by Angel Rose
“Michael, please. What did you take?” I asked calmly.
“I didn’t take anything goddammit! I’m not lying, Jenesis. It’s the truth.” he whimpered as he slammed his hand against the hallway wall.
The truth? If he’s telling the truth then I needed to make a plan. How was I going to run and how was I going to save myself? I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even look directly into his eyes even though he was yelling straight into my face. I had a moment of strength and I looked into his cold, blue-green eyes. Our eyes locked. He was so devastated, I almost felt sorry for him. I didn’t know what to say. He stood staring at me hoping that I would say something to him, that I would forgive him and say it was okay.
“Michael, I don’t understand, please, what are you talking about? Who is Dave to you? Is he your father? Is he?” I whispered.
“Yes! He’s my father! He promised me!” he sniffled cleaning his nose with his sleeve, “he promised me!”
“My God.” I whispered. I died and went to hell. The shock of Dave being Michael’s father made me react insanely. I became bold and brave and at that point, I wanted to die, I wanted him to kill me.
“Michael, tell me the truth…please…a guest speaker…was that planned?”
“No it wasn’t. I was the guest speaker, and I did know about you, but I didn’t know who you were. When I stepped into that elevator, that’s when I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“I knew what it was to fall in love.” He stared at me with regret in his eyes, hidden by a crazed man.
“And STK? That wasn’t a coincidence, was it?” My voice cracked, my hands were clammy and I choked back my tears as I placed my hand over my mouth.
“He knew that was your favorite spot, he told me you’d be there. I only went to see you again. I needed to see you.” he whispered softly, ashamed of admitting his plan.
“When I got in the cab in the village, you knew I was going to be there, didn’t you? Didn’t you? Answer me!” I yelled at the top of my lungs enraged by their devious plan to ruin my life.
“He told me you would be in the village. You spoke to him that morning.” He yelled as he turned his back on me.
“When we met again at the Art Gallery?” I kept asking him questions to buy time. I didn’t know what was going to happen then, so I thought this would be the best way to stay alive…for now.
“Dave told me to go, that you would be there.”
My hazel eyes exploded with tears and the feeling of death was flowing through my veins. I wanted him to kill me, so that I wouldn’t hear that he planned all of this with his father. My father…Dave.
“My God, Michael, who are you?” I whispered.
“Please believe me…it started off like that…he mentioned you, but I didn’t meet you until John Jay. I really did fall in love with you…I love you with all of my heart. That’s why I wanted us to move away from Dave. He changed his mind…he loves you so much.” he pleaded as he grabbed me by my arms.
“Michael, do you know what you’re saying. You both planned to kill me. I was your father’s next victim, Michael, and you helped him try to kill me. All of those cold case files. You’re father killed them all. Not Stephen Marquis. Dave…and you helped him.” I slid his hands off of my arms as I shook my head. “You wanted us to move away, and you’re the one who brought him back. Why didn’t you leave things alone? Why? What did I ever do to you?” I whispered as I covered my face with my hands, sobbing into an uncontrollable scream.
“Nothing…he told me he would keep killing…he would kill everyone we knew…everyone that got in his way. He wanted you…He said he wanted to kill you, but he was going to wait until you were pregnant…so he could hurt me the most. All of these women he killed was to hurt me, he hates me. He’s always hated me.” he whispered.
“You sick fuck! You’re lying! This is why God didn’t allow those children to be born. You’re a murderer, Michael! A murderer. Dave loved me Michael…How do I know this isn’t all you! I can’t believe for a minute Dave would do something like this to me. You’re wrong. Tell me you’re wrong. Please, please tell me you’re wrong.” I collapsed on the floor and Michael held out his arms to grab me.
“No! Don’t touch me!” I yelled slapping him across the face. “You’re lying! You’re lying! You’re jealous of him!” I shook as I hugged myself stepping away from him. Michael gave me a distraught look, and then he slid his fingers through his hair. He approached me and stood at close proximity, enough where I could feel his breath on my face.
“He thought you were the perfect girl, coming from Pennsylvania and…”he paused for a moment, “from a family who abused you and he thought you were weak, an easy target. You even said you thought he killed Margaret, why won’t you believe me?”
“Michael do you know what you’re telling me? You knew about my family? My parents? My mother? You said you knew nothing.”
“Not me, Dave did! He never told me anything, except that I needed to keep you close to me.” he yelled as he punched his fist through the kitchen window. My face grew pale and I waited for the next strike from his hands to be around my throat. The blood poured from his hand and I almost threw up from the sight.
“What else do you know about me?” I tried to distract him by continuing to speak.
“I don’t know…but he knows everything about you…everything.” he shook his head.
“Michael, did he kill those women that Marquis was accused of killing?” I whispered.
“If he did, I wouldn’t know…he’s been doing crazy things lately. But Marquis would have been the perfect cover up. But it didn’t work. Why would I defend Marquis if I knew my father killed all of those women? It doesn’t make sense. I would’ve made sure I’d lost the case so no one would be on to Dave.” he leaned his head against the wall then glanced over at me.
“Do you want me dead?” I whispered. I needed to change the game plan and I really needed Michael on my side.
“I told him no!” he shouted as the blood trickled from his hand down to his elbow.
“Michael, but do you? Look at me! Do you want me dead? We can be together, he doesn’t have to know. I don’t think you want to kill me, please Michael, let’s go, now!” I begged him.
“But I had to want to let him kill you and I never did! I never did.” He began to scream, “I’m crazy! I’m fucking crazy!” he took a knife from the kitchen drawer and placed it against his throat. I backed away from him. My heart was sprinting as I started to walk backwards towards the hallway.
“Michael, have you killed anyone before? Have you?” I whispered as I kept walking towards the hallway. I tried to stay as calm as I could. My legs felt like jelly and I knew at any moment I was going to fall apart. Think Jenesis, Think. I spoke to him sympathetically so he could hear the sincerity in my voice.
“No! No.” he said as he wiped his tears with his sleeve, the knife still in his hand, “He did! He killed them all. Right in front of me.” He fell to the floor on his knees and dropped the knife near his leg. I walked back into the kitchen and I walked towards him, then he grabbed on to my legs tightly and he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I love you, please forgive me…I never wanted to hurt you…he made me…he made me.” He held on to me tightly and I broke down.
“Michael, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay.” I cupped his face in my hands. “I know you’re sorry. I know you never wanted to hurt me. I love you, its okay.” I said as I kneeled down to stroke his head. Then I felt something in the back of my head. I turned around and got smacked in the face with it. I fell to the floor banging my head against the hardwood floor. I held my face with one hand and tried to crawl towards the hallway. I turned to see who hit me. It was Dave. He had hit me in the face with his gun.
“You bitch! You’re lying to my son! Telling him all these lies about me! You were only supposed to be around for a couple of months like the rest of them! But no. You had to be the special one, the one everyone fell in love
with! I loved you, Jenesis! More than Michael, more than your father and your mother, more than Margaret! And more than Vivian!” he shouted.
“No. You’re lying. You love me, Dave. Please. Please! Why are you doing this?” I shouted. “Vivian?” I started to tremble. The pain in my heart was so strong made me topple over.
“Doing what? This is what I do. All women are whores. All women deserve to die. My mother was a whore, did you know that? She was and then she told me I was the bastard child of one of her tricks, just like you.” I held my breath. “You see…there was a reason why I held on to you. Why you were special. Your mother was fucking Dr. Joe, and she got pregnant…with you. Then your father found out after you were born. That’s why he abused your mother and you. He couldn’t stand the sight of you. If he could’ve…he would have killed you. I actually felt sorry for you, Jen.” he said as he pointed the gun to my face. I exhaled as those words stabbed me so many times in my heart, I actually started to cough, then I busted out into tears.
“Dave, Vivian?” He looked away from me and kept on talking.
“Unlike your father, my mother, loved me. She showed me every night in her bed as she straddled over me and sank her disgusting flesh over me. She yelled out my name Jenesis, as she came on top of me when I was just a kid…a fucking kid.” He hung his head to the floor, then looked up at me. “I remember her hands caressing my body, as the smell of vodka lingered on her lips. When she was done, she use to whisper how much she wanted me, how much she needed me…how much…she loved me.” He stared at me for a moment as my lips parted slowly, my eyebrows furrowed in disgust. The eyes of a deep wounded child blinked at me softly as he tilted his head to the side. He stood motionless…helpless even, as I placed my hand over my mouth and gasped. “I threw up every night afterwards…she never knew how sick she made me. She only knew how good I made her feel and after a while, as I got older…I fucked the shit out of her, fucked her senseless, so she could leave me alone; and when she died, I shoved a dildo right up her ass in her coffin, so she can go fuck herself…in hell.” Then he glanced over at Michael. Michael was speechless. Michael stared at Dave as if he never heard that story before, and from the look on his face, he didn’t. He stood gawking at Dave. Shock, sorrow and fear echoing deep in his soul. I glanced at them both with a heavy heart and a pang of fear and grief hit me straight in the gut. I didn’t know if I wanted to scream or if I wanted to hold Dave and say I was sorry. I opened my mouth and heard myself say,
“Dave, Vivian?” I whispered.
“She had to go Jen. She was too possessive over you. She was always texting you. Always wanted to know what you were doing. It was so annoying. Nothing that a little bubble of air in her IV didn’t take care of. She was very pretty though, but not as pretty as you. I could feel the urine slightly seeping out of me onto my silk panties. The icy chill that radiated over my body made my limbs go weak. I leaned against the wall.
“Let’s forget about Vivian and talk about Dr. Joe. He’s okay, you don’t have to worry about him. I figured I’d keep him around so that you could call him your daddy.” My blood simmered. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening to me.
“Is this a fucking joke to you? Are you fucking insane?” I barked at him and at that point I became angry and I didn’t care if he killed me. I wanted to die anyway.
“I’m not, you know that. I love you, Jen…more than anyone in this world. You see, Margaret thought you loved her more than me, that’s why she had to die; that’s why I beat the living shit out of her and strangled every last breath out of that whore, and by the way, she was fucking your professor boyfriend!” he yelled as his eyes protruded out of his head.
“No! No!” I shook my head crying hysterically. “Dave, why...I loved you…I loved you.” I pleaded.
“Because you loved me like a father! Because I couldn’t make you fall in love with me! Because you were fucking my son instead of me! Because you’re a whore, too! Like your mother! Don’t you see, it’s okay if you love me like a father. I still could make love to you like my mother did to me. Let me show you, Jen.”
“What? I loved you like a father? You are my father. The only father I’ve ever known. Dave, please, we can work this out. Please don’t do this.” I slid against the kitchen floor leaning toward the hallway entry, sobbing and gasping for air.
“I’ll shoot you! Jen, I swear to God! I’ll shoot you right in the fucking head! Right now, in front of your husband and in front of God.” He said smirking.
“Dave, please don’t!” Michael yelled.
“Get the hell out of the way you fucking coward!” he kicked Michael in the face and he banged his head against the floor. Michael’s nose began to bleed.
“You’ll have to kill me, Dave!” Michael stood up and grabbed the knife from the floor. He held his nose and wiped the blood away with his shirt. He pointed the knife to Dave’s face.
“You know you don’t even know if any of Jen’s babies were yours. There were two…two babies Michael? How do you know I haven’t been in your wife? Maybe Carl is the father? Or maybe Eddie? Oh, wait, can’t be Eddie because his head is at the airport stuck in the baggage claim belt, that’s right Michael, you’re best friend was suspicious of me, he had to die! He asked too many questions and deep down inside he wanted Jen, did you know that? Did you? You wouldn’t know, Michael, she’s very sneaky, you know? She likes it rough…doesn’t she?” he said deviously as he looked over at me with a grin from ear to ear. I could feel my panties getting wet from the urine. I couldn’t hold it.
Dave stared at me and laughed. I needed to make a move…I needed to get out of there.
“You see Jen, he believes me, not you. Something you don’t know about Michael, Jen. He’s daddy’s little boy, daddy’s little servant! Aren’t you, son?” he said showing his pearly whites to Michael.
“Now, listen Michael.” He turned to Michael, leaned over him, and spoke to him like a child. “Let’s get this over with…she’s just like the rest…she proved that when she tried to kill your first baby and lost the second baby…why do you want to be with her? She’s used up…wasted.” Michael stood staring at him then parted his lips when he heard Dave say I tried to kill his first baby. His blue-green eyes welled up with tears as he held the knife in his hand. I was so scared I was shaking uncontrollably. The urine in my bladder was releasing quickly and trickling down my thighs.
“You’re a lying bastard! You want her…you want to fuck her! You want to kill her and I’m not going to let you!” Michael charged at Dave with the knife.
“Do you think I won’t shoot you, Michael? I’ll blow your fucking head off and give it to the raccoon’s in the back to play with! You think I give a shit about you! You’re a little boy. You can’t handle a woman, that’s why I had to take your girlfriend’s away from you, Michael, you couldn’t handle them like a real man could.” he took another gun from behind his back. He pointed the gun towards Michael’s forehead, then pointed the other gun at me. Michael stopped right in front of Dave as he stared directly at him pressing his forehead against the barrel of the gun.
“Go ahead, shoot. You don’t know how to love anyone. Especially not her.” He glanced over at me.
“Boo.hoo.hoo. you’re gonna cry, Michael? Like you did when you were a teenager?” Dave’s eyes were completely black…the eyes of a killer.
“You’re gonna throw up when I chop up Jen, or would you like a beheading like Eddie? Or…drum roll please…this one’s for you, Jen…how about I put a bullet in her head? Huh? You’re a piece of shit like your mother! I never loved you or that whore.” he barked in Michael’s face hysterically.
Michael took a few steps back and then stretched out his arm behind him and opened the kitchen drawer by the sink and pulled out a gun. I was surprised to see that gun. I didn’t even know there was a gun in that draw. Michael stood in front of me.
“Jenesis, go to the car, now!” he shouted as he pointed the gun towards Dave.
“You’re going to hurt her Michael, I know you, why are you lying to Jen?” Dave smiled.
“No, I’m not. I’ve never hurt anyone. I just got them for you.” Michael shook his head.
“You’re just as guilty…that’s why God took your little ones away. You’re going to hurt her, and I’m going to let you.” he said calmly as sweat dripped down his forehead, and he wiped it with the back of his hand still holding on to the gun.
I started running towards the door. I picked up the car keys then turned around to look back at Michael. Michael turned around to look at me, and I stopped at the door.
“What are you doing?” Dave asked.
“I can’t do this, Dave. Let her go!” he yelled in Dave’s face. His eyes came back to life and then he looked over at me with regret and love. Then he turned back to Dave. I stood there watching, fearing for Michael’s life, not mine, Michael’s. Even after everything he told me, everything they did to me. I just knew he loved me. It was a sick love and I couldn’t leave him there to die. I didn’t leave. I just couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
“Put down the gun, Michael, I’ve done everything for you, son. I always have.” Dave’s eyes narrowed and he cocked his head waiting for Michael to answer him. “I would never hurt you, you know that, she’s the enemy, not me. I’ve taken care of you all of these years, haven’t I, when your mother abandoned us?” he said patiently, trying to persuade Michael to drop his gun.
“Abandoned us? You killed my mother in front of me! You shot her in the head and then you said, “How’s that Miriam? Mimi, are you okay? And then you laughed!” Michael sighed. “Then you said, who are you going to call now? Do you remember that? Do you?” he yelled as his hands began to shake as he pointed the gun at Dave’s forehead. Then it hit me, the cold case file that was on the floor in the office that he asked me to shred read, Miriam H. Hunter, Miriam Hearns-Hunter…I was right, it was his mother. Jesus, God! Who is he? Who is he?
