Martha's Plan

MARTHA’S PLAN

BY

Christina McIntyre

[email protected]

I'm a writer first. This day was no different. I clutched my small black notebook to my chest and mystery man took a left.

“If you slow down, I can actually write.”

That forced him to speed up.

“You want me to slow down?

“After what you did”

I could pretend I didn't know what he was talking about, but I did. I simply did what had to be done. Regrettably so. Mystery man sighed. We just hit traffic.

The Verrazano bridge was always crowded. Late or not; there would be cars on top of each other, bumper to bumper. Mystery man stared and let out a sigh of frustration. The plan began. I got out and ran for my life, dipping in between cars. I could hear mystery man yelling amongst a million car horns but I couldn't see a thing. Only the construction site. Orange cones, heavy machinery and hot men. Dust soon filled my lungs. I reached my destination.

“Hey, hey, what the hell are you doing? Are you mad?”

The machines stopped and I dropped my knees.

“Help me, I’m being chased, I was just kidnapped”

The words fell out quicker than I intended and I realized I made a bad choice by kneeling in this gravel on this summer night. I’m going to have indentations in the morning, but it’s okay.

“Who could be chasing you out here?”

He reached for me.

“Marcus Briddely.’

You see, mystery man wasn’t that much of a mystery or a man.

“I was on my way home and he just grabbed me, I overheard him say there’s more. He has 15 other girls all on this bridge right now. Him and his poker buddies got together and came up with this sick plan. I don’t even know what time it is. Oh my gosh, my son, my son, can someone bring me to him right now?”

I stood up and watched as every construction worker took out their phones and dialed 911. All but one. He was 6’1 and had locks that went past his shoulder.

“I can give you a ride home, if you would like.”

I would.

“Kevin, I don’t think that’s smart. If she was kidnapped, the cops probably need to talk to her.”

“I just need to see my son, it’s been hours.” I looked at Kevin’s boss with pleading eyes. “He’s four months old”

I held up my locket which didn’t belong to me.

“You just had a baby? Hey ma’am so did I, he’s four months old too, I’m so sorry this has happened to you, we’ll get you home safely. Kevin, bring her home. They’re about to shut this bridge down again. Damn, man, that’s twice this month.”

What Kevin failed to mention is that his ride is actually a motorcycle. Great. He handed me his helmet leaving him without one and told me to hop on. He passed his bookbag to me which felt empty. Weird.

I grabbed him by the waist and we sped off. Kevin looked back once we passed the tolls and laughed. He dived in between cars and we watched as calvary pulled up. Staten Island’s finest. All 120 officers headed to the bridge to arrest Marcus Briddley and his poker friends for kidnapping fifteen girls, I’m sorry, sixteen, if you count me. Only, I was the only girl actually kidnapped. Meanwhile, we were heading to the bank.

The Briddley Bank

#

I took off his helmet and kissed him before he could shut his bike off.

“We have to be quick.” He said.

“I’ve never heard those words from you.”

I handed him the wire cutter and watched as he shut the electricity off for the entire area. Block by block the lights went out.

Banks have generators, only Briddely is too cheap to connect the cameras. He keeps his security alarm and computer connected at all times, but everything else, if the power goes out, that’s it.

We climbed back onto Kevin’s bike and made it to the bank in two seconds. Kevin broke the lock and I grabbed my small black notebook. Quickly flipping the pages to find the code.

What? I told you I was a writer.

“three-eight-two-nine.”

We were in.

Kevin went straight to the safe and I took a left, stumbling upon an office for Mr. Briddely, CEO of The Briddley Bank.

I found his password taped to the bottom of his keyboard, just where his wife said it would be.

Martha

My sweet employer.

I attended her funeral three days ago. I took their son thirty minutes after it had ended. While Marcus Briddley was out shaking hands and pretending to be a man; I put his son on a plane to an undisclosed location.

I unlocked his computer and grabbed my small black notebook, flipping by the first page titled Martha’s plan. I found the name of the file and watched the clock.

The file was in his recycle bin. He was sick enough to title it “The M.B. Job”

What kind of hitman sends an invoice?

I downloaded it all.

Once New York’s twelfth richest man got off for kidnapping me, I would send a copy of his handiwork to ABC News. In the meantime, I wired $20,000.00 to his son. I set it monthly, marking it as the “townhome” just as his mom told me.

Myles Bradley, no, I’m sorry, James Parker was kidnapped by me. Only he didn’t know it was me.

I can remember his mother's voice now.

“If something ever happens to me, if he, you know, if he kills me, take Myles. If that man is capable of killing me, he won’t hesitate to kill my baby boy. Kalanni, write this down. Come on child, I pay you to clean my home but you’re also my friend and favorite writer, write this down, this is my plan”

“But Ms. Martha, I don’t have any money. I mean, you pay me and I write but we know the salary of a struggling writer, I’m cleaning your floor for God’s sake-

She cut me off.

“Write this code down.”

#

Kevin knocked on the door; pulling me out of my flashback.

“You ready, baby?”

I looked up to my boyfriend of three years. Leo, the love of my life. He was down the second I told him about Martha’s plan. For months, she had me write down her plan, paying me extra to do so. Leo heard the stories throughout the years and couldn’t wait to go after Marcus Briddley. He remembered the nights I came home telling him how I broke up another fight between Mr. & Mrs. Briddley and the time Mr. Briddley broke Mrs. Briddley’s nose. There’s also that time he pushed her down the stairs while she was pregnant. Leo offered to teach Mr. Briddley a lesson, but I refused. We needed to hit him where it hurt.

Three days ago, Leo took a job as a construction worker named, Kevin. Luckily, this job didn’t require a background check as his motorcycle was the quickest way to get us off the bridge and into the bank. By this time, the cops would be sitting ducks in this little evil pond called earth.

Leo filled his backpack with two million dollars and I wired another two million to an offshore account. I deleted the browsing history and locked the computer. An image of The Briddley’s flashed across the screen before it went black. I stared at her gold locket and paused.

No one should hurt like Martha or James Parker.

While she didn’t intend for her husband to hire a hitman to kill her, she said if she must die, she would make sure he never saw their son again.

“Mr. Briddley is evil, he’s obsessed with power and control. Now that he has a son, I suspect he will try to kill me again. He won’t stop until he succeeds. My son doesn’t need to grow up around this man.”

She sent his four-month-old out of the country; never to be seen again. She simply handed me his passport twenty-four hours before she was murdered and told me to dial 718-555-555 once I got to the airport. The phone rang once before I was met by a flight attendant dressed in blue and white. She took the four-month-old from me and told me to be safe. I stayed out of sight until Mr. Briddley picked me up today. He was convinced I had something to do with the disappearance of his son as I was the only person his wife ever talked to.

#

18 years later.

James Parker

“So, you’re telling me, someone just mysteriously sends me $20,000.00 a month?”

I stared at her in disbelief.

“Yes, it just comes in as the “townhome.” She replied.

“And, it’s not my Dad?”

“No, last I heard; he was in jail, but the company is thriving.”

My aunt looked at me, I could tell she wasn’t lying. Still, who could afford to send me $20,000 a month?

“Aunt Mary, do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?”

“I know, but I have a flight to catch, I’ll see you when I get back. I love you James Parker, so did your mom, Martha.”

THE END