Short Stories

Seeing his picture in the newspaper fills me with rage. People say he is so amazing, so great, and yet he is the man that ruined my life. I crumpled the page up in my hand while mentally calling him a bastard and threw it into the trash bin near the door.

“On the front page again? What did he do this time?” The bartender asked while pouring me my usual shot.

“He donated money to the orphanage again. Now they can have rocks to play with their sticks.” I replied sarcastically.

The bartender slid the shot my way. “I know he is your ex, but he can’t be that bad.”

I downed the shot and then slammed the glass back down on the counter. I paused letting my body feel the warmth for a second before it faded. “You have no idea. It makes me sick to know my son has to be with that bastard.”

“I’m guessing you lost the custody case?”

“Yeah, he paid off the judge. Don’t you love the media? How it picks and chooses all that it publishes to paint a one sided and fake story, and for what? To line their pockets.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I was hoping you would get at least partial custody; a boy needs his mother.”

“Apparently the courts thinks he needs Vanessa. A cop that is never home is unfit to be a single mother.” The bartender just shook his head. I looked down at my watch to see the time. “I got to get going.” I said while pulling out money and placing it on the counter. “See you tomorrow Frank.”

He waved as I left. I got in my car and hit the road.

It’s a shock my husband never gets pulled over. I thought that to myself as I sat there, staring out at the blurry dark figures of what I was assuming were trees.

“Are we almost home?” I asked impatiently. You would too if you just got done visiting the in-laws from hell like I was.

“We are almost to the high…” he stopped in the middle of his last word, when a bright white light began to shine from behind us. It illuminated the angry expression that began to form on his face.

“Asshole.” He muttered under his breath.

“It’s okay. We are almost to the highway, right? Then he can pass us and we will never see them again. There is no need to get angry.” I said trying to calm him down.

He sighed at my rationalization of the situation and flipped the rear view mirror down with his middle finger. He left his finger up for the car behind us to see. I hit his shoulder lightly with my hand showing my disapproval.

“Look, it’s been a long day.” He started off while putting his arm down. “The last thing I need is some jackass on my tail blinding me with his…” red and blue lights came on as if to cut him off. “Well that’s just great.” He muttered under his breath angrily while pulling the car over to the side of the road.

A small bright light came out of the car and its owner tapped on the window. I began to pull out the proof of insurance out of the glove box while he rolled down the window. Time felt like it slowed down when I heard BANG! A gun was fired. I quickly turned to see a familiar face. I threw open the door and took off running, but not fast enough. I almost made it to the highway when BANG! I fell to the ground, feeling the blood pour…

“On my way home from the bar I noticed a car on the side of the road. I flipped on my lights and pulled behind it. It was my ex-husband’s car. I ran to the car to see what was going on. I peered through the opened window to see my ex’s head lying on the steering wheel with a bullet wound. I quickly looked past him to see the passenger door open; he had someone with him. I feared for the worst when I began searching the side of the road to the highway. I was relieved I didn’t find my son dead, but it saddened me to see that Vanessa met the same fate as my ex-husband. I then ran back to the car to see if I over looked my son or to go check their home for him. I found him asleep in the back seat, the one place I forgot to look. I woke him up and we went to my car. I called and waited for you all to show up.”

“I see, but why didn’t call for back up when you first came across your ex-husband’s dead body?” Greg who was investigating the case asked skeptically.

“Greg, what would you do if your daughters were in this situation? Would you think to call before searching for them?” I asked holding my son tighter in my lap.

“Fair enough, but what about the two bullets missing from your clip?”

“Those were fired off earlier today, when I was trying slow down some runners. Ask Charlie, he was there.”

“You and your son go home. We will sort more of this stuff out in the morning.” Greg said as he tapped my shoulder.

I waved and left with my son.