Pursued

Pursued

“I’m not gonna play with you, fuck boy, you can come up here and say this shit to my face. I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I’m a 30 year old man and I will bury you in front of your kids,” Jasper said, as he stood there, with his cane, leaning into every word that he spoke.

Spit flew from his lips and his southern accent became more prominent as the conversation continued. His scrawny frame belied his ability to bury anyone via physical altercation. Short, kept hair, slightly sagging Levi’s, and a white t-shirt comprised his battle armor. His body and face, from any angle that wasn’t covered in clothing, was a colorful display of ink.

The mysterious voice on the other end of the phone cackles, “I can see you right now, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. I’m coming for you.”

“If you can see me, bring it!”

“In good time,” the voice smiled, “I will bury you, Jasper, and you will never see me coming.”

Jasper’s righteous anger morphed into rage, his face contorting into incomprehensible angles, the curve of his generally pouty lips smeared with a sneer. He started to swing his cane around, punctuating each word with a thrust of his makeshift weapon, “Then. Fucking. Bring. It. I. Got. A. Forty-Five. With. Your. Name. On. It.”

Jasper didn’t have a forty-five. All Jasper had, at the moment, was a cane and a limp.

The hollowed voice mocked Jasper condescendingly, “You’ll get what you deserve, Jasper. I’m coming, Jasper.”

“That’s why I fucked your bitch,” Jasper yelled into the phone as he hit the end button. He clenched the phone for a moment, clearly talking himself down from throwing it across the parking lot. It was evident that the action of hanging up a phone would have been far more satisfying, being able to slam the phone into the receiver—or even a flip phone would have been sufficient, being able to slam something, anything, in that moment of ending a conversation would have served him just fine. He settled for slamming his cane against the brick façade of a pillar of the awning outside the tattoo shop he worked at, repeatedly venting his frustration.

After taking the time to smooth out the rage wrinkles of his white t-shirt, Jasper pulled his sunglasses down off the top of his head and let them settle into the grooves of his nose. He gently pulled a cigarette out of the pack with his teeth, and then settled down uncomfortably into the chair outside of the shop. As he lit the cigarette, he leaned back and as he exhaled, his body slumped into place. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through his contacts.

“Aye, Bigby, I need a gun.”

*****

Kait’s phone rang, and she read the screen: Mo-Mo. She smiled and hit the dancing green icon, settling into the stool behind the counter.

“Yesss?”

“Did you talk to Jasper today?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I mean, about some weird phone call he got?”

“Oh yeah, he came in here all huffin’ and puffin’ about someone calling him. I heard him yellin’ from in here about fucking this guy’s bitch, and how he had a gun, and you know—typical Jasper shit.”

“Yeah, he called me after and said he was going to go buy a gun or something, and he hasn’t come home yet.”

“Ah, well he had a tattoo and it went over his usual time. So he left here at five instead of four.”

“Hmm. I guess he just didn’t think to let me know.”

“Guess not.”

“Did he say anything else to you about it?”

“Hey, wait—He said he called Bigby. That’s who he’s gonna buy his gun from. Maybe call him? See if he’s heard from J.”

“Nah, I’ll just wait for him to call. I was just worried because he’s usually home around 4:15, and it’s almost 5:30.”

“Kay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

*****

Jasper walked into work with an awkward gait; one more awkward than his usual limp. He looked around the shop and caught Kait’s eye. She was meticulously sorting through jewelry, and paused as he pulled a pistol from the waistband of his faded jeans. Her eyebrows pulled together, and she shook her head as she looked down at the tray of assorted metal ornaments. She started picking through the jewelry again, putting the pieces back into their respective places. Jasper cleared his throat in her general direction.

“I see you found a gun, Jasper,” she said, a laugh in the back of her throat, still picking through the jewelry.

“Yeah, I got this forty-five. If that motherfucker shows up, I’ll end him.”

She shook her head, a small smile pulling at the side of her lips, “Well, that’s good.”

“I’m not gonna be a victim, I gotta protect myself.”

“No, I see that. You’re definitely prepared now.”

“What? You don’t think I can defend myself?”

“I didn’t say that, just wondering if you ever figured out who it was that called you.”

“I got no clue.”

“Has he called back?”

“No, but I’m ready.”

“Whatever you say, Jasper,” she mumbled, sliding the tray she way working on back into its place.

“Molly says the same shit, you know, but I gotta protect my family.”

Jasper stared at her from across the store, “I said I gotta protect my family, Kait.”

Kait continued to pick through the jewelry, “I heard you, Jasper, I just didn’t have anything to add to the conversation.”

“You think I’m being stupid, don’t you?”

“I mean, not about protecting your family, but that guy hasn’t even called back. It’s been days.”

*****

“Pick up the phone, Jasper. I know you’re listening to me, Jasper. I want you to pick up the phone.”

Jasper hits 7 to delete the voicemail.

“Message deleted. Next Message.”

“Pick up the fucking phone, you pussy. You think I can’t see you. You think ignoring me is going to make me go away, Jasper. I’m coming for you, Jasper, and when I come you’re going to pay for,” the voice is cut off when Jasper hits 7 to delete the voicemail.

*****

“I think I need a bullet proof vest,” Jasper tells Kait. It’s been a few days since the mystery caller made his initial appearance.

“Then get one,” Kait replies. Not that it would help you if he shot you anywhere that wasn’t your chest, Kait didn’t reply.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna do that.”

Jasper’s phone vibrates. He looks down at the screen. His stomach drops and his heart starts to race. He doesn’t answer.

Kait watches as he stares at the screen, his face losing color in the places that aren’t colored in. She looks down at her fingernails, file in one hand, and continues to file her nails.

He places the phone screen down on the countertop.

“He started calling again?”

“How do you block a blocked number,” Jasper asks, his voice a mixture of apprehension and anger.

“Still don’t know who it is? What’s Molly think about this whole thing?”

“I have no clue. But he knows who I am, he knows where I live, he knows about Molly, and he knows about JJ. The phone keeps ringing.”

“Chill, dude, I was just sayin.”

“Whatever, you and Molly both got me fucked up, interrogating me like y’all do.”

“It was just a question, Jasper.”

“Fuck you, Kait.”

Her eyes narrow, and she stares at him while he limp- paces around his station. He sits on his stool, leaning his cane against the wall. Then he picks up his gun from under the counter, sliding the clip in and out repeatedly, while he stares at his phone.

*****

Molly answers her phone, “Hey, Kait.”

“Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“Jasper’s acting real fuckin’ weird.”

“Yeah, I know.”

*****

Molly sat on the couch in her and Jasper’s double wide, JJ playing on the floor. She’s idly flipping through the channels, her left foot dangles loosely off the edge of the couch and she settles on Nick Jr. Jasper was supposed to be home an hour ago, she eyed the digital clock on the stove, her heartrate increasing as the minutes increased.

JJ laughs at the TV, and she stops staring at the clock for a moment and smiles down at him. “Wonder where daddy is,” she said to JJ, her voice cracking.

“Daddy!”

“Yeah, daddy,” Molly said. She leaned over and pat JJ on the head, and he smiled up at her with a half toothed smile, curly blonde hair bouncing back when she took her hand away.

She was worried. Jasper isn’t sleeping. He’d started spending their money on an arsenal, and he started leaving guns lying around the house so that he could reach for one from wherever he might be. The night before she found him camped out in his recliner, facing their front door, with a shotgun in his hand. His whole being had been replaced with some other person that she’d never met before.

She asked him to use his phone to check on JJ and the sitter, because she left hers at the house when they went to WalMart two days ago.

His response: Fuck off, I know you don’t believe me either. You and Kait got some kind of hate group against me, I ain’t fuckin’ stupid, you bitch.

JJ reached for the revolver laying on top of the coffee table.

Molly snatches it away from him and he starts to cry. She took it to the bedroom and threw it on the bed, next to the four other guns she had to move that day.

She starts to pack a bag, stopped, started to cry instead.

*****

Jasper wakes up. He opens his eyes and he can’t see anything. The room he is in is enveloped in a darkness so deep it renders him blind. As he moves his hands up to rub his eyes he lets out a whimper, his dry, cracked lips barely parting. He puts his hands to his sides, feeling the sticky, gritty floor beneath him. As he pushes himself into the sitting position he can feel an ache resonate through his whole being, and a death metal double bass drum pounds behind his eyes. He shakes his head, feeling grit fall from his hair, his neck stiff. He starts to feel around in jerking, stilted motions to find his cane. It is nowhere within reach. He puts his hands to head and cold sweat envelopes him. He heaves. The acidic burn of bile fills his throat and nostrils, a warmth spreads down his chest and into his lap. He screams, terror echoing back to him in the hollow room.

He tries to stand up, slips in his own sick, and ends up on all fours. As he kneels he heaves again. He coughs, and spits. He heaves again. His lips start to tremble. His body is rent, doubled over, and there is nothing left inside of him. The only sounds he can hear are his gasping for breath and the pitter-patter of his tears and cold sweat hitting the floor.

From the corner of the room a red light blinks on, barely visible, swallowed in the darkness of Jasper’s room. He doesn’t notice.

*****

Molly picks up her cellphone and stares at the screen. She unlocks her screen and starts pushes the phone icon. Jasper and Kait’s names populate the recent calls list.

She runs her hands through her hair for the thousandth time, and she stares at the screen on the counter. A nervous tick, her tapping on the table next to the screen. She stops tapping, picks up the phone, and hits Jasper’s phone number, redialing.

Straight to voicemail: “Hey, it’s Jasper, can’t talk right now, you know what to do.”

She hangs up.

Her tongue runs over her teeth and she taps Kait’s name.

“Hey, Molly.”

“Hey, Kait, sorry to bother you aga-“

“Quit apologizing, what’s up?”

“Has he come into work yet?”

“I don’t think he’s coming, Mols.”

“Why not?”

“Well he didn’t show up for his appointment yesterday, and he’s usually here before me in the morning. He isn’t here now, I already sent his 11:00 home.”

“Where is he?”

*****

Jasper sat at the bar, nursing his beer, a cigarette jutting out of his pouting lips. He stared at the muted television, lost in thought. His cane hung on the lip of the bar, his trusty sidekick never too far. The bar was empty, save for Jasper and the bartender, whose name Jasper couldn’t ever remember.

His bartender came by for the fifth time, stopping to wipe an invisible spill, “You alright, Jasper?”

Jasper started, pulled on his cigarette, and moved it from his mouth to the ashtray, tenderly tapping the end of it, so that just the ash fell away. “Yeah, man,” he took another drag, “Molly just kicked me out, and I don’t really know what I’m going to do.”

“Want a shot?”

Jasper chuckled, “Not sure that would solve my problem, man. Last thing she’s gonna want is me showing back up all shit-faced.”

The bartender shrugged, “Don’t show up shit-faced, then.”

Jasper looked up at the digital clock, its red LEDs a stark contrast to the dim, smokey atmosphere of the bar. It read 11:30. Jasper shrugged his left shoulder, and he stamped his cigarette out. “Yeah, I guess one shot couldn’t hurt.”

“That’s my man,” the bartender said, a smile brightening his face.

Jasper’s phone vibrated. He looked at the screen, his chest tightened. Molly’s face stared back at him. He turned his phone off, “Fuck her.”

“What you say?” The bartender asked, as he rounded the corner of the bar with two shots of whisky, one in each hand.

“Ah, nothing man. Just fuck Molly. She don’t want me there to protect her, I won’t be there. She can suck a dick for all I care.”

The bartender pushed one of the shotglasses towards Jasper, “To sucking dicks!”

Jasper held up his shot glass and looked at the bartender, “I ain’t no fucking fairy, man.”

He laughed, “Alright then, to bitches sucking dicks!”

Jasper nodded an affirmation before downing his shot. He pulled in air through his teeth, the burn tingling into his toes.

The bartender collected his glass and wiggled it in front of Jasper, “Another?”

Jasper pulled a cigarette out of his pack and lit it, thinking for a moment. The words, “Fuck it,” passed through his lips as he exhaled the smoke.

*****

She couldn’t sit around waiting any longer, so Molly headed up to the bar where she and Jasper usually went. It was a random dive, only a few blocks from home. Mark, the owner, knew both Molly and Jasper.

Jasper had been gone for a day, and his phone shut off since the night before. It was 7:00 PM, and he never showed up for work. She figured if he went anywhere after their fight the night before it would have been there.

She walked in, and the bartender looked up at her as she made her way through smoke haze and barstools. He smiled at her, brightly, his teeth glowing in the low light.

“Hey, Mark.”

“Molly, my favorite lady. How are you doing today?”

“I’m looking for Jasper.”

“And here I thought you were coming to see me.”

She gave him a small, subdued smile.

“I guess not.”

“You’re funny, Mark.”

“I try.”

“Have you seen him?”

“Who?”

“Jasper. We got into a fight last night and I told him to leave. I haven’t heard from him, and his phone is off. I’m starting to worry. Did you work last night?”

“I was here, all by my lonesome, all night. Ended up calling it a night early, closing up around 1.”

Molly pulled out a stool and sat on it, her chin resting on her hands. “Well, I don’t know where else to look. None of his friends have seen him. Figured he would have come here.”

“Don’t look so blue, darlin’,” Mark said, working on a drink.

“I just worry about him, you know. He doesn’t usually disappear.”

Mark poured a cocktail into a glass of ice and slid it towards Molly. “No,” he said, softly.

Molly finished her drink, “Hmm. I guess I better go.”

“Wait,” Mark said, a little desperately, “Let me get your number.”

Molly eyed him, a little sideways, “He hasn’t been gone that long, Mark.”

“No, no, no,” he backtracked, “In case he comes in, or maybe to check up on you.”

“Ok. I guess that would be ok.”

She pulled out her wallet.

“No, the drink’s on me,” Mark said.

Molly smiled at him, “Ok, Mark. If you insist. Let me know if you see Jasper?”

He smiled and nodded, his eyes never leaving Molly as she walked out the door.

His smile disappeared and he finished wiping the glass in his hand. He looked down at the number and pulled out his cellphone. He sent a quick text to her:

hey its mark just making sure I got the right number

hope your day gets better

He set down his phone and he headed into his office. He switched on one of the monitors and a night vision image appeared on the screen. Jasper was crying, choking on air. Mark smiled at the screen, looked at the cane leaning against the wall, looked back at the screen and shut it off.

He stood on his chair, and lifted a ceiling tile up, then slid the cane safely into the empty space. He dusted his hands off on his jeans, and walked out of the office. He could hear very faint crying and screaming coming from beneath his feet. So he turned up the music, and smiled his toothy smile as a couple walked into the bar.