The Locket

The sound of sirens can be heard coming from outside in the streets. Which is no different from any other night in the city. There is always something going on. Something dark, something chaotic, something underhanded, and something terrible. The hooligans have their way with any passersby and the homeless crowd around in droves. The Police display their power with a brutality that is unmatched. Drugs flood the streets in the form of opioid pills. The church is dead. Hope and faith is gone with it. The darkness is tangible. This is New York city, 2099.

Inside their high rise apartment sits a young couple. Josie is 24 with red hair and freckles. She likes to read books and imagine a better life. A heart shaped locket dangles from her neck and she reaches up to touch it every now and again. Her boyfriend Steve has brown hair and a wiry frame. He doesn't like books nor does he have much of an imagination. Drinking and drugs are his favorite pastime. Reaching into his jeans he pulls out a few pills of narcotics and pops them into his mouth.

“Whats with the locket?” he jeers.

“What? This?” She deflects.

“I bet its one of your old boyfriends,” he says.

“Its none of your business!” she contends.

The pair have not been getting along very well lately. Steve's drug use has been getting out of hand and Josie is trying to quit. They started out using together. It was fun at first. What began as a little mind altered fun became something sinister. They became wild, insane, and worst of all destructive. They were destroying the world around them and they were destroying themselves. Alter the mind enough and you alter everything recognizable about yourself. One night Josie stripped naked in the streets and started walking in traffic. The police picked her up and instead of putting her into a temporary psych ward, they threw her in the lockup. They shot her with a taser and beat her up with billy clubs. You don't want to be picked up by the police in this town. Even so, she got clean in jail and she wanted to remain that way.

“Give me that damn thing!” Steve shouts.

“No!” Josie returns with even more vigor.

He begins to get physical. First he rises up out of his chair. Then, grabbing Josie's chair by both sides, he starts to shake her.

“Get off!” she yells. And she smacks him in the face.

He raises a fist to her, threatening to strike.

“We're done,” Josie says

His fist falls to his side.

“Done? Really? That's it?”

“Yes. I don't want to see you anymore,” Josie says

“Fine!” Steve shouts.

He storms out the door and slams it shut.

The silence is louder than the city ever was. It has been a long time since Josie has been on her own. On the first night, a painful loneliness overcomes her. The tears flow down onto her pillow from her sleepy head. The drugs are not an option. Boys are not even close to being a thought. Nothing can console her. Except her locket. The little heart shines in the darkness. To her, it represents freedom from this dark place. It is a golden trinket of love that keeps her safe no matter what. She holds it in her hands and rubs it as she drifts to sleep.

The next few months are difficult. Josie sits alone in her apartment most days. The loneliness persists and seems to get worse and worse. Without many friends, it is hard to get back on her feet. The clock ticks loudly as time seems to slow. Lying awake at night she stares at the ceiling. If only she could find a way to get out of the house and experience something new. It is the only way. She puts on her jacket and forces herself to go outside into the cold city streets. Bravely forging her way forward she walks with purpose down the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, Steve has been up to no good these same few months. His drug use has gotten worse and he has started getting into new destructive pastimes. There's vandalizing, and not just with spray paint. He enjoys breaking car windows with a baseball bat. He's stealing, and not just the shoplifting variety. He is into pick-pocketing, stick-ups, and even muggings. On this particular night he is robbing an elderly couple at knife-point.

“Give me your wallet and purse. Nice and slow,” he says.

“Please don't hurt us,” the elderly man pleads.

“Give it to me now or ill cut you!” Steve yells impatiently.

The man hands over the wallet and the purse.

“This better be everything,” Steve says.

Then he puts the knife to the old mans throat.

“Please don't!” the old man cries.

Steve kicks him to the ground and runs away. With loot in tow, he rounds the corners of the back alleys. He jumps over homeless people lying in the middle of the street. They know to keep their distance from him, for he would hurt even they who have nothing to give him. He has made quite a name for himself.

Josie, on the other hand, has a way of fitting between the cracks. She is slowly gaining confidence and a sense of self-reliance as she deftly maneuvers the city life. She made a friend with the local bartender. He is a robot. She orders a soda and listens to his stories. The bartender likes the way she listens.

“So I guess I am your only friend?” he says.

“Hehe. I guess,” she laughs.

“So whats with the locket?” he says

Josie looks down.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to pry,” he says

“No its OK,” Josie says

“Its just, I see you fiddling with it. Seems like it means a lot to you,” he says

“Yes. It does. You see its my way out of all this madness of the city,” she says

“like symbolically?” he asks

“No. Not exactly. Its my freedom. That's all,” she says as she stands up.

“Ok. Ill leave you to your mysterious ways Josie,” he laughs

“Hehe. See you later,” she giggles.

She goes out into the night. Nothing can make her feel like less of a woman anymore. She is ready to face reality. Ready to become a part of this terrible city, because if there is evil, there is also good, and she will be the good. She doesn't even need this stupid locket anymore. She grabs it with both hands, not quite ready to let go, yet at the same time ready to rip the damn thing off of her neck. The locket means escape, and she is ready to dive in to the deep end.

Just then a dark figure slinks out of the alley way.

“Josie,” Steve says.

“Steve?” she squints.

“You are gonna pay for what you did to me,” he says.

He pulls out a switch-blade.

“Steve, think about what you are doing,” she says.

“I have thought a lot about it. Really it's all I think about.” Steve sneers.

“Steve, you have to stop this. Do you need money?” she asks.

“I don't do it for the money you see. I do it because I like to hurt people,” he says.

Josie recoils.

“and you, I want to hurt you most of all,” Steve says.

He punches her in the stomach real hard and she goes to the ground.

“So, I'm gonna take what you love,” he says

He grabs the locket and rips it off her neck.

“Steve don't! You don't understand!” Josie pleads.

“I understand that you love this locket more than me and I'm taking it!”

“Steve no!” Josie cries.

Steve runs to his hideout and tries to catch his breath.

“What is so important about this locket anyways,” he wonders

He opens up the locket and inside is a small white pill.

“Drugs? She told me quit! She was holding out on me the whole time,”

He pops the pill in his mouth triumphantly.

He starts to get light headed almost instantly

“Wow this works fast. What is this?”

Then he starts to feel the pain.

His throat begins to close and he begins foaming at the mouth.

His eyes grow very wide with surprise

“No! No! No!”

The pill was cyanide.

Josie sits down at the bar.

“You OK? Where's your locket?” the bartender says.

“Yeah. I'm OK. I don't need it anymore,”