Karma

by Maximino Vega

  His father was a plumber by trade who liked to steal trinkets. His father always took mementos from the various road trips they took. His father always said the trick was to act naturally when you were essentially taking something that didn’t belong to you, this way people wouldn’t notice.

  He shouldered the bag as he walked toward the park to make his way back to his temporary home using the same route he’d come on.

  Clarence kept a casual pace as if he were nothing more than one of the residents carrying something that belonged to him in a big black garbage bag.

  ****

  Luis prepared a hearty meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and string beans. He knew Megan would need it after giving birth. As always he set out the food for Ian first followed be Megan. Coming out of Megan’s room Luis noticed that Ian was still on his bed in the same position he had been in when he first came down with his food.

  Luis walked over to Ian’s bed. “Not hungry?”

  Ian remained silent.

  Luis was preparing to walk away when he noticed the dried blood on Ian’s foot. Luis looked at Ian with his eyes closed to slits. It was a studious yet accusatory stare. He wondered how Ian had done this kind of harm to himself.

  Without a word Luis turned from Ian.

  ****

  A few minutes later he returned with cotton swabs and a bottle of alcohol. Lifting the ankle cuff further up on his leg Luis cleaned up the dried blood. Afterward he put on a few Band-Aids on Ian’s ankle.

  Afterward he tugged on the wire connected to the ankle cuff. It was obvious he had pulled on it with enough force to draw blood. Luis left to be with his son after he checked that the cuff was secure.

  ****

  Clarence took off his fisherman hat and walked into the middle of the living room. He set the bag on the floor and took a knee. He opened the bag to find another bag secured with a knot. Clarence loosened the knot to have a look inside the bag. The odor that wafted into his nose prompted him to go into the kitchen to get the dishwashing gloves. He put them on and went back into the living room. Not so much because he was tampering with evidence, but, because of the smell of wounds that came from within the bag. He had to protect himself.

  The smell of alcohol, sterilization and bodily fluids reminded Clarence of the times he’d been in the hospital.

  Clarence was about to put his gloved hand in the bag then thought better of it. He went into the kitchen and got the broom. Walking back into the living room, Clarence emptied the contents of the garbage bag onto the floor. Using the stick end of the broom he sifted through the contents of the bag.

  “What the hell am I looking at?” Clarence was stumped. “This is a bunch of dirty linen. Why would he throw out dirty linen?”

  Trying to make sense of what he was in front of him, Clarence noticed that that the sheets were damp. He got down on his knees to have a better look.

  Using two fingers he lifted a sheet to his nose. The smell was feminine and strong although not from uncleanliness. Taking a closer look Clarence saw the telltale color of diluted blood.

  Still on his knees Clarence used the brooms stick to continue to look. He found wash rags that were stained with a kind of yellow, green and red tinge.

  Clarence kept searching when clarity showed itself. He’d seen this sausage skin type material before, with its yellowish color. Clarence had delivered a baby once. He knew he was looking at a portion of an umbilical cord.

  Clarence stood up and walked over to the telescope. He looked through the lens as theories started to formulate in his mind. “What the hell are you up to, Luis Concepcion?”

  A thought came to Clarence’s mind. “What he he’ll have you done over there?”

  Clarence understood as if by some force of clairvoyance that he had to watch Luis’s house while taking the fewest breaks possible.

  ****

  “I want to see my baby. I know you hear me. Bring me my baby.”

  Looking down at his son, Luis heard Megan calling for his son. He wore two Earbuds now, one to listen in on his prisoners, the other for his son.

  Luis looked up from his son’s face, staring into the space in front of him. It was the first time he’d thought of Megan and Ian as his prisoners. Everything was different now that his baby was here. It was time to set things up so that only he and his son remained.

  Luis stood up from the rocking chair. “Let’s take you down to the woman who birthed you, but, only for a little while.” Luis kissed his son on the forehead. “You belong to me.”

  ****

  Luis went through his usual ritual of looking at the monitor before walking through the second door leading into the basement. He always looked, even though; Ian had given up trying to fight him.

  Ian was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall, just like he was when Luis realized his ankle had been bleeding.

  Luis entered the space of the basement.

  He walked over to where Ian sat.

  “How’s your ankle.” Luis asked as he had a look.

  He wasn’t concerned with Ian’s foot. He was looking for any signs that Ian had been struggling or tampering with the ankle cuff.

  “Looks like its healing just fine.” Luis lifted a corner of his mouth in a smile before he walked over to Megan’s room.

  Luis stopped just inside the door frame. He stood there looking at his prisoner.

  Megan was sitting up in bed against the extra pillows Luis had put in place for the delivery.

  Megan had her hands in her lap. Her auburn hair slicked back. She’d taken another bath.

  Megan stared at Luis with her deep green eyes. It was a knowing look. Megan knew what was coming. She wanted Luis to know that she knew.

  Luis walked over to Megan’s bedside. He bent down to place his son in her arms.

  Megan turned her attention on her son. “Let me get a good look at you. Soak you in since I don’t know how many more times I’ll be able to do so.” Megan looked up at Luis who was still standing beside her bed as if keeping guard over his son.

  Luis kept his position even though he felt a sense of guilt as he looked into Megan’s accusing eyes.

  Megan looked back down at her son feeling triumph. She noticed the chink in her captor’s armor.

  “Are you hungry my little sweet pea?” Megan undid the first two buttons of her nightgown.

  Luis couldn’t help stare at the milky white skin of Megan’s chest. He felt a current of electricity run through his groin as she took out one heavy breast, her dark nipple swollen beyond its normal size.

  Megan brushed her nipple over her son’s mouth. Instinct took over and the baby suckled.

  Megan noticed how Luis shifted on his feet. She saw the bulge in his pants.

  Luis turned his attention to her shiny lips, partially open.

  “Nothing is scared to you is it.” Megan gave him a hard look.

  Luis ignored her words as he went back to staring at her engorged breast, tracing the pattern of its veins with his eyes.

  The baby stopped suckling.

  Luis took his son from Megan’s arms when his son stopped feeding.

  Megan didn’t refuse. “Have you named him?”

  “No, I haven’t.” Luis looked at Megan surprised that she didn’t bother putting her tit away as it continued to drip milk. “It has to be something special so I’m taking my time.”

  “You know what would be special? Letting us leave here alive. My son is big enough to understand that he must keep quiet; that nothing he lived through actually happened.”

  Luis put his head down as he backed out of Megan’s room. Something about having his baby in his arms and having helped with his birth softened him up somehow. His humanity was breaking through, speaking to him. Telling him that what he’d done was wrong.

  Luis walked through Ian’s room avoiding eye contact. He was feeling shame and that was a dangerous thing to be feeling now that he was so close to bringing his plan to fruition.

  *
***

  Megan looked down at her exposed lactating breast and cried. Never, had she felt such emotional nakedness. Megan let her feelings take over allowing herself to cry out her anguish.

  ****

  Lying on his bed Ian joined his mother in her pain. Only he kept himself silent. He didn’t want to add to her suffering, knowing her despair would be twofold if she heard him crying.

  ****

  With his son sound asleep Luis went into his kitchen. He got some things then headed for the basement.

  ****

  Ian ignores Luis until he hears him drop something on the metal table. Taking his arm from across his face he saw that Luis had put several bottles of water on the table along with a few granola bars.

  “This is all you’re getting for a while so use it sparingly.”

  Luis turned from Ian and went into Megan’s room. He left the same items on her table and gave the same speech before he left the basement.

  ****

  Clarence had spent the morning glued to his telescope. He took short breaks to get more coffee and to use the bathroom.

  Besides his usual appearance at his deck while he drank his morning coffee, Luis hadn’t shown himself again.

  Every once in a while Clarence looked down at his footwear; he swapped his cowboy boots for running shoes this morning. He could try and fool himself that it had been an unconscious act, but, he knew better. Sometimes his police instincts took over and acted on their own. Something was going down and he needed the right footwear.

  Perhaps it wouldn’t be today, but, the fact that he’d somehow chosen not to wear his favorite boots was a sign. From today on he would wear his running shoes. He believed in premonitions, dead loved ones who helped from the other side and his gut.

  Clarence slowly got up from the stool. He felt like if he moved to fast the piss in his bladder would come bursting out. With what he witnessed in the last two days he was trying to hold off on going to the bathroom as long as he could, afraid that he would miss something important.

  Clarence hobbled off to the bathroom. He wanted to take a leak and be back at the telescope like he was watching a much anticipated championship boxing match; needing to get back before the next round started. But, it was one of those times when he didn’t have any control over his body. The stream went on and on. He wanted it to stop, willed it to stop, but, it wouldn’t. He heard the opening bell in his mind. The fight had started again. He had to finish before he missed that punch that would end the fight. He admonished himself for all the coffee he drank, he was well aware that coffee sucked the fluids out of one’s body, being that it’s a diuretic.

  Clarence relaxes his body remembering some things just can’t be forced. When he does the flow suddenly becomes less and less until it stops completely. He waits there for a moment knowing that more will come and it does. Then just like that, it stops. Clarence zips up and washes his hands.

  He heads back out to his spot at the telescope. Clarence jumps back when he looks through the lens. He’s startled by something black that fills the view through the lens. He remembers that he had the zoom on its highest setting. He sets it to the right depth when he sees Luis standing on his deck. He’s fiddling with something in his hands. Clarence zooms in trying to get a better look.

  It shines in the sun. Working the lens until he focuses the view, Clarence’s eyes go wide when he sees that it’s a padlock.

  He watches as Luis starts making his way to his boat.

  “It can’t be.” Clarence says out loud. He’d been keeping watch. Fear builds in his chest as he thinks the moment has come and somehow he didn’t catch it before it did.

  Clarence watches Luis walk toward the half cabin tugboat moored at the end of the wooden dock. He’s twirling the lock on one finger.

  Clarence can’t believe what he’s looking at even as he sees Luis disappear into the bowels of the tugboat.

  Clarence prays to God that Luis doesn’t come out to untie the moorings to the tugboat. It seemed like time stopped as he waited for Luis to come out of the boat. After what felt like hours, Luis comes out from the tugboat. He walks out to the dock and stands there. Clarence wipes his forehead with the back of one hand for he’d begun to sweat. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Luis walking back to his house.

  Clarence prepares his mind for what he feels in his gut; Luis is going to make a move soon.

  ****

  Ian has his back against the wall near the doorway to Megan’s room.

  “Mom, what’s going to happen to us? I heard you talking. Are we in danger?”

  “Yes, we are.” Megan’s eyes teared as she answered her son with the truth. He was still a young boy, but, he’d lived through really big things.

  “How are we in danger? I mean he’s kept the both of us alive for so long.”

  Megan bit down on her lips as she smiled at her son’s perception, although, he was still naive.

  Of course they were still alive; Luis knew her compliance while pregnant would be gained through keeping the both of them alive.

  “Mom?” Ian pulled on the ankle cuff as much as he could. He was trying to listen for something other than his mother’s words. He thought he heard her sniffling, but, he wasn’t sure.

  “Mom?”

  “I hear you honey.”

  “What do you think is going to happen to us?”

  Megan willed herself not to cry. “Listen to me son and listen to me good. I’m not going to lie to you. He’s...” Megan’s voice caught in her throat. She couldn’t help it. “He’s going to kill us.”

  “But, why Mom?”

  “Because he has what he’s wanted all along. We’re no use to him anymore.”

  “We haven’t done anything wrong. Why does he have to kill us?”

  Megan didn’t like the unfairness of it, but, what could she do. “We have a firsthand account of what’s happened here. That’s why.”

  “Well then we need to fight him. We can do it together. Team up on him.”

  “That’s a good idea honey. As soon as we get the chance we’ll team up on him. We just got to wait for the right moment and not hesitate.”

  “Right, we can’t hesitate. I’m going to bed now. I need to rest. You should do the same.”

  “Good idea, honey. Rest up and so will I.” Megan’s eyes overflowed with tears. She put her hands over her mouth, forcing herself not to cry out loud. How could she give her son a false sense of hope? She knew they were no match for Luis. What else could she do, but, lead him along.

  ****

  Luis looks down on his son before he walks away. He wants to make sure he’s truly sleeping.

  Luis has already experienced thinking his son is sleeping only for him to burst out crying the moment he walks away from the crib.

  Luis starts to back pedal out of the room while keeping an eye on his son. He’s looking for the slightest indication that his son will wake up. He stops just inside the entrance to his son’s room; waiting for him to start his protests, but, he continues to sleep peacefully.

  Before he even thinks of having another studious look at his son, Luis turns on his heel and makes his way out the room.

  ****

  Luis looks at the computer monitor in his room. Luis turns on the infrared setting on the camera system. Ian and Megan are sleeping peacefully.

  Luis puts the computer on sleep mode before he walks out.

  ****

  Two syringes filled with Propofol sit on the dining table. Walking into the kitchen Luis swipes the syringes up from the table as he walks by, the action of his hand swift as he makes his way out of the kitchen toward the door that leads to the basement.

  ****

  Luis is in the basement. He uses the illumination from the screen of his cellphone to make his way forward.

  Walking up to the side of the bed Luis injects the Propofol into Ian’s neck.

  Ian wakes up, snatches Luis by the wrist while lifting his head. “What are you doing?
” Is all Ian can manage before his eyes become heavy and his mouth gapes open as he slowly lays his head back on the pillow.

  Luis pulls his wrist away from Ian’s grip. He closes the boy’s mouth with care before he walks away toward Megan’s room.

  ****

  “There has to be another way.”

  Luis stops just inside the entrance to Megan’s room; pointing his cellphone toward her bed he sees that she’s awake.

  What Luis saw on his computer monitor was a woman lying on her side patiently waiting for her captor.

  Luis thinks she looks ominous sitting up in her bed with her hands at her sides.

  “You and the baby can go somewhere far away from here. All we need is food and water. Once you get settled you can call the police from a payphone and leave an anonymous tip with our location.”

  “Sure, I could do that, but, how would I get rid of my DNA imprint. It’s all over my house.”

  Megan is filled with dread despite not knowing what Luis has planned for her and her son.

  “I don’t know what you intend to do with us, but, I urge you to reconsider. You’ve had your way with us, with me and you have the baby.”

  Megan’s voice trembled as she struggled to continue. “Why can’t you allow us to live?”

  Luis felt himself falter as he took one hesitant step after another. He couldn’t help feel the connection of procreation with Megan.

  “Oh, dear God, where are you?” Megan implored as the tears streamed down her face.

  Luis made sure the light from his cellphone fell on her face as he brought up the hand that held the syringe. He didn’t want her to see that he was getting emotional as he injected the Propofol into her neck.

  Megan’s crying sounded like a drawn out yawn as the anesthetic took effect.