by Ann Marie
Placing her against the SUV, Salvatore let go of her throat. He took a step back and studied his prey. Again he took his blade and brought it in to her chin, the point just grazing her flesh. He brought it up the right side of her face, to the center of her forehead. And then down the center of her face, to the tip of her nose. He studied her for any sign of weakness. Any sign he could pounce on. But her eye’s never left his and she was standing firm on her own. If he didn’t hate her so, he may have been impressed.
He was about to remove the blade when she spoke. “Make you feel like a real man? Tell me, what is it that makes you feel so inadequate?” Salvatore was stunned. He jammed the blade into her flesh, piercing the left side of her face. Stopping only when it hit her upper jaw. He continued to apply pressure. Moving the tip around inside her face until it found her teeth. Once the blade was between her teeth, he used it to pry them open. Grasping her jaw with his free hand, he aided the blade and held her jaw open. He could see that the blade now touched her tongue, although the amount of blood already present made it difficult to tell if it had sliced her tongue.
“I told you not to speak unless you are told to. Now you are either really stupid or...” He let his sentence float alone as he withdrew his knife. Then looking around, uneasy in his location he added, “Let’s go, come on.” He pushed her in front of him and pushed her again to make her move. Josephine reprimanded herself mentally. What the hell was she thinking? She had to stay alive. She couldn’t risk pissing him off again. She needed to give Anthony time to get out. Time for Billy to arrive and save her.
They walked on in silence. The deeper into the woods they went, the rougher the terrain. At one point, Josephine lost her footing and stumbled down to one knee. A stiff boot to her ribs not only knocked all the air from her lungs, but helped her regain her step quickly. She had decided early on, that it didn’t matter how far they walked, she had no idea where she was anyway. She would keep walking until he told her to stop. The further they walked the further from Anthony he was.
They walked in silence for about a mile. Josephine could smell a fire, and feared they had returned to the very beginning. But it was not the case. They had come upon a small camp site. A man and a woman, making love in the night air. Really in no position to chase away intruders. Salvatore grabbed hold of Josephine’s arm and shoved her to the ground near the happy couple. The man jumped up, in defense of his territory and was quickly silenced, as Salvatore laid claim to his wife. Holding the blade to her throat, he smiled down at Josephine. The man was pleading. “Please, don’t hurt her. You can have anything you want, take it all. Please, we don’t want no trouble.”
Salvatore shoved his face into the woman’s hair and inhaled deeply. “Were gonna have a party. You like party’s don’tcha?” The woman just cried uncontrollably.
“Sure, sure, parties are nice, we like parties, don’t we sweetie?” Trying, in vain, to assure his wife they would be OK.
“Finish what she started.” The order was given to Josephine, who darted her eyes between the two men. “You deaf all of a sudden woman? Or maybe you just like being responsible for people dying.” He brought the blade up under the woman’s chin drawling droplets of blood. Josephine was not about to let him win this one. She took his challenge. She was an actress after all. And she had slept with enough men to stomach this one. She had just never done it on command before. She sat for a moment more considering her next move. She could just take him, but that would be over rather quickly and then what. She could tease him for a while, but that might get Salvatore aroused and she definitely did not want to go there. She started to make her move, when the man began to protest.
“Wait, isn’t there another way? I mean, does it have to be...my wife, man, not in front of my wife.” Josephine tried to discourage him with her eyes but he was too far into his whining to notice her.
Salvatore brought the blade up to the side of the woman’s head and without looking sliced off her ear. He then tossed it into their once romantic fire.
Josephine had just enough time to decide her next move. Removing her clothes was not an option she wished to take at this time. So she went down to her knees in front of the man and said a small prayer, before starting what she detested most. She just kept thinking of Anthony and the time she needed to get away. It helped her get through what seemed to take forever. When the man finally released himself, Josephine turned her head to the side and vomited.
“What the hell was that?” shouted Salvatore incredulously. “That was the worst show I’ve ever witnessed. You call yourself an actress? Oh wait, that’s right. You like women don’t you. My woman. I have a woman here, how bout we switch partners.”
Once again the man started to protest. Josephine tried to get his attention. Tried to avoid the next minute. But once again the blade came into contact with the woman. This time Salvatore jabbed it into her waist, just below the ribs. Josephine doubled over as if it were she who took the blow.
The man cried, “Please, God no, please stop. Don’t hurt her.” Salvatore let the woman fall to the ground. As the husband rushed to her side, Salvatore leveled him with a swift kick.
“Make me something to eat.” He shouted at Josephine as he continued to badger the man. She jumped at the sound of his voice. Quickly she got to her feet and scavenged through the belongings of the campers. She didn’t know what he planned to do next, but she was certain she did not want to witness it, so she ducked inside their tent and busied herself searching for food. Grabbing up what little she managed to find, she rushed for the entrance in the hope of getting back with the food before the couple died. But as she turned to exit, her eyes touched upon a simple box labeled chow set. Tentatively she went to it and opened it up. Inside she found flatware, plates and cups. She studied a fork from the set, if only it were just a bit longer. Hope sprung inside her and her searching now had a more fevered pitch, as she searched desperately for anything that could be used as a weapon.
Josephine heard what she thought was the snorting of a large animal, outside the tent. There was a lot of moaning and crying. Sounds of punching and crushing. She blocked it all out. Josephine started to cry from sheer disappointment at not being able to find anything when her hand fell upon the first aide box. She couldn’t open it. Her hands were trembling and she was trying too hard, moving too fast. Her chest was beginning to clench. Her head was feeling light and dizzy. ‘No, not now, please, God, not now.’ She brought the box up above her head and then quickly down to the ground, causing it to pop. Its contents spilled out around her knees. Breathing in short quick gulps, her fingers blindly searching through the gauze and lotions, not knowing what she was searching for, but instinctually knowing it was there. A flare gun had made its way into her hands. Josephine fell back on her rump and staring at the weapon she now possessed, she forced herself to calm down. ‘Upper hand, I now have the upper hand.’ Slowly she rose and exited the tent.
Just when the bear had arrived, was any ones guess. It had been drawn to the site by the smell of fresh blood. It wasn’t at all happy with Salvatore denying it access. The beast stood up on its hind legs as Salvatore challenged it. Waving his blade back and forth in the air. Daring the beast to attack. Unfortunately for Salvatore it did. Josephine watched in awe as the black bear dropped to all fours and raced at Salvatore. The fool never moved, as if he was certain he would win this battle. The bear and Salvatore each took accurate swipes at one another. Josephine stood frozen in time as she watched the two spar. Around the fire they seemed to dance. Willing each other to throw a jab. The bear had only wanted a free meal; he hadn’t dropped by for a challenge. So when he circled the fire enough to reach the bodies, he took steps in their direction, turning his back on Salvatore. Salvatore again went for the bear, not being one to just let things drop. The bear was not happy. Spinning around quickly, catching Salvatore off guard, it came up on its hind legs and wrapped its front legs around Sal’s shoulders as it sank its teeth into his throat.
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How the gun went off was a mystery to Josephine. But it did, sending a flare blazing into the side of Salvatore Dal Santo, chasing away the bear. But even with his throat tore open and his side on fire, Salvatore still managed to turn around and start towards Josephine. His rage growing and engulfing his pain. The flames from the fire were mirrored in his eyes. Josephine felt as if she was looking into the black hole of pure evil.
And then he stopped. He stopped walking towards her. His body seemed to jerk in different directions. He dropped to his knees, and fell forward into the flames.
Then from out of the darkness, Billy appeared. He only briefly glanced in her direction before heading towards Salvatore to verify his death. Harold followed, but he came straight to her side. No words were spoken as he wrapped a fatherly arm around her. Josephine turned her head into his shoulder and closed her eyes to the scene.
Six months later
The plane was comfortably empty. Nothing worse than flying in a crowded plane. Especially if you’re going clear around the world. Leaving was not as difficult as she had thought it would be. There wasn’t all that much to close up. Most of her work, for the last few years had been tiny commercials overseas anyway. She hadn’t had a production on going for some time. She just always thought it would start right back up again. But she was older now and there were plenty of younger, taller, prettier women out there. The whole business had passed her by, while she was showing the world how much they needed her. There were plenty of actresses out there who could do it just as good if not better for much less.
She wasn’t at all sure what she wanted to do for a living anymore. What she was sure of, was that she needed to get away. Far, far away. And so she closed up shop. She sold everything except the apartment in New York and the one in Marais-Les Halles France. They were just too hard to come by. She split the total amount from the sales, between Billy and St. Bartholomew. She could do voice over’s from anywhere if funds ran low and she needed some extra cash. But for now she was going to do something different. She was a little nervous, but in an excited kind of way.
She had never been to Africa. But she felt secure and comfortable. More so than she could ever remember. Glancing over to her left, she smiled. Anthony was looking out the window. “There she is Joe. Right over there. See? Where the sun sets? Home, my home.” She turns and meets Josephine’s gaze. “You can always go back you know. It’s not going to be at all like anything you have ever seen. Everything is going to be very different. A major adjustment. Just try it, a little while, just a little while.” Josephine wraps her fingers around Antonia’s hand.
“Kinda like camping, right? Don’t worry Anthony, I’m here aren’t I?”
“Is it true, what Billy said, about there being women here? Lots of women? Lots of single women?” Both women turn to look behind them. “Deserting us all ready Inspector? What would Billy say?”
Anthony returned her gaze back out the window. Thinking of all the tomorrows she’ll need to forget all the yesterdays she can’t help but remember. ~
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