Karma

by Maximino Vega

  The tugboat had been dry docked in a shipyard because the motor had seen better days. Luis bought it for a few grand then got to working on the motor. The Internet worked like a charm with videos on how to fix and maintain boat motors. He was able to get the motor in a state of operation that would last for as long as he needed it.

  Luis modified the rear end of the stern by installing a door with a width of four feet across. He wanted the least amount of obstacles in getting the box out of the boat and into the water.

  He’d also removed all the cabinets, counters and seats from the inside of the boat. He needed space not creature comforts.

  After he brought the sheets of metal into the boat he got busy putting them together.

  His welding machine was already tucked away in a corner. Luis fired up the welding machine and started putting the pieces together. The metal sheets already had holes. He had done the work in his workshop at home. Luis kept his ear tuned to the wireless Earbud as he worked on the metal death box.

  ****

  Clarence kept the telescope trained on the boat. He wondered what Luis was doing with the sheets of metal he carried one at a time into the boat. Luis wouldn’t come out. Clarence pointed the telescope so he could keep his eyes on the windows when he saw what he thought was a flicker of blue light. The windows of the cabin on the tugboat had Venetian Blinds on them. Clarence kept watching with unblinking eyes. The flicker of light came again, then again. He’d seen this before. What was it? Being locked up in the house day after day watching the house of Luis Concepcion seemed to have dulled his mind. Clarence looked away putting a hand on his chin. He racked his brain trying to think about what he was looking at.

  Perhaps one more trip to the kitchen for more coffee would help him remember.

  Clarence got up from the stool. He turned away from the window when the answer came. Welding; Luis was welding and it involved the metal pieces.

  Clarence went to the kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee, knowing things would be happening at a faster pace. He had to be ready at all times for Luis had proved to be resourceful.

  Clarence understood his vigilance would now have to be around the clock. He had to be ready when Luis made his move.

  ****

  By the time night had fallen Luis had finished the death box. He’d taken several breaks to prepare lunch and to check on Ian and Megan. She hardly ate with the labor pains she was having.

  A message alert on his phone informed him that his order from Ameritech Surgical Supply had been delivered. As per his instructions the packages were left on his porch.

  Luis was happy the delivery came early. He didn’t think his baby would wait until the next day.

  With the delivery of the supplies and the death box ready, things were moving along as he planned. Luis hoped nothing came up like it had at Sparrow Lake. He knew he could kill a person having killed several, but, he’d rather it didn’t come to that.

  All that was left now was to wait for nature to take its course. Luis would be ready with open arms.

  ****

  Clarence watched Luis as best he could, trying to figure what the younger man was up to. He knew that eventually Luis would have to be brave and venture out of his house to carry out whatever he was planning to do and that’s when Clarence would move.

  ****

  He heard his name being called. The voice wasn’t loud, but, it was there; a constant calling where his name was stretched out until he woke up.

  Luis lifted his head trying to open his eyes which were stuck together from sleep. He lifted a hand to his ear. The Earbud was talking to him. He’d fallen asleep with it in his ear. It was Megan calling for him. It was time.

  Luis jumped from his bed. He went into the bathroom to wash the sleep away. Luis didn’t bother with his toothbrush as he grabbed the tube of toothpaste and squeezed a glob into his mouth. He cupped water in his hand and slurped it into his mouth. He rinsed the mixture in his mouth and spit it out. He slurped some more water, rinsed and spit. He walked out of the bathroom to make his way to the basement. Luis looked at the red glow of his alarm clock. It was two in the morning.

  ****

  Ian was standing with his back against the wall by the edge of the door frame. He stood there trying to sooth his mother from the first time she called Luis’s name. Ian had pulled so hard on the ankle cuff that he drew blood. He felt its thick slickness as it pooled underneath his foot.

  Ian closed his eyes when he heard the lock on the basement door being opened. He didn’t want to look at Luis as he entered his mother’s room.

  ****

  Megan was sleeping after the exhausting birth of her baby. There had not been anything to make her part of the delivery easier. Luis didn’t research what medications if any made birthing more comfortable. Megan stood by while Luis prepared for the natural birth.

  The plastic backed padding he put on the bed, the towels he used and the bedsheets all came pre-sterilized in sterile packaging. The only available chair was the one bolted to the floor by the metal table. Megan didn’t sit down since it was more comfortable for her to stand. Megan leaned against the wall. Both her hands near the spot where her baby would emerge into the world. She was afraid her baby would drop out; she could feel the moment approaching.

  Megan’s hatred for Luis intensified as she watched the concentrated way in which he covered the bed in sterilized sheets of brilliant white. He wasn’t a human being, but, an animal. An animal that deserved a horrible death. In a way it was good that Megan felt this hatred, this anger toward Luis. While she was angry she didn’t feel the pain of birth as she indulged in her rage toward the monster in her presence.

  Luis had gotten everything ready just in time.

  Megan had been here before. She knew her child was ready.

  “I have to lie down now.” Megan spoke out loud while she kept her legs close together.

  Luis looked back from the makeshift station he had prepared to clean and prep his baby. He nodded his head toward the bed.

  Megan reclined on the pillows Luis had placed at the head of the bed and hiked up her night gown. She felt shame at having to do so even though Luis had seen her naked during the countless times he had his way with her. He had taken her against her will and now he would experience one of the greatest wonders of life while being a firsthand witness to the blessed event.

  Taking inventory, Luis was satisfied that everything was there. Sterile blankets, towels, washcloths and thrice filtered water for washing his baby. He also had ointment for the baby’s eyes, a change of clothes, pampers and newborn milk formula.

  Megan’s voice came again as Luis checked that everything was ready for his baby. The scissors he would use to cut the umbilical cord came in its own sterile packaging.

  Luis turned from the prep station and got down on his haunches. He didn’t bother with something to sit on; always thinking of his safety. He couldn’t take the risk that Megan might try to use anything moveable as a weapon against him.

  Luis roughly spread her legs and kept them apart. Judging Megan by his own revengeful standards he had to protect his baby. She might try to crush the baby’s little head with her legs as it made its way into the world.

  Megan looked at Luis and how he stared into her with his dark eyes. She wanted to kick him in his face with all her might. Her desire to do so only served to fuel her rage as she noticed the ankle cuff on her right ankle. Megan was sure that even in the worst of prisons a woman would be allowed to give birth with no restraints; free to move about in the experience of childbirth.

  “Agh.” Megan used her rage to push out the life inside of her at once.

  Luis opened his eyes in astonishment as Megan’s womb opened up as the head of his baby pushed through ready to shed itself of the protective darkness in which it grew. Luis kept Megan’s legs apart to make sure his baby had a safe passage.

  Megan stopped pushing when she felt her baby’s head squeeze through the opening of
her vagina. She let the weight of her body sink into the bed knowing Luis could take things from here.

  Luis kept Megan’s legs spread until the baby’s head broke through; the body easily following with the natural birth fluids. Luis acted quick letting go of Megan’s legs so he could cradle his son when he felt her body go limp.

  “Oh my God.” Tears of joy and wonder welled up in his eyes.

  Luis looked down at the shiny body of his child. A boy had been born. His eyes were closed and his thin black hair was matted to his scalp. Luis carefully set his son on the bed.

  He walked over to the makeshift prep table and got the sterilized scissors still in its package along with two sterile clamps. It was time for his son to begin his journey into manhood, together with his father, for it would be Luis who would cut the umbilical cord, severing whatever ties the boy had with his mother during its nine months of gestation.

  Luis affixed both clamps to the umbilical cord then used the scissors to make the cut in between the clamps according the video he had seen countless times.

  Luis wrapped his son in the small blanket he got from the prep table. He carried him back to the table and went about cleaning him while he tapped him on the back. He did this until his son started crying; his wailing filling the quiet space of the basement.

  ****

  Luis was proud of the work he’d done. It took him fifteen minutes to clean, dress and apply ointment around the eyes of his son to help him when he opened them. Luis also fed and burped his baby boy.

  He stood near Megan’s bed with his bundle of joy cradled safely in his arms. Now he understood the words like never before. The natural birth had taken most of the wee hours of the morning. And even though he was exhausted he couldn’t contain the awe of holding the little person who was flesh of his flesh. Luis’s joy was interrupted by Megan’s cry of despair.

  “Where’s my baby? I want to hold my baby.” Megan outstretched her arms.

  Luis would rather keep to holding his son, but, he had to get the room cleaned up of all that had gone into the natural birth.

  He walked over to Megan’s side and laid his son next to her. Her joy was clear on her face as she looked at her son.

  Luis allowed them to connect as he started bagging the various materials he had used into two large garbage bags.

  ****

  Ian was standing by the open door frame until he heard his mother’s cry of pain as she pushed the baby out. He stepped away from the open doorway his right foot sticking for a moment as he lifted it from the small pool of blood that settled underneath his foot. He walked to his bed. The first few steps sounding wet as he walked away. Ian climbed into his bed and sat up against the wall. He made sure to let his bloodied foot hang over the edge. He didn’t want to get the bedsheet stained with his blood.

  ****

  It took Luis a half an hour to have everything back to the way it was before his son was born. He’d even managed to give Megan a bath and a change of clothes. The two black garbage bags sat in the corner near the open doorway making it hard for Megan to reach them.

  Luis was well aware that there was a pair of scissors in one those bags.

  Luis walked over to Megan’s bed and scooped his son from her arms. She didn’t have time to react.

  Megan watched as Luis walked to the door frame. He took a moment to look at her. She didn’t protest like he thought she would. Megan couldn’t help the tears that welled up in her eyes, but, she remained constant. She wouldn’t plead for her son.

  Luis walked out of her room while looking down at his son. He was in awe of the small human being.

  ****

  Ian closed his eyes when he saw Luis coming through the doorway. He looked toward the door frame wanting to call out to his mother when Luis went upstairs. He wanted to know that she was okay. Ian was worried about her. He decided not to call out for her. She’d been through enough.

  As far as the baby was concerned Ian couldn’t decide one way or the other how he should feel.

  ****

  It seemed like Luis only took a minute or so to come back to the basement. He stepped into Megan’s room with a 32oz bottle of Gatorade and a snickers bar.

  “I brought you something to eat and drink. Rest up. I’ll be down later with proper food.”

  Megan looked passed Luis toward the wall behind him.

  Luis moved with purpose as he hauled the garbage bags out of the room.

  ****

  Clarence had spent the morning looking through the telescope in the living room wondering what could be going on. Luis didn’t go through his morning ritual of having coffee on the deck of his house.

  Except for a second helping of pancakes and a second cup of coffee Clarence kept a constant watch.

  It was nearing eleven in the morning and Luis had not shown himself.

  Clarence was about to take a break when he saw Luis come out of his house. In each hand he carried a large black garbage bag. With a slight turn of his head he looked up and down the street he lived on. It was a subtle movement not lost on Clarence.

  The Ex-Police Chief kept watching, but, Luis didn’t make another appearance outside his home. Clarence knew there was only one way to know if there were any clues inside of those bags. But, he also knew he couldn’t risk trying to have a look during the day. The old man could hardly contain himself. He had no choice, but, to wait for the right moment.

  ****

  Luis silently walked into the room he had prepared for his son after he put the trash in the bins outside his house. Garbage removal would be early the next morning. He’d made sure to double bag the garbage bags so that they wouldn’t break.

  Illumination came from a floor lamp decorated in Mickey Mouse prints. Luis had painted the room a light blue. He had no idea that Megan would have a boy. Perhaps his choice of color had been his unconscious wishful thinking.

  The floor was covered in a light beige rug. The crib was the kind that came with drawers and a diaper changing station. Next to the Mickey Mouse lamp that stood in the corner sat a rocking chair and against another wall stood a dresser with four drawers. On top of the dresser Luis had placed diapers, baby wipes, diaper rash cream and baby lotion.

  Luis walked over to the crib where his son slept. He looked down at his face; he seemed to have a trace of a smile as if he were having a pleasant dream. Luis laughed to himself. He wondered if a newborn baby could know what a pleasant experience was.

  Luis looked at his son. He skin was white like his mother’s, yet, his body was like that of his father; long and lean. He would have the same athletic build like his old man. His hair was black and so were his eyebrows. His nose was bulbous like Megan’s.

  “Now, what will your name be?”

  Even though Luis spoke softly his son began to stretch and move his body around in the crib. He opened his mouth and yawned for several seconds. He moved his mouth around like he was savoring some invisible delicacy. Slowly he opened his eyes; his forehead wrinkling as he seemed to look at Luis in the eye.

  “It’s me, your father.” Luis smiled so wide that he felt like the corners of his mouth would split open.

  Luis’s son blinked his eyes a few times then smiled as he writhed in what looked like joy.

  Luis knew his son’s display of happiness is the call of kinship, the call of blood.

  The baby boy continued to look up at Luis with his dark eyes.

  “So you wake up at the slightest mention of what your name should be. Well my young king that will take some time. My firstborn can’t carry just any name. No. Your name must be special. I will take my time to name you appropriately.”

  Luis’s son stopped his happy movements as he started to cry.

  “I know what you need.”

  Luis scooped up his son. “You need some food. Come with daddy to the kitchen.”

  ****

  Clarence put on his fishing hat even though night had fallen. He waited until ten a night. Most of the residents of
Edgewater Park were in bed by nine. Clarence stepped out of the last house at 32 Ellsworth Avenue and locked the door behind him. He walked straight for Bicentennial Veterans Park which was sort of a short cut. It would also keep him hidden from anyone who might still be up and interested in the goings on outside their window. Walking on the grass and through the trees almost felt like home. Clarence couldn’t remember the countless times he walked in and around the wooded areas of Sparrow Lake. Orange County in general offered plenty of foliage to enjoy.

  Walking through the park Clarence enjoyed the smell of the grass and the sound of the leaves as they were rustled by the wind.

  Clarence took a left on the first concrete path he came upon. It would leave him in line with First Avenue. Clarence walked forward sweeping his eyes back and forth without moving his head. The park was empty. He kept walking on the concrete path until it turned right for the first time. Clarence kept walking straight ahead onto the grass and through the trees onto First Avenue. He made a left on First Avenue to make his way toward Luis’s house.

  If he bumped into anyone and they tried to make conversation or try and inquire who he was or what he was doing, Clarence had already worked out an answer. He was going to check on his boat which was docked on the last concrete communal dock before Luis’s house. It really wasn’t his, but, it had been moored there for the last few months with no one coming by to check on it.

  Clarence walked as if he belonged to the area. It was easy until he reached the dock where his supposed boat was. Once he passed it, he might have to contend with looking suspicious to anyone he might come across with. Clarence kept walking. There was truly no point in worrying who he might bump into. Clarence was happy to know that he was right. Most of the houses were darkened; their owners having turned in for the night. Every few houses there would be one light on, but, no sign of someone awake or near a window.

  Clarence got to Luis’s house. He was happy to see it was just as darkened as the other houses he passed on the way. He took the bend in the road to the right. As he walked passed Luis’s house he flicked the hinged plastic door of the garbage can all the way open. He kept walking sweeping his eyes back and forth looking for anyone who might be watching him. Satisfied that he wasn’t being watched, he turned on his heel and made his way back toward the plastic garbage bin. When he got to the bin he pulled out the garbage bag, closed the lid and continued walking as if nothing happened.