by L. J. Lahage
“Boy have I got a story to tell you. It’s a damn good thing Vanessa found that letter,” Eli said reaching for a cigarette.
“Where is she?”
“Nessa’s gonna stay with Sam for a while longer.”
“What about Bill, anybody asking questions?” Sig asked raising his eyebrows and crossing his muscular arms.
“No, the hospital bought Vanessa’s story about his little wood working accident. Bill’s gonna be fine, lost a little blood and took a stitch to close the wound, but he’s OK. They put him in the room two doors down from Sam. What about Hubble, we got a location on that mother fucker yet?” Eli asked looking like a storm cloud ready to release lightening.
“I just got off the phone with them, they know where he is.”
***
Hubble had planned to get up early, but the dirty hit left him weak and feeling nauseous. It was nearly noon when he finally got out of bed, his mouth felt like the desert. He could smell the rancid stench of dried sweat on his body. Hubble contemplated a quick shower, but knew time was of the essence. In an agitated haste he seized his duffel bag and left.
Vehicles were pulling in and out as Hubble hastened across the pavement, his left hand coiled tightly on the strap running over his shoulder. The sound of motorcycles made his heart skip a beat. Dropping to the tarmac, he ducked between two cars. Cautiously he peered out from behind a station wagon, there were three of them.
The bikes had come to a stop at a red light nearby. Hubble tried to make out their faces, it wasn’t anyone he knew. No colors on any of the clothing, they could just be driving through. Perched against the car’s side he waited. His left hand clenching the shoulder strap, while his right hand went for the knife in his boot.
All three took off up the hill when the light turned green. Hubble waited until they were far enough away before putting the blade back and standing up. Paranoid, that’s all, just friggin paranoid.
Hubble got to within a few feet of the stolen tan Ford Maverick when a loud droning noise startled him. Now what? Licking his swollen lip he looked to the distance at the enormous crane. Its unique powder blue structure filled the cloudless sky like some giant saw horse. It was an air horn from the General Dynamics shipyard, most likely sounding for lunch.
Breathing a heavy sigh Hubble reached for the door handle, never once hearing the person behind him. A hand with lightning speed came around his head and covered his mouth with a towel. He could instantly smell it. This wasn't good. Pulling at the man’s wrist with one hand, Hubble held on tightly to the shoulder strap of the bag with his other. Heavy pressure against his lip reopened the cut. Hubble tasted blood as he went down on one knee. His right arm shooting into his boot, desperately reaching for the Morseth. He gasped for air through the now bloody rag, only to draw in a full breath of sweet smelling chloroform.
***
Darkness greeted Hubble when he finally woke, someone had placed a hood over his head. A cold sweat and the taste of bile made him feel like throwing up. It took him a moment to realize that his body was tilted back. The feeling reminded him of the dentist’s chair at the prison. He hated the fucking dentist, who would want to be one? It was like looking at an asshole with teeth all day.
Wriggling he tried to move but couldn’t, his hands and feet were bound to something and he was naked. He tried to listen over the pain.
Muffled voices and a faint breeze, blowing just enough that Hubble realized he was inside something. He licked his lower lip, a coagulated lump of blood sat on its swollen brim. A groaning noise caused him to turn his head to the left, warm air blew in over his sweaty naked body. He felt the hood along with some of his hair ripped from his head.
Through the darkness, his eyes began to adjust. A long silence fell between him and the woman he’d known half his life. Even in the gloom, Vanessa’s green eyes were piercing. She knew the kind of man Hubble was, long before anyone else. She knew he was the devil.
Looking down, Hubble followed his arms to the steering wheel they were now bound to. He knew only too well where he was. Its discolored chromed center reminded him of an eye examining his soul, speaking to him as if to say, “We know what you’ve done.” Hubble’s bare feet were bound to the gas pedal and brake. “Vanessa...I.”
“I don’t even wanna know what happened that night eight years ago. I’ve let it go, but you, you thought you could play us all? You’re pathetic and should be robbed of your manhood for what you did to my daughter.”
Hubble shook his head, the words falling from his puffy lip.
“Vanessa there’s stuff you don’t know...there’s money! I’m sorry about Sam, I wasn’t going to hurt her...it was an accident...Matt knew about the money...I just...I didn’t know if it was still there.”
Vanessa reached down into between Hubble’s legs and took a firm hold of his penis. She squeezed it tight and tugged on it like an accordion. Hubble winced in pain as Vanessa brought his knife into view. Holding it directly over his chubby shaft she eyed him, “I wouldn’t want you forgetting anything before leaving us.” Driving the blade down into the leather seat, just nicking the tip of Hubble’s penis.
“You fucking Bitch!” he yelled with his fat lip.
Eli stepped into view and Vanessa stepped aside. Even in the shadows, her eyes remained a constant presence.
“If that nasty scar on your face was a cross and you do believe in God, I would pray now,” Eli said patting his clothes, searching for his cigarettes.
Hubble began to plead, “Eli...this is all wrong,” his sunken eyes bulged.
“Save it,” Eli replied flipping the top of his Zippo open. Rolling the thumbwheel over his right thigh in one swift motion, Eli lit the smoke hanging from the corner of his mouth. He took a long drag before speaking.
“They say Swingle’s Quarry is the deepest hole ever dug on the South Shore. I don’t know, but that’s what they say. Close to 360 feet down to its murky bottom. At that depth, who knows what’s lurking down there? You’re gonna need a few things for your trip.”
Vanessa stood over the missing portion of the windshield holding the money bag, she emptied it into the car. Wads of bundled cash fell in, bouncing off the dash and landing on the floor by Hubble’s feet.
“You fucking bitch..stop..stop..stop!” he yelled. Vanessa made sure it was empty before hurling the zippered case at Hubble’s face.
“Y’all in it together, you can all go to fucking hell!”
Eli nodded at the three men standing nearby. Without words each of them took one of the wheel barrels from behind the car, and dumped them over the edge. There was a long pause before they all heard the barrels crashing into the water below, a distant low sounding splash resonating up out of the hole. On deflated tires the GTO began to roll backwards, Hubble felt its rear end drop off. Only the driver’s door which was still open and now embedded in the dirt was keeping the car from going completely over the edge.
From an upside down view Hubble could see his fate. A yellow luminescence revealed a sheer wall, beside it were individually cut granite blocks, stacked in columns rising up out of the unwelcoming water. Eli took one last drag before flicking his cigarette over the edge. In a swirl of wafting smoke he bent over to pick something up.
“This belongs to you as well, I’ve already got one,” he said hurling the crowbar at Hubble and kicking the door shut. “No!” Hubble yelled as the car rolled off the uneven ledge. It plummeted nearly a hundred feet before a tumultuous boom echoed up the quarry walls.
He thought the fall alone would kill him. It didn't. Water rushed in to the rear part of the GTO, filling quickly, pulling it down and upending the front end. It sat vertically in the murky abyss for a second, like a buoy. Coughing up blood Hubble could hear the water gurgling behind his ear. Shaking his head violently he screamed, “Motha fucker, motherfuckers ruined a simple plan, you fucking people...” One question came to mind as the water inched over Hubble’s head, how could something that should have been so sim
ple, have gone so wrong?
Vanessa and Eli stood at the edge of the quarry hole. Staring down they could see bubbles and cash floating up from where the car sank. Crossing her arms she spoke. “There’s no way he could still be...”
“No, not in his lifetime, he’s gone. Let’s get outta here.”
Sig got out of Eli’s car when he saw Eli and Vanessa approaching. He held the door open. Climbing into the back seat, Vanessa sat down next to Sam and took her hand. Eli pushed Johnny Cash’s At Folsom Prison into the 8-track player and hit play.
“I thought you told me a while back, you don’t fight crime.”
Eli looked in the rearview mirror. With deep regret in his blue eyes, he forced a partial smile at Bill.
“Not full time,” he replied shifting into drive. Bill took Sam’s hand and closed his eyes. He thought about the conversation between him and his dad on the fourth of July. Maybe everything does happen for a reason, maybe we don’t control our own destinies but are simply waiting in line for what’s already coming. People come and go, but when they do, you simply can’t deny that your lives trajectory won’t change.