Riches to Rags

Ugh! I'm still so groggy.

How is it that I have a hangover? I don't have a head to ache. I'm not even human. I'm just an old rag. Though, I didn't start out that way. I'm actually part of a t-shirt. Well...I was. My memories are starting to come back now. Familiar sounds coming back to me. Loud swearing and...hockey! Not just any hockey, it's the Bruins!

And there I am, a 2011 Stanley Cup Champions t-shirt. Well, back then I was. Still trying to remember how I was torn up, but let me see if I...ooh no. The Blues. The St. Louis Blues. This isn't...

"Joey!"

Yep. Game Seven. June 12, 2019. Oh man, that was a tough one. Losing the Cup on our own ice like that. And there she is: Allie Rosen, married to mah boy, Joey Rosen! Diehard Bruins fan; been one since childhood. Yeah, he was really pissed over this game. But not as pissed as Allie was!

"You threw away our money betting on this, didn't you?!" Allie shouted, "You and your gambling; I thought you had kicked this!"

"They were playing the Blues, Al, the Blues!" shouted Joey. "How did I know that they'd finally win a Cup? They've been nothing but bums for their whole existence!"

"Not the point!" replied Allie. "You promised me you'd stop this after last year. You know we're trying to save up for a new house."

"We will get it babe, I promise," said Joey. "I just need one more score..."

"No!" exclaimed Allie. "No more bets. You almost lost your job doing this! Promise me that you'll stop gambling. I swear, I don't know what I'll do if you lie to me again."

That was a tense night. Joey loved the Bruins, but he loved Allie even more. Yet here she is, right now, in a panic. I think she's searching for me. In fact, I know she is, because Joey couldn't hold out for long.

Last year's coming back to me. Joey was so happy! 65 wins. 135 points.

"This is our year!!!"

At that time, Joey and Allie had saved up a lot for a new place. The plan was to move in before the year was out. They were on the cusp of it. But to Joey, the Bruins were on the cusp of another Cup. He had to be secretive about it, though. A huge withdrawal out of their joint account, disguised as business transactions. But it was fine. After all, the Bruins were destined to win the Cup.

Until they weren't.

I had to see it for myself. I'm Joey's favorite tee, so once the Bruins are in the playoffs, it's showtime for both of us. We led 3 games to 1, but the Panthers somehow won three straight. Season over. The dream was gone. So was a lot from that account. Joey had his head in his hands crying; thank God he didn't use me for a hankie. Even so, he had believed that he had covered up his latest gambling loss.

But a week later, Allie found the betting slip. Then she called Joey's boss. The last thing I remember was a pair of scissors cutting up everything with a Boston Bruins logo, including myself, as it's just little ol' me left. And now it's coming back to me: Allie had some special plans for me, and they involved some rope and chloroform. That's why I was so out of it. Allie doused me with chloroform, attacked and drugged Joey after waiting outside the bar for him, and tied him up right in their living room.

"You think I wouldn't find out?!" snarled Allie.

"Babe, please...," said Joey. "Please hear me out."

"I've been hearing you out for 10 years, Joey," said Allie. "I'm done. I will never get out of this as long as you keep throwing my future away!"

"You mean our future, right?" asked Joey.

"You have no future," Allie said in an ominous tone. "Not anymore." Following Allie's statement, she pulled a knife out of her pocket, and gave a crazed gleam over the sharp object, much to Joey's immense and increasing fear.

"I have it all planned out," said Allie. "I'll dump your body near an alley, and it'll look like some sort of random mugging. It'll be easy to believe, after all, look what we live around." Joey's pleas were ignored and later silenced for good by Allie, who placed the knife right in her husband's chest. Surprisingly, Allie was able to move Joey's body with no help; placing him in the car and dumping him in an alley, and she cried her crocodile tears as she played the "distraught widow" of her missing husband.

I was the only witness, and I certainly couldn't talk. All I could do was just remain on the floor as Allie was on her way to receiving Joey's hard-earned money. Yet on this very moment, nine months after killing my close buddy, she's looking for me. She thought she had scrubbed away every piece of Joey from the house, and she did...except for little ol' me. Allie finally found me, and there it was--that same crazed gleam that she had before she stuck that knife in to Joey. She really thought she could get away with it.

One problem: the police also knew that Allie would be back at the house trying to find whatever DNA evidence was left. The police sirens were getting closer and closer, and Allie knew she was done for. Even so, Allie was defiant from the moment the cuffs were slapped on her.

"I did the world a favor! I did myself a favor! My husband was nothing more than a degenerate gambler. I had to do it! I deserve better things! How else could I get them?!"

Allie's attempt to portray Joey's murder as a mugging was disbelieved from the start. She even described the killer as a Latinx male as part of her plan, though it was quickly deduced that Allie's description was racially motivated. Detectives played the long game with Allie, waiting to see if she would slip up. Her appearance at the house did the trick. Allie ended up locked up for life, but as for me, well, I'm still sealed as evidence of mah boy's death. At least in this way, I managed to get justice for Joey.