Soul Hostage

by Jeffrey Littorno

  “I need to be able to trust you, Thomas. I need to be sure you are working with me and not against me. I need to know you will help me to keep Joey under control.” Stoaffer spoke the words slowly without an ounce of emotion.

  Looking closely at his worn, half-shadowed face, I was not quite sure of how to respond. When he leaned closer to show his entire face and cold eyes, all traces of uncertainty disappeared. I immediately answered, “Of course, you can trust me, Louis. Sure, I might be critical sometimes. But I only want everything to go right. You know what I mean?”

  “Yes, Thomas, I think I do.” For the first time since the light had come on in the dark room, Stoaffer showed some emotion. It was a raspy chuckle and a crooked smile which did nothing to lessen the sharp, menacing face. “You have realized a simple fact. If I don’t win, no one wins.”

  Stoaffer’s words stuck in my brain for a while before I said, “Yeah, I got that, Louis. The thing I am not sure about is what exactly will count as a ‘win’.” I started to make those stupid air quote gestures with my fingers but then caught myself. “I mean, what exactly do you want?”

  “Well, what does anyone want?” Stoaffer replied with a slight smile. “I want to feel there is some sort of order to the universe… some sort of balance at work in the world.”

  If the emotion was not clear on my face, the irritation must have been unmistakable as I replied, “Come on, Louis! You know I am not asking about what you want in the grand scheme of things. I want to know what you want from me.”

  The look on Stoaffer’s face shocked me with its fierceness. Every vein bulged with absolute rage. His lips were drawn back like a growling dog with sharp teeth bared. His eyes burned with rage. Before I had fully recovered, the face had changed from ferocious to an expression of exaggerated patience and cheerfulness.

  “Ah, Thomas, you ask an interesting question. What exactly do I want from you?” He paused for a moment and rubbed his chin to signal deep consideration of the question. Suddenly, Louis nodded his head and said, “Okay, I got it. Thomas, what I want from you is assistance in restoring a sense of balance in the universe.” He paused as he regarded my reaction. “Before you roll your eyes again, let me explain what I mean. I truly believe in a balance to everything. You need to believe in something, right? Well, I believe there is a balance or order in place to keep things going along just as they should.”

  I started to make a sarcastic comment but changed my mind. I figured no sarcastic comment could do justice to the absurdity of standing in the dark listening to the philosophy of Louis Stoaffer.

  In any case, Stoaffer continued after a very short pause. “I think I told you enough about the circumstances which sent me to prison for you to agree things seem a bit out of whack. My intention is just to put things back in order. This is where you and Joey come into the picture. I am hoping for your assistance in restoring the balance. In other words, our objective it simply put things right.”

  I was unsure for a moment whether he was being serious. Once it became obvious that he was, a huge laugh erupted from my throat. “Well, I’m not sure about a balance in the universe. But you know, I heard about a force, Obi-Wan.” Another roar of laughter burst from me. Not the happy kind of laughter, this was colder and harder.

  In an instant, Stoaffer was no longer leaning against the wall. He was close to me with his face only inches from mine. I never saw him move, but somehow he did. Close enough for me to smell peppermint on his breath and also a not so pleasant odor, the stink of rotting things. His lips rolled back in a snarl. His face appeared sharper and even more threatening than moments before. At that moment, I was more scared than I had ever been.

  “There’s nothing for you to laugh at here, Thomas.” His words came out slowly and carefully enunciated like someone seething with rage and struggling to contain it. “I am trying to be patient with you and explain the circumstances which led me and now us to this place. Perhaps, I failed to explain them to your satisfaction or according to your expectations, but I will not be laughed at.”

  The scowl on Stoaffer’s face and fury in his eyes left no doubt I had best take him seriously which is what I did. “I apologize, Louis. I am sorry for laughing like I did.”

  I found myself unable to look into his eyes. Instead, like a scolded child, I shifted my eyes in various directions around the room to avoid his gaze.

  The little game might still be going on if Joey had not come into the room to end it.

  Unaware of the situation which he had interrupted, Joey cheerfully said, “Good mornin’, Sleepin’ Beauty! I thought yuh’d never wake up! I’m starvin’! Can we go get some food now?” He looked at Stoaffer as he asked the question. Louis smiled and nodded. “I woulda woke yer ass up. But Lou said we oughta let yuh sleep ‘cuz yuh were so tired.”

  I glanced over at the old man who smiled warmly at me. It was as though the tension of just seconds before had never taken place. That might be how he acted and what he wanted to believe, but I knew what had happened. I could not get the picture of his snarling face out of my mind and still could not help avoiding eye contact.

  Louis handed the lantern to Joey and said, Sounds like a good idea, Joey. Let’s go find a grocery store. How about it, Thomas?”

  Joey headed out of the bedroom without waiting for an answer from me. I started to look over at Stoaffer, but then caught myself and rushed out after Joey.

  He was standing just outside the front door when I caught up to him. He was looking out at the dark street. ‘Damn! Not much goin’ on tonight!”

  I almost laughed at his understatement as I looked around the neighborhood. I could not find any signs of life. Even the few houses with cars parked in front were dark and silent. I looked of at the house across the street where I thought I had seen movement earlier. The win-dows were now dark and still. I found myself staring in-tensely trying to see within.

  “Whoa, not much life around this place!” Stoaffer commented from behind us.

  “Like a graveyard.” Joey said brightly.

  I am not sure why the comment struck them as so damn funny, but the two of them started laughing like idiots. I stared at them for a moment before forcing a fake laugh like you do when everyone else is laughing at something you don’t get but don’t want to be left out. Several seconds later, the laughter faded.

  Louis muttered “like a graveyard” and shook his head as he pushed past us toward the car.

  Joey and I followed.

  As I drove slowly down the street, I kept looking to catch sight of anyone else. I could find no signs of anyone. No one could be seen, and it was really starting to freak me out.

  My uneasiness was not helped by Stoaffer again seeming to read my thoughts as he said, “Not a living soul in sight. Certainly seems we found an excellent place to hide out for a few days.”

  Without checking the view from the window, Joey said, “Yeah, excellent if yuh like deadsville.” The pout in his voice sounded perfect for a 10-year old kid on a disappointing vacation.

  I checked my watch and was surprised to find it was already ten thirty. “Any ideas where we might find some place still open?”

  “I believe we will find a shopping center just up the road. Hopefully, a twenty-four hour market is located in the center.” Stoaffer sounded as if he was reading from a card.

  As I drove around the maze of houses trying to find the way back to the highway, I continued the quest for some sign of life around the neighborhood. It was just too damn strange. Even the few houses with cars parked in front where you would expect to see some light even the flicker of a television were dark. When we had come into the development hours earlier, the drive from the main road seemed short. Now, we turned and turned down dark, still streets without finding a way out of the development. The stillness of the neighborhood mir-rored the absolute silence inside the car. The whole thing really started to scare me. I imagined being forever caught in this looping maze of dark houses and empty streets with no way out
. Just at the point of panic busting out of my skin, the exit appeared straight ahead.

  I couldn’t help myself and let out kind of a victory whoop, “Yeah! We’re outta here!”

  My passengers did not share my excitement and only reacted with confused expressions. However, their lack of enthusiasm did not dampen my own.

  “Okay, Louis, which way?” I asked with lingering energy.

  “Well, Thomas, I think it would be best if you take a left.” His answer came back with such cheerfulness that I wondered if he was being sarcastic. However, his face in the rearview mirror showed only the picture of sincerity.

  Joey was unconcerned about anything other than his own hunger. “I sure hope yer right about the store, Lou. I’m starvin’!”

  “You hear that, Thomas?” Stoaffer eyed me with a big shit-eating grin and said, “We’ve got a starving man here. We need to get the patient to a grocery store stat!” A huge bellow of laughter jumped out of the old man in the backseat.

  After a short pause, Joey joined in with a laugh. I glanced over at him to find him staring at me like some puppy begging for treat and couldn’t help but laugh as well. We continued laughing as we went down the dark highway a couple of miles and saw the bright lights of a supermarket. The powerful glow of the store was made even more striking by the deep, inky darkness that surrounded the place.

  Joey’s voice took on the quavering, pompous tone of one of those television evangelists as he said, “Oh, I see the light! We are saved! We have been dee-livered from the wilderness! Thank you, Jesus!”

  The car again erupted with a roar. This time, I got caught up in the laughter, a wave which surrounds you and pulls you along with it.

  The old Chevy squealed a little as it bounced over the bump of the driveway into the store’s parking lot. The bright colorful neon of the sign and the brightly lit area surrounding the store immediately reminded me of one of those Las Vegas wedding chapels. The only difference was instead of promising “wedded bliss” and “eternal harmony” the huge green and red sign in front of the SmartPrice Super Store promised the joy of knowing this was where every shopper saves.

  As would be expected at almost eleven o’clock on a Wednesday night, the parking lot was empty. The only signs of life outside the store came from a group of teenagers huddled in a shadowy far corner of the parking lot.

  Getting out of the car, I caught sight of some movement among the teens. From somewhere in the cluster a voice popped out to say, “Brian, it’s your turn to ask.” Just like he was spit out, a short, thin figure popped forward from the group and moved slowly toward us.

  I closed the car door and watched as the teenager walked from the shadows.

  “Hey, mister, can you buy us some beer? We have money and everything.” His eyes went down as soon as he finished his plea.

  Before I could respond, Joey jumped forward and said, “Sure, kid. Where’s yer money?”

  The boy brushed his thin blond hair out of his eyes and tentatively handed Joey a small wad of bills.

  Joey took the money with a grin and said, “Okay, kid, be right back with some brew fer you ‘n yer friends!” He spun and quickly walked toward the store.

  I looked at the timid teenager for a moment and then at the quickly exiting Joey and then at Louis who smiled back.

  “I guess somebody’s hungry.” The old man said before turning to follow Joey.

  A moment later, I followed both of them into the store.

  Chapter 9

  Inside the store, everything had kind of a too bright, fuzzy glare to it. After a bit, my eyes adjusted. My vision improved a little, but the sense of things being too bright remained. Muzak flowed through the air of the grocery store. I listened to the sound. Like so many works transformed to the generic, heartless Muzak form, it becomes unrecognizable. Despite, the tune’s lack of personality, it made me smile. I stood just inside the doorway of the SmartPrice Super Store with this stupid ass grin on my face until Stoaffer’s voice slapped me back to reality.

  “Thomas! Over here!” Louis stood in front of a carousel display of brightly-colored stuffed animals waving his arms trying to get my attention. The solemn expression plastered on his face was counteracted by the ten-inch purple gorilla with tiny red hat that peeked over his shoulder. I couldn’t completely stifle my guffaw, and the expression on Stoaffer’s face grew even more somber. As I walked toward him, I did my best to avoid eye contact and instead looked at the purple gorilla, the green and orange box of Fruity Pops breakfast cereal on the shelf to my left, the huge, pale woman with thin yellow hair in a blue, red, and yellow flower-print muumuu pushing the shopping cart down the aisle to the right, and whatever else I could find.

  When I was only a few feet from him, I had no choice but to meet at Stoaffer’s gaze. I found an expression not of anger, seriousness, or irritation. It was simply cold. “This way,” he said and turned down the aisle.

  The aisle ended in the middle of the store’s bakery section. I soon spotted Joey laughing and scurrying around the displays of fresh-baked cookie and cakes. He already had an open bag of cookies in his hand. The saying about a kid in a candy store had nothing on this small-time hood in a bakery. He looked over and said, “All of this stuff looks so fuckin’ good! I don’t know whadda I want!” He pulled a few cookies out of the bag and stuffed them into his mouth. In all the time I had known Joey, I had never seen him so happy, and I had never heard him make the kind of sound that came out of him then. It was kind of a combination of laugh and howl.

  Stoaffer let out a pretty good laugh himself as he stepped closer to Joey and put his hand on his shoulder. In a very fatherly voice, he said, “Well, Joey, take your time. The store seems to offer plenty of delicious items from which to choose.”

  Joey smiled at me and asked, “Thomas, have you ever seen so much good stuff?” He pulled open a clear plastic container of cupcakes and grabbed one.

  Again, I found myself forgetting the strangeness of the situation and getting lost in the emotions of the moment. I had to laugh with Joey at the genuine joy he felt at the abundance of tempting treats. “No, Joey, I have never seen so much delicious-looking food!”

  With Joey’s infectious delight, we had not realized we were being watched. To my right was a group of three or four on-lookers. The fat lady in the muumuu was among them. Plus, a couple of teenage girls wearing black t-shirts and too much makeup. Next to the girls was a young guy with bright red hair and freckles holding a broom wearing a dark blue apron with white lettering that read, "Welcome to SmartPrice, where every price is a smart price!"

  Suddenly, a loud deep voice boomed from behind them, “Matthew! Is standing around part of your job?”

  The red head turned toward the voice. Judging from the sound of the speaker, I was expecting to see some tall, buffed figure of authority. Instead, I saw a short, pudgy, fifty-ish man in a bright red vest signifying his high ranking among the store’s employees. The overhead lights gleamed off his shiny bald head. Caught off guard by the speaker’s actual appearance, I began laughing.

  The sound of my laughter drew all eyes to me for just a moment before shifting to Joey who continued stuffing food into his mouth.

  “Gentlemen!” Mr. Red Vest stepped forward to the three of us. “I must ask you to pay for what you have eaten and leave the store!” As if to reinforce his power and the seriousness of his words, he put his hands on his hips and stomped his feet to the floor. The sound of his feet slapping the floor got everyone’s attention but did not produce the result he wanted.

  Joey caught sight of Mr. Red Vest and stopped chewing. His mouth hung open. Everything seemed to stand still for a long moment. The lack of movement magnified what happened next and seemed to put everything in slow motion. Suddenly, Joey’s previously still mouth exploded with a roar of laughter which sent a spray of cookie and cupcake and some stuff that was unrecognizable all over Mr. Red Vest. The little bald guy did not move for a second seemingly in amazement at being the recipi
ent of a food shower. Chunks of cookies and bits of cupcake clung to his face and vest. One of the teenage girls to my right giggled. The sound seemed to slap Mr. Red Vest out his shock, and he started to tremble a little. Maybe, vibrate is a better description. His face began to change colors. At first, it tinged with a pinkish color. The pink grew into a dark red which spread over his bald head. The guy’s head continued to ripen, and the red deepened into an almost purple color. It suddenly struck me that his head acted like one of those old rings which change colors to show the mood of the wearer. The notion forced a loud snicker from me. The sound set off a wave of laughter from those around me. I turned to see even the huge, pale woman in a blue, red, and yellow flower-print muumuu was shaking her head and laughing.

  Everything continued like this for several seconds before Mr. Red Vest shouted, “Leave my store now, or I will call the police!” The mention of police knocked the wind out of me.

  His commandment silenced the laughter and caused Stoaffer to walk over to the bald man. He looked at his cookie-dotted red vest and reddish-purple face and calmly said, “Mr. Perry, I think we should all calm down for a minute.”

  I wondered for a second how Louis knew the guy’s name before noticing that Richard Perry, Assistant Manager was embroidered in white script on the right pocket of the vest.

  Perry regarded at Louis with an expression of seething disgust. I half-expected the little guy to launch himself at the old man, but Stoaffer kept speaking in his calm, comforting voice.

  “We intend to pay for everything opened by my young friend.” As he was speaking, Louis moved closer to Perry and actually placed his hand on the shoulder of Smart-Price’s assistant manager and stared straight into his eyes before continuing, “I apologize for the impulsiveness of youth. We were all young once, right?” Louis chuckled. While the assistant manager did not join him in expressing amusement, the purpleness of his face had faded to pink.

  Stoaffer kept his eyes fixed on those of the bald man as he said, “As assistant manager here at SmartPrice, you sure cannot have people coming in and disrupting things and eating food in the store.”