Deadly Compromises by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Chapter 8
Bobby was back in his room, waiting for Kelly. He was horny, visualizing her naked very full hips, other parts, too.
Come to think of it, the whole package. They had some plans to go over and a long day, but he couldn’t concentrate in his state of mind. Kelly showed up.
“All right, what’s the big deal?”
“Plenty, today’s a big day. Are you a morning person?”
“Don’t start! I’m chasing around a bit and I’m not in the mood.”
“You need to relax. You know the best way?”
She laughed out loud, simultaneously, feeling her first warmth of the day and said; “Okay, but a fast one.”
Both removed their blue jeans and ....
A short song played somewhere.
They lay still about ten minutes, looking at each other somewhat dazed and sometimes just staring at the cracks in the ceiling.
Bobby was compelled to break the silence and said; “Time for business, Kelly. Last night I made arrangements to borrow three million dollars. This should go pretty easily. I’ll show up at 6PM and you pretend I’m the guy from the bank. I enter and meet your husband. After a while I’ll pull my gun. When he calms down, I’ll handcuff him and you help me tie him to the chair. Do you have some clothesline around?”
“I don't know.”
“Well, if you don’t, go get some. A lot.”
“Okay, but you said no killing.”
“The gun is just to get him calm and reasonable. Worst case, I’ll fire a shot at the ceiling, probably hit something like a chandelier to remind him it’s loaded.”
“I’d feel better if it wasn’t at our house, but I’ll trust you.”
“Great. I’m trusting you, too. I’ll then offer him the best deal of his life. Everything should be fine. If you disagree with anything you see or hear, tell me about it later.
Oh, Kelly, when we were talking about money, things have been going so fast that I forgot to tell you I have about one million dollars in a safe deposit box. I knew I’d have to use it all in this deal anyway.”
“I trust you. Let’s not split yet. I know a movie theatre five miles away that plays old films. Let’s go sit in the dark for a while.”
“Anywhere with you is great with me. I like old movies anyway. I might fall asleep, though.”
They took her Mercedes and she drove silently to the appointed spot. They parked in the small dirt lot, which looked as if it had not been maintained or repaired for some time. It contained no other cars. They saw the plastic lettered marquee indicating that “All That Heaven and Earth Allow” was playing.
Neither of them knew the film. As they walked to the ticket booth they noticed that the stills were in black and white.
Bobby said; “The title suggests that this is going to be a long one.”
Kelly looked at him, with a bit of an incredulous posture and deadpanned; “Not if it had a good editor.”
The ticket booth was empty when they got there, so they walked right inside. They shuffled around the lobby looking at the stills on the wall, keeping an eye out for help. When none came in a few minutes, they decided to walk right in. As he was opening the door a woman of about sixty entered the lobby from another door, trailed by a man of similar age. She had long gray hair and dressed younger than her years. His countenance was more of a disheveled acquiescence to his time, wearing proper attire that was maintained as well as the parking lot.
He also had long gray hair, though much of the middle was now missing. He seemed somber. The old woman smiled at the venturesome couple and said; “It’s already started, so go right in and enjoy it.”
Kelly said; “We really should pay you something, shouldn’t we?”
The older woman replied; “No. It’s already playing and it’s too much trouble for me to start handling money right now.
We’ve got other things to do.” She looked at her companion and smiled. He silently followed her out through the same door previously used as the entry.
Bobby and Kelly simultaneously said “Thanks” and continued through the door which led to the screening room. No one else
seemed to be there, though they couldn’t be sure in the dark.
He followed her down the center aisle to furry seats about 10
rows from the screen, right in the middle of it.
The movie was at a point where the actions and dialogue made no sense to them. If there were any way to succinctly describe what they saw and heard, it would probably be worry, combat and randomness, with no obvious logic. They leaned heads and shoulders against each other and quickly fell asleep.
They woke up to a crescendo of classical music, apparently the end. Still half asleep they watched the two lovers on the screen hold each other. As it was early in their awakening, they could have been wrong, but visually, it seemed that the two screen characters merged. He became her and she him. Kelly and Bobby both had the same thought. The merger could be an illusion caused by their dreary state, but they would have bet their lives, that at the very least, her eyes became his and vice-versa.
The movie did end right there and the two stood up to leave. Each knew the thoughts of the other, so they exchanged questioning and knowing looks as they walked. Neither knew the right thing to say and didn’t want to ruin the mood. They
slowly walked back to her car, the bright sun shocking them back to the reality of the moment.
Bobby said; “You’ve got the plan nailed down, right?”
She nodded yes in a subdued, but confident manner, her mind still partially in the theatre. She silently drove him back to the motel, slowly regaining 100% focus on the anticipated event of the evening. When she pulled into a parking space in front of his room, he leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. For some reason he was concerned about her and gently said, “Are you all right?”
She said; “I’m good. This hasn’t been a bad day, even after the rocky start you caused.”
He touched her hand gently, exited the car and went into his room. She drove back home.
The day got even better, when she found clothes line in the house. It must have been left by the previous owner. It gave her plenty of time to picture the events. She thought that it was a good plan. The only tricky part was how Alan would react if and when he realizes he’s not going to get shot. She hoped he didn’t start haggling for a better deal. She sat on the couch.
Bobby thought; “Isn’t she great? Most anybody would have asked a million questions about the million dollars and why I didn’t tell her earlier, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He sat down on a chair, turned the TV on and relaxed. He saw a news program which showed the continuation of the right wing Republican onslaught. He thought that if anyone could stop it, it would at least take a husband and wife team in the mold of Franklin and Eleanor. He probably dozed a bit and roused at 5PM. He had time for a last minute check. He found his .32
handgun and spun the chamber. It was fully loaded, though he decided to bring another small package of bullets. He had the handcuffs and key. What else might he need? Nothing he could think of. He sat, not thinking of a thing except the possibilities of the next few hours. It seemed simple; either a smart Alan complies or a stupid Alan doesn’t. The latter thought was an insoluble problem for him, as he intended to keep his “no killing” promise to Kelly. This would leave Alan in a position to identify not only him, but Kelly’s involvement. He hoped Alan was brighter than his business dealings indicated.
The thought disturbed him. The only thing he really knew about Alan was that he made a mess of things. It didn’t seem especially difficult to run a motel and a few other dink operations in a small town. If he didn’t gamble or whore, how
could he lose more than three million dollars seemingly fast?
He didn’t sound like he was likely to go the gambling, whoring route, but he couldn’t be sure. People can be surprising. One thing for certain; people quickly get reasonable with a gun in their face. He hoped for the best. He didn’t want to break his promise to Kelly and then tell her that he didn’t lie to her, as the gun went off “accidentally.”