Criminal logo

RFT: In the Field

A body burns in a park

By Skyler SaundersPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 3 min read
Like
RFT: In the Field
Photo by Marek Szturc on Unsplash

With the winds picking up, the flames moved over the surface of the body. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, and then noticed a gunshot wound. Smoke billowed up so much that it could have choked the life out of anyone standing close enough to the engulfed corpse. That’s what remained. This was ten twenty-seven p.m., in a field in Wilmington, Delaware….

-June 13, 2004 six thirty-two p.m. EST, West 5th Street, Wilmington corner bodega

Hezekiah Tusk walked into the store with the same amiable smile he always displayed when greeting the elderly gentleman who owned the corner store, Ronson Long. Tusk was twenty-eight, about 5”7,’ and had a muscular build. Sixty-four year-old Mr. Long had an almost giant frame, but skinny, standing at 6’8”.

“How are you, Mr. Long?” Tusk asked.

“Going along to get along,” Long said, a row of gold upper teeth sparkling in the fluorescent light. “How about you?”

“I’m good.”

A car door slammed. Then, another. Two men walked up to Tusk. He immediately knew who they were and what they wanted.

“Let us speak outside,” one of them, wearing a bandana on his head, asked Tusk.

“Hey, it was good seeing you, Mr. Long,” Tusk announced, a bit of nervousness rising in his voice.

“Alright now, boy. Stay out of trouble.” Mr. Long returned to the back of the store to see if his video camera had captured the two men’s faces. Not one camera had recorded the vehicle license plate outside, or either man inside the store, but he locked in his mind what they looked like.

The three men ambled casually out of the convenience store, in no real hurry to get there.

Tusk had arrived at Mr. Long’s place of business on foot.

“Let’s all go for a little ride,” the second man said.

Once they were in traffic, Tusk’s pulse raced. He looked around in an almost fidgety way. He looked out the window and then the man in the passenger seat stuck a syringe in Tusks’ throat. He slowly closed his eyes and lost consciousness. The driver pulled into the Cornell Industrial Park in Wilmington.

Bound and gagged, Tthe two men dragged Tusk, bound and gagged, out into a field adjacent to the businesses occupying the space.

-Nine fourteen p.m. Cornell Industrial Park

As the day turned into twilight, just weeks before the summer solstice, Tusk opened his eyes and began to mumble. His body convulsed like it was being electrocuted. It wasn’t any power surging through him, just his attempts to free his hands and feet. The silver duct tape on his mouth was snatched off like a bandage by the first man.

“Now….are you going to tell us where we can find the bundles, or are we going to start clipping off fingers?” He held pruning shears which glistened in the dying light.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want. I’ll snitch. I don’t want any more of this!” Tusk shouted. Part out of extreme fear, and also in an attempt to alert anyone nearby to come to his aid.

“You won’t have to worry about it. You see, you crossed our bosses. We can’t let that slide. Nothing you can say will save you from your fate,” replied the man who first walked into the store and drove the car.

Then, the second man pulled from the trunk one of those red plastic gas cans from the trunk, and affixed the nozzle to the can. The first man pulled a lighter from his pocket. It was dark now. The glow from the tiny fire illuminated the scene ever so slightly.

The first man doused Tusk with the gasoline. The pungent, sickly sweet stench of the gas overwhelmed Tusk’s nostrils.

“You can talk,” the first man said.

Tusk mixed the gasoline on his face with tears.

“I can tell you the truth! I know that the bundles are over on South Bridge near a man named Stingley’s house. It’s on eighth street.”

“Thanks for the information,” The second man put a bullet in Tusk’s brain, and the first man set him ablaze. They walked towards the vehicle. The two men departed the area leaving Tusk burning.

fact or fiction
Like

About the Creator

Skyler Saunders

Cash App: $SkylerSaunders1

PayPal: paypal.me/SkylerSaunders

Join Skyler’s 100 Club by contributing $100 a month to the page. Thank you!

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.