Uh, Question

“Isn’t this such a beautiful day?” 

“Are you talking to me?”

“No not really… but… how are you doing?”

“I’m… fine?”

“Are you sure? You sounded a little unsure.”

“Yeah I’m fine. Just… I got a lot on my mind.” 

“Might hel…”

“No it won’t and why are you in my business anyway?”

“You actually got in my business first.”

“No I… My apologies.”

“No need. I’m happy for the conversation. I don’t get to talk to people that often. So, what’s going on? It might help to talk to a complete stranger about it.”

“No, I’m good.”

“Well now, hear me out. I’m not a person who has a dog in whatever fight you are mulling over. I promise just to listen, maybe ask a question or two. It couldn’t hurt, could it?”

“You’re right. But… …  Why aren’t you saying anything?” 

“Told you, I’ll just listen.”

“Huh, Okay then. I want to kill someone. They deserve it. They did something horrible. But I can’t prove it.”

“Uh, Question.”

“I thought you weren’t going to talk. 

“I said I would listen and ask the occasional question or two. So… What did they do?”

“They killed someone that I know. Well some people I know.”

“Oh wow… What happened?”

“They were in love with this person and it took them a while to tell them.”

“Wait. Hold it.”

“You said you won’t interrupt or talk or anything. Except questions.”

“Yeah but you calling them they and this person and that person will be a little hard to keep up. Can we at least make names for them? Or you can just tell me their names since I don’t even know you.”

“Well… We’ll just call them Kim and Kanya.”

“Okay. So did you know Kim or Kanya?”

“I knew Kim. He was great. He was always happy, really outgoing, and had a great personality. He wasn’t into sports or anything but he was popular with everyone.”

“So what happened?”

“Kanya. She was watching him for a while. Just like she needed him to know that she was there. There were guys always around her. She was flashy, tacky, aggressive, and possessive. When she finally paid him some attention, he was hooked. After that she systematically chased away almost all of his friends.”

“Except you.”

“Yeah. Well we’ve known each other since diapers so it’s hard to get rid of me.”

“I’m sure she tried. Were they together a lot?”

“Yeah! All the time but she put a spell on him or something. She had his mind all muddled up with nothing but her.”

“Seductress, huh?”

“Witch is more like it. But yeah. When she got tired of him she threw him away like trash. But it didn’t stop there. He would follow her around and wait outside her place day or night, rain or shine.”

“Sounds like he was sprung.”

“But it was more than that. It was unnatural. He wouldn’t stop with just that. He wouldn’t come home, sleep or eat. Unless she told him it was okay. He lost thirty pounds just because she told him he could only eat protein shakes. He was her personal stalker and she loved it until she didn’t. She told him to stop one moment then encouraged him to stay around her. As if she wanted to know he was there but didn’t want to see him. And that happened even after they broke up. Especially after they broke up. It was like she was a drug and he had to get it no matter what.”

“So then what?”

“I tried to get him to stop. I tried to get her to stop. She laughed in my face. Like she didn’t see what was going on. Or care. She made other people think I was the crazy obsessed one. Because I liked Kim. I would do anything for him but she was the one that was bad news, not me.”

“Did you like Kim?”

“Of course I do. He’s my best friend. Well he’s my friend.”

“So you liked Kim like he liked her? Um, Kanya?”

“Y…Yeah. But he never looked at me like that so I just kept it to myself. What was I supposed to do? Kim never even looked at me like that.”

“Hey hey… Hold on. Wait here for a sec.”

“Here. Drink this.”

“Thanks… Strawberry Banana smoothie… is my favorite.”

“Oh good. Personally, I like Mangoes in mine. Tasty right.”

“Yeah.”

“So… What happened next?”

“Um… Well, Kim got really strange. I confronted Kanya about it. She said she told him to grow up or something and he just stopped. He stopped everything. Eating, sleeping, school, hanging, everything. He seemed so lost and distraught. She had to have said something more because he just checked out. I didn’t know what to do. So I went back to Kanya and she laughed. She said she told him that he was pathetic, to leave her alone, that she never wanted to see him again. Then laughed and said he can go die for all she cared.”

“Damn. Man that sucks. What a bitch.”

“Right! And what’s worse is Kim was there when she said it. You could just see that he was completely devastated. And all she did was laugh. For like two months, he wouldn’t even come out of his room. Then everything changed. He seemed to be back to his normal self. He was laughing, joking, everything. I mean he still looked bad but he looked better. We went to see a movie and while we were there he told me that they were back together. I tried to tell him to give her up but he wouldn’t hear it. Kanya started hanging around again acting like nothing happened. And then I found out why.”

“Well don’t leave me in suspense here. Why? What happened?”

“Kim was getting an inheritance from his grandparents. It was almost 30 million dollars. His grandparents decided to split up their money evenly between him and his siblings.”

“So they split 30 million?”

“No, Kim’s part was 30 million.”

“Wow. So she killed him for the money? Makes sense. They get married. She kills her husband. She’s rich. She wouldn’t get it unless they were married, unless there was a prenup.”

“Yes. And that is exactly what she did. Marry him. No, there wasn’t a prenup.”

“Wow she killed him and got 30 million.”

“No. She killed him and his siblings and their kids and their parents.”

“Wait, what? She got everything? She got everything! How?”

“Around Christmas, their parents were looking into family vacation spots. Somehow, Kanya found out and she said that she saw a property that might be good for the family. Since she had a few days of down time she would go check it out for a vacation spot for when the family wanted to get away. The location was remote but when she ‘got there’ she sent plenty of pictures and videos of the place.”

“Sounds like it was a setup. Sorry, go on.”

“So his family was really excited. Kim called me and sent the emails to me.  Trying to prove to me that she was okay. He wanted us to get along. His best friend and his wife. His sister, Rebecca, felt there was something off about her too. She called me a few times before and after the wedding so we could talk about all the shady stuff Kanya was doing. Including kissing some guy at the wedding in the bathroom.”

“She had proof?”

“Oh a ton of proof but Kim wouldn’t listen and neither would their parents nor her husband. Especially when Kanya had a plausible explanation for every situation.”

“So what happened?”

“They went on a family trip to the vacation spot. As a long time friend of the family they, of course, invited me. But Rebecca begged me not to. She said she had a bad feeling about the trip and wanted to have me there just in case the authorities were needed. She said she would send me updates during the trip. But I never got them. They never made it.”

“What do you mean ‘They never made it’?”

“They were flying over in their parents' jet. It’s enough to hold the whole family plus some friends. Their parents both got their pilot’s license. So they were flying the plane. However mid-flight something went wrong. Rebecca called me to say that they were going down. She said that their instruments weren’t working properly and their engines were dead in the air. They tried to get out of the plane but the door wouldn’t open. The phone cut off. I tried calling back but I couldn’t get through. The last text she sent me was a video message saying that the plane had been sabotaged and they were going down.”

“Wow. How?”

“I don’t know how. They never recovered any of the plane’s parts or their bodies.”

“They had to have found that black box thingy. Right?”

“It was inconclusive is what the officials said.”

“Inconclusive? What does that even mean?”

“Exactly! I don’t even know! All I know is that a family that meant the world to me is now gone.”

“Here. Tissue.”

“That’s just plain awful.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like a job or something?”

“Nah. I work for myself so I have my own hours.” 

“Must be nice. Thanks for the tissue. This is my first day off since the accident.”

“Needed something to focus on until the funeral?”

“Yeah. And get this! This bitch was so cheap! She paid for the same cheap ass caskets for all of them and instead of an obituary she had just a photo of each one by their caskets with a small blip of a statement about them. Saying it was all too horrible to put on an obituary. Please. She just didn’t want to shell out the additional money.”

“That’s one way to do it, I guess.”

“Yeah cheap and tacky. So I made one myself for the staff at the funeral to hand out.”

“Then she left right after the funeral. She locked the family house up so no one could even use it. She didn’t even stay around for the repass back at the church. I was stuck there by myself, people telling me how sorry they were for my loss and questions about where she was and how she was doing.”

“So where is she?”

“See that building over there?”

“Yeah”

“She’s in there, probably with the family lawyer. Surprisingly enough, neither of them were at the funeral for very long.” 

“That’s an apartment building.”

“Yup.”

“O… Oh…”

“So I’m here waiting trying to figure out if I can even take her out. She stole the only family I had and the only man I ever loved. That’s worthy of murder right?”

“You asking me?” 

“Yeah.”

“Well… Not everyone is cut out to murder someone. It’s not a job that is just easy to handle before or after the deed is done. I’m mean think about.’’

“I have thought…”

“No you haven’t. What do you kill her with? How do you kill her? Where do you kill her? Do you need an alibi? I mean you should have an alibi especially since you would be the main subject of interest.”

“Me? Why?” 

“Because you care. And what if she’s with someone like now? Do you kill them too? Do you do it while she’s alone? Or in a crowded room? Can you even work up the nerve to do it? There are probably a million questions you haven’t even thought of. And how are you going to get away with it? Are you going to leave the body for someone to find or are you going to dispose of the body? See a million questions.”

“Are you a crazy person?” 

“Do I look like one?”

“No.”

“What does a crazy person look like?”

“I’m not sure actually.”

“Me neither. They probably look like us though.”

“That is the first laugh I had in a while.”

“Really? Good. Everyone needs a good laugh after a sad moment like that.”

“Yeah. Thanks”

“So… Want me to kill them?”