Neon Nights

by by: Anthony mayfield

  'Ding dong." Thayer nodded at Sisela and, on cue, she got up to answer the front door while he sat on the couch smiling. 'Good morning, Mrs. Diamond. We're here to interview your husband." 'Yes, please, come in." Lois Kent and a couple of her cameramen entered the house. Thayer popped up off the seat like a rubber ball extending his hand. "Ms. Kent, so nice of you to come.' he said. She politely shook his hand. 'Well, Mr. Diamond, you said that you have some incriminating evidence for me to review.' 'That's correct." 'So are you ready to proceed with the interview then?' 'Yes, I am." he said. "All right, Mr. Diamond, let's do it." 'One question before we begin.' he said. "Yes, what is it?' 'Is this interview live?" 'No, I'm afraid not. The reason it's not is, that if your information is what you claim it to be, we'll need more time than what's usually allotted for live interviews. Besides, for a live interview at this particular time, we'd have to interrupt the soaps, and you know whatever we bring had better be darn important to interrupt a soap in progress.' she said while smiling.

  Thayer gave the smile back and said, 'I see.' "So then, when can I expect this to be aired?' he asked. "I'd say around 5 p.m. today. And if it's good stuff it will be the top story.' 'Good!' he commented . 'Shall we begin?' 'Yes.' she answered before signaling to the cameraman.

  The cameraman turned the camera on, adjusted the lighting, and cued Lois. 'All right Lois, in five, four, three, two,' and with one he pointed to her indicating they were taping. "Good evening, I'm Lois Kent. And we are in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thayer Diamond. As you know, Mr. Diamond is challenging Kenny Matthews for mayor of Briarpatch. A few days ago, Mr. Diamond stunned citizens of Briarpatch and others with startling news that Mayor Matthews wasn't as honest as he claimed to be. Mr. Diamond insinuated that the Mayor has used his office to favor his personal gain through illegal channels. He went on to say that he would be able to prove everything. Well, today, we're here to review his evidence. So then, Mr. Diamond what do you have for us?" With that, the camera turned towards Thayer. He looked into the eye of the camera, smiled, and began to unravel his woven tale. When he finished, Lois and the cameramen were staring in disbelief. It was so unbelievable, but all of the evidence was there. The camera swung back toward Lois. 'Well, there you have it. It's true, Mayor Matthews is nothing more than a lying drug dealer and a prostitute kingpin.'

  'I do have one other question.' she said. "If all of this is as true as it appears to be, Ora, why is it that you decided to come forth and tell about your relationship with the Mayor? According to your testimony, you have all that you could dream of, why would you betray him?" Caught off guard, she stammered. This is not one of the questions they had rehearsed. Thayer turned pale as the camera leaned in. 'Well, Ora. . . . '

  Margret realized much too late that she had taken on more than she could handle. Either she wasn't the woman she thought she was, or these aren't the average men. Usually she would have drained three men within an hour and a half tops. She glanced at her watch, four hours had passed and they were still going strong. 'Oh well, she thought, I'll make enough today to take a three week vacation." 'Hey! Terron shouted, does anyone know what time it is?" "It's 2:35." Margret said. '2:35! Vice yelled, man, we'd better get out of here.' They jumped and began to hurriedly dress.

  'So, Margret calmly asked, which one you do I see about my money?' "Money? What money?" Connley asked. 'The money that you owe me for this date; you think it was free?" 'Yeah, Connley said, in fact, I know it was free.' She pulled a handgun from her purse. 'Look, I want my money, all of it.' "All right, all right calm down. Terron said, how much do we owe you?' 'Five thousand dollars." 'Five thousand dollars!' Vice hollered. 'You sleasy slut, I'll kill you before I give you fifty dollars.' She cocked the gun. 'I want my money.' 'Hey, hey, calm down." Tenon said again. He asked, 'Now what makes you think that we have that kind of money?' 'They may not have it, but I know that you do.' 'Yeah, and how do you know that?' Terron asked. 'Because I was at the bank the day you

  deposited 14 million dollars in your name.' Terron's eyes widened and he became nervous. 'You've got the wrong guy, baby. That money was deposited in someone else's name.' He slipped his hand into his pocket. 'No, I'm not wrong. I don't make mistakes like that. So, come on loverboy fork over the money. I'll even take a check." she said smiling.

  'Whap!" "Pow!" Margret slumped to the floor. Terron had slipped on his brass knuckles and punched her in the face. As she was falling to the floor of the van, she pulled the trigger and the bullet soared through the side door. Terron pulled out a knife and slashed her across the chest he was going for her throat next but she threw up her arms to fight off the attack. 'Hey, Vice yelled, just get her out of here, Terron. We don't have time for this.'

  The gunshot and Margret's wails brought men out of the restaurant. They surrounded the van as Tenon threw the door open and tossed her out. Vice had started the engine and was peeling from the scene. A couple of men jumped in the van's path. They were trying to get Vice to stop. It was like bowling pins trying to stop a bowling ball. The results were the same and, the two men were knocked out of the way. The other men were attending to Margret. Someone ran back to the restaurant and called an ambulance and the police.

  'Screech." The van left a long black mark as Vice brought it to a halt in front of the hospital. They jumped out and, as calmly as they could, entered the hospital. Vice and Tenon walked over to the elevators while Connley went to the information desk and asked what room Marla Roberts was in. The receptionist punched some buttons to determine Marla's status. While she was doing that, Connley walked around behind her and looked at the screen with her.

  She raised her head and said, "Sir, I . . .' She was startled to find Connley over her shoulder instead of in front of her. 'You can't come back here." she said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." He walked back around to the front of the desk. 'Now, may I have her room number?' he asked. Still fuming about him having come around into her area, she snapped, 'I can't give you her room number. No one but her immediate family members are allowed." 'Oh, then it's all right, I'm her brother." The woman eyed him suspiciously. 'What's your name?" she asked. "Connley Roberts.' She looked down a list of names of people who were allowed to visit Marla. "I'm sorry, there's no Connley Roberts on my list of visitors." she answered. 'Hmm, I don't know how that happened. Listen, would it be okay if I went and bought her some flowers and then brought them back here for you to have them delivered to her room?" 'I guess that's all right.' she said. 'Good. Which way to the gift shop?' Pointing toward the elevators, she said, 'Take those elevators to the first floor, get

  off and go to your right. You can't miss it.' 'Thank you.' He turned and abruptly walked toward the elevators.

  'Did she tell you what room she was in?' Vice asked. 'No, but I looked over her shoulder and found out anyway.' The elevator doors slid open and they stepped in. 'Punch eight.' Connley ordered. Vice complied and the elevator shot up. 'Ding." A bell rang alerting them to the fact that they had reached the top floor. 'What's her room number?" Terron asked. '813." he said. Terron chuckled, 'Thirteen, how appropriate." They casually strolled down the hall in the direction of room 813. 'Here it is.' Connley said. Terron peaked in the room, 'Yeah, it's her all right. And she's alone.' he said. 'Good. Terron, you and Vice go on in and quietly take care of her and I'll wait out here and watch for others." Just as they slipped inside the room, a tall warrior like man strode toward Connley. He was six feet six inches tall, 225 pounds, solid as a mountain, graceful as a ballerina, and as fast as the flash of a flash cube. Instantly, they recognized each other as spirit beings. Connley went for his gun. 'Slash!" The man drove his fist into Connley's jaw. Connley fell against the wall and sagged to the floor unconscious.

  Quickly he went into Marla's room. Vice was leaning over her about to slit her throat when he looked up and saw the man. Terron and Vice recognized him as an angel of the Most His God.

  Vice tightened his face muscles, let out a guttural war cry and leapt at the angel. He was holding the knife high
about his head readying himself to plunge it into the angel's chest. The angel stepped back and Vice landed on his feet in front of the angel.

  Vice drew the knife back again, as he was coming down with it, the angel punched him in his chest. He fell backward into Terron who had pulled out his gun. The gun discharged. The bullet went through Vice's back came out of his heart and lodged in a metal cabinet in the room. Vice slumped to the floor. Terron gasped. The gun had fallen from his hand, as he made a move for it, the angel moved toward him.

  He thought better of trying to grab the gun and instead he darted out the door. Connely had regained conscientious but was still groggy. Tenon grabbed his arm and pulled him to the elevators. The angel checked Marla to make sure she had not been harmed. Then he ran after Terron and Connely. They were stepping onto the elevators when he saw them. "Stop them!" he shouted while pointing in their direction. An orderly made a move towards them, Connely pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man's face. He backed off and the elevator doors slowly closed. The angel had made it to the nurse's desk and was letting them know

  what happened. 'Call the guards and have them detain those men when the get to the first floor. And tell them that they are armed and extremely dangerous. Then call the police.'

  By the time the elevator reached the first floor, four guards had the elevator surrounded. They were braced, and had their guns drawn and fixed on the elevator doors. When the doors opened, it was empty. Terron and Connley had gotten off on the seventh floor, from there they used the stairwell to the first floor. When they came out of the stairwell, police and guards were roaming the halls asking questions. They slipped into a room, grabbed a smock and casually strolled to a side door. They hurriedly walked toward the van. As they approached, they saw police and men from the restaurant around the van. "All the hospitals in the horse and buggy town, and they have to bring that whore here. I should have wasted her." Terron said.

  'Where's Vice?' Connley asked. 'Vice is dead. He should be standing in front of the strongman right now.' 'What happened?' 'What do you think happened? The angel that knocked you out killed him. I tried to take the angel out before he got away but he slipped out the door and went for help. You saw him in the hall pointing at us didn't you?' "Yeah." Connley said. 'Well he was probably just getting back that's why all the police and guards were waiting for us on the first floor.' Terron said. 'Now what?" Connley asked. 'Tooot." Terron whistled at a taxi that was passing by. The driver stopped as they hopped in, Connley gave him Thayer's address and he took off.

  When they got to Thayer's house, the driver said, 'That will be $12.75." 'Yeah, right, Terron said, here's $12, 'Whop' and here's $.75 'smack'.' He punched the man with his brass knuckles and then slapped him across the mouth with a pocket sized blackjack. "What did you do that for?" Connley shouted. "Listen fool, we're already in enough trouble do you think we need this jerk knowing what we look like and where he dropped us off? Huh?" Terron asked. 'Yeah, you're right. So, now what do we do with him? Should we kill him?" 'No. Let's gag him, tie him up, and dump him in the trunk of the car.'

  'Maybe we'd better pull the car in the alley.' Connley suggested. 'Better still, Terron said, "why don't you drive the car a few blocks, pull into an isolated alley, and then dump him in the trunk.' "Me! Why all of a sudden should I do all of this?' Connley rebelled. 'All right, I'll do it. You go in and tell BA-El what happened." Connley thought for a mo­ment, 'Well, on second thought, I will do it.' 'Yeah, somehow I knew you would." Connley slid behind the wheel and tooled off.

  Inside the house, Thayer was pacing the floor like a caged, rabid lion. In his agitated anger, he had flung glasses upside the wall. Broken glass was strewn about the room. Preoccupied, and with nothing more than slippers on, Thayer walked across the glass im­pervious to the sharp pieces that penetrated the thin soled shoes and sliced at his feet. Ora and Sisela stayed in their room. They tried to stay together but Thayer wouldn't have it and when Sisela objected, Thayer punched her in the mouth.

  'Ding Dong' Thayer jumped, frozen he stared at the door. 'Ding Dong.' The bell sounded, more impatient this time. "Just a minuet.' Thayer called out. He thought it might be the reporter so he quietly rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a broom and dustpan and swept up all the visible glass as quickly as he could. As he was dumping the broken glass into the waste can, he noticed his bloodied feet. 'Ding Dong.' The door cried out again. 'I'm on my way.' Thayer hollered from the bathroom. Hurriedly, he pulled the large pieces of glass from his feet, rinsed his feet off and put on another pair of slippers. On the way to the front door, he grabbed the t.v. remote, clicked on the set and tossed the remote on the sofa. Smiling, he opened the door. 'Sorry for the delay, my wife was . . . " 'Terron! It's you. Get in here you fool. Where have you been? And where are the others?" Before Terron could answer, Thayer grabbed him by his collar and yanked him inside.

  'Where are the others?" Is the woman dead?' Thayer asked. Slowly, Terron began, 'Vice is dead.' 'What? What happened?' 'Well, Terron said, while moving out of Thayer's reach. When we got to the hospital, that Marla woman was guarded by an angel.' "An angel?' One of the enemy's angels?' Thayer asked. "Yes.' 'How did you know it was an angel?' 'We could sense it, BA-El. I mean, we've been around them enough to know." 'Then what happened?" Thayer demanded to know. "Well, once we found out what room she was it, we went up to it. There was no one around. We peeked inside and she was all alone. Connley stayed in the hall to watch for intruders. Vice and I went in to do the job. Vice was standing over her about to slit her throat when the angel burst in. We all got into a fight. I pulled my gun, he knocked it away from my hand and shot Vice. I had an opening to get out before others came in and I took it." 'What happened to Connley?' "The angel had knocked him out.. I grabbed him and pulled him to the elevator.' 'Where is he now?" 'Well, when we got back to the van, it was surrounded by cops. So we caught a taxi here. I didn't think it would be wise having someone being able to identify us, so I knocked out the driver. Connley drove the cab a few blocks away so that he could tie the guy up and dump him in the trunk."

  "What in creation took so long, it's five o'clock.' Terron hunched his shoulders, 'I .. " Just then, a news reporter came on the screen. 'This just in. There was a ruckus at the

  hospital today. It seems that three men, driving this van, the camera pans in on the van, entered the hospital with intentions of killing Marla Roberts. Their attempts were foiled when a guard walked in on them. One of the men was killed. It is believed that the other two escaped in a taxi. Mrs. Roberts, who was comatose at the time, has since miraculously come out of the coma to reveal to her sister who her husband's murderers are. We'll be back with that story and more. Stay with us, The news is next.'

  Thayer forgot about what Terron was saying for the moment. 'Turn it up!" he yelled. Terron reached over and turned up the volume just as the commercial break had ended. The reporter began.

  'Good evening and thank you for joining us. Our top story is about a woman who was savagely raped and beaten a few days ago. She was so badly beaten that she went into a coma. Doctors had given up hope saying that she would never recover; they said that all that kept her alive were the machines that she was connected to. However, this man, camera lense widened to include the man, Mr. Johnny Angel, prayed for the woman. He assured all that she would recover and today, approximately 45 minutes ago, she recovered fully.

  In addition to praying for Mrs. Roberts, Mr. Angel also supplied twenty-four hour guard service for her. Mr. Angel said he supplied the guards because he feared that whoever had done this to her would try to finish the job. Sure enough, today, just hours ago, gunmen entered the hospital and tried to kill Marla Roberts. Upon her recovery, Marla called her sister and told her who her attackers were. She doesn't know them personally, but she remembers their names, Terron, Connley, Vice, and Thayer.

  With that, Thayer was deflated. He sat lifeless in front of the television, however, as the reporter continued, he became enraged. "At this time, Mrs. Ro
berts is unable to identify any of the assailants. Doctors said that it might be a few days before she could recall their faces. Meanwhile, speculation has risen about the name Thayer. No one knows if it is a first name or last name. However, with the name being so unusual, it has given speculation that Briarpatch's candidate for Mayor, Thayer Diamond, might be involved. They flashed a picture of Thayer on-the screen. Mr. Johnny Angel is in the process of investigating the matter. "Any results so far, Mr. Angel?' 'Well, Herb, all that I know so far is that there are several people whose last names are Thayer in the telephone book. We are getting in touch with them all in hopes of solving this matter.' 'What about the other names, Mr. Angel?' 'We are checking those out too, anyone with any information can reach me at 595-7277 day or night."

  The reporter turned to Nancy who was standing beside Johnny Angel. "Mrs. Fields, we understand that all of this took place next door to your house. Is it difficult for you to stay there knowing what happened?' 'No it's not. It would have been if it weren't for God, my husband, and Mr. Angel. Day by day I am getting stronger. Then she turned and looked into the camera, and if you're looking at this Thayer, I want you to know I now look forward to the day when Mr. Angel captures you. While she was pointing at the camera, her finger seemed to come through the camera and touch Thayer on his nose. Thayer jumped back. The camera then turned from Nancy and focused on the reporter again. He began, "All of this news comes after Thayer Diamond revealed startling information about Mayor Matthews earlier today. That story next. Back to you Julie.'