by Keith Trimm
“Hello Miss Miller, how are you today?” the man asked. “My name is J. O'Brien, I’ll be your executioner today.”
“Do you actually expect me to answer you?” Cassidy replied.
“No Miss Miller, it’s a courtesy, but I do have a few questions I do need you to answer if you please.”
“Go on,” she replied.
“In the case we are unable to execute you in the prescribed manner, would you prefer we toss you in a pond until you drown or set you on fire until dead?”
“What?”
“Sometimes the bullets don’t do the job and the executed isn’t executed at all. Then we have to finish off the job in another way that will ensure that the orders are fulfilled.
“Why not shoot me again? Seems stupid to cut me down and drown me.”
“Yes, that does make sense, but I have to follow the law and the law doesn’t provide for that kind of relief. I can only drown you or burn you alive.”
“How often do these firing squads screw up like that?”
“In my twelve years as executioner, it’s never happened. This is basically a formality that they make me go through, by the time they get done shooting you, your heart will be a sponge and you will be dead. Now, can I get an answer from you?”
Cassidy looked at the clock on the wall and realized she was down to five minutes. “What if I don’t answer?”
“Then I am charged to make a decision in your behalf, that way you can’t stall the execution, like you’re doing right now.”
“Why am I being executed anyway? I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t even commit a crime.”
“Miss Miller, I’m not a lawyer and I don’t have time to discuss the legalities of your case. The governor has decided you are to die by firing squad and in three minutes you will be dead. Now, give me your answer or I will make up my own.”
Cassidy, realizing she could no longer stall replied, “Drown me.”
“That’s better, now I’ll get back to my other job, have a nice day, what you have left of it.”
The executioner walked back over to his safe booth away from the firing squad and turned on his microphone so everyone could hear him speak. “Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the execution of Linda Miller, found guilty of performing pornography under the legal weight. I hope you are all comfortable and have a good view. DVD’s will be available for purchase on your way out in the souvenir shop. Before we begin, I would like to thank everyone for coming out, it has been nasty outside with the weather being as bad as it is. If anyone needs any special accommodations, like viewing glasses or hearing protectors, let my staff know and they will provide you with what you need.
I would like to bring your attention to our governor, who has gone out of her way to be here today. She took time away from a committee meeting just to sit in on todays events. In a moment, we will begin the execution so I would like for to prepare you for what is about to occur.
Traditionally, we have a five member shooting squad who are volunteers from our regular prison guard staff. Today we had a call in, I guess someone had a sick child so we substituted in one of our janitorial staff who has some experience hunting badgers or deer or something. We will do a countdown from five, and when we get to the word “fire”, the squad will shoot in unison. Just like you see in the movies.
At that point, our medical professionals will assess the fired upon person, in this case Miss Miller and report back whether or not the execution was successful. In the case there was a problem and Miss Miller has survived the firing squad, she has agreed to be tossed into a body of water and drown.
At this time, I ask you to put on any protective gear as the countdown will begin shortly.”
Cassidy watched the small group put on headphones and raise their field glasses for a better view of her chest exploding. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
“Firing squad to your mark!” the executioner yelled over his microphone. “Five, four three, two, one, fire!” With that said, five guns fired in unison and Cassidy fell limp at the pole.
“I want to see her!” Governor Rayne yelled from the observation deck. Having no patience, she stood and began hobbling down the steps towards the field where Cassidy now hung limp from the pole.
“Excuse me Governor!” the executioner yelled back, “No one is allowed to view the body, not even you.”
The medical team walked over to Cassidy and assessed her, taking a moment to attempt to get vital signs. It didn’t take long before they returned and the executioner announced over the loudspeakers that Cassidy was indeed dead.
Acid Rayne, pissed as hell that she wasn’t allowed to view the body stormed off the deck followed by her assistants and headed to her limousine. “What kind of fucked up law is that! I’m the governor, I should be allowed to do whatever the fuck I want!” Acid yelled.
One of her assistants perked up and replied, “It’s been law for over fifty years ma’am.”
“Don’t fucking ma’am me, I want to see her bullet hole ridden body! I want to have a picnic and use her for my table. I want to hang that bitch up in the town square for everyone to gawk at. That fucking skinny ass bitch. I hate her!”
“She’s dead, you need to get over this and move on. You have important government business to attend to.”
The governor and her assistants got in the car and took off leaving the event behind.
Two hours later, Cassidy awoke on a table in the basement of the medical examiner’s office groggy and in pain. “What the fuck am I doing here?” she asked.
A med tech heard her voice and walked over to the table she was lying on. “Are you alright Miss Rayne?”
“I have an incredible pain in my back.”
“I can get you some pain medications if you like,” the tech replied.
“Yes, I need some Ibuprofen.” Cassidy looked around and saw that she was in a white room filled with medical equipment. Cabinets filled every wall and IV poles were scattered all over the room. It was like she was in some sort of store room/emergency room. “Where am I?” she asked.
“You are in the basement of the city hospital,” the tech replied.
“What am I doing here?” she asked still groggy.
“We were waiting for you to recover, I need to get the doctor.”
Cassidy laid still on the table waiting for her Ibuprofen. She was wondering if that guy was going to bring it or if the doctor was, either way she still hurt. A few minutes later a short Asian woman walked in the room wearing a stethoscope around her neck.
“How are you feeling?” the Asian woman asked.
“My back hurts,” Cassidy replied.
“Anything else?”
“No, I just feel weird, very tired.”
“We ran x rays and labs already and we know that you are basically fine. My assistant is running upstairs to get you some Ibuprofen.”
“Doctor, what the fuck am I doing here?” Cassidy asked.
“What is the last thing you remember before you woke here?”
“I was being shot at by five guards.”
The doctor paused for a moment. “You’re memory seems to be intact.”
“Why wouldn’t it?” Cassidy asked.
“The pole you were strapped to was hooked up to an electric circuit. When the order to fire was given, you were given a shock strong enough to knock you out, but not strong enough to kill you. In a nutshell, your execution was faked.”
“Faked? Why?”
“There is very large group of people who dislike Governor Rayne. They think she is a power mad pig.”
“Pig? Is that a fat joke?”
“She is a glutton, she takes what she wants at the expense of others. Who else would pass legislation making it illegal for skinny girls to do porn? She makes laws that benefit her and her alone. In a way, letting her kill you might incense the people to rebel, but at the same time, maybe not, and we felt your life wasn’t worth ending for her personal gain.”
&nbs
p; “So now what?” Cassidy asked.
“We have very few options. We think plastic surgery to make you look different may work, and relocating you out of state.”
“I’ve had plastic surgery before, I had my tits and eyes done. I was planning on having my lips done eventually.”
“That’s not the kind of plastic surgery we are thinking about. If you want to stay alive, you need to look like someone else entirely. “
“Like who? or what? If I do that, she wins. I won’t be the skinny girl doing porn anymore, I’ll be some hideous monster that had to be created in order to hide from her.”
“Would you rather be full of holes?”
“Maybe, if I can’t be me, I might as well be dead anyway. I don’t want the surgery.”
“You have to have the surgery, if you get caught, they will trace you back to us and we’ll be the ones standing in front of the firing squad.”
“I didn’t ask you to save me! And I’m not going to let you disfigure me either!”
The doctor stood back in amazement. Amazed that this woman was so ungrateful that people put their own lives on the line to save her and all she could do is bitch. “I guess the road to hell really is paved with good intentions,” the doctor said. “If you don’t agree to this surgery, I’ll kill you myself. I’m not allowing my staff to go down on this. Maybe I should forget about the surgery all together and kill you now. You seem unstable enough that even if we did the surgery, down the line you would still out us in some attempt to get back at the governor.”
“What do you expect? It’s not like I look like you? If I were short and plain looking I wouldn’t care, but I’m a porn star. I’ve been in over three hundred DVD’s!”
The doctor, in disgust walked away and left Cassidy sitting on the table alone.
“Where are you going?” Cassidy asked.
“I need some coffee,” the doctor replied. “And a gun.”
Two hours later there was a knock at the door that surprised Cassidy. “Who is it?” she asked.
In stepped a familiar face, that of Dennis her photographer. “How’s it going porn star?” he asked with a smile?
“Where have you been all this time?” Cassidy asked.
“I went back to South Dakota and took a part time job as a mall photographer at a kids store. I also talked to your husband.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted to know why you didn’t invite him to your execution.”
“He’s really busy, I didn’t want to bother him.”
“I think it hurt his feelings.”
“Oh, I’ll call him later.”
“No, you can’t, only a few people know you’re still alive and he isn’t one of them.”
“Why do you know he doesn’t?” Cassidy asked.
“The people who wanted you saved thought I’d be better and keeping my mouth shut. Once you get reestablished somewhere else, we will contact your husband. This is sort of like the witness protection plan. Only those who need to know do.”
“In the meantime he gets to mourn my passing?”
“It was either that or let you die for real,” Dennis replied.
“So are you here to save me? Be my big strong hero?”
“I’m here to take you to a place where you can start over.”
Cassidy sat and thought about what Dennis had just said. He said something about starting over. For some reason that line didn’t register with her. “What do you mean start over? Like get a day job?”
“Yes, you need to blend in and become invisible.”
“Dennis, I’m a porn star, I don’t blend.”
“I realize that, but you need to stop being such a show off and become one of us for a while. Your life depends on it. “
“I’d rather be dead than dull,” Cassidy replied with a very straight face.
“I know you too well now Cassidy, I know you’d rather be naked in a mall full of shoppers than stuffing groceries into a bag, but things have to change. If you don’t want to go along with the program, I’ll leave and you can get your ass caught again and this time do it right.”
Staring at her feet, Cassidy had a hard time looking Dennis in the eye. She almost felt guilty, but at the same time felt like she had too much to offer the world to just give up. “What if I...”
“Don’t say it, a lot of people put themselves on the line to save your ass, you owe them,” Dennis snapped back.
“They only saved me to get back at the governor, they don’t give a shit about me.”
“Maybe not, but you are alive nonetheless. Those people will go in front of the firing squad if you don’t bring it down a lot, and I mean a lot.”
“Without porn, I’m dead anyway.”
“You can channel your interests and energy somewhere else. You don’t have to fuck and suck everything you find just to get attention.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you’re a man.”
“So the fuck what?” Dennis asked pissed. “You don’t think I like a little attention myself sometimes? I can get attention without dropping my shorts and letting my dick hang out for everyone to see.”
“That’s because nobody wants to see your dick. Everyone wants to see me naked and having sex. I am every man and woman’s fantasy. They either want to be me, or fuck me.”
“I’ll give you a choice right now, either you agree to do what I say and save your ass or you are on your own. You can make all the porn you want and in a month I’ll watch the news when they haul your dead body to the morgue.”
Cassidy turned away from Dennis and shook her head in disgust. She rubbed her eyes and thought hard about what she would say next. She was never at a loss for words, but this time she thought she should choose her words wisely. “Let me think about it,” she said still facing away from Dennis.
“What’s there to think about?”
“Give me a day.”
“No, if you don’t agree to my terms right now, I’m leaving. I’m not married to you, I’m not your boyfriend, or your lover. I’m some stooge that you hired to take naked pictures of you while you sucked some guy off. My only investment in you is purely financial, so unless you’re paying me to stick around, this is goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Cassidy said with a tear in her eye.
Dennis turned and walked out of the room leaving Cassidy behind.
Chapter 12
On the Road again
The next day Cassidy Rayne was on the road hitchhiking to who knows where. She had nowhere to go, her last friend had left her due to her own selfishness and she was now drifting aimlessly down the highway. Then a car pulled over onto the shoulder behind her and tapped a little honk on the horn. Cassidy turned around to see an early eighties silver Grand Am waiting for her with two people in the front and maybe a third in the back. She approached the driver’s side door and watched the window roll down. “You need a ride?” a dark haired woman asked. She was young, maybe in her early twenties.
“Yes,” Cassidy replied looking in the window at the other passenger. She was also in her twenties. She didn’t see anyone in the back seat, maybe she was seeing things.
“Where to?” the woman asked.
“The next big town would be fine,” Cassidy replied. “I’m looking for work.”
“Get in,” the woman replied and Cassidy got in the back seat. The car took off onto the highway and the three women began a new journey.
“Where are you two going?” Cassidy asked.
“To my ex’s house, going to pick up some shit I left there last week.”
“Where is that?”
“Oklahoma City.”
“That’s quite a drive,” Cassidy replied.
“Yeah, about four hours on the highway, what kind of work are you looking for?”
“I’m thinking about getting back into dancing,”
“You mean stripping?”
“Yeah, I guess you can call it that, I prefer to call it dancing.”
&nb
sp; “You danced before?” the woman asked looking in the rear view mirror at Cassidy.
“Since I was old enough to get in the bar. I used to be the pole trainer at three different clubs.”
“Pole trainer? What’s that?” the second woman asked. She was turned in her seat so she could face Cassidy face to face.
“I taught the other girls pole tricks,” Cassidy replied with pride.
“I’ve been doing pole tricks for two years myself, and so has Missy here, what kinds of pole tricks do you teach?”
“You’re dancers too?” Cassidy asked. “Maybe you could help me get a job.”
“I know a lot of bars and bar owners in the Oklahoma City area, I probably could hook you up.”
“Are you two dancing now? I mean we could apply together.”
“I do dance, but not as much as I used to, and Missy’s old man doesn’t like her in the club anymore, so she’s been living off him for a few months now.”
“Oh, I’d never do that, a woman should take care of herself, never depend on a man for anything.”
“You’re lucky, this is a man’s world you know, like it or not. What kinds of pole tricks do you teach? You never answered,” the driver asked.
“I know some real cool upside down spinning tricks, and I can flip on the pole without using my hands.”
“Cool,” Missy said.
“What’s your name?” Cassidy asked the driver.
“Rhonda,” she replied.
“Are you married, got any kids?” Cassidy asked.
“Divorced, two kids,” Rhonda replied.
“And you?” Cassidy asked Missy.
“Just the boyfriend, no kids. “How about you?”
“Oh, I have a husband back home taking care of my kids.”
“Are you divorced?” Missy asked.
“No, not at all, I love him to death.”
“Then why not go back to him? Why are you hitchhiking and looking for work?” Rhonda asked.
“I don’t know, I like it this way. He’s a good father and very good with the kids.”
“How often do you see your kids?”
