Undermind: Nine Stories

by Edward M Wolfe

  “Oh, like she’s never seen tits before,” Dave scoffed.

  ***

  The next morning, Dave was tuning a customer’s piano when his cell phone rang. He glanced over and saw Nikki’s face on his screen. He finished the string he was working on then answered the call.

  “Hello, beautiful!”

  “I think he has Jake! I can’t find him anywhere. I only took my eyes off him for a second to look for something in my purse and… oh my God, Dave you have to do something. He has our little boy!”

  “Wait. Slow down. Where are you?”

  “I’m at the park with Joy and—”

  “I’ll be right there!” He looked at his tools, then turned to his customer. “Phyllis, I’m afraid I can’t finish this just yet, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. I have to attend to a family emergency,” he said, racing to the door.

  “Oh dear, I hope everything is okay,” she said. He didn’t hear her as he exited the house and ran to his car.

  Dave drove as fast as he deemed safe, ignoring speed limits. He actually thought it would be great if a cop noticed him speeding because they could follow him to the park with lights and sirens. He thought of calling 9-1-1 but a small part of his mind insisted that Nikki was mistaken. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be.

  Approaching the corner of the street the park was on, he took the turn in a slide. He accelerated and straightened it out, then slammed on the brakes when he saw Joy standing with Jake, shielding her eyes from the sun as she gazed around the park. He left the car parked haphazardly with the engine running as he ran toward them.

  “Where’s Nikki?” he demanded, out of breath despite the short distance he’d run.

  “I don’t know, Dave. She was right here. We were looking for Jake and she said, ‘That sonofabitch!’ and started toward the parking lot. At the same instant I thought I saw Jake in the crawl tube and went over to check. When I found him and turned around to tell her, she was gone.”

  Dave looked toward the parking lot. It was empty, but having no other clues for where to look for her, he started walking quickly in that direction. Maybe he’d be able to see where she went from there. He patted his left pant pocket to feel for cigarettes although he’d quit smoking years before when he and Nikki started dating. She’d made it a condition if they were going to continue.

  He saw a person lying on the asphalt against the curb that separated the parking lot from the park grass and broke into a run.

  “Oh God!”

  Her face was so bloody and her nose was angled off to the side, making her almost unrecognizable, but it was definitely Nikki. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and signaled for Joy to stay where she was, holding his hand up in a “stop” gesture. He spoke to Nikki while simultaneously dialing 911.

  “Nikki, can you hear me? Nikki? It’s me, Dave. Help is on the way.”

  The 911 operator answered and asked what his emergency was. He told the man that his wife was injured and unconscious. He confirmed that she was breathing. She had a pulse. It looked like her nose was broken, but he wasn’t sure of anything else. He told the operator where they were.

  “Please hurry! You’ve got to send someone right away!”

  The man assured him that an ambulance and police had been dispatched and would be there soon.

  ***

  Dave rode in the ambulance and stayed with Nikki for as long as he could until she was wheeled into an emergency surgery room and he was gently turned away. Joy had argued that she wanted to be there too, but Dave convinced her that it would be best for Jake if she took him home – and locked all her doors and windows.

  Now he wanted to talk to the police, and if they weren’t willing to listen to him and take things seriously for a change…he didn’t know what he would do, but he was going to do something. He was ready to kill Ron with his bare hands.

  He had seen two police officers in the lobby as paramedics wheeled Nikki into the hospital, so he went back to see if they were still there. One of them was. He was talking to a pretty girl in scrubs.

  “Excuse me. I need to talk to you.”

  The cop resented the interruption and was about to say something but then he saw the look on Dave’s face.

  “Let’s step outside,” he replied.

  Dave walked toward the exit and could hear the cop telling the young woman he’d be back in a few. He went through the glass doors that slid open as he approached, then turned around and waited for the cop.

  “Let’s step over here,” the officer said. “I could use a smoke.”

  “Have you got another one?” Dave asked.

  The cop handed Dave a cigarette, then lit both of them. When Dave finished coughing, he thanked the officer and asked if he knew who he was. He didn’t. Dave asked if the cop was aware of the recent crimes involving Ron Mackey and the fire at his house a few days before.

  “I’m aware of the reports regarding Mackey, and yes, I heard about the fire.”

  “Good. I won’t have to tell you everything then. I just need to tell you that this bastard is the one who attacked my wife and he needs to be arrested, right now.”

  “Did you witness the attack?”

  “No, but my sister did,” he lied.

  “And where is your sister?”

  “She’s at her house, in fear for her life. This psycho has already attacked me, set my house on fire, and has now attacked my wife. If he goes after my son and my sister, nothing will stop me from killing him. I need to know you’re going to do something right now – before I have to do your job for you.”

  “I understand you’re upset. I would be too. But I need you to stay focused here and give me some information. Okay?”

  “What do you need to know?” Dave asked, struggling to maintain his composure.

  “What is your sister’s name and address?

  Dave gave him the information and the officer said he would go talk with her, and then he would see if he had enough to make an arrest. Dave knew that wasn’t going to happen. The cop would find out that he had lied, and once again, there would be no reason for them to arrest Ron Mackey.

  Dave thanked the officer and headed back into the hospital. He went to the doors to the surgery room and paced for a minute. He realized he couldn’t just stay there and do nothing. As much as he wanted to be informed of Nikki’s condition the instant someone could tell him anything, he knew that no one was looking out for the rest of his family. Joy and Jake could be in danger. But with a cop on the way over to talk to them, they’d be safe for a short while. He had time to do something.

  He looked around for restrooms and spotted a small sign high on the wall with an arrow pointing up. He walked up the hall with his eyes focused on the floor to minimize the view of his face.

  Inside the restroom, he walked to the far stall, took out his phone. He found his brother’s phone number and repeated it to himself several times before lowering the volume to silent/no vibration. He set the phone on top of the toilet paper dispenser, then took off his shoes and placed them a foot apart on the floor in front of the toilet. Then he sat on the floor, hoping it had been cleaned recently as he slid under the door and out of the stall.

  As he walked down the hall, he kept his head down, only glancing up occasionally to follow the signs to the rear exit. Once outside, he jogged across the parking lot, turning as necessary to avoid the path of cars and the roving security guard. Reaching a main boulevard, he recalled where he’d once seen a payphone; possibly one of the few remaining in the city. He headed up the street, hoping the phone would still be in place at the mom-and-pop gas station not too far from the hospital.

  After jogging for a quarter of a mile, he could see the station sitting on the corner in the dark. It was out of business, but the payphone was still there. Now he just had to hope that it worked and that the handset hadn’t been yanked off or broken. He was in luck – sort of. The handset was attached and there was a dial tone. The only problem w
as he’d never held anything more disgusting, and the thought of putting it against his head almost made him gag.

  He inserted two quarters, dialed his brother’s number, and held the phone an inch from his left ear, praying that his brother would pick up despite seeing an unknown number appear on his cell phone. It rang four times and Dave was sure his plan was going to die before it got started.

  “Hello?” he heard his brother ask suspiciously.

  “Danny! It’s me, Dave. I need you to meet me at the closed down gas station north of the general hospital. It’s urgent, and I need you to bring the thing you showed me in your back yard last year.”

  “Fuck. On my way. 5 minutes.”

  The line went dead and Dave smiled. He and his brother disagreed on a lot of things, but no matter what, they were always there for each other when it really mattered. He was glad that Danny didn’t even ask a single question. He was simply on his way. Just like that.

  Four minutes later, Dave saw his brother’s SUV pull into the dark gas station and after a brief hesitation, came gliding up to him by the front doors. Dave ran around to the passenger side, hopped in and said, “That was fast! Head north, and don’t get pulled over. I have very little time.”

  On the way there, he explained what his plan was, and how he knew it was weak, but he hoped it might convince Ron that he was messing with the wrong family. Danny agreed that the plan was weak but was willing to go along with it, especially after hearing everything that had happened to his brother’s family. He was even willing to do more than he was being asked, but Dave wouldn’t allow him to take such a risk, even though Danny’s offer would solve the Ron problem permanently.

  A block before they reached Ron’s house, Danny stopped the vehicle so he and Dave could trade places. Dave had objected to this change in his plan, but his brother insisted on being the one to actually commit the crime. He’d been in jail before and he could survive it again. He also didn’t have a wife and child waiting for him and depending on him to remain free and come home.

  Dave’s heart was beating like crazy as they slowly approached the house. His hands were sweating and slippery on the steering wheel. He almost couldn’t believe they were doing this. It was so out of character for him. Since Danny was willing to do the worst part of the job, maybe he should call this off and let him do it alone, later. Why risk both of them going to jail? No. He couldn’t do that. This was his problem. It was enough that Danny was helping. He wasn’t going to push the whole thing off on his brother.

  He re-focused his attention on the houses they were slowly passing on the dark street. He saw the big white truck in the driveway and said, “There!” Danny didn’t hear the next thing he said, which was, “Wait! Not that one!” The sound of the shots drowned out his voice as Danny fired at the upper part of the large front window.

  Even with the gun held outside the SUV, Dave thought he was going to be deaf for the rest of his life. When Danny stopped firing at the wrong house, Dave yelled, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

  “There’s no going back now, brother,” Danny said.

  “That was the wrong fucking house. It was supposed to be this one,” Dave said, pointing at yet another house with a white truck in the driveway.

  “No problem,” Danny replied, and fired off another four rounds.

  ***

  When he got out of the SUV at the hospital, Dave was shaking like crazy. His ears were still ringing and everything felt unreal. The same parking lot he was in thirty minutes ago looked completely different to him now. Even the hospital looked different. So did the sky. Everything had changed.

  He went back in the rear exit on wooden legs and tried to clear the ringing in his ears by forcing himself to yawn and wiggling his jaw around. The fluorescent lights in the hallway seemed unnecessarily bright as he made his way back to the restroom. He entered and bumped into a man on his way out. He was old and looked morose. Dave stammered an apology as he brushed past him. The man left without saying a word or looking back at him.

  No one else was in the room so he got down and slid under the stall. His phone and shoes were still there. He quickly put his shoes on with his still shaking hands, slipped his phone into his pocket, then went out and rinsed his face several times before leaving the restroom and heading back to the waiting area.

  Sometime later, he had no clue how much later since time had both stopped and seemed to have gone sideways, a nurse approached him.

  “Mr. Parsons?” she asked.

  Dave jumped up. “Yes?”

  “Your wife is out of surgery and she’s going to be just fine. I’ll come back and let you know when you can see her. She’s still sedated and will need some time. Okay, sweetie?”

  “Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much.”

  Dave went outside through the emergency doors and was glad to find someone out there smoking a cigarette. He offered the man a dollar for a cigarette. The man declined the offer and gave him one for free.

  Dave stood next to the man, silently taking deep drags and blowing the smoke up into the sky slowly, wondering if his plan was going to work, or if it would backfire and turn Ron into a raging maniac.

  He laughed out loud, thinking that Ron was already a raging maniac before he’d had the holy misfortune of ever running into the evil bastard. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse. Could they?

  ***

  When a nurse informed him that it was time to end his visit with Nikki because she needed her rest, he didn’t argue, even though there was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be than beside his wife. Nikki insisted that he go home and get some decent rest.

  Dave couldn’t stand the way she sounded with her face all bandaged and swollen. The whole time he’d spent talking to her, looking at her, and listening to her, all he could think was, I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him.

  He kissed her on her forehead and fought back tears when he said, “I love you, Nikki. I’ll be back in the morning.” He turned away quickly so she wouldn’t see that he was crying and left the room.

  The next morning he awoke to the sound of circular saws and hammers. Then someone knocked on his bedroom door. It was one of the construction crew who was there working on Jake’s room.

  “Sorry to bother you, man, but you got cops bangin’ on your front door.”

  Thoughts rushed around Dave’s mind as he recalled the night before. The drive with Danny. Seeing Nikki’s face wrapped up like a mummy. Not able to face Joy and Jake just yet. Needing be alone; to sleep in his own bed. To feel like something – anything – in his completely off-kilter world was normal and familiar.

  Now he could distinguish the rapping at his front door from the sound of the pneumatic hammers in Jake’s room. Cops. Shit. But maybe they’re just here to give me a status update on Nikki’s assault.

  He needed coffee before talking to the police, but he couldn’t just leave them out there knocking, so he went to let them in.

  “Mr. Parsons, may we have a moment with you?” one of them asked as soon as he opened the door.

  “Yeah. Come in. But please follow me to the kitchen. I just woke up and need to kickstart my brain with some coffee.”

  He offered them seats at the table as he filled the coffee maker. One of the cops told him their names, but they didn’t stick. He really needed the coffee. One of them started talking as he gathered a cup, creamer, and sugar.

  “Where were you last night between seven and eight p.m.?”

  “What?” Dave pretended to be shocked. “What kind of question is that? I was obviously at the hospital where my wife was in emergency surgery. Why aren’t you asking the crazy sonofabitch that attacked her where he was yesterday?”

  “We spoke to the suspect yesterday. Now we need to talk to you.”

  Dave shook his head in disgust as he poured sugar into a teaspoon. He looked up and said, “For the record, you’re wasting your time. You should be arresting that motherfucker and putting him in jail where he belongs.�
��

  “You might’ve been right yesterday,” one cop replied. “But today he’s dead. So, now I need to know who can vouch for you being at the hospital last night between seven and eight?”

  “What?” Dave’s hands began shaking and he poured some coffee onto the counter next to his cup. “He’s dead? What happened to him?”

  This was not how it was supposed to go. He didn’t mind the bastard being dead, but now Danny could be wanted for murder. Dave had managed to save his family at the expense of his brother. He felt like he was going to collapse.

  “Someone shot him. Do you own a gun, Mr. Parsons?”

  “Yes. I mean, no. Not yet. I’m trying to buy one, but it’s at the store. The uh… gun store. I’m waiting for the cool off, and um, you know… the background.”

  The cop that was doing all the talking glanced at his partner then looked at Dave who remained standing next to the coffee pot. He poured creamer into his cup and managed to get it all inside.

  “You’ve applied for a firearm purchase and are waiting for the background check to go through?”

  “Yes, sir,” Dave replied, and began sipping coffee from the top of his cup. “I’m sorry, can I get you some coffee?”

  “Thank you, but no. How about last night? Can someone verify that you were at the hospital during the time in question?”

  “Uh, sure. Yeah. I’m sure plenty of people can. Doctors, nurses, other people in the waiting room. And I talked to a cop while I was there. I don’t remember his name, but I can find out. He spoke to my sister yesterday. She’ll have his name.”

  “We can find out who that was. Can you name anyone specific at the hospital we can speak to?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t get anyone’s names. My wife had just been attacked by crazy person and was unconscious and covered in blood. And now you’re telling me that psycho is dead? I won’t tell you that I’m upset in the least to hear that, but can you tell me what happened, and why I need an alibi?”