Dual Harvest

by Lori Michelle

  David stopped dead in his tracks. He looked back at the slimy reporter that had asked him that question and recognized him as the grease ball that worked for The Deviant. The reporter smiled his slithery smile knowing he had hit a nerve with the detective. He continued to press David. “Is it true that they are going to take this case from you and give it to Detective Rosetti? Will the killer finally be caught if so?”

  David was livid. He grabbed the reporter by his shirt. “I don’t know who gave you this information, but it isn’t true.”

  The reporter knew he had hit the nail on the head. “I dunno Detective Balducci, it seems to me as if I had the information perfect. You must have done something to get Internal Affairs on your ass. What did you do, fuck the captain’s wife?”

  David swung and decked the reporter right there on the staircase leading up to the hotel. Joe grabbed him by the arm and said, “We better get out of here before you do anything else.”

  Sitting in the car, David put his hands against his head. The need for nicotine had never been stronger. “I can’t believe I just let that whiney bitch ass reporter get to me,” he moaned.

  “Hey man, he had it coming,” Joe tried to reassure his partner. “Only so many buttons can be pushed before we go over the edge.”

  “I am gonna lose this case to Rosetti and he’s going to fuck it all up,” David moaned as he looked out the window.

  “Hey, look at the bright side,” Joe said. “At least he didn’t know about Kelly. He might have demanded his five bucks back.”

  ELEVEN

  Lila felt so alive the next day when she woke up. It was the best she had felt in a long time. She must have seriously needed the sleep she had gotten the day before. She got up and dressed like always, taking the time to pack her lunch with things that were healthy for her. She wasn’t a huge fan of salad, but it did keep her full. And she knew that she wasn’t hugely fat, but thoughts of “who’s my plump baby” ran through her head.

  She thought about it a second, shocked that the phrase would run through her mind now after all this time. She hadn’t thought about it for several years and she wasn’t sure where it came from or why she would think of it all of the sudden. But she never wanted to feel helpless like that again. So leaves and twigs were her meals of choice.

  She drove to work, happy that the weather was warm and sunny. It was going to be a beautiful day. She rolled her window down and let the wind blow through her hair, knowing that it would make her curls wilder than normal. But Lila felt so good she really didn’t care.

  She got to the office and went through her morning ritual. She laughed to herself as she made the coffee, wondering who got stuck with the chore yesterday. She put her lunch in the refrigerator and went to her desk to turn on the computer. There were a few files on her desk from missing work the day before, but nothing that couldn’t be handled in a couple of hours. Today looked as if it might be a relatively easy day.

  Lila grabbed her mug and went back into the kitchen area to grab a cup of java. Her boss was already in there getting his first infusion of caffeine.

  “Hey Lisa, missed you yesterday,” he said in greeting.

  “It’s Lila sir. You missed me?” she asked incredulously.

  “Yeah, no one makes a cup of coffee like you,” he said as he took his first gulp. “Yeah, that is so good.”

  “Thank you sir,” Lila said, wondering if that was really a compliment she should glow in.

  “I like your hair today,” he said, eyeing her tangled mess. “Makes you look more, hmm, approachable.”

  “Thank you sir,” Lila said, again wondering if that was a compliment.

  “Hey,” he said, turning around to look at her. “Aren’t you the one working on the Mulrooney file?”

  “Yes sir,” she answered.

  “I have some questions to ask on it. You think you could come up to my office later and go over the figures with me?”

  “Any time you want sir,” she responded.

  “Great, I’ll see you later … Lila.” He smiled and left the room.

  Lila was pleased he had actually remembered her name. She thought it was the first time that he had ever called her by the correct name. Before she had been Lisa, Lola, Lana, everything else. She smiled to herself as she went back to her desk to do her day’s work.

  The day seemed to fly by and before she knew it, it was almost time to go home. Her phone on the desk rang and she knew from the tone that it was an inner office call.

  “Hey Lila, this is Janice, Mr. Olberman’s secretary. He wants to apologize to you since he wanted to see you today.”

  “It’s ok,” answered Lila. “The day has passed in a huge blur anyway.”

  “Well would it be ok if he scheduled with you at some point next week?” the secretary asked in her professional voice.

  “Of course,” Lila answered.

  “Good,” Janice replied. “I know that he was really looking forward to seeing you. How about next Wednesday at 11:30?”

  “That will be great Janice,” Lila responded. “I will make sure I have looked over those numbers and will be prepared for any questions that he has for me.”

  “Have a good weekend,” the secretary sang as she got off the phone.

  Lila started to pick up her files in anticipation of the upcoming weekend. She wanted to start Monday off with a clean desk. She placed all the files in her desk and locked it up. Then, she gathered all of her belongings that seemed to accumulate throughout the week and headed out the door.

  Lila didn’t care one way or another about weekends. Since she had no family and no friends, it was just another day. She used it to clean up the house, run errands and read books. She knew that the rest of her coworkers longed for the weekend since they always seemed to be dashing to some party or get-together. But Lila had nothing like that to look forward to.

  Lila daydreamed as she drove home and thought back to a time when she did have something to look forward to. She remembered going to dinner, going to the movies, snuggling, and just having someone there. She remembered how she had longed to have children and hoped to hear a little voice call her mommy. But he had ruined all of that for her. Not just her chances for a child, but also a chance at a normal life.

  Lila quickly changed the train of her thoughts. The fleeing memories were gone before she could concrete who he was or what he had even done to her. It was just a hazy blur and Lila couldn’t remember anything else. Just a man, one she didn’t even have a name or a face for. On retrospect, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to remember any more about him. After the accident, she had crawled inside this shell of a person she had become.

  Once home, Lila prepared a Lean Cuisine and got out the movie she had rented. She wondered what adventure her roommate was off to this evening. Sometimes she wished that she would be asked to tag along with Amber, but Lila knew that she would never be asked. Lila wondered if she would go, and if she would have a good time. Shaking her head of such ridiculous nonsense, Lila sat down to begin her long weekend of nothingness.

  TWELVE

  Amber both hated and loved weekends. She loved the fact that it was the weekend and the party scene was always rockin’. But she also knew that she had to see her roommate a lot more. She wondered if Lila had any life besides going to work. She never went out, never called any friends. All she did was work and read. Or at least that’s how it seemed to Amber. She knew that Lila didn’t approve of her lifestyle, but at least Lila had never come out and vocally told Amber.

  Amber thought she was a good roommate. She kept to herself, she didn’t have any parties at their house, she never brought any friends over and she kept her part of the house clean. Also, she had never been late with the rent. And in reality, the arrangement that she and Lila had was perfect. They very rarely had to see each other, they didn’t eat each other’s food, and Lila left Amber alone.

  Amber had found Lila’s place after that asshole had ruined her life. That was when Amber had
to take matters into her own hands and learn how to live on her own. No longer was she going to let anyone tell her how to dress, how to act, how to live. Lila had just moved in and needed a roommate to help make the payment each month. The timing was right and the price was perfect. Amber didn’t have to answer to anyone.

  Amber went out in the kitchen later that evening. She wanted to eat a little something before she went out. She wasn’t sure where she was going to go, but she craved someplace loud with a lot of action. She thought maybe she would go dancing since the beat filled her soul with pleasure. So, in anticipation of all that energetic exercise, she ate.

  Lila was in the kitchen reading the paper. Amber tried to ignore her, but Lila caught her and tried to make conversation. One of the pros of having Lila as a roommate was the fact that she never tried to talk much. So, obviously, this took Amber by surprise.

  “Hey Amber,” Lila said perkily.

  Amber looked at Lila. She had never heard the somber girl sound so lively. “Hi Lila. Your hair is different; looks good.”

  Lila laughed, “Haha, thanks. Actually, yesterday it got all wild with the wind and I never bothered to brush it out today.”

  “Well, um, it looks nice.” Amber turned, hoping that was the end of the conversation. Maybe Lila had gotten laid, but Amber seriously doubted it.

  “Did you read the paper?” Lila asked.

  Amber stared at Lila. Was the girl really that clueless? Amber tried to avoid anything unpleasant and the newspaper was full of everything that was defined unpleasant. “No,” she answered in her of course I didn’t you dipshit voice.

  “Yeah, the Harvester Killer hit again on Thursday night,” Lila started. “Apparently this guy was here for a convention and was an inventor or something.”

  “That’s nice,” Amber said in her shut the fuck up voice as she put her head in the fridge, hoping it would signal Lila to quit talking to her. But it wasn’t to be.

  “They aren’t giving many details in the newspaper, but can you imagine?” Lila was getting very animated. “I mean really, this person must be really strong or something cause these guys aren’t small by any stretch of the imagination. I am thinking that it might be like an ex-boyfriend, but that doesn’t make any sense since these guys are all out-of-towners.”

  Amber stared at Lila. What had gotten into the girl? This was more words than Lila had said to her in the three years that that they had lived together.

  “Whoa,” Lila said, her eyes getting big. “What if it’s a woman? Hmmm. What do you think, Amber?”

  “I really have no idea,” Amber said, hoping to get Lila off the subject. She didn’t want Lila to start connecting any dots. “So any plans for tonight?” she asked to change the subject quickly.

  “Nope,” Lila answered with a shake of her head. “You?”

  “Not sure yet,” Amber said. “But I am sure I won’t be in until late, like normal.” Amber started to leave the kitchen.

  “Well have a good time,” Lila called after her. “And be careful, I don’t want to read about you being a victim of the Harvester Killer.”

  “Hahaha,” Amber laughed it off to Lila. It sincerely tickled her funny bone. But then she secretly smiled, knowing that she would never be the victim again. She had been the victim for 5 years before she gained control. And she vowed that no one, man or woman, would ever make her a victim again.

  Amber went into her room and got ready for the night. She made sure she had comfortable shoes on. She looked at herself in the mirror again. That’s the difference, she thought; a connection forming in her mind. Lila’s hair was starting to look like hers, Amber realized. She wondered if Lila was trying to be like her. That would be creepy; like Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female. Though she did admit it wouldn’t surprise her. Every woman wanted to be like Amber. She was the perfect female being. Now if only she could find the perfect male to complete the picture. Thus, there was more work left to be done.

  Amber put on the finishing touches of her makeup, grabbed her bag and headed on out the door. There was no sign of Lila and Amber assumed the plain girl had gone back into her room to continue doing whatever boring thing plain girls did. Amber got into her car, started the ignition and headed out for a great night on the town.

  The Harvester Killer was on the prowl.

  THIRTEEN

  Monday morning dawned too early for David. He had spent most of the weekend in a drunken stupor. Friday had been a shit day that started with a murder victim, followed by a fight with a reporter. When he arrived at the station, he had been called into the captain’s office. He was reprimanded and written up. The Harvester case had been taken from him and he was on thirty day desk suspension. It was the most fucked up day that David could remember.

  After being stripped of any responsibility, David had taken the Harvester case file and copied the whole thing. He wasn’t going to give up all his research that easily. David wanted to keep working on it on his own time. He then had to turn it over to Mark Rosetti. It was all he could do to resist throwing the case file at the smug asshole’s stupid face. After that, David had stormed out of the precinct, proceeded to crawl into a bottle, and stayed there all weekend.

  He didn’t remember getting his car back, he didn’t remember coming home; he didn’t remember any of the weekend. But he woke up Monday morning, in his own bed, in his own clothes with the mother of all severe hangovers. He dragged himself out of bed and groaned as he turned on the bathroom light. It was too bright; though, of course, the slight flicker of a lighter’s flame would have been too much for David to contend with right at that moment. He closed his eyes tightly against the glare and grimaced.

  He slowly opened one eyeball and peered at himself in the mirror. He knew that he looked like shit and the brief glance in the mirror proved it. His eyes were all puffy and he had a several days’ growth on his face. His teeth felt fuzzy and David was sure he had never smelled so bad before in his life. He turned the cold water on in the sink and tentatively splashed himself in the face with it. He grimaced when the cold water hit him, but it did help to wake him up and refresh him a little.

  He then turned his shower on and stood under the water until it turned cold. He didn’t feel any more awake, but he knew that at least he smelled like he belonged in society. He slowly brushed his teeth, knowing he was going to have to brush them several times before the slime that had accumulated would be removed. He knew that he was going to have to shave. He wasn’t sure he had the energy to do it, so he stood there for several minutes trying to decide if it would be easier to just grow a beard.

  Deciding he didn’t want to hear the remarks about cavemen, David grabbed his razor. Maybe he would be lucky and it’d cut his jugular. Then he could bleed out all over the bathroom and wouldn’t have to go to work. He then briefly wondered if there was any blood left in his body or if it had been replaced by all the alcohol he had consumed over the weekend. Very slowly, David worked on the stubborn beard.

  When he was done, he looked at himself in the mirror. At least now he looked human, even if he still felt like the walking dead. He walked back out into the bedroom and opened his cell phone to call his partner. He sat on the bed and dialed the phone number. After five minutes of trying, he finally got the right number dialed.

  “Patrano,” his partner answered.

  “Hey Joe, it’s David.”

  “Tinkerbell, I am surprised you’re awake at all this morning,” Joe teased.

  “Yeah yeah. I’m not even sure what happened the past couple days.”

  “Man, you were sloshed,” Joe told him. “Kelly called me yesterday to come get you and take you home. Apparently, you had been there since Friday and even slept in the storeroom for a couple of nights.”

  “No shit?” David asked. “No wonder I feel like hell warmed over.”

  “Yeah well, Kelly figured you needed some help, so I came to get you and brought you back to your place. Took forever to get you into bed. Like I sa
y, I am surprised that you are even alive this morning. You looked like total shit last night. I have arrested people less drunk than you.”

  “Well, I am alive, and I am even awake. I do have a motherfucker of a hangover though, and I’m moving in serious slow motion,” David said. “I wanted to call to tell you that I would be late, which is a no-shitter since I am already late, and to see if you wanted to meet me at the diner for breakfast. I don’t think I can handle being in the station much.”

  “Sure no problem bro,” Joe said amiably. “You buying?”

  “I suppose I owe you,” David sighed.

  “Whoo hoo,” Joe cheered. “Big bacon platter here I come!”

  “Yeah yeah yeah, you and your bacon perversion,” David said into the phone. “See you in 30 minutes.”

  David took his time getting dressed since it hurt to move. Every time he turned, he had to wait a minute for his brain to catch back up. The world was seriously nauseating to look at this morning. He then decided to call a cab to take him, since he knew that he was still in no shape to drive.

  The sky was perfect with not a single cloud in sight. It was one of those days that Disney would have a field day with. David wondered if it was some cosmic joke about the way that he felt. It would have been better for the weather to have been gloomy to match his outlook on life. But it was as if God had given him a big “Fuck you” and made the day as cheerful as possible. It made David want to barf.

  He got to the diner and paid the taxi driver. He went in and saw Joe sitting there waiting for him, reading the paper. He sat down on the opposite side of the booth.

  “Look Tinkerbell,” Joe said, “you’re famous.”

  “Well good morning to you too, motherfucker,” David answered. “Let me see.”

  Joe handed him the paper and the headline read Local Cop decks Reporter on Hotel steps. David groaned and handed the paper back to his partner, “I don’t even want to read that article,” he said.