Things Always Change – Part 7

Step one was to acquire the gun. I remembered a guy I had known in college who was really into such things. He had a penchant for collecting guns and taking them apart and making new ones. He was very much against gun laws. I did some online searching and found out where he was living. I got hold of his phone number and gave him a call on the pretext of having run into someone we had both known and just wanting to catch up. He was happy to hear from me.

I engaged him in small talk for a while then told him there had been some burglaries in my neighbourhood and I had been thinking about getting a gun, but that I didn’t want to go through the hassle of getting a permit and dealing with the wait period. He was enthusiastic right away. Told me he had guns on hand that he had built and I could have one if I liked. I told him I would pay him and we arranged a meeting. It was perfect. So now I had an unregistered, untraceable gun.

When Anne got home I told her I had been thinking a lot about our plans and that I thought we should get married as soon as possible. She seemed surprised but happy. I told I didn’t want a big ceremony since we didn’t have family around anyway and it would be more romantic if we kept it small and simple. She agreed right away, as I knew she would. Two weeks later we had a small ceremony on a beautiful beach with just our immediate friends around us. I kept an eye on Mel to see how he was reacting and to his credit he gave away nothing. I noticed that Anne studiously avoided making eye contact with him most of the time. The whole thing was strange. Mel couldn’t wait even an hour after the ceremony to remind me of the bet and I took great satisfaction handing over a check for a quarter of a million knowing it was all going to come back to me soon enough. The business would be all mine and I would be repaid ten fold. He seemed to make an effort not to gloat too much. Anne was grinning as it all took place. I just knew what she was thinking.

I had to let a couple of months go by before I could make my next move. It only made sense, and I didn’t mind the wait. I managed to get to Anne’s phone one more time while she was in the shower, and sure enough they were still seeing each other on the sly. It only strengthened my resolve to carry out my plan. I couldn’t believe they were stupid enough to be texting each other, but so many people make that mistake.

In the weeks after the wedding she brought up the plan a couple of times, and I told her I would do it soon, we just needed to wait a bit. She seemed a bit worried by that and I could only imagine it was because she thought I might not go through with it. Meanwhile I was worried that Mel might have plans for me now that I had paid off the bet, but I was keeping my eyes open all the time.

One morning I woke up and just knew it was time to finalize matters. It was really bothering me that Anne and Mel were making a fool of me behind my back and I was growing restless. I decided I would do it that week.

Things Always Change – Part 6

I sat back and breathed deep to calm myself. I had to get on top of this. The woman I loved wasn’t who I thought she was. Worse than that, I had told her I was planning on killing Mel. As serious a blow as the whole thing was, I resolved then and there to get on top of things. The question was where to go next.

I had known something wasn’t right about the way she’d reacted when I told her of my plan. Thinking it through I realized that her telling me I had made the right decision meant she wasn’t planning a future with him. That led to the conclusion that she was using both of us. It was all about the money. It occurred to me that Mel might very well be planning to kill me, quite possibly with Anne’s help. What a blow. So if she was such a treacherous bitch, then ultimately she must want it all for herself. Since she wanted to marry me I surmised that the plan was to get me to marry her before I carried out the murder, then making certain I went down for it, leaving her with everything. So why sleep with Mel? That part could have any number of reasons, but really, it didn’t matter anymore. I was still hurting over her, but I would get over it.

I put her phone back where I found it when I thought it was mine so that she wouldn’t have any reason to think I was on to her. I needed to lay low and remain calm until I had confirmation of her plan. When she came home she looked agitated, and I knew what it was all about. I watched as she found her phone, picked it up and examined it, then put mine in its place and put hers in her purse.

She came and greeted me and asked about my day, feigning good humour. I told her it had been relaxed and that I felt good. She studied my face and seemed to buy that nothing was amiss. That night over dinner I got the confirmation I knew had to come. She brought up the wedding again, saying she had been thinking things over, and that we should move ahead with our plans right away.

Toying with her, I mentioned that doing away with Mel first might be a better idea. She replied that if we did that then we wouldn’t be able to go ahead with the wedding for a while to avoid bringing undue suspicion on me. It was a good play; there was nothing I could say to refute it. I let the matter drop and thought some more about what was happening. Clearly her plan was make sure I went down for the killing, and she needed to be sure she would get everything once I was out of the way. I couldn’t believe this was the woman I had fallen in love with. It had all been one big scam. She’d spotted a couple of rich drunk guys that night and set about looking for a way to fleece us. It was almost more than I could bear.

The next morning I kissed her goodbye and told her to have a great day. When she was gone I sat down to think things through. It really didn’t take long to come up with a new plan, or rather, a new twist on my existing plan. One that would tie up all the loose ends and put an end to the treachery once and for all.

Things Always Change – Part 5

That left me speechless for a few moments. Breathless too. I’m not sure what I had expected, shock, outrage, I don’t know. I’d had too much wine. It occurred to me that it was the same way I’d gotten in to all this in the first place. I filed that mentally for later examination.

She reached across the table and put her hand over mine. Told me our future was what mattered most, and that I was right, Mel had conned me. Then she went back to eating her dinner as if nothing had happened. It was then that I got an inkling of what was to come. I tried not to read too much into it, but I’ve always been sharp and this wasn’t going to go away. I said nothing but added it to my mental file.

Over the next couple of weeks I ran through many scenarios about how to achieve my ends. In the end I decided a gun was the only reasonable option for doing the deed. I had no idea about how to acquire one on the sly, so that became my next goal. I certainly couldn’t just go buy one in a shop and register it. It also raised the question of where to do the deed. Guns make a lot of noise and that needed to be taken into consideration. Next was the matter of the body.

I decided that if I did it late at night and made it look like a burglary gone awry then disposing of the body would no longer be a consideration. Since Anne was now in on things she would be my alibi. I was home asleep when it happened. Details needed attending to, but it seemed like the best way handle things. I would still be under suspicion since I was his business partner, but as long I was careful not to leave any DNA at the scene and disposed of the gun carefully there would be nothing to link me to the crime. With him having no immediate next of kin, the business would be all mine free and clear. It was a good plan.

I let the idea settle in my mind for a while, there was no hurry after all, and I wanted to get it right. Everything was riding on it. Anne didn’t pry too much. She asked me once in a while if I had a plan yet and I just told her it was coming along and that was that. Well, except that little niggle at the back of my mind. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been too casual when I had dropped the bomb at dinner. The problem was I couldn’t decide what to make of it, I only knew it didn’t sit well and there was something I should be considering.

I thought about it more and more in the days that followed. I was working from home one day when the pieces all fell into place. It hit me like a brick and while I’ve always kept in mind that things always change, I wasn’t quite prepared for what happened. I reached for my cell phone to make a call and realized as I went to punch in the number that I had Anne’s phone instead of mine. They’re similar, so it didn’t click right away. I realized she must have grabbed mine on her way out the door by accident.

I had a tingling sensation in my scalp that told me this was a defining moment. I’m not a nosy person, but I decided to have a look at her contacts and see what text messages she’d been sending. That’s when I got a huge shock. Anne was having an affair with Mel. My world went black.

Things Always Change – Part 4

So there it was. Once I had made my decision I was surprised at how relaxed I was about it. I’m not a cold-blooded guy at heart. It was just practicality really. He was making bad business decisions and he had conned me into a bet I wouldn’t have made under any other circumstances and that was that.

The harder part was deciding how to do it. It’s one thing to decide to kill someone, quite another to carry out the deed. I found myself thinking night and day about all the various ways it could happen. My first thought was hiring someone to do it, but I’d read too many news stories about people contracting a killing only to find they were dealing with an undercover cop. So that was out. There had to be a better way. I decided if it came down to doing it myself there were two choices. I could arrange an “accident” or I could simply get him alone somewhere and kill him.

I decided I wasn’t big on the accident idea. If things didn’t go to plan and he lived, well, it could get messy. The way things were going between us he’d suspect me right away, and that was a change I wasn’t prepared to face. That left killing him outright. So that left two questions that needed answering: how to do it and how to dispose of the body in such a way that it would never be found. Oh yes, and an alibi. When your business partner disappears, the suspicion is always going to fall on you first.

I despaired at first, but then I realized it was silly to think a thing like this could ever be easy. Besides, I’ve always been a can-do guy. When the going gets tough and all that. I had breathing room; Anne and I hadn’t set a date or anything. I hadn’t even bought her an engagement ring. So it was time to make a plan that would cover all the bases. I admit I was distracted after that. Both at the office and at home with Anne. The office part didn’t matter so much, but Anne was one of those people with a strong sixth sense. She started asking me questions about what was on my mind, and when Anne wants answers she usually gets them.

I told her it was just work stuff, even told her things weren’t good between Mel and I, but she already knew about that, so that wasn’t going to fly. She kept after me so much I even began to resent her. I quickly decided that wasn’t good. I loved her with all my heart, and I’d always believed you shouldn’t keep secrets from the one you love. Only this was one hell of a secret. I agonized for days and then one night after we’d gone out to dinner and I’d had a couple too many glasses of wine I told her the truth.

The whole truth. I told her about the bet, and yes, how it had happened right before I met her, and I swore if only we had met an hour earlier it would never have happened. I told her I thought Mel had conned me, and then, taking a deep breath, I told her what I had decided to do. I couldn’t believe I was saying it even as it came out of my mouth, but more than that I couldn’t believe what happened next.

She put down her glass and looked me in the eye and told me I had made the right decision.

Things Always Change – Part 3

Time went by and everything was sweet as could be. The business continued to grow and our fortunes with it. We both drove the most flash cars in town, dressed to the nines, hell, there was nothing we wanted for. Except for one thing. Anne began hinting that she’d like to get married. I’d never told her about the bet, it didn’t seem prudent in as much as it had been a done deal right before we met.

Mel and I didn’t really speak of it after it happened, but we both had a copy of the notorised agreement and I knew for sure that he was never going to let me out of it. It was just his nature. We had made other bets in the past and with Mel a deal was a deal, win or lose. Now, sure we both had loads of money, and while a quarter of a million wouldn’t have bankrupted me, well, it’s just too much money to hand over. Especially in light of what it was for. Mel lived the playboy life. He dated lots of women and didn’t keep one around long enough to get attached. Looking back I guess I always knew that’s how it would always be with him, so it was foolish of me to make the bet. What can I say? We were drunk and we were on top of the world. It was his idea, too. The more I thought about that, the more resentful I became.

So I had a problem. I didn’t want to lose Anne. She had become my world, and for some silly reason I thought of her as my muse. I couldn’t shake the feeling that if she left everything else would follow like dominoes falling one by one. It got to the point where I couldn’t put her off any longer. I told her I would marry her. She was over the moon. So was I, for that matter. She was everything I’d always wanted. Still, there was the matter of the bet. I needed a plan, and I needed one fast, I wasn’t about to lose a quarter of a million dollars. I suppose that’s what mattered most, but there was also the resentment I felt toward Mel for conning me into the bet in the first place. He was the bachelor for life. It was always going to be that way, and the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced my supposed best friend had scammed me. To make matters worse we were having arguments over the future of the business at that point. He wanted to take it in directions that I felt would cheapen our brand name. So there was tension.

In a situation like that things can get out of hand. So it was that I came to a decision. A hard decision, but one I knew was the only way to make everything be right. Mel had to die.

Things Always Change – Part 2

Anyway that was a few years ago. But there was one other thing that happened that night that turned out to be significant, and that was Anne. You could call it coincidence, but me, I don’t believe there’s any such thing. See, the reason things change is because everything is connected.

It’s like this: when you throw a stone in a pond, the ripples spread out from the center. If you throw another stone, those ripples interact with the other ripples, and they create new ripples that go off in directions they wouldn’t have if they hadn’t interacted. Nothing is coincidental. But I digress. The night we made the bet was also the night we met Anne. Now there was one hell of a woman. I’m gonna miss her. I really am.

She was standing at the bar just sipping a long cool drink, which, incidentally, describes her perfectly. We pretty much spotted her at the same time. Two things we couldn’t believe: she was all alone, and we hadn’t seen her up until then. She saw us looking at her and smiled. We looked at each other and another bet was made on the spot, this one unspoken but fully understood all the same.

We couldn’t believe our eyes when she began walking toward us. What a night. Newly minted millionaires and now an impossibly beautiful woman was on her way to our table with not a bit of effort on either of our parts. It was like Christmas and your birthday rolled in to one. She asked us if we minded if she sat down and we couldn’t get up fast enough to pull the chair out for her.

Introductions all around and we found ourselves talking to a genuine southern belle, spinning a yarn about growing up in an antebellum mansion in Atlanta. Visions of mint juleps on the porch swing at the height of summer filled my head. I was intoxicated in more ways than one. I do believe I fell in love that night. She had spotted the magnum of champagne as it turned out, and we wasted no time getting another glass brought to the table.

I suppose I’ll never know why Mel gave way to me that night. I suppose it could have been that he could see I had fallen for her, or maybe he wasn’t blind to the fact that as the night progressed she was paying more and more attention to me. At any rate, I had her number before the evening was over and when she left Mel raised his glass to me without a word. I was touched, truly I was. It was unlike him to be gracious when it came to women. We had been competitive in the past. It should have put me on my guard, but we were drunk, we were celebrating, and I had just met an angel.

Fortune continued to smile on Mel and I. Business just got better, we branched out into new products, all well received. We were rolling in it. And to top it all off, I had Anne. I couldn’t have been any happier. What do you do when your dreams come true and everything rolls your way? You start thinking about making sure it will never end, that’s what. I’ve learned the hard way it’s not the thing to do. It opens a door that’s better left shut. It creates a new ripple.

So that’s how it all began. Reg, Mel and Anne. We had it all, and we appreciated it, that’s what I thought. But change was coming. As it always does.

Tomorrow, Part 3

Things Always Change – Part 1

God I love mojitos. It’s my favourite drink. For now, anyway. That’ll change. Things always do. I’ve always known that. That’s why I’m always ahead. It’s also how I came to be sitting at this outdoor bar in Cuba sipping this damn fine mojito and admiring the view down the boardwalk to the beach with it’s shaded oasis and sparkling aquamarine wonderland just beyond. Because things always change and I always keep that in mind.

My name is Reg and I’m…well, an entrepreneur, I suppose. Well, I was anyway. Now I’m a man of leisure. Let me tell you how that came to be.

It started back in 1996. That was the year Mel and I graduated from university. Both of us with computer degrees. A couple of sharp guys, that’s what we were. I still am. Mel, well, not so much. He’s not breathing anymore, and you can’t be sharp when you’re dead. At least that’s the way I figure it. More about that later.

See, we had this idea for a software program that would revolutionize online security. The world wide web had just broke wide not long before and we realized that security was going to be a bigger issue than it ever had been and we decided we were gonna get in first, so that’s what we did. We both had some money and we poured it into starting up a company and getting our product out there. It went over big. I’m sure you’d know the name. So that was us. A couple of sharp guys with a good plan and the drive to make it happen. We made a fortune. More money than we ever dreamed we’d have.

Anyway, enough about the business. What matters; what led me to where I am now, sitting on a beach in Cuba was the bet. It came about one night while we out on the town celebrating reaching our first million each. Money does things to people. Makes them foolish. Well, when you’re not used to having heaps of it, anyway. So there we were, sipping Dom Perignon. A ‘78 as I recall. You don’t even want to know that stuff costs. We had both been lady’s men since high school and we were checking the talent at the club and Mel leans in and gets this serious look on his face and says, hey, man, let’s make a bet.

So there we are, drunk, happy, on top of the world really, and what would you do if your best friend said let’s make a bet? That’s right. So I said what’s the bet. He says first one of us to get married is the loser. The other guy gets the money. How much money? A quarter of a million dollars. Man, even though we were officially millionaires that night, and even though I was drunk I had to do a double take on that. But you see, Mel, he’s always had this way of getting under my skin. Always made me feel a little less if I didn’t go along with his schemes. So what was I to do? I said okay.

The next day we formalized it even. Took it to a notary public and everything. Even then I knew. It was no good. But I told myself what I always do when I’m thinking things through. Things always change.

Part 2 tomorrow.

Charlotte’s Children

Dr. Jensen gazed impassively at the patient sitting across from her. Charlotte did her best to avoid eye contact while fidgeting in her seat and moving her fingers together in random patterns in her lap. It was going to be another difficult session.

“Charlotte, are you going to answer my question?”

Charlotte nodded her head slowly, rhythmically and began to rock back and forth ever so slightly, as she was wont to do when things were getting to be a bit much for her. Dr. Jensen waited.

“I…well…I played cards with Maggie Stevens yesterday. It was good. Yeah, we had a good time doing that.”

She made eye contact on the last sentence. Dr. Jensen made a note on her pad and smiled.

“That’s great, Charlotte. What else have you done since you saw me last?”

“I started reading this book. My neighbour came by and gave it to me. It’s a mystery.”

“Okay. What’s the title, Charlotte?”

“Um…I don’t remember.” She shrugged half-heartedly and gazed out the window. “I guess I haven’t really gotten into it yet.”

Dr. Jensen pursed her lips.

“Charlotte, is there something you’re not telling me?”

Charlotte reached up absently and wrapped a few strands of her limp greying hair around her index finger and tugged on it. She looked down while she did this, her other hand lying limp and lifeless palm up on her lap.

“I take good care of them, Dr. Jensen, you know I do. But I don’t think you understand. I really don’t. It’s not a bad thing.”

She peeked upwards at the end, beseeching the doctor for confirmation. Dr. Jensen put her pad aside and got up and walked to the window and looked out before she spoke.

“Charlotte, we’ve been all through this. You need to spend more time doing other things. You can’t spend every waking minute with them. It’s not good.”

Charlotte was fidgeting in earnest now, pulling harder at her hair. She knew she needed to try to be calm. It wouldn’t go well for her if she didn’t.

“They’re my children, Dr. Jensen. They need me. I don’t spend all my time with them, really I don’t. I…I go away for an hour or more sometimes. It’s true. Really it is.”

Dr. Jensen turned from the window and shook her head.

“Charlotte, that’s not what I’m told. Please don’t lie to me. Do you remember why you’re here? Do you?”

“To get better. I’m here to get better. So I can…so I can be me again…”

“That’s right, Charlotte. But that can only happen when you start to spend more time with other people. We’ve been all through this, Charlotte, and you promised me…”

“But they need me! Don’t you get it? Alice and Amy need me! I have to take care of them. Who will take care of them if I don’t?”

She was on her feet now, one arm wrapped around herself, the other pulling violently at her hair, her face red and raw with emotion, her eyes pleading.

Dr. Jensen moved quickly across the room and put her hands on the woman’s shoulders.

“Charlotte, what did I tell you last time? These outbursts have to stop. I’m afraid I’m going to have to take them away from you for a while. Do you remember I told you I would do that if you didn’t cooperate?

“NO, NO, NO!”

Charlotte was out of control now, thrashing about. Two orderlies rushed in and restrained her and took her away.

Dr. Jensen composed herself and sat down at her desk as the head of the department entered the room and sat across from her.

“Well, that looks like it didn’t go well.”

Dr. Thompson had been monitoring Charlotte’s therapy for months.

“No, not as well as I had hoped. It’s time to try separating her from them. She simply isn’t going to get anywhere otherwise.”

Dr. Thompson nodded.

“I’ll have the orderlies lock the dolls in a storage cabinet. You’d better increase her dosages for a week or so and we’ll monitor her more closely.”

Dr. Jensen nodded grimly and began filling out her report.

The Apostate And The Djinni – Part 7 – The End

Amir tossed and turned all through the night, his dreams tormenting him, and yet he could remember no details upon waking the next morning. Taking a long hot shower he tried to wash away his discontent and make a fresh start, but he would only find peace when he had finally faced up to what was at the heart of the discord, of this he felt certain.

He dressed and had breakfast, then sat down and willed himself to get some work done. Surprised that he found comfort in it, and able to focus, he worked several hours non-stop and was well pleased with himself when he finally got up to stretch. He went out on his balcony for some fresh air and there across the street sitting at attention and clearly looking at him was the black dog. He stared at it for several minutes and its gaze never wavered.

He ran inside and put on this shoes and went down to the door and out to the street – only to find that the dog wasn’t there. He looked up and down but the dog was nowhere to be found. He walked down the street and continued looking, but it was nowhere to be found. He walked back, shaking his head and went inside and closed the door. When he got back to his desk he got the shock of his life. There sat Zahira, gazing at him placidly.

“What…How…”

“Hello Amir. I’ve decided we should talk now, rather than later. I hope you don’t mind.”

“You…so then you are…”

She got up and walked over to him and placed the tips of her fingers on his lips.

“Amir, listen. I haven’t come for the answer to my question. You’ve been looking at things the wrong way around. It matters not who I am, and the questions in your mind are the wrong ones.”

She sat at the table and bid him to do the same. He sat down as if in a trance and waited for her to continue. She sighed and wrapped up his eyes in hers.

“Believe what your heart and your mind agree on, Amir. That is the right path always. Where there is a conflict, do not look outward, but inward. There the answer lies at all times. You will not find it by seeking. You will find it by being still. Do you understand?”

He nodded his head slowly.

“But…if you are…”

She shook her head.

“Do not be distracted. You are right; we did not meet by chance. But that is unimportant. Listen carefully; do not wonder what I can grant you, rather, ask yourself what you may grant.”

All at once a rush of realization hit him and he put his elbows on the table and dropped his face into his hands. He felt as though a bright light had burst forth in a sea of darkness and a serenity he could never have conceived of before came over him. He heard her speak again in the midst of the revelation.

“It is good to know joy, is it not?”

When he looked up she was gone.

The Apostate And The Djinni – Part 6

“And what might that be?”

She looked up and cocked her head to one side, as if considering how to phrase her question.

“What is it you seek, Amir?”

“What do I seek? How do you mean? I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“It was just a general question. Never mind.”

She picked up the rose and waved it in the air between them. Amir tried to lock eyes with her, but she wasn’t having it. More elusiveness. He was on alert now.

“I take things as they come. I try to live in the moment. However, you said you had something to ask me, and I can’t help feeling it was more than general.”

“Alright then. Let me ask you this: If you could attain anything your heart desired, what would it be that you would have?”

Amir sat back in his seat and looked off into the middle distance. This was not what he had expected to happen today. He considered the question carefully without looking at her. Was this a test? He grew irritated that he was back to wondering if she was in fact of the Djinn, and was offering to grant him a wish in a roundabout way. The whole thing struck him as unfair.

“I would have…more time to think.”

She smiled at him and shook her head.

“Amir, you are a very interesting man. If you need time to think then so be it.”

She got up and excused herself and went to the restroom. Amir took it that she was still expecting an answer to her question so he took the time to consider his next move. When she returned she looked at him expectantly. He smiled.

“If I could attain what my heart desires, then I would have certainty.”

“Certainty? What is it you would be certain of, Amir?”

He took a deep breath. He didn’t want to get this wrong. If she was simply a beautiful woman who seemed to find him attractive should he answer differently than if she were, in fact, a djinni? That would depend on what type of djinni she was. He decided discretion would be the better part of valour.

“I would be certain of what course I should take, Zahira.”

“Being certain of one’s course at all times would lead to boredom, don’t you think?”

She raised her eyebrows and grinned. This woman could be maddening, he decided.

“Perhaps you’re right. Would you do me the honour of letting me cook you dinner tonight? Perhaps by then I will have a better answer to your question.”

She picked up the rose again and brushed it against her cheek.

“Perhaps you had best sleep on it, Amir. Will you meet me here again tomorrow?”

He sensed no expectation in her voice. It put him further on the defensive, but he kept control of himself.

“As you wish, Zahira.”

He got up and bowed and walked to the door without looking back. He felt calmer having taken the initiative and leaving before she did. Perhaps it would give her something to think about.

All the way back to his apartment his mind swirled with uncertainty. The flirtation between them was growing, but he was deeply disturbed that he couldn’t shake off the possibility of who she might be, and the implications for his newfound freedom from faith. By the time he got home he decided perhaps she was right. Her question was valid after all, and he would give her his answer when next they met.