The End

The next day changed everything. Missy and Alice had decided to look forward to what would come. They didn't know what it was, but they were prepared. Going back to town was not an option. They had come to terms with that. The next day though, made all of that seem a bit more surreal.
They had rented a hotel for the night. It was a small hotel in an even smaller town. They had finally made it a couple states away and the further they got away, the more they could relax. They knew that soon it wouldn't be enough, though. Alice and Missy sat in their room and joked about how they were now "women on the run". They laughed at the idea that newspapers and news shows could be reporting on the "search" for them. Mockingly, they imitated the newscasters who would report on how dangerous these two murderous women were. They would tell the public how incredibly cruel and heartless the women were and that if anybody had any leads to please contact the police. Somehow it had never occurred to them that people could actually be talking about them. To them, it could be nothing more than the town police after them. But with one click of the hotel tv remote, that reality became false.
"Missy...come here."
"What is it?" she said, walking over and sitting next to Alice.
What they were mocking, couldn't have been more true. A woman with a concerned face and desperate tone of voice, told the story of two women from a small town who plotted and killed one of their husbands. They had "brutally stabbed him multiple times and then fled from the crime scene". These two women were on the lose and were extremely dangerous.
Alice and Missy sat in silence as the woman continued talking.
"And we have just learned that there has been yet another murder- one resembling that of the murder of the husband."
Are you fucking kidding me?
"Missy! Did you hear that?! They think we did that! We have been out here driving for days! Who the hell is that anyways?"
"I don't know, Al. I don't know!"
"What are we gonna do!?"
They sat there in silence. The room suddenly felt so small. A million thoughts were racing through their heads, but none seemed able to form into words. Alice looked over at the tattoo on Missy's shoulder. She ran her fingers across the lines of the bird and for some reason she couldn't help but smile. Missy felt Alice trace the lines and she couldn't help but smile, too. They knew. They both did. There was only one thing they could do. It didn't need to be said or discussed. It was just how it needed to be. They smiled at each other and Missy let out a little laugh. That laugh from the day before. It didn't matter anymore. They knew what they needed to do, and they were perfectly content with doing it. And just like that, it all was over.

It's the most wonderful time of the year... 

Run 3

They knew that Tahiti was going to have to wait a bit longer. They had to make some money first. But for now they would just keep driving. It was all they knew to do. They had a feeling it was going to be fine, but nobody was making any promises to anyone. At about 7:00 that night, they stopped for dinner.

As they ate in a silent concern, Missy wanted to ask Alice how she was doing. She knew Alice was struggling. Her husband had been killed, everyone thought it was her doing, and on top of that she had no answers. Neither one of them knew how to figure anything out. They were both scared to try.

“I wish I knew… I wish I could explain it, but I can’t.”

“I know. I’m fine.”

“You are not. But listen, he was a bad guy, Alice. He was BAD to you. You didn’t do it, so you cannot keep beating yourself up about it. And on top of that, HE WAS BAD TO YOU. I knew from the minute I saw you. And I bet you sat there, looking for a way out morning after morning after morning. Am I right?”

Alice just looked at her. She didn’t want to admit it.

“Okay, fine. But listen, Al. This is your way out. It might not have been what you had in mind, but you are out. Now it’s time to start acting like it. I’m sorry this happened to you. To us. And I’m sorry you are stuck here with a woman you don’t even know. And that we don’t know where the fuck we are going. But please try to put into perspective that this is better than there. This is better than there, Alice. Anywhere but there…”

Alice was holding back tears. But she knew that Missy was right. There was no point in looking back at all of that shit. That shit was done. It was time for something different. Whether or not it was under the right circumstances, it was how it was.

“Can we buy some beer?” Alice asked with a smile.

“You betcha.” Missy responded with a laugh. The laugh from a days ago. 

Run 2

It was a good burger. Missy had taken wanted to stop driving for a bit so they got out of the car, found a burger stand, and, sat on the side of the road munching away. It was such a good burger. She knew it was strange, but that was really all her brain would allow for. The burger. It was all her brain was wiling to comprehend in that moment.

“We could go to Tahiti. I’ve always wanted to go there!”

Alice just stared straight ahead and kept chewing.

“No? Okay… What about… Paris!” She laughed. It didn’t sound as real as her laugh from the day before though. The sun was beginning to come up and they had been driving for ten hours straight. Missy kicked rocks around as Alice kept chewing.

“Come on, Al… Help me out here. I don’t want to make all the decisions on my own. We have to have a damn plan!”

She sat back down next to Alice and sighed.

“Can I have a bite?” she asked smiling.

Alice didn’t break her stare but she handed the burger to Missy.

“Tahiti. I want to go to Tahiti.”

Missy stopped mid-bite and smiled. Alice smiled too. Missy’s phone began to ring, and Alice’s stomach began to sink. It was a text from someone named Kindra Lee. Alice looked up at Missy concerned and Missy laughed.

“Don’t worry. It’s just my ex-girlfriend.” She gave Alice a wink, stood up, and walked back to the car. Alice rolled her eyes, shoved the last of the burger in her mouth, and followed. 

Run

“Missy, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“I don’t see any other option. Do you?”

Alice sat there in the passenger seat, looking out the window. The happy girl that she had seen in Missy was dwindling. That laughing girl who was holding an ice pack on Alice’s head was now crying behind the wheel of a car. She looked over and noticed a tattoo on the back of Missy’s shoulder. It was a black bird. She wanted to reach over and touch it, but she couldn’t figure out why. There was so much going on in her head and the window seemed to be showing a slower image than it should have been showing. The car was driving too fast. It was hot outside. Sticky.

“It’s just… I met you yesterday! And now we are running from the police and I don’t even know where the fuck we are going and we don’t have hardly any money and I’m scared and… I don’t even know your last name!”

Missy just looked ahead. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to comfort her, but she didn’t even know how to.

“Jim is going to be so mad…”

“Don’t worry about Jim, Alice.”

“Don’t worry about Jim? I’m sorry, but you do not know anything about my relationship. You have no idea how mad he will be! You have no idea WHAT he will DO!”

“What will he do, huh? You want to tell me?”

Alice looked at her lap. “No. Forget it.” She felt tears coming to her eyes.

“Oh, Alice, I’m sorry… Forget I asked, okay?” She reached over and touched the back of Alice’s head. “Just know that Jim is not going to be mad. He will never even know. I mean… it’s not really possible.”

Alice suddenly realized that Missy was working up the courage to say something to her.

“Missy. What do you mean?”

She looked out the window and mumbled ‘shit’ to herself. Slowly, she pulled the car over to the side of the road. It was dark and there was nobody around. Alice noted to herself that she could hear crickets. Missy put the car in park and turned her body to face Alice.

“You know the man in the parking lot?”

“Obviously. Missy, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“That man… I think it was Jim.”

Gone

“Alice, what are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Jim, I’m so sorry…”

“What do you mean gone?”

“I don’t know what I did… I- I couldn’t have helped it. I don’t even know how this happened. I’m sorry!”

Jim walked to the window and glanced out. He saw nurses and patients walking around in the courtyard. His sighs were getting heavier and heavier. Alice knew that he was angry. She was sad. She wanted to fix it, but she knew equally that there was nothing she could have done.

The nurse came in and quietly asked if she could get Alice anything. She handed the couple some papers to sign and told them they could leave whenever they were ready.

“Who is going to tell your parents, huh?” Jim asked.

Alice sat there in silence, holding her stomach as if there was a point.

She knew she had hurt him. He knew he had no right to be mad. It was neither one of their faults, but it felt like it was. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe this was the closure they needed.

Alice looked up at Jim as she ruffled out the wrinkles in her hospital gown.

“Let’s go, Alice. We are leaving.”

The Crime

“I fell?”

“You sure did!” she said laughing. I liked her laugh. The sound of someone laughing was so foreign to my ears. It was going to take some getting used to.

“Oh… and I am…?”

“In my apartment! Can’t you tell, silly?” she giggled. Why was she smiling so much? Why the hell was she so happy?

“Well… I should… go?”

“…Well, how about we…go?...get some lunch?!”

I stared at her blankly. I really had no idea what she was talking about.

Twenty minutes later and we were walking to lunch. She said she was taking me to some place that hardly anybody in town knew. It actually made me feel better because I knew Jim wouldn’t see. We walked through the Christmas lights and all that holiday cheer and eventually made our way to a place that was more quiet and contained. To tell you the truth, I have only been to about three or four places around town. She could have taken me anywhere and it would have been new. But I could tell that she thought this place was pretty special. It honestly scared me a bit- we had to walk through a parking lot to get there.  And…well, it was a parking lot of a strip club. The only reason I knew it was a strip club was because Jim took weekly trips there with his friends. Or…whenever he got sick of me. He never kept it a secret where he was going… at least he was honest.

As we were walking through the lot, we began to hear yelling. It wasn’t an angry yelling, but something more desperate.

“Do you hear that?”

Suddenly, a man came stumbling out from behind a building. His face was bloody and he began to fall to the ground.

“Call 911!” missy yelled as she ran over to him. I fumbled through my pockets before I even realized the fact that I didn’t even own a cell phone. Suddenly Missy was standing over the man holding her jacket to his bloody face.

“Missy, I need your phone!” She used her other hand to dig her phone out of her boot. Just as she went to hand me the phone, I noticed something reflecting the light from the light post above us. I slowly stepped over to it as I had an idea of what it could be.

I picked it up to get a closer look. It was in that moment that I realized what had happened…

“What the fuck is that?” Missy desperately yelled to me, even though I was only a couple steps away. The man was coughing and crying, and I had no idea what was even going through my head.

I froze as suddenly lights began to shine from behind us.

“Drop the weapon,” said a voice from behind me. I saw the look on Missy’s face as she began to realize the picture that was being formed.

“Drop the weapon.”

“Wait! This man needs help!” Missy was trying to change the obvious image that was putting both of us  in danger.

“yeah, I bet he does. Now DROP THE WEAPON.”

I slowly turned around to see a police officer pointing a gun in my direction.

“No, it’s not mine! It was HERE!” I tried pointing at the ground and yelling and doing whatever I could, but I could tell he was not having it. One look at Missy and I and there was no convincing him differently.

The next thing I knew, Missy and I were in her apartment. Bags packed. Frantic and desperate.  Headed for her car.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I woke up feeling peaceful today. I can’t remember the last time that happened. I rolled over to see snow falling outside of the window and I could hear a faint sound of Christmas music down the street. I wondered where Jim was. Last night after the party, he was extremely upset still. As he was storming around the house I was cleaning up. I picked up his coat and a piece of paper fell out of it. It had a phone number on it. After last night, I didn’t need to ask whose it was. Silently I wished he would just leave me for the woman. Those thoughts carried over into my head this morning as I laid there watching the snow. I fantasized about waking up to an empty apartment. I would open my eyes and all the sudden the smell of stale cigarettes and booze would be gone. Jim’s dirty jeans and dirty hands would just…be gone.

I crawled out of bed and made my way over to the kitchen. We were out of coffee. Glancing over to the clock, I figured I had time to make my way out to grab some before he got back from wherever he was. I grabbed my coat and made my way out to the door.

It was cold out. Colder than yesterday. As I stepped out of the doors the air reached up and stretched down into my lungs. It was Christmas time- I had almost forgotten. I walked down the street towards the coffee shop. I passed the corner store and heard the town radio station playing Christmas carols. Suddenly, my feet stopped moving. The music reminded me of something. It reminded me of some other time and some other place that was so fucking far from here. I sat down on the bench outside the store. Snow was still lightly falling and I was shivering under my coat in my pajamas. But, here was better than there. I stuck my hands in my pockets and deeply breathed in the cool air.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

I looked across the street at the families walking by. I wondered if I would ever have that. Jim and I had talked about it before, but I was always reluctant. But maybe things would be better if there was a child to look after. I thought about that for a few minutes but something interrupted my day dreaming. I woman with short, blonde hair and black boots… it was Missy.

I had secretly been avoiding walking into the coffee shop because of that little note she had left in my pocket… I didn’t want to start something unnecessary up. What would Jim think if I was out gallivanting around town with some strange woman? I told myself that I was just going out to get coffee because we happened to be out of it at home, but I knew that was a lie. I had come to see her- this strange, beautiful woman. She seemed to know something that I didn’t. Like she was in on something that I was completely missing. Maybe that was why she seemed so happy. Happy people always make average people feel that way.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

I watched her as she walked into the shop, looked around, and then began to leave. I don’t know why but something just came over me.

“MISSY! MISSY OVER HERE!”

I was jumping up and down like a fool in my pajamas at noon on some street corner. What the fuck was I thinking? I mean, Jesus… It’s not like a know anybody around town or anything, but seriously.

“MISSY!” I started to run across the street to catch up to her.

“MISSY! WAIT UP I-…”

Boom.

An hour later I opened my eyes. I didn’t quite know where I was but the room smelt like incence and art work was all over the walls. It was then that a short haired woman with black boots walked into my view.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” she said smiling. I stared at her confused. “You took quite a nasty fall!”

So there I was, laying on this random woman’s couch. An ice pack on my head. In my pajamas. Half-conscious.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…