The Percolator's Predator

The Percolator’s Predator

It’s five am in the morning and I have to get up to get dressed for work at The Percolator, our local cafe. Today is a very important day. It is Mr. Barkalo’s birthday today, he is a regular customer at the cafe. He comes in every morning at the beginning of my shift orders a coffee, a cinnamon roll, and sits in the corner of the cafe and stares out the window, well at least that's what I think he stares at all morning. As I am getting dressed I realized that I was so tired last night after my night shift that I didn’t put my apron in the washer, but it's okay because I will just wear it I’m sure it isn’t that bad… right. Yep I was right it was dirty but not horrid, so I am wearing it to work . As I enter the cafe I realize that no one else is here yet, odd usually when I come in there are people everywhere sitting at their tables drinking coffee and having conversations, but today there was no one except me and the cook. “Hey Diane, where is everyone? Usually it is bustling in here, what happened?” I asked her, urging her to answer. “I’m honestly not sure, I have been here since we opened at five thirty and no one has walked through those doors except you.” She says. Huh, that's odd. Oh well I’m sure it's nothing.        

I’ve been standing here for over twenty minutes and no one has even pulled in yet. Until as usual Mr. Barkalo’s black 2019 ford mustang pulls into the parking lot. I assumed that because it is his birthday he wouldn’t be in his normal outfit a suit and tie, but clearly I was wrong. “Hi Mr. Barkalo let me guess a coffee and cinnamon roll?” I asked sarcastically. “Well of course, you know me so well, but I do insist please call me Levi. No need to be professional with me Maya.” He says sweetly. As he walks to his table I give the order to Diane and wait for the order to be done. “Order up!! She yells from the kitchen to get my attention. I grab the tray and head towards his table that he sits at everyday to find him staring right at me. Weird right. “Here is your order Mr. Barkalo have a nice day” I say quickly before attempting to walk away. “Hey Maya, can I ask you a question?” He asks curiously, waiting for my reaction. “Of course Mr. Barkalo.” I say warmly. “First of all please do call me Levi. And second, would you like to go out with me, like on a date?” He asks confidently. “Mr. Barkalo I feel that we should keep a professional relationship only.” I say shyly. He’s handsome and I’m sure he’s a great guy but he is just not my type. “It’s Levi and I like to ask why you feel this way?” He asks trying to cover up his anger. “Mr. Barkalo” I got cut off by him standing up and saying “It’s Levi.” and then stepping towards me. I took a step back while saying. “Sorry Mr. Barkalo but I am not here for you to criticize me and if you don’t mind I’m going back to my job. So goodbye see you later.” I say cautiously. He sits down for a moment drinking the rest of his coffee before leaving a tip and paying at the register. While looking me right in the eyes and saying “You made the wrong choice Maya.” 

As I head to the table to clean it up and get my tip I realize that he must have made a mistake because there was a hundred dollar bill sitting in the tip cup. I picked up the money to find that there was a note attached to the back of it, saying: it wasn’t a mistake I put it there on purpose, your welcome. Sincerely Levi. I don’t understand I thought he hated me after I rejected him but I guess not. The cafe closed early since no one else was coming in. After I got my stuff from the staff room I began walking home. It is about a two and a half mile walk, it's not bad at all, until it started pouring down rain. “Well, I guess I am going to be switching clothes right away when I get home. After about two blocks in this weather Mr. Barkalo pulled up next to me in his mustang and said. “Get in the car Maya, I insist. I will drive you home.” I contemplated with myself whether I should or shouldn’t get in the car for about five minutes until I came up with the conclusion that he has never hurt me before and seems like a good guy so I got into his car. As he begins driving again I give him directions to my house. “Okay make sure you turn right here and then my house is the third one on the left.” I said warily. But instead of following my instructions he just keeps going forward. “Mr. Barkalo you are going the wrong way this is not the way to my house!” I yelled at him. “Oh I know.” He said sadistically. This is not right, how could he do this? He is supposed to be a good person. 

As he is driving I wait until he is not paying attention and slowly start inching my 

hand closer and closer to the door handle since the doors are unlocked. As I get my hand on the handle the doors lock scaring me. “Very brave of you Maya, but not very smart huh.” He said as he was trying to hold in a laugh. I don’t understand how this happened I am not this dumb, I swar I knew better than getting into someones car and trusting them to take me home no matter who they are. I promise that I will never do this again. Well that is if I have another chance. No I can not start thinking that way I need to be faithful I will make it out of here. I will escape. I am torn from my thoughts by Mr. Barkalo speaking to me. “It's going to be a while until we get there you should sleep the rest of the way.” he suggests. “No thank you Mr. Barkalo I would rather stay awake so I know which way to go when I escape.” I say confidently. “Oh trust me Maya you won’t be getting away, I thought you were smarter. Getting in someone's car and telling them your plan of escaping. Not very smart.” He says truthfully. I have stayed awake so far trying to memorize any landmarks we pass until Mr. Barkalo pulls over on the side of the road. He grabs my chin turning my tired face towards him while asking me if I need an Ibuprofen because I looked like I had a headache and needed one. I shook my head yes and he gave me one and a drink. After I took it he looked at me and said “Wow you really are making all the stupid decisions today, you took medicine from someone who kidnapped you with no questions.” I just assumed that it was okay because it was in a ibuprofen bottle, guess I was wrong. Turns out it was a sleeping pill, I guess he didn’t want me to see where we were going so I wouldn’t escape as easily right. As my eyes began to betray me and drooping I was slowly going in and out of consciousness and the last thing I said before I fell into darkness was… I hate you. I slowly came back to life when the sun began shining in my eyes. I am in a large room with three doors, a twin size bed, and a bay window. I checked all the doors; one was to a closet, one to a bathroom and I’m assuming that the last one was the way out since it was locked. I checked the window and realized that it was a normal window that you could unlock but looking down I was on the second floor what if I jumped and broke my leg or something. I’ll take the risk. Anything to get out of here. I opened the window and contemplated how to land when I heard keys outside my door jingling, then I made the most important decision of my life. I jumped. 

I saw my life flash in front of my eyes I expected to feel the impact but I never did because right before I hit the ground, I woke up in my own bed at my house with a dirty apron on the floor. I got up and ready for the day and headed out for work trying to forget that awful dream. As I walked into the cafe there were people everywhere at their tables saying hi to me like they do every day. Twenty minutes later Mr. Barkalo walked in and ordered his usual, I told him happy birthday and went back to work. When he left I went to clean up his table to see a hundred dollar bill in the tip cup. Deja vu much. I picked it up and put it in my tip pocket and headed to the front desk. I got off at normal time and started walking home. After a few blocks it began to pour and I still had at least two miles left to walk. As I began walking again Mr. Barkalo’s mustang pulled up beside me and he rolled down his window and said. “If you need a ride I would gladly give you one home. Get in the car, I insist.” At that statement I told him straight forward “No its fine its not that far I would rather walk.” He seemed irritated. “Fine suit yourself” He said sounding defeated while driving off. That was a close one. Wait was that a dream or a warning, whatever it was it helped me a lot. I will definitely be more careful around him and try to keep my distance. I am worried since I have to be around him all the time at the cafe when he comes in. I am the only waitress in the mornings. I decided to sleep on it and see what happens tomorrow when I go to work. Maybe I should switch jobs. As I walk in Mr. Barkalo  follows behind me and orders his usual without another word, it seems weird since he always strikes up a conversation when he orders. As he finishes I walk up to his table to take his dishes and tell him to have a good day. As I walk away he grabs my wrist and turns me around towards him. “I’m sorry about the other day I was having a bad day I didn’t mean to react to your rejection so harshly.” He says, “No it's okay.” I say quickly. After that day he has never tried anything like that again. Maybe it’s because he knows that he would never succeed. I am just content that I am safe from my destiny, you really can change your destiny since I just did it.