Daddy opened my door.
Daddy removed something from the seat beside me, gave it to Auntie Jo.
Something.
Unknown something.
Driving again.
White SUV in our path.
White SUV blocking the road.
Awful squeal of tires.
I woke in an alley.
When my eyes first opened, I didn’t know where I was.
My head ached. A throbbing pain behind both eyes wrapped around to the sides like a vice squeezing at my temples. I squinted at the dull, orange light seeping in from above. The sun was gone, the light came from a high-pressure sodium streetlight mounted to the brick wall of the building at my back. The light shown down toward the back corner, illuminating a Dumpster, some wooden crates, and discarded boxes. The light hummed like a thousand bees trapped within the glow.
I tried to stand, fell back down, my legs wobbly.
Something in my hand.
I brought my closed fist into the light and forced my fingers to uncoil, my body working on a delay. A small piece of paper sat at the center of my palm, folded into a tiny square.
I shook my head in an attempt to fight off the sleepiness and immediately regretted it, the headache intensifying.
With my free hand, I unfolded the paper.
In neat script, five words:
Your little girlfriend did this.
I had been in the cemetery with Stella. She left around seven.
Glancing up into the sky, between the buildings, there was nothing but black. This time of year, the sun set around 8:30 p.m. I had been out for at least an hour and a half, maybe more.
I remembered the voice at my ear then, the man’s voice from behind me,The pressure you feel at the small of your back is a rather sharp knife. I strongly suggest you don’t struggle.
This time, I did stand up. I shot to my feet and turned in both directions, looking first up, then down the opposite direction. I was alone.
The rest came back to me, fuzzy images slowly coming into focus. The cloth at my mouth, the world quickly fading away, the words carved into the bench—
Help me
Had I imagined that?
I looked back down at the note in my hand.
Your little girlfriend did this.
That’s when I saw the foot.
I hadn’t noticed it at first because it was tucked around the other side of the Dumpster, only the tip of a black loafer visible, just the toe.
Run, Jack.
