A Fortunate Thing

There have been many murders committed by plan, by passion, and even fits of rage. Some over money, jewelry, or jealousy…But these crimes could have been avoided if the victims had chosen to use their inherent common sense.

Sydney decides to go out to pick up a few items for his place. He has a couple of options, but he feels like a drive on this nice day so he heads to the supermarket which is about a 15 minute drive. He pulls into the parking lot and notices an empty space a few cars away so he lightly taps the gas peddle. Right as he’s about to enter, a man on a motorcycle zips into the spot. Sydney’s tires screeched from stopping so abruptly.

The guy gets off the bike, fists clenched and says, “I’m glad you didn’t hit my bike bro.” Little did he know, Sydney’s anger grew like lava flowing through his veins and his heart pounded like an ancient war drum.

Sydney smiles and says, “have a good day sir.”

The man on the bike walks into the store smiling and looking accomplished. Sydney quickly finds a parking spot then enters the store as well.

He shops around a bit grabbing a few things but makes sure he’s checking out at the same time as the guy on the bike. The biker throws his beer on the counter and the cashier asks for his I.D. so he pulls it out to show her.

Sydney innocently says, “hey bro that’s my girls favorite beer, mind if I snap a pic to send to her?”

The biker laughs and says “go ahead.”

Sydney snaps a pic and catches the biker’s address in the frame. “Thanks bro” says Sydney and he walks out of the store.

Now Sydney is the one with the accomplished grin. He walks to his car and carelessly throws the groceries into the backseat. All he can think about is the rude biker that took his parking spot and thought he was a badass while doing it. Sydney tells himself to calm down, that karma is a bitch and we will all meet her one day. Jim AKA the biker, is going to meet her real soon.

Sydney goes home and devises a devious plan to put Jim where he belongs, 6 feet under. Sydney puts his tools in a small lightweight backpack. Inside the bag goes rubber glove, scalpel, hunting knife, piano wire and three large plastic drop cloths. He knows however he does the job, it’s going to have to be stealthy, silent, and unseen. Dressed in black Sydney heads out the door around 3 a.m. As he approaches his destination he realizes that the asshole lives closer then he thought, “even better” Sydney says to himself.

He parks a few long blocks away. The distance is nothing to a man that runs several miles a day. It’s trash day so he’s betting that Jim waits until the last minute to take his out. Sydney hides in a thick patch of bushes at the empty house next door. Jim’s side door opens, Sydney can hear beer cans rattling in trash bags as Jim slowly drags himself and the bags out the door. Sydney looks up to the sky, hands clasped, and whispers “thank you!” As Jim walks along the the side of the house, Sydney follows quietly with the scalpel exposed, gloves on hands. Sydney creeps up quietly behind Jim, he slams his left hand around Jim’s mouth from the back. Jim automatically drops the bags and reaches up to remove the hand from his mouth, but at the same time, Sydney had already slit his femoral artery. The struggle was minimal at best, Jim bled out in seconds before he could put up a fight. Sydney smiles as he feels the life escaping Jim’s body. He looks toward the street and notices a female passer by.

Looking at him holding a lifeless body she doesn’t blink an eye, but quietly says, “hurry up I’ll look out while you finish up.”

Sydney thinks to himself, “Is this love at first kill?” He drags Jim’s body to the backyard where he quietly wraps him in plastic and shoves the body underneath the house. While tucking away the body he notices a ”little black book” laying in the spot where they tussled. He grabbed the evidence and shoved it into his pocket.

“Now what about that woman on the street, am I gonna have to kill her too?” Sydney thinks to himself. He walk along side the house headed towards the street, the woman casually says “Hey, go for a walk with me.” To Sydney’s surprise, she’s as cool as the other side of the pillow. They walk off nonchalantly, as if murder is an every day occurrence.

Not knowing what to think of this woman, he asks, “So, do you live around here?”

She just laughs and says, “Shouldn’t I be asking the questions?”

Sydney looks with a blank stare.

She says, "Relax, I’m just joking a little bit with you.” She reaches out her toned slender arm and out of her beautiful mouth came the words, “my name is Violet. And you are?”

Still in shock of it all, he clears his throat and says “Sydney.”

“Well, nice to meet you Sydney. Do you kill people often?”

Sydney goes blank again.

“Chill guy. You really can’t take a joke.” Then she giggles, turning away and hiding her amazing smile. They walked together for a good while, long enough to reach Sydney’s car.

“Hey Violet, do you need a lift?” She happily says “yes.” They enter the vehicle and proceed to drive. Sydney thinks to himself, “Is this really happening? Who in their right mind gets into a car with a stranger that you’ve just seen kill someone?!” “Is she a cop, or some type of investigator? I’m just gonna ask!”

Before he opens his mouth, She says, “I have a confession to make.”

Sydney starts reaching on the side of his seat, knowing he has a knife there, ready for speedy action.

Violet says, “I was actually scouting my escape route.” Sydney slows the car to get a better look into her eyes. He says, “escape route, I don’t get it!”

“ It’s a bit of a story but here’s the short version. I had a job interview with this women named Susan. A very good, high paying job. I was rejected because of her dumb ass mistake.. I got the short end of the stick, as they say, and she was rude as all hell for no reason. I kept thinking who did she spell cast to get this job because she was the most disrespectful hag I’ve ever met.”

“Okay, I still don’t get it. Does she live in that neighborhood?”

“No. She lives in the one on the backside of the property where we met.”

Sydney laughs, “I get it now.”

“Yes, there’s a trail of empty homes that I’ll use for my smooth getaway.”

“So your plans for this lady are??”

“I’m sure she’s headed for Hell and I want to be the one to send her there. She tried to dictate my life because hers is in the crapper.”

“Remind me not to piss you off, Violet.”

She giggles, “look who’s talking.”

“Touché. So can I drop you some place specific?” She says yes and directed him to a coffee shop near by. Sydney pulls up and parks.

“Are you getting out?” She asks.

“No, it’s been a weird enough few hours, so I’m going to cut things short and get out of here.”

Violet smiles , she writes her number on a piece of paper and drops it on Sydney’s lap and says, “Don’t be a stranger.”

As Violet walks away Sydney says to himself, “what just happen here?!?” While parked, he steps out of the car and takes a look in the trunk just to make sure nothing is missing. Sydney heads home in a bit of a confused state of mind but for some reason he’s not worried.

Several days pass by and he still hasn’t contacted Violet. While replaying that night in his head, he remembers the little black book he had found. He pulls it out of his pants and opens it. It has names with numbers beside them, which he initially thought were phone numbers but some where short and most of them were way too long. He thinks, “could this be money owed to the idiot I just offed?” He sees a news flash on TV about a man found dead under his home in a near by neighborhood. Sydney scratches his head, laughing, and says, “I guess I’m done in this town.”

He could definitely use some fast cash. He opens the little black book again and decides to head to the first address listed, Thomas Veil. The numbers say he owes $20,000. Sydney puts the address into his GPS and it seems to be his estate on the outskirts of the city. Sydney arrives at a huge gate where he has to buzz in. He is feeling uneasy about this plan, could these people be friends or relatives that would want revenge? Sydney thinks, “Screw it. I’ll say I’m Jim’s business partner and take it from there.”

Sydney enters the property where a security guard asks him who is he looking for.

“I’m here to see “Thomas Veil.”

“And the purpose of your visit?”

Sydney says, “Business, I’m a partner of Jim’s.”

“Okay give me a moment.” Security radios and a few seconds later a smiling older gentlemen comes down the long driveway on a golf cart. The man’s smile puts Sydney at ease and he thinks, “This will go smoother than expected.”

Thomas walks up to the car and before Sydney can even speak, Thomas slaps him in the face with an envelope and says, “Don’t ever let me see you again! And tell Jim go to hell!” Sydney thinks, “I’m sure he’s already there.” He drives off thinking “that was the easiest money I have ever made.“

Excited about his come up , he calls Violet to let her know he’s about to skip town. She answers and wants to join him but not before she takes Susan out, and she’s not talking about lunch. He says, “That sounds great” and he’ll help but first she must help him retrieve all of the funds from the little black book. She agrees to help.