Fifty-Two

Prologue

Sixty-eight year old Agatha Triffley had lived peacefully in the town of Winchester, Tennessee for nearly five decades. Her husband, seventy-four year old John Triffley, owned the local deli. Their two daughters, Nikki and Abby, spent their whole lives in Winchester. They each graduated at the top of their respective class from Franklin County High School, where Agatha still worked as a substitute teacher. The whole town knew, and loved, sweet-old Agatha Triffley. The Triffley’s attended Mass every Sunday, always sitting front and center. Despite their rising age, the couple still managed to travel annually, often bragging about having seen all 50 states and were working their way through them again. If you asked any person in the town of Winchester, they would tell you that the Triffley family was the perfect, all-American family.

December, 1919

Sixteen year old Anna Shultz shuffled through snow as the sun set in Madison, Indiana. An argument with her mother had gone horribly wrong, leaving young Anna with no choice but to set off alone. With each passing set of headlights, Anna threw her thumb up, waving both arms frantically, hoping someone-anyone-would stop for her. Hours passed before someone finally stopped. The passenger door of a Ford truck slung open, with the darkness surrounding Anna couldn’t see the face of her savior, but she heard a deep voice urging her to hurry in. The man introduced himself as Jacob Tricket; twenty-two years old, and recently discharged from the Navy. Jacob spoke slowly, but with confidence, when he said to young Anna, “You are too young to be alone on a night like this.” Anna blushed shyly, but insisted that she was quite fine, and just needed a ride into Columbus. Jacob continued though, insisting that something must have happened to result in such a beautiful, young girl walking through the snow, in the middle of the night, alone. When Jacob pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and locked eyes with Anna, she realized that she had to tell him the truth. Tears swelled in Anna’s eyes as she told this strange man about the years of abuse she had received at the hands of her mother, she pulled up her sleeves to reveal bruises of varying sizes up and down her arms. She confessed to Jacob that when her mother came home drunk again earlier that night, something just snapped. After years of abuse Anna couldn’t handle it any longer. She told Jacob how she grabbed a pan off the stove and hit her mother with it repeatedly before taking off on foot. After she finished telling her story there was a long pause, one that seemed to stretch for hours, before Jacob responded, “I will help you finish what you started.”

Present Day, 1971

Agatha and John Triffley rented a car after leaving the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, and headed to their hotel in Baker, Louisiana. As the couple drove, they spoke to each other with excitement about Mardi Gras, reminiscing on the memories they had made together back in 1942 when they first traveled to Louisiana together. They thought back not only to memories of Mardi Gras, but also to memories of the young woman they had met here all those years ago. They hoped to make a similar friend again this year; as they had every year, in every state they had traveled to.

After getting situated in the hotel, John and Agatha decided to head down to the local bar to interact with some of the Baker locals. Music blared around them as the couple sat themselves and looked over the menu. Agatha, always keen on trying new things, ordered a Rum and Dumber, while John stuck with his traditional Budweiser. The elderly couple spoke softly to each other, taking turns sipping their drinks, as they searched the room for a possible new friend. All at once their eyes locked on a young woman across the room. She had long, curly, black hair and looked to be in her late thirties to early forties; the same age range as all of the other friends they had made on these trips. As per tradition, Agatha used a pay phone to tell their daughters that they had arrived safely, found a vacation friend, and would be home in a week. Then, as they had for the last fifty-two years, John and Agatha both gulped down the rest of their drinks and prepared themselves for the new friendship they were sure to make.

Four Hours Later

Agatha and John smiled at each other with a kind of love that is only possible after having spent over half a century together. Everything had gone according to plan, just as it had since they first met. They had made friends with the woman from the bar, who they now knew to be thirty-eight year old Hannah Thornberg, a mother of three. Hannah was now bound, gagged, and blindfolded in the trunk of their rental car. As they drove, John said to Agatha, “I love you as much now as I did when I first spoke to you, Anna.”

December, 1919

“What?”, Anna whispered hesitantly. “I will help you,” Jacob repeated. With that statement Jacob made a quick U-turn and headed back in the direction that Anna had come from. They rode in silence, only speaking to ask for, or give, directions back to Anna’s house. When they finally arrived Jacob parked the truck and told Anna to grab the gloves and hunting knife from under her seat. Anna hesitantly did as she was told. Jacob spoke gently as he said, “Hand me the knife, please. And put those gloves on darling, I don’t want you to suffer in the cold.” Anna again did as she was told.

Time passed slowly as Anna watched the delicate snowflakes collect on the windshield of Jacob’s truck. Anna wondered aloud to herself, “What kind of man saves a stranger like this? What is so special about me that he stopped? So many people saw me, but he’s the only one who even stopped, and now he’s getting rid of that horrible woman. I will have to find a way to repay him…to show my gratitude…my loyalty.”

Fifty-eight minutes later Jacob reemerged from Anna’s childhood home, blood dripping from his sandy blonde hair, with a smile on his face. “It’s done. She’ll never hurt you again. I will never let anyone hurt you again”, Jacob said smoothly and confidently. Anna hesitantly peaked through the front door and saw her mother’s lifeless body, looking like the monster that Anna had always seen her as, but nothing like the woman she did a mere hour ago. Tears swelled in Anna’s eyes, before she knew it she was clinging onto Jacob, sobbing, and all she could muster up the strength to say was, “Thank you.”

Present Day, 1971

Anna and Jacob drove until they found a secluded, wooded area. Upon arrival Jacob did what he always did. He pulled a large duffel bag out of the car, carefully opened it, and began neatly arranging his instruments. Every year, to keep things fun, Jacob would pack different instruments; this year he brought multiple knives of different sizes and types, rope, a BB gun, a meat hook, and a bone saw. While Jacob was setting up, Anna put on the gloves that Jacob gave her fifty-two years ago, and though they could hardly be called “gloves” at this point, they offered her the same sense of warmth and love that they always had. Anna opened the truck and stared at the meek woman they had captured. Anna pushed a curl behind Hannah’s ear, tenderly kissed her forehead, and whispered in her ear, “You’ll get what you deserve, Mother”, before slamming the trunk closed.

When Jacob gave Anna the go ahead, the trunk was opened yet again. Jacob grabbed Hannah’s long, curly hair, forced her out of the trunk, and onto the ground. Jacob spoke as calmly as he always did when he said to Hannah, “What kind of mother spends her nights at a bar? You’re a horrible mother. A disgusting person. You deserve to die.” Anna, her voice unwavering, began describing all the different ways they could harm Hannah, and made it painfully clear that Hannah’s death would be excruciatingly torturous, and would not come quickly.

Anna calmly removed Hannah’s blindfold, allowing her to see the arrangement of weapons in front of her. Hannah tried to beg them to let her go, but the tape around her mouth stayed firmly in place. Jacob grabbed the rope and skillfully connected Hannah’s wrists to the ball hitch of their rental car. Taking turns, Jacob and Anna each picked one torture device at a time and had their way with the young mother of three. They berated and belittled her. With every stab, slice, and shot they told her, “You deserve this. You are a horrible mother. Your children want you dead.”

Hannah had been lifeless for quite some time before Jacob and Anna wore themselves out. What was once the body of a beautiful young woman was now unrecognizable. Jacob reached for Anna’s hand, then pulled her in for a tight, warm embrace. “It’s done. She will never hurt you again. I will never let anyone hurt you again”, Jacob swore to Anna, as he had every year since 1919.

The couple gazed at the stars together for some ten minutes before they got busy destroying the evidence of Hannah’s murder. Jacob collected every piece of Hannah in garbage bags and sealed them tightly shut with duct tape. Anna used a blue, plastic tarp to coat the truck of their rental car before Jacob began loading in the garbage bags. Jacob and Anna gathered all of their instruments, as well as a large mental bucket, and then went into the woods, each holding a flashlight, as well as their partner’s hand. Jacob followed the sound of flowing water until they arrived at a narrow river. The water sparkled under the moonlight, but was abruptly disturbed as Anna forced the metal bucket to break its surface. Jacob plunged his instruments into the water, being careful not to cut himself as he cleaned them. Anna had no time to wait for Jacob to finish his meticulous cleaning; she had learned decades ago that once the blood dried onto the car it would take much more effort to get it off. Jacob took no offense to her leaving him behind, as he was accustomed to their clean-up and disposal routine. Anna scrubbed the car thoroughly, making sure to clean every nook and cranny before heading back to Jacob.

Once the instruments were back up to Jacob’s standard the two headed back to their car, hand-in-hand once more. The couple stripped out of their blood-soaked clothes, packed them into a garbage bag, and sealed it shut tightly with duct tape. They rode silently back into town, occasionally stopping at different stores and restaurants to discreetly dispose of parts of Hannah, as well as the evidence to her murder, in various dumpsters.

Jacob and Anna returned to their quaint hotel without a single witness to their crime, nor to their late arrival. They then labeled the bag, “Louisiana, 1971”, and carefully tucked it into their suitcase to add to their collection. The following morning when they arose it was as if the night before had never occurred. John and Agatha, no longer viewing themselves as the young Anna and Jacob, went into the hotel lobby and enjoyed breakfast together before heading into town to find souvenirs for their daughters. They spent the rest of the week exploring Baker, enjoying Cajun cuisine, seeing the beauty of Mardi Gras, and simply relaxing together.

Six Days Later

When John and Agatha arrived at the baggage claim at the Winchester Municipal Airport they were pleasantly surprised to see that their eldest daughter, Nikki, was there waiting for them. Nikki helped her sweet, old parents carry their bags, asked questions about their trip, and told them how happy she was that they were home. The happy family exited the airport together and went back to the Triffley home to further reminisce on the memories they had made over the last week.

Once Nikki left, John and Agatha smiled at each other from opposite sides of the couch. “I think,” Agatha began, “I would like to see Minnesota again.” To which John responded, “That would be perfect. Minnesota, 1972 would make a lovely addition to our collection.”