“Are you okay, daddy?” she asked. “I’ll be okay, baby girl,” he said, kissing her on the forehead.
“You’re doggone right you will. Your last name is Stone. We don’t fold,” Frank Jr. proclaimed, holding out his fist for a pound. After slamming his fist down on top of his sons, Frank Sr. wrapped his arms around his kids and pulled them close to his chest.
“Thanks for the welcome kids. I really appreciate it. But what I want right now is to grab a beer out of the fridge, sit on the porch, and relax.” “No problem, Pop,” Frank Jr. said and scurried into the kitchen. When he returned, he had an ice-cold Heineken in his hands.
“Here you go,” he said, extending the bottle toward his father.
“Thanks son.” After receiving the beer from his son, Frank went on the front porch and dropped down into his chair. He shot a sideways glance towards Sadie’s residence and for once, he was happy to see that she wasn’t outside. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her. He just didn’t want to see her at that particular moment. The rain was still coming down and it seemed to make him drowsy. He took one sip of his beer and sat the bottle down beside him. Frank had just about nodded off when Amber pulled into the driveway. She got out and slammed the door, causing Frank to jerk awake.
“Hope you’re not too tired, partner.”
“Why? What’s going on?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“We have to go. Another interracial couple has been murdered.”
The End
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The Grey Killings
The Grey Killings
Bright stars overlooked the city as Jerome and Kelly walked hand in hand along the uneven sidewalk. The only thing brighter were the smiles glued to their faces. The young couple, both seniors in high school, had been pretty much inseparable since they’d began dating. Their parents believed they were simply infatuated with each other. After all, they were only seventeen years old. In their young minds, however, there was no doubt they were in love. Kelly shivered slightly as a cool breeze pelted the light jacket she was wearing. The jacket was so thin; the air seemed to penetrate it and soak into her skin. Jerome snickered as he felt her hand shake slightly from the chill. Kelly responded by yanking her hand free of his.
“What’s so funny punk?” she asked, punching him in the arm.
“I wasn’t laughing.”
“Liar. I heard you snickering.”
“Okay. I was.”
“I know you was, jerk. Just for that, I’m not going to give you what you want,” she said, flirtatiously. The young man’s hormones began to stir. Although they’d told their parents something to the contrary, the couple had been sexually active for the last three months.
“Oh, so you’re going to be like that, huh? Maybe I should change my Facebook status to single,” he countered.
“You do and I’ll kick your ass,” she threatened.
Jerome laughed out loud.
“Come on, baby. You know I wouldn’t do that.”
“You’d better not.”
Another gust of wind blew their way, causing them to shiver.
“Oh, I know you’re not cold. Not after you was laughing at me.”
“Whatever. You know what? Let’s just cut through here.”
Kelly looked at where he was pointing, and then back at him.
“Have you lost your ever-loving mind? I know you don’t think I’m about to walk through a graveyard!”
“Don’t be such a scaredy cat. Come on.”
Kelly looked inside the cemetery and then back at Jerome. “I don’t know about this,” she said.
“What in the hell do you think is going to happen? Can’t nobody out there do anything to you.”
The Grey Killings
“How do you know?”
“Because everyone out there is dead, that’s how. Now come on.”
Before Kelly could protest any further, Jerome grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Kelly’s eyes darted from right to left, zeroing in the tombstones. In her mind, they seemed to stare back at her. Instinctively, she gripped Jerome’s hand tighter. Jerome glanced down at her and smiled.
“Ain’t no need to be scared, baby girl. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Jerome turned Kelly toward him and hugged her tightly. After breaking the embrace, he leaned down and kissed her deeply.
“Ah, puppy love. You gotta love it,” a voice sounded from the shadows.
Jerome and Kelly looked around. Although they could hear the voice clearly, no one seemed to be there.
“What the hell? Who said that?” Jerome asked, nervously. His head continued to whip around until he came to a tall, slim figure coming towards them. A Cleveland Indians baseball cap was pulled down on the figure’s head. In his hand was an aluminum, thirty-six inch baseball bat. Jerome instinctively stepped in front of Kelly. Out of fear, she gripped the back his shirt tightly.
“Who are you, man? What do you want?” Kelly asked, her voice trembling.
The figure ignored Kelly and continued walking forward.
“Isn’t that nice. He’s protecting you.”
Jerome balled up his fist. He was scared shitless but the last thing he wanted, was to look like a wuss in front of his girlfriend. The figure looked down at Jerome’s balled up fists and smiled sinisterly.
“So, tell me. Do you two love each other?”
The figure threw the bat over his shoulder and smirked as he awaited the couple’s reply. Jerome and Kelly looked at each other, curiously.
“What?” Jerome said.
“I asked you if you two loved each other, dammit!”
The figure was getting impatient. He wanted to finish his business and be on his way.
“Yeah, we do love each other,” Jerome said defiantly.
The Grey Killings
“That’s all I needed to know,” the figure said.
“What’s that supposed to–––”
Jerome never got to finish his sentence. In a flash, he was lying on the ground, semi-conscious. Blood poured from the top of his head. The screams he heard coming from Kelly’s mouth seemed like they were far away. The last thing he remembered seeing was Kelly’s skull being crushed by the baseball bat.
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