From The City We Fled

We raced through the abyss, thoughts racing, hearts pounding, an eruption of red in the distant horizon. Sweat beading down my face from my hairline, I pushed my hair back, forcing my quivering eyes to embrace reality. Heart shivering and stunned, my lungs carried on like a machine, ignoring the arrhythmic beating. Stars guiding the way from the city, we fled. Never had I thought celestial navigation would come in handy. My father spent his days asleep to stare at the stars. Always dreaming of heaven forgetting about the physical world.

Heaven abandoned us, God blessed me with a fallen angel who lead me to all the riches I could dream. Stars and glory used to dance underneath the streetlights for us. Her breath sharp and sudden like the gunshot as I caressed her thigh with an apologetic consolation sigh. Fear and uncertainty in my eyes. It couldn’t have been reassuring for her, but it was the most I could offer.

They warned me she was a demoness, a black heart with icy eyes that could freeze time. That’s where I found my home, an endless ocean of comfort. Satan could have my soul. Abandoning God was easy. It could never be heaven without her. Still, with all the darkness in her voice, I could never imagine she’d pull the trigger. A job like any other, money was no longer enough. We needed to reach greater heights, an infamy we had never thought. Hollywood would bear green fruit whenever our names were mentioned. Decapitate their words that flicked from their togues thoughtlessly with no imagination. A poor painting on the wrong canvas it would take a God to capture her beauty with a paintbrush.

This time we couldn’t go back. We will always be running through the tears of a disappointed sky. We took it too far. Blood stained violence to cure an insatiable lust for entertainment. Understand we didn’t do it for glittering gold, but to inspire with a love never seen before. History would’ve revered our names. We read of Icarus but always told ourselves we wouldn’t go out that far, never reach for more than we could handle. Now our names will be drug through the sea of corpses left in our wake. Our names only accompanied by words of disdain, no allegories to Robin Hood or an appreciation for the art of theft. Kleptomaniacs with an eye for love and beauty reduced to murderers in an instant.

The haunting look of the man’s dead eyes as the bullet went through, an easy job we go in as we always had. Sweet, seductive words commanding the room, pulling at the ears of every man who heard her siren song. Distraction and deception, the name of the game, dancing together hand in hand, paving the way to fame. Behind the counter, with sly footsteps overflowing with confidence, no one dared question the authority of my presence. Fistfuls into the bag, acrobatic sleight of hand, a kind of dark magic gifted to me through a simple kiss from her red, passionate lips. Trace back my steps to the lobby, her sweet scent still hypnotizing the weak willed.

Another job like any other, enough scratch in hand to keep us happy and thriving. We didn’t need more; it had become a hobby. Birthed from desperation and fueled by an addiction to standing on the edge, going from town to town and racing the arm of the law. Ricocheting bullets and spiteful shouts, our images depicted perfectly. Respected by the bold words ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ with a respectable bounty. New age broadcasting spoke our names as often as it sang the praises of baseball players, noting every detail of what happened. A dangerous game worth playing for a cheap thrill we could stop at anytime, but the adrenaline high wasn’t worth giving up.

We met in a speakeasy, a hole in the wall, the Boston streets disguising our sinful practice of consuming his blood beyond the altar of Christ. Danced to the optimistic notes of the piano that had lost its mind, left to pound on its veins to remind itself of its existence. The bass carried the heart as the drums swung its legs, drunken and happy as it swung and swung. Melodramatics of a guitar that only knew to cry sweet lullabies, forgetting the cowboy chords forced upon its heavy, dirty soul. A simple smile was all it took to take my hand forever, on my knees before her tongue could carve out a hello. I offered her my soul as a drink and a dance. We didn’t need words. Everyone else melted away as the smoke filled room dissolved into the bright blue skies of her eyes. The taste of the forbidden fruit on her lips. They warned me she was the goddess of chaos, the bringer of ruin.

Never had I felt so alive. To let her hand out of mine felt like slit wrist suicide. Her body flowed in my arms like water, every movement with a purpose. She was the ocean, and I was the moon. Laughter, smiles, and roses, my stomach churned knowing how much I had missed out on life. My other half finally found. I had always been empty but the loneliness ever present I never knew how bad it was. Love like no other knowing we were fast approaching death: a candlelit dinner, a movie, a slow dance, a last breath. Take me to an early grave and I could be ok. Just lay my head next to hers and I won’t regret burning for eternity.

Lost jobs as factories closed the camps outside the city with ever-growing filth and disease. Suits preached of the American Dream false promises remember how prosperous we were we can reach for the stars again. Nothing but lies as money traded hands. There was nothing left living straight and narrow under the care of a government that didn’t love us. Restrictive, controlling, power hungry fat men that didn’t know a dinner without at least five courses. White horses lined on the hill. They sat tall, smiling with golden teeth, asking everyone to load their guns, hold it to their head and pull the trigger. Think of the children that need fed. We are the failures lazy and entitled. Stop asking for help and learn to help yourselves. Flowery verses to cover the smell of rot from their shit-eating grins, a mass of ill will more massive than the graves left in their wake. We learned to despise the suit.

And so we took back what was ours, starting small household robbery within the Greek inspired architecture that housed the blessed. Men that sold out their constituents forgetting where they had came from, mayors and governors, legislatures and senators, traitors that forgot about the common man. No one would pay any mind if they were to experience the same loss and for that, we were hailed as heroes. Heists grew, as did our names, celebratory toasts worship upon our names. Unsung heroes inspiring those who had given up a reminder that we could simply take back what we deserved. We reached the stars adored by my father for the first time. Perhaps he would notice me. I no longer craved his attention. Her eyes were all that I needed.

I never knew she owned a gun. She always said she would light the world a blaze and let it burn to ashes for me. Never did I think she’d shoot the gun words are just that philosophies could only go so far, never holding their weight. Her promises were kept true. A careful reminder that she said what she meant and sealed it with her kiss. Dance with the devil and hell will come. I didn’t regret it, let the flames lick at my skin. Devour my soul, for it is hers in sickness and in health. Even death won’t keep us apart. If we die tonight, I will find her again in the next life.

I could feel her shaking. She was cold in my hand. We hadn’t spoken a word since we made her escape. She stood frozen as I yelled her name. Horrified eyes, mouths agape in the sudden silence, no one could have predicted the way things played out. Wise words echoes in my head: don’t make the threat if you aren’t prepared to have the same one placed on your own life. If you take up arms, be ready for arms to be taken up against you. Never summon the reaper to steal a life if you can’t fathom the thought that he will take yours. She only did what she knew was right. A murder to prevent another, morality lives in the beholder's eye. All I wanted was to reassure her of her actions. We didn’t have time. The law was keeping pace, blaring its red lights. The chase had been going on for hours and they showed no sign of letting up, this time committed to putting an end to our streak now that a life had been taken.

Where was it we were running this time? No one would offer protection once word got out. We took the life of an innocent man just doing his job. No longer were we terrorizing the power hungry suits that made life hell for those that trusted them. Murderers weren’t deserving of the honor found among thieves. Loyalties changed as quick and sudden as the seasons. Criminals as bad as those in power, we turned from the devil and decided to play God, taking a life on a whim. Regardless of the tale or justification, we had committed true sin. Abandoned the common man and forgotten where we had come from, we had nowhere left to hide except for the darkness in our own hearts. I grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Nothing was alright, but I could pretend for her just a moment longer. For my sanity, I had to pretend to give her a moment to mourn her innocence. Blood on her hands didn’t come from her own veins and she would have to live with the imagery fueling her nightmares.

All I wanted was to comfort her, to tell her everything was alright and it would change nothing. Bring a smile back to her face and the life back to her eyes. Remind her I will always be at her side, from the moment we met till the moment we die. She paved the way to hell and I would follow her there, doing everything I could so she could take her rightful place on the throne. As long as we don’t get caught now, we can still make it out alive. This would be the last heist. We can settle down, change our names, change our hair and our faces, live lies our secret only known by the other. Find a place where we could lay our heads down and hold each other until the night passed, and the day was left in the past.

I offered her a smile that quickly faded, looking ahead. The red lights had formed a wall. Warned of our coming, we promised never to be taken alive. She looked into my eyes and I stared back at hers one last time. The ocean called our names, screaming to jump from the cliff. We exchanged last words, vows, and I love you with one last kiss. I closed my eyes, feeling her warmth flow into me one last time, and turned the steering wheel.