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Give and Take

Chris' life changes as he is forced to deal with the consequences

By Apoorv JaiswalPublished 4 years ago 8 min read
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Chris shovelled another mound of dirt onto the heap. It was high now, unnaturally high. He could have stopped a while ago, but he was too paranoid. Scared that at any moment part of her arm would stick out of the dirt, exposed for anyone to see. The shoulder, the elbow, the hand…

He remembered Diane’s hand and how warm it felt as she would pull him inside by his arm. “I’ve told you never to ring the bell! The neighbours will get nosy,” she said, furrowing her brow.

“What else am I meant to do? You never reply to messages in time.” Chris said, “I can’t stay outside your door too long, either, because then the neighbours will definitely see me and know something’s happening.”

Diane kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Enough of this. You’re here now and that’s all that matters,” she said. His hand in hers, she led him to the bedroom. Even though he knew his way well around the mansion by now, she still liked to take him there herself.

Chris patted the mound down, and then walked back to his pickup truck on the highway. He looked at the sealed bags in the back. He noticed that only the head and a leg remained. Burying the leg would be easy enough. It’s sneaking into the city’s septic tank which would be the riskiest part of the night. The memory of Adam’s voice floated back into his head, like those instructional videos he had to watch so often at work.

“Now once you’ve done all that, I have a list of places where you can bury them. You don’t have to use these places exactly. They’re more of a guideline. The important thing is the distance between the places. Ideally we would take them further away from each other but we-”

“Why do I need to do all this myself?” Chris interrupted.

“Because you’re the one that killed her,” Adam replied, pointing to Chris.

“We both know that’s not true,” Chris said.

“Look, do you want me to help you or not? Yes? Ok then, let me finish…”

Chris hated the way Adam talked to him. Talked down to him, as if he was better, superior. Chris calmed himself down. He couldn’t screw this up. That would mean Adam would win. Chris couldn’t allow that to happen. Not after everything Adam did. Not after everything Adam took from Chris. These thoughts kept him awake and alert as he buried the leg. The same leg that was wrapped around him on so many nights. He felt better than Adam on those nights, a feeling of power. All his money couldn’t give Diane what Chris could. Those nights now seemed like a lifetime ago. Diane couldn’t come back, but the feeling could. He had been plotting his revenge. He had to make sure Adam did not get suspicious of him. Going along with Adam’s plan tonight was essential for that.

Chris parked his truck well away from the main entrance of the wastewater treatment facility, at a fence as close to the septic tank as he could find. He walked up to it, cut a hole with his bolt cutters, and slipped through. He found the tank easily enough, the smell burning deeper into his nostrils as he came up against it. He felt safe under the cover of night as he took the head out and threw it into the tank. “That’s it. That’s the last of her. She’s all gone, now.” he thought. He knew he shouldn’t linger lest he get found, but he stood there, just watching the tank. “This doesn’t seem right.” He thought, “It shouldn’t be this easy.” After a while, he slowly walked back to his truck, stepped in and checked his watch. Three seventeen AM. He knew he should have been done a while ago, but he wanted to take his time. He wanted to be careful, after all.

He drove up the highway until he reached the 24/7 roadside diner. At this hour it was only truckers and other passers-by at the diner, taking their meal before bed. As much as he hated the guy, Chris could appreciate why Adam chose this spot to meet up. “I wonder when exactly he found out about us,” he thought. “I wish I was more careful.”

He thought back to the night when it all ended. Adam had left after dinner for a business trip, and Diane called Chris over as soon as Adam left for the airport. Chris made his way over as soon as possible. It was rare for him and her to get nights like that one. Alone, knowing that they would not be bothered for a few days. The neighbours would just assume that it was a husband and wife rekindling their passions.

After their lovemaking Chris and Diane went into a deep slumber. Chris remembered the dream he had that night. He stepped on a nail jutting out of the ground, and the nail twisted itself to trap his foot. The metal of the nail then started growing, reaching up to his body, paralysing every part as it was encased in the metal. Soon he was immobile and the metal was creeping along his face, ready to drown his scream as it covered his eyes, his nose, his mouth.

It was at that point when he woke up screaming, drenched in sweat. He saw Diane next to him, soundly asleep. He decided to get up, take a shower, and drink some water after which he headed back to bed. Once he was back under the covers he realised that Diane had not moved at all. Upon closer inspection he realised she was completely still. He checked if she was breathing. She wasn’t. He checked for a pulse. No pulse. It was then that panic gripped him. He didn’t know what to do. He started sweating, gripping his hair and muttering to himself. He stopped muttering when he realised. Poison. That bastard must have put it in her dinner.

Chris didn’t sleep for the rest of that night. At dawn, the phone rang. He knew who it was…

Chris parked at the south end of the diner, opened the glove box and took out his pistol. Felt the weight in his hands. He checked the magazine to see if it was loaded. It was. He turned it from side to side, watching the light from the neon signs reflected along its smooth edges. “It would be so easy”, he thought. “Too easy. This isn’t the time for it. Not yet.”. He turned his eyes to the diner. He knew Adam was in there, waiting for him. He hadn’t given Chris a specific time to meet up, just that he would be there when Chris was done disposing of the body. “That self-entitled prick.”

Chris walked in and took a moment to notice how the diner had changed since he was there last. It was one of those places that replace things as they get worn out every few years. It may have had a distinct aesthetic to start with, but now it was just a collection of whatever was the cheapest option to replace whatever was old and obsolete. Nothing matched anything else.

He noticed Adam sitting at one of the booths, drinking coffee, on his phone. He walked up to the booth and took a seat opposite him.

“So I assume everything’s been taken care of?” Adam asked.

“Shut up,” Chris said.

Adam stared into Chris’ eyes for a moment, studying him. Then looks away and gestures to the waitress. “A coffee and waffles for my friend here.”

“I am not your friend,” Chris said, gritting his teeth.

“Either way, I have a gift for you,” Adam said, as he took an envelope out of his jacket and placed it across from him, in front of Chris. Chris took it and put it in his pocket.

The waffles and coffee arrived. Chris smiled at the waitress as she poured it and thanked her. He took a sip, looked at the cup for a while, and then looked up at Adam.

“Why did you do it?”

“Because she deserved it,” Adam replied, in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Did she now? I don’t think so.”

“Look pal, you didn’t know her like I did. She used people. That’s just who she was. She used me for my money, and she used you for, well..” Adam took a sip of his coffee.

“Still doesn’t mean she deserved it.”

“Let’s just agree to disagree then, shall we?”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“Don’t you use people all the time? How are you any better?”

“Because I’m not a two faced bitch! I’m honest about using people. I don’t pretend to love them when I secretly only care about myself and what I want,” Adam looked around to see if anyone heard, and then sipped his coffee.

“I still don’t think she deserved it.”

Adam ignored Chris and avoided eye contact with him. Chris stared at him for a while and then got up. He put some money on the table and walked out of the diner.

Once he was back in his truck, Chris took the envelope out of his pocket and opened it. He counted the crisp notes carefully, to find that the exact amount was in there. He closed the envelope, opened his glove box and put it in. He noticed his pistol lying there, shining.

“It would be so easy.”

fiction
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About the Creator

Apoorv Jaiswal

Writer. I mainly write poetry. For prose I usually write speculative fiction, leaning towards dystopian, science fiction and fantasy.

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