The Receipt

Jack

Jack searched frantically for the suitcase. He just couldn’t understand why Aimee was so adamant against lending it to his sister. Nora was responsible and the suitcase wasn’t even expensive. Why was she making such a big deal over something so small? He wanted to find the suitcase quickly before she woke. She was sleeping so soundly and he was relieved. She hadn’t been herself the last few days. His thoughts were interrupted with the burning question “WHERE IS THE SUITCASE!?!?”. Just then something fell down on him from the top shelf almost knocking him out of the closet. At this point he was tempted to buy a new suitcase for Nora. He managed to keep his balance and catch the bag but slipped on something that fell out of the bag and landed with a painful thud on the keys in his back pocket. That was the last straw and the straw that bought Nora a new suitcase. This just wasn’t worth it. He picked up the things that fell out of what he assumed to be Aimee’s bag that landed him on his now painful bottom. In the dim light of the closet he was still able to make out stacks of money. “What?!?!”, he whispered incredulously. He picked up five stacks of money and quickly shoved the bag open to find money and lots of it. The bag was full of money and a little black book. While the money was certainly exciting and confusing this one little black book in the middle of the bag of money held more intrigue. His heart was racing as he read the front of the book, Receipt. His mind went in so many directions. What could his fiancée be selling that was worth a bag of money. She was an undergrad student and a waitress and they usually had more bills than money. Just as he worked up the courage to open the book he heard Aimee tossing and turning so with his heart racing he opened it quickly. Page 1: Eyes - $1,000 Lungs - $15,000 (each) Liver - $50,000 Kidney -$15,000 Heart - $50,000 and so on. Jack dropped the book back into the bag. Who puts prices on body parts? Who is buying body parts? Who is selling body parts? Where are they getting the parts? What in the world does any of this have to do with Aimee? He heard her phone hit the floor and had to decide quickly what to do with the bag and its contents.

Aimee

Her heart was pounding and she was drenched in sweat. The cries got louder and louder the faster, harder, and further she ran. They were so gut wrenching that they brought her to tears. She didn’t even know if she was running from the cries to escape the pain they drove to the very heart of her or if she was running to crier to help end their suffering. She ran feeling every beat of her heart with the power of war drums at every foot fall. Tears streamed down her face and she needed escape. She ran with nothing in sight, nothing behind her and nothing ahead. She needed shelter, some type of refuge, some type of escape and there it was … the only thing in sight, a book. She ran up to it as there was nothing else only her and the little black book, oh yeah and the thundering cries. Picking it up she read the title with a mix of hope and dread, The Lost Ones. The dread grew within her and just when she thought the cries couldn’t get any louder they stopped as she opened the book and began to read. Ashton - $75,000 Beth - $48,000 Charlie - $87,000 Daisy $50,000 and so on. She didn’t recognize any of these names and she was confused by the money next to the names. For some reason she felt compelled to keep reading so on she read. Her heart stopped when she read Nathan - $85,000. The crying started again and the book became a bag in her hands. She opened the bag and found a bunch of small body parts. Aimee shot straight up in bed drenched in sweat, heart racing, and tears streaming. Panting she looked around to ground herself and calm herself. She heard Jack call out from the closet, “You ok babe?”

Jack

Jack froze when he heard the phone hit the floor. “Aimee’s up!” the voice inside him yelled. He instinctively put the little black Receipt book back in the bag along with all of the money he didn’t get to count. Later, he thought.

Aimee was already confused and in a state of panic when she heard Jack call from the … the … CLOSET. Oh no, not the closet. She all but forgot her dream as she flew across the room to the closet. Jack was just getting the bag back in place when Aimee came barreling into the tight closet and knocked him unceremoniously back onto his bottom and onto his keys. This time he couldn’t suppress the yelp of agony that escaped him. It didn’t help that she fell on top of him and the bag of money on top of her. Aimee apologized somewhat shortly, sounding annoyed and a little afraid. She hadn’t yet realized both of their secrets were exposed. She shuffled to her feet feeling still sore even though it had been two days since the sale and that's when she realized something fell onto her. Her heart dropped to her stomach as she grabbed a stack of money. She tried to quickly gather the money hoping Jack hadn’t seen it but little did she know she was much too late. “What is all of this?”, Jack asked quietly. Aimee froze and was silent. “Where did all this money come from?” Her hand tightened on the bag no longer thinking of keeping the money secret all she could think of was the Receipt book. Her eyes welled and she scanned the floor still frozen searching for the book praying it hadn’t fallen out. Jack touched her elbow and asked “What is going on?” as he held up the book. She heard the cry again and it was so deafeningly loud she could hear nothing else.

She awoke in bed a few moments later to Jack frantically trying to turn on her phone. She weakly asked what was going on. Jack threw his arms around her so happy she was ok. He explained to her that she fainted in the closet. Aimee tensed and her pupils dilated at the mere mention of the closet. Her reaction reassured Jack that he had done the right thing by putting everything back in place while she was passed out. He had flipped through the book quickly searching for some clue about what was going on because it was clear he wouldn’t get anything from her and that’s when he found it, four entries going back almost 10 years and an address. He quickly took a picture with his phone and put everything back just as he had found it. He asked her what she was doing up and told her if she needed something to ask him. She visibly relaxed and sank back into the bed. Jack wondered if she really didn’t remember what happened in the closet or if she was avoiding him but he decided to go to the address in that little black Receipt book when he went out. “I’ll be back in a few. Imma go get you some soup and juice. Do you need anything before I go or while I’m out?” he asked, but her eyes were already closed so he grabbed his phone and rubbed his bruised backside where his keys still remained snuggly secured in his back pocket. She looked really pale and a bit warm but then again she was wrapped up in that big ‘ole blanket so he planted a light kiss on her forehead and was gone.

Jack

He pulled up to a building with no name, just an address 634 Winston Dr. He was certain this was it but double checked his phone to be sure because this building for some reason made him feel really uneasy. It was a fairly unassuming building, not too big or small, not too modern or old, not too ornate or run down really it looked very ordinary but he felt a growing knot in the pit of his stomach just looking at it. Yep, this was it. He sat there in the car just watching, trying to get an idea of what to expect but the few windows were up pretty high and very darkly tinted. He saw six or seven people come and go in the time he had been sitting there but he lost count in searching for some distinguishing feature or name. What business doesn’t post the business name!?!?! There went another lady into the nameless building. What was that eight or nine? He wasn't sure anymore so he went with the eighth woman. WAIT ... are they all women? Thinking back he realized only women were coming and going. He finally worked up the nerve to go inside. He needed answers! Through the door he went leaving his old life behind. “Hello, can I help you, sir?” the confused nurse asked from behind the counter. He eyed a stack of little black books on the other side of the counter and knew he was in the right place. He didn’t notice the nurse pressing a small red button on the floor with her foot. “Sir?” she prompted his attention to her as he looked all around taking in the posters about after care, referral incentives, payment charts and tiers, even an express pay. His eyes landed on one chart that made his knees buckle , Fetal Development Table and Harvestable Organs. He didn’t even see the three men clothed in white coats come from behind the counter. They escorted him out of the lobby and onto the sidewalk. He was reeling. He didn’t want to believe that Aimee had any dealings with this place. He stumbled back to the car and drove back to their apartment in a daze. The little black Receipt book - had listed organs and prices with a sum total. He hadn’t been able to count the money before she woke but she had to do something pretty big to get the money and it had to be bad the way she reacted. Not to mention there were four entries in the book going back almost ten years and they had been together six years. Is this why she was always so reluctant to talk about the future, marriage and a family? So many questions.

Aimee

Aimee slipped back to sleep where the cries waited for her. There she was with her hand deep in a bag of body parts when she began joining the wails. A terrible pain in her abdomen caused her to moan but no one was there to hear. She felt hot tears running down her cheeks but she kept digging deeper and deeper into the bag where the cries seemed to emanate. She sat the bag on the ground and knelt next to it digging deeper and yet deeper still. She was leaning into the bag digging as the cries grew louder when another really bad pain washed over her causing her to cry out from her sleep and fall over into the bag. Finally the cries stopped and there was silence and still. Her body relaxed in the bed and finally she found quiet and rest.

Jack

Jack drove to their apartment but when it came into view he couldn’t bring himself to stop as tears ran down his face thinking of the little black Receipt book.