by Rich, Mark
“No momma! Fluffy ate it, she was hungry!” Theresa left the dining table visibly upset. I shook my head at Larry to assure him I would talk to Lenora.
“I am going to give Fluffy my left overs. She loves chinese food.”
“OK! Lenora thats enough!” Larry grabbed her plate and dumped the leftover into the trash. Later that evening, I talked to Lenora the rest of the night, until her bedtime. And to be honest, she seemed like a normal healthy twelve year old. The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of Theresa hollering.
“Lenora! Get down here now!” I rushed out of my upstairs room and ran down stairs to see what all the commotion was about. Theresa’s brand new couch had been ripped to pieces. The couch’s stuffing was scattered everywhere.
“I didn’t do that mom! It was Fluffy! She was upset, dad threw away her chinese food!” At that Theresa became very angry.
“What has gotten into you girl!” She grabbed Lenora by both shoulders and began to shake the young girl. “Theresa!” I yelled at her.
“Theresa! Calm down!” Larry grabbed his wife and took her into the next room.
After that incident, things were pretty much normal for the rest of the week I was there. That friday, as I packed to get ready for my flight back to Houston.
“I really think, you getting rid of the cat bowl was wise! She is a bright and intelligent girl! I think she will snap out of it!”
“I hope so!” Theresa responded, as I headed to the door with a few of my bags.
“What have you done? Where is Fluffy cat food and her bowl.”
Lenora stormed through the front door obviously very angry.
“I threw it away! That cat is gone Lenora! It was run over by a car. You are just going to have to live with that!” Theresa responded sternly.
“But mom! Fluffy is getting angry, she says she’s hungry!” Theresa shook her head, frustrated at her daughter’s words. “It’ll be okay, remember what I told you!” I consoled my sister, as I grabbed a few more of my belongings.
The last thing I picked up was my old film developed camera. Even though the old camera was outdated. I still loved the quality of the pictures, it produced.
And then it hit me, like a bolt of lightning. “Theresa! I have an idea!”
I quickly explained to Lenora, that I wanted to take a picture of her and her cat Fluffy to put on my office desk. Lenora smiled and immediately agreed.
“Fluffy come here! Fluffy…..” Moments later, Lenora formed her arms like she was holding a large cat. “OK! Lenora you and Fluffy! Smile for the camera!”
The flash of the old film camera went off. And then I smiled.
Outside as I put my bags into the rental car.
“I believe this is going to work, Theresa. Once she sees the picture of herself and no cat.” I felt good about my plan and I was sure it would help Lenora.
“I will send you copies of the picture, as soon as I have the film developed!”
That was on a Sunday evening. The following morning as I saw my first client.
My secretary barged into my office. “Dr Baxter! The Greensboro police department is on the phone, they say it’s urgent!”
I took the call and I literally dropped the phone, after the detective told me what happened. Both Theresa and Larry were dead. Both of their throats had been torn out. They found them both in bed, as if they were sleeping when the attacks occurred. And to make matters worse, They had arrested Lenora for the crimes.
I caught the next flight available back to North Carolina. After a trial that lasted over a year, Lenora was found guilty for double capital murder. We tried appeal after appeal. But the state was dead set on making her an example. She would be the youngest person executed in the state’s history. Finally the day of her execution arrived. I watched in tears as they strapped the teenage girl into the chair for her lethal injection. I will never forget the look on her face, when the doctor administered the deadly cocktail. Once back at my home office, I rummaged through my mail, the thought of Lenora and what happened to Theresa and Larry still fresh in my mind. And I just couldn’t shake the thought of how Lenora blamed the cat all the way until her death. I turned over an envelope with a bill in it. Then I spotted a brown envelope marked Odyssey, Camera & Film.
The picture I thought. After the news of Theresa’s and Larry’s death. I had forgotten all about the picture I took. After staring at it for a few moments. I opened the envelope and pulled out the developed picture of Lenora.
“MY LORD!” I dropped the picture on the ground. There was Lenora holding in her arms, her large grey and black cat, Fluffy.
Zombies
The Frigate had pulled into port earlier that morning at the 32nd street Naval shipyard in San Diego. The ship’s crew had just returned from a 6 month Westpac tour of Asia. They were dying to hit the town and a horn was blown to announce leave for many of the crew.
“It’s going down tonight! I just got the report in, Tijuana is open. We have a green light!” Radioman Robert Scott and his two friends from the ship, Rodney Gilchrist and Calvin Tynes. The two had just completed their first Naval tour. And Robert knew just the way to celebrate their accomplishment. “There is this one strip club down there. called the Hole. And dude the mamacitas our like! Wow!” Robert laughed as he walked off of the last step, of the staircase used to exit the ship.
“Doc told me, the last time you went to TJ. You deserved a standing ovation!”
Gilchrist stated, while he tried to hail a cab.
“You know it! I gave some great performances down there! The girls know me at the clubs!” Robert replied.
“That’s not the type of applause I am talking about! I heard you caught the clap down there in TJ!” Gilchrist and Alvin burst out laughing.
“That sh!@%t aint funny! I couldn’t piss right for a week!”
The two seaman and Robert caught a trolley from downtown San Diego to the Mexican border. Once they crossed the bridge leading to Mexico. They were greeted by the sights and sounds of Tijuana.
“Hey mister would you like some fruit?” A young boy no older than twelve approached the three navy men, attempting to sale a bag of oranges.
“No we don’t need any oranges kid, but here is five dollars!”
Robert handed the young Mexican boy a crisp five dollar bill.
“Are you going to the clubs tonight?” The young boy asked as he put the five dollar bill into his pocket. “Yeah my man! We just got back into the states today. And now we are going to party down!”
The kid reached into a large brown paper bag.
“Here! This may help you, if you run into any zombies!”
The young boy gave Robert what looked like twelve large firecrackers.
“Hey kid, what are these M-80s?” The kid shrugged his shoulders.
“I am not sure senor! But they work against the zombies!”
Alvin stared at the bag full of explosives.
“That looks like half sticks of dynamite, Robert! How much kid?”
“Veinte dollar!” Alvin handed the kid a twenty dollar bill.
“What are you going to do with those Alvin?”
“I don’t know! Kill zombies I guess!” The boy gave Alvin the brown paper bag full of dynamite and then the three, walked towards downtown Tijuana. The smell of street vendor cooked tacos filled the air. The sun was setting and the small shops that littered the streets of downtown began to turn on their neon lights.
“Hey Look! Viagra at ten cents a tab! I am at that!” Robert rushed into the small shop. “I got a one hundred pack!” Robert stated as he came out of the shop with a big smile on his face.
“You would think a guy your age wouldn’t need viagra!” Gilchrist Joked.
“I use it because like that song says! I love them long time! Ha ha ha!”
The two seaman burst into laughter, at Robert’s remark, as they made a right at the corner of a busy intersection.
“That’s it! The Hole! It’s across the st
reet!” The large neon lights at the entrance of the night club blinked off and on. The three were met by the loud thump of the bass music being played. The blaring lights and the loud music had the servicemen hyped. “I’ll take a Hennessey on the rocks!” Robert stated once they were at their table as he leered at the topless waitress. “I’ll have a tecate!”
“Me too!” There were already two totally nude girls dancing on a pole in the middle of the stage. “I need change, I need one dollar bills lots of one dollar bills!” Robert told the waitress as she gave them their drinks.
In the back of the club in the dancers dressing room. “We have another huge crowd tonight! Did you bring the mota?” The young spanish stripper, asked a dancer that had just finished performing.
The brown haired stripper put on a bathrobe and then peered into a large mirror hanging on the wall. “Si! And it’s the good stuff, primo from
San Diego!” The stripper that had just finished dancing went to her personally locker and retrieved a bottle of rum and a small plastic bag of marijuana. “Let me see it?” The brown haired stripper Maria, handed the other dancer the bag of weed. “This weed looks strange. What are those little white specs?” Sonya asked Maria as she inspected the plastic bag.
“The guy that sold it to me outside the club, said it was resin and that this weed is high in thc!” Sonya produced a black skull bong.
“Whatever! I need a hit before I go on!” She then filled the weed pipe with a few buds and then took a large hit. She blew a large cloud of smoke into the air and then sat silent for a moment. Maria grabbed the skull bong and then took a large hit as well. The door to the dressing room swung open and three more dancers entered the room.
“Hey! Y’all got it smelling good in here. Let me hit that!” The other three girls joined in, smoking weed from the glass skull bong.
“Nothing!” Sonya stated with a look of disappointment on her face.
“What are you talking about girl?” Maria quizzed.
“Nothing! I don’t feel anything, that wasn’t no indo that was some pretendo!” Maria took the bong from one of the other dancers that had entered the room. she then stuffed the bowl again and took another large hit. “Yeah you’re right! I am going to ask for my money back If I see that guy out there. This was some bammer weed!” At that moment, there was a knock on the door. “We need the next set of girls to come on stage. You’re on!” A voice stated from the other side of the door.
Outside of the club, two Mexican natives peddled bags of their homegrown Marijuana. “Can you believe it, we have almost sold out! I still don’t get, why you think you can charge cush prices for that home grown weed.” The older of the two chuckled.
“It’s the bath salts!”
“What?” But before Oscar could answer.
“I heard you got it good! I need two twenty bags of cush!” Three young college students had approached the natives in search of some good weed. After selling the college students two small bags of weed.
“That’s it we sold out!” Oscar laughed loudly while he counted the money the students had given him. “Bath salts? what’s up with that?”
After Oscar finished counting the money. “It makes the mota more potent!”
Inside the club the stage was full of nude girls and girls from the back of the club, had began going into the audience offering lap dances.
The whole club reeked with the strong stench of Marijuana.
“This is a bomb a$$ club Robert! You know how to pick em!”
Gilchrist looked over to the next table, a young black guy was receiving a lap dance, by a totally nude girl, while he puffed on a large blunt!”
“My friend would you like a dance?” Sonya asked Robert in the sexiest voice she could muster. “Hell yeah!” Sonya wearing nothing but a pair of pink thong panties. Jumped into the young servicemen's lap and then began to move and sway over him.
“Party over here! Party over here! Its your birthday! It’s your birthday!”
Alvin began to chant, as Sonya danced provocatively over Robert’s lap.
Then out of the blue. She threw up on him.
“Uuuh! That’s nasty!” Gilchrist exclaimed at the sight of Robert’s Izod shirt covered in Sonya’s vomit. “I am sorry senor! I will get another girl to dance for free for you!” One of the club’s floormen stated.
“No that’s okay! I like her, are you alright!” Robert questioned Sonya as he brushed her long black hair from her face. She just shook her head.
“I am sorry!” She whispered. “Would you like to go to a private room? Where I can make it up to you!” Robert’s face broke into a large grin.
He helped the young spanish girl to her feet and allowed her to lead the way. “Damn dog! That broad just threw up on him and he is still going to hit it! I guess it’s true an erection has no conscience!”
Gilchrist spit out his drink in laughter.
“Would you like a lap dance?” Another girl from the stage asked Alvin.
“Yeah cool! But you’re not a puker are you?” The girl jumped in his lap and began to gyrate. In one of the private rooms in the back of the club.
After Robert and Sonya got cleaned up, they started making out passionately. “My friend would you like me to please you like this?”
Sonya had opened his shirt and had begun to kiss down his chest until she kissed his belt. Robert smiled “Yeah kiss me right there! Right there!”
The sound of his zipper filled the room and Robert began to moan in ecstasy when suddenly, he yelled at the top of his lungs. Sonya had bit his genitals clean off. His screams of agony were muffled by the sound proof room. The occupants in the club were oblivious to what was happening in the private booth. “Back that thang up girl!”
Alvin yelled after taking a shot of Tequila. The dancer who was bouncing up and down in his lap swiftly turned around to face him and then she began to kiss him on his neck. “You got moves girl!”
Then like Sonya had done, she threw up. This time right in Alvin’s mouth!”
“B!@%tch! what is wrong with you?” Alvin yelled his voice sounding muffled as he tried to spit out the nasty vomit the girl spit out.
“Ahh! She got you good!” Gilchrist was in tears from laughter. But his laughter quickly turned into a look of horror as he watched the Mexican dancer latch onto Alvin’s neck. Blood was squirting everywhere.
The crowd in the club were all drunk, high and dancing to the loud music They did not notice for one minute what had happened to Alvin.
“Get off of him! Tramp!” Gilchrist tried to pull the deranged girl from Alvin’s neck. He finally grabbed a fifth of Tequila bottle and busted it over the Bath Salt crazed dancer’s head. Alvin was screaming with his hand over the large wound to his throat. “We gotta get you to the Hospital man! Where is Robert?” Gilchrist looked around the club and he could not believe his eyes. The other stripper girls, were attacking the club patrons. “What the F%#ck! We gotta get out of here!” He looked down at his shipmate Alvin, his eyes were open but Gilchrist could tell his good friend was gone. He glanced around the room one more time to see if he could spot Robert and then gave up looking for him. He grabbed the bag filled
with the half sticks of dynamite and then ran for the exits.
Many of the the club’s patrons had bought the Bath Salt laced weed from Oscar and his friend. And they too began acting as zombies biting and chewing on whoever they could get there hands on. At first Gilchrist thought, to save himself but then he thought about Robert. He fought his way through the crowded club, until he found the private booth, Robert was in. “Robert are you in there?” He kicked in the door and immediately threw up at the sight before him. Robert was seated with his pants around his ankles. His whole groin area was a bloody mess. Sonya was in the corner chewing on what was left of Robert’s genitals. She began growling and then she charged at Gilchrist with her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Only the white of her eyes were showing.
“You demonic witch! Get o
ff me!” Gilchrist pulled a pocket knife he took with him everywhere and stabbed the deranged girl directly in her throat. She began gasp and gurgle on the copious amounts of blood squirting from her neck. Gilchrist pulled the blade out and then stabbed her several times in her stomach he cut her stomach area open so wide that her intestines came out. She finally fail on the ground convulsing and twitching. Gilchrist headed for the door and then looked back one last time. “What in the devil?” Sonya lay up against the wall with her insides hanging out. The stripper grabbed her own intestines and started eating her own innards. Gilchrist threw up again and then ran as fast as he could to the front door exit. By then the club was full of Bath Salt deranged zombies. And they all ran behind Gilchrist like a pack of wild dogs.
Once he got through the first exit there was a long hallway that led to the exit outside. Gilchrist was running fast as he could with five deranged bar patrons right behind him. Gilchrist stopped for a moment and with his hands shaking he found his lighter. He lit the fuse to one of the half sticks of dynamite and then threw the bag with all twelve sticks behind him at the oncoming zombies. Right before he crashed through, the double glass exit doors. Once he landed on the hard concrete sidewalk, it was just in time before the sticks of dynamite went off and the old wood built club burst into flames.
The following Monday at the Tijuana downtown jailhouse.
“Thanks for coming chaplain. He is very disturbed, he seems to be delusional and psychotic.”
“Can I see him now!” The Chief Petty officer chaplain asked the Jail guard. The guard led him through the dark halls of the old decrepit jail.
“You have a visitor!” Gilchrist jumped to his feet.
“Thank God you are here! You have to get me out of here!”
“What happened son?”
“I don’t know, everybody at the club started tripping out and acting like zombies it was really weird. How long will it be before you can get me out of here?” Gilchrist held onto the steel bars with a look of desperation on his face. “Son you are facing serious charges!”
