Wreckless (3 page)

None of it made sense. She was at Teresa’s
house waiting for her to come out so she could get her to sign a
petition and start their annual fundraiser for breast cancer
awareness. That is the last thing she remembered. Before that, she
was at the university. Saundra felt overwhelmed. Who could be doing
this, and why? It didn’t really matter because, if they killed
Teresa, they more than likely would kill her. The last time she had
spoken to Jesus was at lunch. She made sure to pray over her food
every time she ate. Unfortunately, that was the only time she
sought prayer lately. Not because she didn’t want to, but because
she didn’t know what else to say. Right now, Saundra could think of
a million things to say; like, “Lord, please help me!”

Would God hear her prayers? She didn’t know
for sure. It wouldn’t hurt to try, so she did.

“
Lord, I know we haven’t
had a real conversation in a long time, and I’m sorry. Please
forgive me. If you help me out of this situation alive, I promise
to make it my business to do better. Please, please, please,
please! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Tears stained her face. Saundra attempted to
moisten the tape around her mouth a little bit more by licking it
once again. The taste of sticky glue sat on her tongue, but the
tape loosened. Doses of cold air hit her lips, giving Saundra some
hope to get her mouth freed. After a few more minutes, the tape
hung like it would fall and hit the bottom of her chin. It was
still stuck to the bottom part of her lip. The tape no longer
covering her face, she took in her first breaths of cool air.

Resting for only a second, she laid her head
to the side. As Saundra worked on the tape, she remembered feeling
something hanging from the trunk. Looking up, there was a latch
sticking out at her. Suddenly, a sense of renewed strength surged
through her.

Her legs stretched out, Saundra rolled to
her back and lifted her torso to align herself with the latch. In
gym class, she was good at running, jumping, and even push-ups,
which most girls had a hard time with. The sit-ups -- not so much,
and crunches were the absolute worst. They burned the midsection
and she struggled to complete them every time. Never in her life
had she realized she would need them in a real-life scenario. Her
nose touched the tip of the latch; it was like dangling candy in
front of a baby.

“
Come on . . . come on,”
she repeated.

Using everything in her power, she thrust
forward, her head hanging back. Finally, she was there. Her mouth
opened, and in one snap, she grabbed the latch with her teeth. It
scraped across the top of her gums, causing blood to run in her
mouth. She pulled down hard and fell backward, popping the trunk
open. Gusts of wind swirled around her.

“
Hellllllp, Hellllllp!”
she yelled.

It was dark outside. Saundra couldn’t tell
where she was; the area was unfamiliar to her. Suddenly, the car
swerved violently and came to a stop. Car doors slammed. Her
capturer walked to the trunk and Saundra’s eyes widened with
fear.

“
Jasmine?” she
said.

Jasmine opened a switchblade and held it up
to Saundra’s throat.

“
Don’t say my name again
or I’ll gut you like a fish!”

Jasmine was out of her mind; her eyes were
wild and crazed. An eerie look of hatred displayed on her face.
Saundra wanted to talk her out of what she was doing, but wondered
if she was unstoppable. Jasmine reached for the tape at Saundra’s
foot.

Realizing she was about to tape her mouth
shut again, Saundra fell back and kicked Jasmine in the face
forcefully. She gave it all she could to her tied-up legs. Jasmine
screamed, dropping the blade and falling backwards and holding her
now bloody nose. Saundra opened her mouth, biting down on the
handle of the blade with her teeth. She tossed it behind her and it
fell close to her tied-up hands. With her fingers, she searched
desperately for it, finally feeling it in her grasp.

Working quickly, she cut through the tape
that held her hands together. The top of the tape ripped, but the
bottom was still together. Saundra was unable to contort her hand
in a way that would cut the rest of the tape. She watched Jasmine
try to get back to her feet while trying to free herself. Letting
the blade drop, Saundra stretched in an attempt to rip the
remaining tape with her strength. It worked as her hands became
free. She reached for the tape dangling at her mouth and ripped it
off. Grabbing the blade, she went to work on the tape around her
legs. She was almost done when Jasmine hit her across her face. The
impact was so fierce, Saundra saw stars.

They were now on the side of the highway.
Jasmine closed the trunk without tying Saundra back up. She had to
get off the road. How Saundra got the trunk open in the first place
was beyond her, but she couldn’t let it happen again. She needed
rope or handcuffs. There was no escaping out of those.

In a daze, Jasmine drove until she got to a
dark desolate exit. She needed to go in a store, but not with her
nose bleeding. The blood hadn’t stopped yet. She cursed. The
medicine she’d put in Saundra’s water lasted most of the day. It
must have been like a Seroquel the way it put her to sleep so
fast.

Jasmine pulled into a gas station, seemingly
in need of customers. The pumps were old-fashioned and there was
obviously no cleanup crew because the ground and sidewalk were
dusty. Trash lay right next to the garbage can, almost as if
someone tossed it toward the trash but missed and just left it. On
a good day, Jasmine would’ve never stopped here. But this was not
one of her good days.

She put Teresa’s car in park and got out to
get the necessary items. Now that Saundra had seen her face, she
would have to take her out. The plan she and Maurice came up with
was to drop her in the middle of nowhere and let her find her way
back, especially since she probably wouldn’t remember what
happened. Those plans were busted now, since Saundra saw her.
Jasmine would toss her right over into the same grave as
Teresa.

“
Now, let her find her way
out of that,” Jasmine said out loud.

“
Excuse me . . . can I
help you?” the cashier asked.

“
Do you have a bathroom?”
Jasmine asked.

The lady pulled out a hubcap with a key
chain holding two rusty keys on it. “It’s a dollar,” the woman
said.

“
You’re charging
me?”

“
I said it’s a dollar,
didn’t I?”

Jasmine reached in her pocket and searched
for a dollar. She slapped the money on the counter and snatched the
hubcap.

“
Around back,” the woman
said.

Who uses a hubcap anyway?
She thought
they only did this in the movies. Now outside, she walked around
the back and unlocked the bathroom door. The stale smell almost
made her run out, but she pushed forward. The mirror was rusty
around the edges and she almost couldn’t get a good look at
herself. The toilet looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned since the
place opened. She knew the natural color of the seat was not
supposed to be brown.

“
Gross,” she
said.

How would she clean herself up? She didn’t
want to touch anything in there. For a moment, Jasmine thought
about going down the road to the BP gas station, but that was too
risky. If there was anything she wanted in life, it was her
freedom. Those thoughts made her continue. Jasmine pulled the hard,
edgy tissue from the roll on the wall. She couldn’t wait to get
back to her normal life -- and back to Maurice.

After cleaning up, Jasmine walked back to
the front. At the door, she glanced at Teresa’s car and saw the
trunk open. Alarm went through her; she dropped the hubcap and ran
to the car.

Saundra was gone. Teresa’s still corpse was
the only thing that remained. Jasmine cursed and spun to her left,
then to her right, looking for the direction Saundra had run in.
There was no sight of her. Jasmine let out a stream of profanity,
cursing Saundra to hell. The sign to her left read “BP 12 miles”.
To her right was the freeway. She closed the trunk and ran to the
driver’s side, jumped in, and pulled out of the gas station like a
lightning bolt headed toward the BP. If Saundra had any sense, she
would go that way. Jasmine picked up her phone and called
Maurice.

“
Hello,” he answered,
already knowing it was Jasmine.

She could hear what sounded like music in
the background. “What are you doing?”

“
I’m at a frat party; are
you on your way back?”

“
No . . . we’ve got a
problem.”

For some reason, Maurice knew Jasmine would
not be able to handle this on her own. He needed people to see him
so he would have an alibi, but his gut told him Jasmine would screw
this up. This was the second time she called him with a problem and
Maurice still felt like it was her problem.

“
What happened?” he
asked.

“
Saundra
escaped.”

Maurice walked out the front door to the
sidewalk.

“
What do you mean she
escaped? How is that possible?”

Jasmine relayed to Maurice the events that
took place from the moment the trunk popped open on the freeway.
Maurice’s head fell back; he looked at the stars and thought, for a
moment, of what place in Hell was prepared for them because of the
evil they were into.

“
So, you don’t see any
signs of her now?”

“
No, but I believe she’s
going to the BP. It’s the only place with life at this
exit.”

“
Does Teresa have a trunk
release? It’s a little latch in the trunk that makes it pop open
from the inside.”

“
I don’t know. Why would
the manufacturer put that there?”

“
You really have to ask?
Where are you?”

“
In Jonesboro, off exit
314.”

“
I’m on my way. In the
meantime, find her!”

Maurice hung up. He thought about letting
her handle this on her own. After all, it would be her word against
his. On the other hand, if any traces of him were left inside
Teresa, he would definitely be a suspect.

Instead of telling anyone he was leaving, he
would let them think he was still there. His frat brothers were too
busy getting drunk, anyway. They would think he was there the
entire night.

Maurice hit the alarm on his 2013 GMC Sierra
1500 Hybrid. The doors unlocked and he got in. The truck thundered
to life. He made a U-turn and got on the interstate headed towards
Jonesboro. This was a disaster and Maurice was still unsure about
his actions. Could he really go through with this? He would know
when he got there . . . if he didn’t turn around first.

Part 3

Saundra’s feet stung with each step on the
hard rocky ground she took. She was focused. The last sign she saw
said the BP was eight miles away. She increased her speed and the
tall grass whipped her legs, sending more pain through her. At the
moment, it was bearable. As long as she could make it to safety, it
would be worth the pain. Thoughts of Teresa invaded Saundra’s mind.
Never again would they hold a conversation. That made Saundra sad,
tears fell from her eyes. It blurred her vision and added more of a
challenge to her escape. Saundra wasn’t trying to make this harder
on herself, but her emotions got the better of her.

Why was Jasmine doing all of this,
she wondered. In Saundra’s eyes, Jasmine was always classy, quiet,
and reserved. She wouldn’t harm a fly. In school, she was always on
time to class, her grades were high, and she never missed a school
event. Saundra knew this because she, too, was always at school.
Teresa did mention before that Jasmine was a little off her
rockers, but Saundra seemed to wave her off and laugh about it.
Jasmine didn’t seem crazy to her -- until now. She was a pretty
girl; long, straight brown hair, pampered rose-colored lips, and
eye shadow that she wore daily. She never had a dull moment from
what Saundra could think of. Jasmine even had a sexy shape.
What
was her problem,
she wondered. Maybe she was gay and Teresa
turned her down. If Teresa turned anybody down, it was never in a
sensitive way. One thing she hated to admit about her late friend
is that she was very harsh when it came to dealing with other
people.

Teresa was not saved. Saundra talked to her
many times about accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior, and
many times, Teresa shot her down.

“
Don’t worry about that,”
she would always say. “Me and God are on the good foot.” Or she’d
say, “I don’t want to do that and still sin because I know I will.
I have to get myself together first.”

Saundra always hated it more than anything
because she knew it was a lie the devil was whispering in her ear.
However, the bible says all will not be saved. It was super sad.
Without receiving Jesus’ salvation, Teresa was doomed to live
without God for all of eternity. Just pondering on it made Saundra
cry harder. She lost her focus and fell to the ground. Her knees
scraped against the rocks and blood seeped through them into the
gravel. A stream of tears flooded her face as she cried in
agony.