She woke up that morning, expecting it to be like every other. A blanket of snow covered the ground outside. She made coffee and sat at the table with her newspaper. The news was no different. There was some more news on the nuclear testing in South East Asia. They were holding a memorial for Frank Sinatra. Godzilla was not making any money in the box office. She yawned, more bored than sleepy. She knew she was forgetting something. The date on her calendar marked in red, reminded her of an early meeting.

           He woke up and realized there was no money for drinks in his house. "God!", he thought, "How am I going to last the day?" He looked into the mirror and saw his unshaven face. All that stood out were his blue eyes. He looked through his few belongings for some spare change. He couldn't find it anywhere. The loose boards creaked under his feet. A rat scurried away when he looked through some old boxes. There wasn't anything even below the stained, smelly blanket except his knife. He put it in the pocket of his torn, faded, dirty jeans. While walking down the stairs, he saw a cockroach and squashed it under his feet. He yawned and left the building to go panhandling in the streets.

           She ran into the office. "Nina, you're late." It was some guy, she couldn't tell who. "I know," she yelled back, but didn't have time to turn around to look at who it was. "The car broke down last night." She walked into the conference room, apologized for being late, straightened out her black skirt and sat beside Stephanie. They began working on a new ad campaign for J.C. Penney. The minutes seemed like hours. Nina sighed and glanced at her watch. It read 11:45. This meeting wasn't close to ended.

           He shook the tin can in his hand. The day was over and he'd only made a few dollars. He wouldn't have enough for food but he could get a drink. "What a life," he muttered as he walked away.

           She walked out of the office. Stephanie walked up to her. "Why were you so late today?" she asked. "I forgot about it. Besides my car broke down last night. I would never have made it anyway." Stephanie sighed sympathetically.

           "You want a ride home."

           "Nah! Stephanie, that's okay. I'll just take the bus. The halt's just a couple of minutes away from my home. It's fine. Really!"

           "You sure, 'cause you know, it's not a problem."

           "I'm fine, Really I am."

           He saw the condominiums and wondered what kind of a rich people lived there. He saw the bus halt a few meters away. A woman got off. He wished he could take the bus home. He didn't have enough money.

           She got off the bus and could see the condominium where she lived in the distance. She was kind of scared, though. The road was dark and deserted.

           She could make out the silhouette of a man a few meters away. It looked like he was walking toward her. She didn't like the looks of him. " Stop being ridiculous," she said to herself, "You'll make it home, fine."

           The woman had what looked like an expensive coat and was walking toward him. It was then he decided. Yeah, he'd do it.

           She couldn't see the man walking toward her, anymore. "Where could he have gone? Maybe, I was just imagining it," she thought to herself, "He was never even there."

           He could see her. She'd be there any second. He reached out and grabbed her and placed the cold blade of his knife on her neck.

           "Give me your money. Come on, give it to me."

           He hoped she wouldn't yell. Nobody would hear her anyway.

           "I don't have any. I have a credit card but I don't have any cash."

           "You're lying, just give me the purse."

           She gave it to him. She wasn't lying. He was so angry. He would probably be caught for nothing. She could see his face and identify him. He'd heard about jail and he was not going there. He was never going to jail. She couldn't identify him. Not really. Not if she was dead.

           She prayed he would just let her go. She just wanted him to let her go. He looked at her. The look in his cold blue eyes frightened her. She breathed deeply and knew only one person could save her. That person washer. She was all she had left. She pulled away from him and she ran. She could see the condos getting closer. She could also hear his footsteps behind her. He was getting closer. She tripped over the heel of her expensive Italian leather shoe and knew it was over. When she saw his face above hers, she knew. She tried to struggle he was stronger.

           Soon, he wasn't there anymore.

           The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance. Yellow tape surrounded the chalk outline of a body. The phone rang in her apartment. It went onto the answering machine.

           "Yeah! Ma'am. It's Joe from the auto shop. Your car should be ready by tomorrow, so you'll be able to drive it home."




© 1998 Crystal Pinto, all rights reserved
 appears here by permission