A Constant Reminder (2 page)

Adam decided to lie and plead with his brother. “I’m not high.” He wasn’t high. He was tweaking. “I’m hungry. I don’t have any food. I just need a couple of dollars to tide me over until this deal goes through.”

“A drug deal?”

“No, not a drug deal. Dude, you’re paranoid. You always think the worst of me.”

“Go talk to mother.” Daniel said it out loud but soon realized that may not be a good idea.

“Why would I bother? I’m not going into another rehab. I don’t have a drug problem. I have a money problem.”

“You have a ton of problems.”

“I’m just living my life how I see fit.” Adam scratched his neck then clawed at his skin on his arm.

“Brother for the last time. I’m not giving you any money.” Daniel rose from his chair. At six feet three, he was two inches taller than Adam.

Daniel didn’t want to fight his brother. He didn’t want a heated confrontation but he would no longer be one of Adam’s enablers. He and his mother had formed an ironclad pack. They would no longer help Adam by feeding his drug addiction. They would no longer be deemed accessories to Adam’s looming demise.

Somehow Adam knew that his brother was serious this time. There was something in his tone, something in his eyes and something in his body language. His brother wasn’t giving him any money.

Daniel had enough. He had reached his limit. This didn’t stop the anger, rage and violence that had long bubbled to the surface of Adam’s spirit. He wanted to lash out.

Adam balled his fist and held them at his sides. He kicked over the hamper full of dirty laundry that sat beside the door. He wanted to punch his brother in the face because he knew he had money. He just refused to give it to him. It felt like he was really alone this time. A feeling he knew better than any other, a feeling that had taken up permanent residency in his soul, a feeling that wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Adam decided that he would just leave Daniel alone. This was a fight he probably would lose. He knew half these college kids didn’t lock their dorm rooms or their cars. So he decided he would check around the campus to see what spoils he could pinch and be on his merry way.

***

Roxanne was safe and sound in her dorm. She blocked the cute guy in the hall from her mind. She was trying to watch a missed episode of The Vampire Diaries on her small flatscreen TV. This was not ideal especially over the sound of the loud music coming from down the hall. This dorm was only for seniors and the parties were not regular but they were loud.

Her roommate Erika walked in and took a seat next to Roxanne on the bed. Erika was a plain athletic looking girl with golden skin. Her hair was light ash blonde. She wore a curly shoulder length bob hair cut. Erika was oftentimes mistaken for being biracial but both her parents were African American. One of her grandparents was white.

“How was the party?” Erika asked. She decided not to go. There were too many of her ex-boyfriends and hookups in attendance.

“The party was pretty lame. They didn’t even have any food but of course there was a lot of liquor. I’m so hungry. I could eat a pig, a cow and three roosters.”

“I could eat something too.” Erika added.

“You didn’t eat on your date.”

“Girl you know I can’t eat in front of no cute guy. This was just our second date. Are you going to go out and get something?”

“Yeah I’ll pick us up something. The only place open this late is Domino’s Pizza, Taco Bell and White Castle.”

“Pizza Pizza let’s order a pizza.”

Roxanne finally took her eyes off the television screen. She dug into her blue jean skirt front pocket for money. Erika slapped Roxanne’s hand.

“I got you.” Erika pulled money from her pocket. She handed over a twenty-dollar bill. “Just go pick up the pizza.”

“Cool, I’m going to the video store and pick up a movie too.” Roxanne took the money from Erika.

“I will call it in.” Erika leapt from the bed. “Shit where’s my cell?”

“On the desk.” Roxanne pointed. Erika’s cell was sitting next to hers.

Roxanne was happy Erika was going to pay for the pizza. Roxanne barely had any money left on her debit card. Being broke was no joke. She was so happy this was her last year of college. She just hoped her car would last long enough for her to graduate and get a good job.

Roxanne’s mother sometimes worked double shifts to help pay Roxanne’s tuition. Grants, loans and Roxanne’s part-time job at the campus library didn’t cover it all.

***

Tony stood alone outside in the warm windy air waiting for Adam. This was taking much longer than he expected. It’s not like he had anywhere to be. He just didn’t fit in on this college campus, with this crowd and in this part of town.

A long piece of Tony’s dark greasy hair fell down into his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a haircut. When was his last shower? He brushed the hair away with his fingers. He quickly inhaled from his cigarette and blew smoke from his mouth.

He paced somewhat nervously in the small area outside the front of his old beat up blue minivan. He needed to get high. He imagined he could taste the effects of smack as soon as it hit his veins. It tasted better than this damn stale cigarette. He knew that for sure.

Tony decided to just walk around the campus grounds and get his mind off his constant nagging craving for heroin. He was getting a stabbing pain in his gut. He was hungry for either food or smack. He would prefer smack. Maybe his luck would turn. He could check to see if any car doors were unlocked so he could grab the loose change out of the ashtrays and cup holders.

Maybe some of these stupid college kids had some laptops or iPods inside their cars. It was worth a shot. He had randomly found some good electronics in unlocked cars in the past.

CHAPTER 2

Roxanne’s stomach grumbled and growled. She was hungrier than she thought. She had to leave to get the pizza before they closed up shop. She had a quick cup of coffee before she left the dorm. She hadn’t had enough alcohol at the party to impair her driving. Or at least that’s what she thought.

She trotted down the stairwell and to the deserted campus parking lot. She only had her car keys and a small brown and beige purse. It was a gift from her mother and her favorite handbag.

A few gusts of wind blew her wavy hair all over her face. She brushed it back with her fingers. She walked past and old blue minivan that looked out of place. It was just her luck her old Chevy Malibu was parked all the way at the back of the lot. It was in the last row of cars before the dense patch of trees.

It seemed like she was going on a nature hike. That’s how far away from the building she was parked, more than twenty rows into the lot. She didn’t dare count them but one day she said she would.

She saw her car faced outward. She always backed into the parking space when she was in the last row. That was so she could just pull out easy without putting the car in reverse. She opened the car door with her key. The automatic keychain lock had stopped working ages ago.

All of a sudden Roxanne was pushed from behind with a heavy unstoppable force. She fell into the car’s driver’s seat. She was immediately gagged with a hand bearing a black leather glove before she could release a proper scream.

The gloved hand pulled Roxanne from the open car door. She struggled as the person opened her driver’s back door. She was forcefully shoved into the backseat face first. Her face slammed into the upholstery of her backseat.

In her hurried attempt to scream she only let out a muffled hum. She fearlessly fought with her attacker but he easily controlled her small five foot two frame. In the darkness Roxanne could only see the tan upholstery of her backseat. She could taste the attacker’s leather glove covering her mouth. She tried to scream but his fingers dug deep into her jaws.

Roxanne tried to fight but he was too strong and too heavy. There were only the sounds of her muffled screams. There were only the sounds of the tight struggle. There were the groans of the attacker panting and suddenly the sound of her shirt being ripped from her body. The attacker removed his hand from her mouth and he smashed her head down further into the backseat.

Roxanne fought as hard as she could. She tried to twist and turn. She attempted to fling him off of her body but she was no match for him. His strength and speed was nothing she had ever come up against.

Roxanne’s body gave out and she stopped fighting. She lay very still, dead to the slight of eye. She hoped he would just do it and leave her alive. She prayed silently that he wouldn’t find any reason to take her life. Her mother would die without her. This thought resonated in her heart. She saw her body lying in an ivory casket. Her best friend Erika was looking in her casket crying. Her mother was looking inside her casket crying. Roxanne envisioned looking inside her casket at her own dead body.

She closed her eyes as soon as the tears started to run from the sealed corners. She had blocked him out. With a nudge she felt him again. She felt his hands roam her body. He was roughly skimming her legs and digging into her skin. His fingers where like talons. She felt she was being defiled by the devil.

She drifted away to another place. This was a place where this wasn’t happening and that’s when every thing ceased to exist, that’s when the world grew quiet, calm and numb. That’s when she was no longer inside her own body. That was when she died inside a body that was still alive.

***

Erika was lying on her stomach watching The Vampire Diaries. She told Roxanne she wasn’t going to watch the end without her but she lied. She had to see what was going to happen next. She predicted someone would come back from the dead because that was what always happened on that show. She couldn’t wait until Roxanne returned with the pizza.

Erika’s cell phone rang on the bed next to her. She looked at the caller ID and frowned before she answered.

“Hello…yeah, I did…yes…Someone left awhile ago…okay, she’s probably on her way now…Well what time do you close?...Fifteen minutes…She had to stop somewhere first but I know she’s on her way…Okay thanks, thank you, bye.” Erika ended the call and sat up in the bed. She quickly slipped her feet into her tan moccasins.

She knew Roxanne had left a while ago. Domino’s Pizza was only five minutes away. The video store was only three blocks away. The video store was never crowded. Most people did Netflix, Redbox or digital downloads. They were some of the only people they knew that still ventured into a physical video store.

Where the hell was Roxanne? She thought to call her on her cell phone and then realized Roxanne had left her cell phone on the desk. Damn, she always was forgetting to take her cell phone with her.

Erika grabbed the remote control and put the television on mute. Erika grabbed her cell phone off her bed where she tossed it. She dialed a number. She held the cell to her ear. She spoke into the phone while pacing backwards and forwards.

“Hey Quincy. It’s Erika. Is Roxanne with you?...No, I’m just looking for her…She left her cell here…Yeah everything is cool…Okay later.” Erika ended the cell call.

A sinking feeling came over her and she wasn’t sure why. She just felt something was amiss. Roxanne was never late in the four years she had known her. She teased her about her punctuality many times. Roxanne was never on colored peoples time.

Erika felt the need to check up on Roxanne. It just wasn’t like her to make a detour or discard punctuality. So Erika decided to retrace Roxanne’s steps. The steps she believed Roxanne would have taken.

Erika pushed her cell into her jogging pants pocket and grabbed her keys. She left the TV on and bolted out of the dorm room closing and locking the door behind her.

Erika walked down the hall toward the elevator. The music from the party was loud but had died down a little bit from earlier in the night. She hoped she didn’t run into any of the guys she slept with.

Erika reached the elevator. She looked up and noticed the number six was lit up. Frustrated, Erika decided to take the stairs. The door was open to the stairwell. She rushed down one flight of stairs and literally ran into a girl that was coming up. She couldn’t remember the girl’s name at that moment.

“Sorry I didn’t see you.” Erika explained and apologized all at once. “Have you seen Roxanne?”

“I saw her at the party but that was hours ago.” The girl shrugged. She reeked of booze and marijuana.

Erika left the girl in the stairwell and continued her descent down until she reached the ground floor.

Erika took the same route through the parking lot that Roxanne took. She searched for Roxanne’s car but she somehow knew it was parked all the way in the back. She reached the back row of parked cars and walked over to Roxanne’s car when she spotted it.

“Where the hell is she if her car is here?” Erika mumbled to herself as she approached.

She walked past the hood of the car. She peered through the front driver’s window. Erika noticed that the driver’s door was more than slightly ajar. She looked around and moved cautiously to the door. She opened it even wider. The inside light didn’t come on.

The driver’s seat was pulled forward. Her eyes drifted to the backseat. She focused on the small space on the floor behind the passenger seat. That’s when her eyes realized what she was seeing.