An Unfortunate Accident

"You making chocolate cake?" The man behind the register asked.

"Yes sir," Ruby answered, flashing him a sweet smile.

She packed up all of her ingredients - flour, sugar, chocolate, and baking soda - wrapping them gently in a yellow and pink polka dot scarf before placing them in her cart. She had found the old thing in the alley, and it had become her favourite accessory. Smaller than a typical cart, it looked as though it were made for a child, except that the handle was tall enough for an adult. In fact, it fit perfectly with her five-foot-one stature.

"You have one lucky husband," the man remarked, before handing her ten cents change. "I bet that's going to be one good chocolate cake."

"So good, I think it might kill him," she teased.

Out on the street, it was a hot July afternoon. It made everyone slower, and more irritable. But not Ruby, she was as happy as a clam. Last week, the town was buzzing with the news of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. However, the excitement had already dissipated, as if the heat had boiled it away.

She passed the local diner, and James Brown's Mother Popcorn drifted out onto the streets. She swung her shoulders back and forth, in tune with the music. Even if everyone else was miserable, she was going to have a good day.

By the time she returned home, sweat had collected in every crevasse of her body. She unpacked her supplies, put on the kettle, and headed for the bathroom. Before she made it into the hallway, there was a knock at the back door. It was so frantic and loud it sounded as if the whole house would collapse.

"What in god's name," she swore under her breath. Why would anyone come to the back door.

When she swung the back door open, brow furrowed, it took a moment to absorb the scene in front of her. Genie, a widow from two blocks over, stood in front of her with an unconscious man at her feet. Not just any man, it was Ruby's husband Fin.

"Genie, what the hell - "

Genie cut her off before she could finish. "Ruby. Um. There's been an accident." Genie's eyes swelled, and she tightened her jaw, holding back tears.

"None of that now, get inside," Ruby said, grabbing Fin by the ankles and dragging him through the back hall. His blue button shirt had slipped out of his trousers, catching on the hardwood floor and sliding up to expose his stark white and hairy beer belly.

As soon as all three of them were inside, Ruby dropped Fin with a loud thump on the floor, and headed for the kitchen. Genie hesitated for a moment, before doing the same and following Ruby.

"Are we just going to leave him there?" Genie asked, concerned.

Ruby shrugged slightly, glancing back only for a moment "why not?"

In the kitchen, Ruby poured a cup of tea and handed it to Genie. "So what happened?"

As Genie explained the story, Ruby started on her chocolate cake. She had made this recipe a thousand times before. She could do it in her sleep.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry, Fin came over and I'm not sure what happened but I panicked and the next thing I know he was-" She started crying, so it was harder to make out her words. "And I-I-I well, it just happened-d-d-d and I-I-I think he is - he'ssss DEAD!"

Ruby poured the cake batter into the pan and popped it in the oven. Turning around to face Genie, she reached out to touch her hand.

"Genie, honey, it's perfectly fine."

Genie glanced up at Ruby, her big brown eyes were puffy and red from crying. "What do you mean, it's fine. He's dead!"

Ruby ran her hand along Genie's face, where the sharpness of her cheekbone met her soft brown curls. Her beauty was subtle, calm, uneventful, but she was beautiful.

"I mean" she said, leaning in to kiss her hairline and running her lips down the side of Genie's face. "It's fine." She whispered into her lips before gently kissing her.

When she pulled away, Genie looked up at her like a lost lamb. Ruby smiled, that charming, witty smile that could make you do anything. "We just need to get rid of the body."

Genie was frowning now, "do you even care?"

"Of course I don't." Ruby giggled. "The man was awful and honestly, he just got in my way."

Genie looked defeated but not surprised. She had fallen in love with Ruby for this very reason. Ruby was an absolute firecracker.

Genie rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, you're wicked."

Ruby swung the oven door down, poking the cake with a toothpick. It came out smooth.

"Go get a spare bedsheet from the closet. I'm going to make the icing and finish the cake."

Genie scowled at her before heading off into the hall. Ruby could hear a quiet "Ugck" as she stopped over Fin's body.

An hour later, Ruby, Genie, and Fin were all piled into Fin's car. His body was wrapped in the sheet and limp in the backseat. They drove out of town, and in the black moonlit sky, Genie and Ruby laid Fin out at the bottom of a hill with an empty beer bottle. "That should do it." Ruby proclaimed, proud of her ability to arrange his body and the beer bottle in the most natural-looking way. To anyone who found him, it would look as though he had an awful fall.

At the top of the hill, Ruby grabbed a slice of chocolate cake from the passenger seat, and headed back on foot towards town. Genie followed behind her, sluggish and afraid.

"Genie, you need to wipe that damn look off your face before we get into town, or everyone's going to know by just looking at you."

"Sorry," Genie said, linking arms with Ruby and doing her best to look composed.

"Besides, I'm the one who needs to be upset."

"Right."

The sheriff's station was right at the edge of town, so they didn't have to go too far to reach the front steps. By the time they were through the front doors, she had tears flowing down her eyes. The sheriff whisked her into his office, while Genie waited in the entrance.

Genie wasn't sure what did it. Was it the way Ruby's tears looked real? Or was it her story about the fact that she had made delicious chocolate cake for her husband, only to have him not come home? Genie would never know for sure, but the sheriff ate up the story and the cake as if it were the best chocolate cake he's ever had.

When they found his body, there were no questions. He was a drunk, they said, just an accident.

That night, Ruby and Genie went home and ate the rest of the chocolate cake. And when Genie asked Ruby how she did it, how she got the sheriff to believe her, Ruby just winked at her and said, "you know what they say about redheads."

Somehow, Genie couldn't shake the feeling that Ruby knew what would happen that morning when she went to the store to get baking supplies. What did they say about redheads?