Mastering Murder: A Parental Guide to Raising a Serial Killer

“Son of a bitch,” Maya cursed as the warmth of her own urine touched her fingers.

An annoyed huff blew past her lips as she set the pregnancy test down on the sink and took a drag on the menthol cigarette that had been hanging loosely from her lips. She pulled a handful of the rough single ply toilet paper from the roll and wiped quickly before setting the timer on her phone for fifteen minutes. As she stood in front of the mirror the reflection of her frazzled black hair and sleep deprived eyes stared back. She reached forward to turn on the faucet. Tepid water sputtered out barely dampening her hands. Another frustrated grunt clawed its way up her throat when the soap dispenser produced only miniscule bubbles. After failing to wash her hands properly. Maya glanced at the small screen on the test. A blank space still stared back, taunting her as the time ticked away. She wiped her hand along her shirt and took a seat on the time-stained floor.

As far as gas station bathrooms went it was cleaner than most. A single fissure raced along the wall, originating from a depression seemingly caused by an angered fist. In the corner just above the door a small spider tirelessly worked repairing its web from the damage the teenage attendant caused in their attempt to kill it earlier.

Maya took another drag of the cigarette. The smoke billowed up into the air, lingering like a ghost looming above her before finally being sucked up into the barely functioning air vent in the middle of the ceiling. Thundering knocks resounded in the room, startling her momentarily as the doorknob jiggled.

“Maya! Are you still in there?” the deep base of her boss’s voice vibrated through the door as the handle rattled again.

“Sorry Hugh, the roller burrito was a bad idea for lunch I guess,” Maya lied easily, as she reached up and flushed the toilet for good measure.

“For fucks sake Maya. There are customers waiting to use the bathroom.”

Looking over at her phone she shrugged, there were still five minutes left for the test to develop.

“Sorry. Maybe you’ll stop being a cheapskate and get an employee only bathroom.”

“Hurry up Howard, or you’re fired.”

Through the door she could hear his heavy footsteps moving away from the door, along with the exasperated huff of whatever customer had been waiting to use the bathroom. Maya chuckled to herself, finished off her cigarette and flushed the evidence down the toilet. She reached for her bag, resting against the other wall and pulled a torn composition book from it along with a pen. Four minutes.

For a moment Maya stared up once more at the little spider that had not stopped moving the entire time, spinning webs to fill in the massive gaps left behind by the stiff broom swatting at the corner. She began sketching, first making thin wisps of lines to resemble a web hanging in the corner before adding in a small spider to the chaotic mess. Her pen hovered over the crude sketch before she slowly sketched in the shadow of a broom looming over the arachnid.

An audible shriek ripped from her lips, her hand slamming over her mouth when the timer finally elapsed, filling the room with the uplifting sound of the generic Happy House ringtone. Grunting Maya stood to her feet, shoving the notebook and pen back into her bag and turning off the alarm. Shakily she took a deep breath and turned towards the test hovering on the edge of the sink.

She stared at it, her mind trying to remember what the lines were supposed to represent. Panicked, she reached into the trash can, fumbling for the discarded box from earlier, finally finding it amidst the snot-covered tissues and other empty boxes of merchandise. She reread the instructions, making sure that she had done everything correctly.

“Pee on the stupid fucking stick. Wait fifteen minutes. Results in the window,” Maya read aloud, “Two blue lines are a positive result. T–two. Two blue lines are a positive result.”

She repeated the words over and over like a mantra, her gaze flickering from the box to the test and back. A growing tightness took hold in her chest as she tossed the box back into the trash and picked up the test once more. Two blue lines are a positive result. Two blue lines shone back at her as the world began to spin. The salty taste that precedes vomit welled into her mouth and she turned in enough time to crumple to the tiled floor and heave into the toilet. Her hair fell forward into her face as she heaved, only the water she had drank to make herself have to pee came back up as she hadn’t been able to eat today. It was the inability to enjoy her usual morning Hot Pocket that had prompted her to take the test in the first place.

Once she was finished she wiped her mouth on the rough toilet paper and rinsed her mouth the best she could in the sink. Her hands gripped onto the sides of the sink, the cool porcelain momentarily helping calm her nerves, when the pregnancy test now discarded on the floor caught her attention. She picked it up once more, the result clearing showing back.

“Fuck!” Maya exclaimed, shoving the test into her backpack and slinging her bag over her shoulder as she texted her only friend, Heather.

When she opened the bathroom door, Hugh stood on the other side of it. His arms were folded across his chest. His gold manager name tag shining in the fluorescent lights above them. Maya walked past him, her gaze focused on her phone as she waited for Heather to respond.

“Really Howard? You’re just going to walk past me and not say anything,” Hugh shouted, following after her as Maya made a beeline for the door, “are you leaving? If you leave you’re fired.”

Maya paused, her one hand extended towards the door and the other gripping her phone. Hugh caught up to her, stepping into her line of sight. Slowly she looked up into his reddened face, his chest heaving under the light green material of the FuelWell shirt he was wearing. Maya looked down at her own silver name tag for a moment then back up to the man who was now looking at her with a satisfied grin on his face.

“Now. Turn around and get back to work,” he sneered, reaching out and grabbing hold of her upper arm.

She shrugged him off, calmly set her bag down on the ground before taking off her shirt and throwing it in his face. He could only stare after her as she picked up her bag and walked out the door. For a moment she paused, the realization of what she had just done hitting her, but after trying to settle herself she continued walking, ignoring the open-mouthed stares of the men and some of the women as she made her way down the street to her apartment in just a black lace bra and khakis.

As she entered her apartment, her phone began to ring. The screen showing her best friend Heather’s photo. Maya answered, kicking off her black and red sneakers into a corner of the room and making her way to the kitchen.

“Tell me you’re joking,” Heather shouted on the other line.

“It’s real, and I just quit my job,” Maya laughed, sitting down on the wooden barstool and running a hand through her hair.

“Fuck May. What are you going to do? What are you going to tell Jesse? It's his right?”

“Of course it’s Jesse’s. Don’t be an ass.”

“May…what are you going to do?”

Maya put Heather on speaker phone as she slung her bag up onto the counter and pulled the test out of her bag. She sat it on the counter, ironically next to the half consumed bottle of rum from the previous night. Her stomach turned at the thought. Before she could say anything else the sound of keys in the apartment lock reached her ears. Scrambling, she shoved the test into her bag just as her boyfriend Jesse stumbled into the apartment. Their eyes met for only a second before he charged across the room at her.

“My uncle gave you that job as a favor to me and you just fucking quit,” Jesse said, his hand wrapping around Maya’s wrist as he tugged her forward, “what the fuck is wrong with you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? You’ve got to be fucking joking.”

He shoved her away, her back colliding with the countertop and making her hiss. He advanced and she threw her hands up in defense.

“I’m pregnant!” Maya shouted, her hands covering her face.

Jesse froze, his hands in fists at his side, but he had stopped moving towards her.

“Don’t fucking lie about shit like that because you fucked up.”

“I’m not lying,” Maya cried, reaching into the bag to retrieve the pregnancy test.

He took it, his shoulder deflating upon seeing the little screen.

“FUCK!” he shouted, his fist colliding with the already repaired section of wall and making the plaster patch crumble, “I’m going to go by some more. You stay here and drink some water or something. Fuck Maya!”

Jesse stormed out of the apartment, the door slamming heavily behind him. Maya began to sob as she sank to the kitchen floor.

Two hours later Jesse and Maya sat on their bathroom floor. Maya was sitting on the toilet peeing on the last two sticks while Jesse sat with his back to the wall, finishing the joint he had rolled just before they entered the bathroom. Ten pregnancy tests were scattered across the tile, each one showing two blue lines.