, can’t I just get it?”
“Look,” said the woman, lowering her voice and moving closer to Jared, “my son’s done real good in school lately and I promised him a dollar for a good report card cause it’s all I can afford. This is probably the only thing in the store that costs that little.” She shot an equally annoyed glance at the owner standing near by. “Please save me an additional trip to the dollar store and let my kid get the tape?”
Jared felt for her but he was seeing no way out of the situation without taking drastic measures. He glanced around and spotted a brightly colored toy chest marked for over fifty dollars sitting in a corner.
“Hey little guy,” Jared said moving towards the toy box, “wouldn’t you like to have this cool toy box for your room? It has those fighter guys painted on it,
and you could put all your stuff in here.”
“Excuse me, but I can’t—” said the mom, turning red at the price tag.
“See cause your mom here told me how good you were doing in school,” Jared continued, talking fast, “and she really wanted you to have a really cool gift like this toy box, so I thought maybe I would buy it for you since I know how important school is.”
“Woah really?” said the boy, tracing his fingers over the toy box and smiling up at his mom.
Jared lifted the toy box into the woman’s car when he finished loading the tapes into his own. The owner at least remembered that there was only one VHS tape Tina took from the boxes before she left, so his time at the pawnshop should be easier.
“I still don’t understand it,” the woman said, watching her son hug the toy box in the back seat, “but you’re a very sweet person. Thank you so much.”
“No worries,” Jared said. He smiled and shut the car door, patting the side and waving at the freckle-faced boy in the back.
As he pulled into the parking lot of the pawn shop he was relieved to see there were no other cars to compete against. The last place had cost him an additional fifty bucks.
There was a blonde woman in a patterned dress sitting cross-legged behind the counter when he walked in where, if he wasn’t there on business, he wouldn’t have thought twice about hitting on her. She smiled and put her book down, flashing a long row of jagged top teeth.
Maybe not.
“I’m looking for a tape, a VHS tape,” Jared said, flashing her the same smile. If he played nice with her maybe she would just give it back to him.
“You don’t look like the kind of guy who watches VHS tapes,” she said, “what kind of tape?”
“Not sure. My gir—eh, cousin came in yesterday and sold it. It was actually a tape of my grandfather’s, it was worth some money so he’s a little upset about it. What’s your name by the way?”
“Maria,” she said, smiling. “Yeah I think I remember, tall girl? You said she sold a tape of your grandfather’s?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s all bent out of shape about it.”
“Let me see,” Maria said. She pulled a large binder out from underneath the counter and scanned a few columns with her finger. “Yep right here. Your grandfather have a lot of time on his hands?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and looking up from the binder. “I mean, hey I’m not one to judge.”
“Eh yeah, I guess he does. Any way I can get it back?”
“Sure. Looks like my dad gave her three hundred cash for it, he marked it up to four fifty for resale but I can sell it back to you for the three hundred considering the circumstances.”
“Three what?” Jared exclaimed. He couldn’t believe his luck. Tina would find the only damn VHS tape out of hundreds worth anything and sell it.
“Yeah, like I said, your grandpa must have an interesting collection of tapes,” Maria said. She turned around and pulled the tape from a shelf on the opposite wall, sitting it on the counter. CHAIR EXERCISES: MEN WITH ABS GET YOU PUMPED read the title. Jared tightened his lips and checked the date of the tape. “Something this old cost three hundred dollars? An exercise tape?”
“It’s a one hit wonder, especially the main actor, you’d be surprised. My dad could have made at least four hundred off this. Consider it a favor uh…what was your name?”
Jared tucked the tape under his hoodie as he walked out of the store. Maria’s number would need to be erased from his phone before he met up with Hailey but some sweet-talking got him the tape for only two hundred. He had convinced her that a crappy record player in the back corner was worth at least a hundred more than it was listed for and that her dad would make his money back that way.
Since he managed to get all the tapes an hour before noon he decided to make his way to the farmhouse to drop them off. He still had an entire apartment to pack up and realistically should be looking around for a new place. Since he had the cash it would really just be a matter of finding an apartment Hailey liked. She’d probably pick a place that had a lake or mountain in the backdrop where they could sit out on a deck talking.
When Jared pulled up he only saw Dex’s car sitting on the side of the house. He wondered what kind of car a guy like Flick would drive and he planned to ask him if they could go for a spin around town; it would give him a chance to speak to Flick alone without Dex.
“Flick can’t make it,” Dex said as Jared laid the last box of tapes on the kitchen floor. “Some kind of emergency or something. He called an hour ago.”
“Bullshit.”
“You think I’m bullshitting you? I wanted to meet him just as bad, probably more than you Jared. Don’t test me today.”
Dex was clearly agitated as he pushed each box of VHS tapes across the floor. Flick was probably a huge role model for him and he probably took it personally that he cancelled. Jared knew it would only be a matter of time before their paths crossed and considering the morning he just had he was actually kind of content with getting home instead of schmoozing politics with higher ups.
“Whatever. Later man,” Jared said. He left Dex in the kitchen, talking to himself and pushing boxes around as he counted tapes.
Jared had a few hours to pack up his apartment and leave before it would be dark enough to head over to the tobacco plant and watch for the purple Civic. He told Hailey he would be working late and not to wait up for him. She replied by readily telling him where the spare key was so he could let himself into her apartment.
“I swear, if there’s a God up there,” Jared said to the windshield, “let me make it through the next week without Hailey finding out anything and I’ll never lie to her again.”
Somewhere between breaking up with Tina and the rat race to retrieve the VHS tapes he decided that he had more than enough money to give them a comfortable start anywhere that Hailey wanted to go. She didn’t need millions stashed away somewhere to keep her happy. He was getting a second chance with her; it was something most people couldn’t dream of having.
The money wasn’t worth the risk of going back to prison.
Nothing would keep him from her ever again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A wet rag over Anthony’s face woke him. It was hard to breathe but his arms couldn’t move. Was he bound? Yes, he must be. He was sitting straight up in a chair. A hard chair. The dull roar of industrial fans echoed somewhere in the background. The grogginess was thick and a dull memory of being at work lulled in the back of his throbbing head.
The taste of blood pooled in the gum line of his mouth and he longed for water. The rag was drenched with a sweet substance, juice maybe. His tongue escaped from in-between his lips, licking the rag in a desperate attempt for nourishment.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” said a voice out of no where, “what kind of heroin were you pushing in this territory?”
“Heroin?” An irrefutable giggle ruptured from Anthony’s mouth. Just as quickly, a sledgehammer of pressure cracked across his left cheekbone.
His wails of pain were deafening but the hallowed warehouse swallowed them with ease. I’m going to die here, Anthony thought, I don’t want to die.
“What do you want? I can’t see,” Anthony cried out.
“You won’t be alive if you don’t start talking.”
“I’m talking, I’m talking! What do you want?”
“Do you own the purple Civic?” said the voice. The gruff tone was poisoned with tension.
“My car? You want my car? You can have it, I’ll give you the keys just please untie me.”
“Do you know what that is over your face?”
“A rag? I think it’s a rag. It’s wet,” said Anthony.
“It’s a rag doused in antifreeze, Anthony. If I press it against your face hard enough I can waterboard you to kill you quickly, or I can soak the rag enough that you’ll die several hours from now in a painful, slow death as the poison ravages your body. Listen to my questions and answer them
, I didn’t ask for your car, I asked if it was yours.”
“Oh God, no please, please don’t kill me. Yes the car is mine, the purple Civic is mine.”
“That’s what I thought,” said the voice.
The sweet liquid was drowning him. It soaked through the saturated rag in seconds and dribbled into his mouth, eyes and nose as he screamed. Anthony’s bladder betrayed him and he felt the warm urine pooling in the chair beneath him. The rush of endorphins was amazing, pushing him to contort his body in any way he could while hating himself for enjoying the sweet taste of the antifreeze that lined his lips.
The waterfall stopped and the voice bellowed as Anthony gagged. “I want to know what kind of heroin you were pushing in this area or I will fucking kill you I swear on my life.”
“Please, it’s not me,” Anthony cried out, “I’ve only had that car a year. It’s not me, I think you have the wrong person.”
“I’m never wrong!”
“Okay, okay, you’re never wrong. I don’t know about no heroin, my wife would kill me if I was into that. I smoke weed that’s all, I swear.”
“Who’d you buy the car from?”
“Some guy, a guy in Scranton. He said he needed cash fast that’s why it was listed so cheap.”
“What was his name?” said the voice.
“Dennis something, I don’t know honest, but I remember the address.”
“Why would you remember an address and not a last name.”
“Cause the guy had this stupid dog that kept barking at me when I was there. I thought it was his but when it ran down the street he complained about it being his neighbors dog. He made a smart-ass comment about wanting to kill the dog more than his wife. Something seemed off so I kept the address of his house in the glove box in case anything ever came of it, the guy seemed crazy.”
The rag was torn from Anthony’s face and it took him a minute to refocus in the bright room. There was a man in front of him, no older than thirty with emeralds for eyes. His bare chest was drizzled with sweat and he could see that the man was shaking. He was just as terrified.
