“Mr. Johnson, Alex from fulfillment is here to see you.”
Jeannette’s voice boomed over the phone’s speaker, startling me and ripping me from my thoughts. Our tenth anniversary was coming up, and I wasn’t sure what to get Suzanne.
Ten years already, I thought. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun.
It felt like only yesterday that Suzanne took the empty seat next to me in the coffee shop. She claimed it was the only one available, but I distinctly remember there being others.
I always wondered if she only sat next to me because I had a pitiful look on my face. I had gone through a nasty breakup a few months prior, and I had to start my life again in an unfamiliar place.
Depression is too kind of a word to describe what I was going through back then.
No, you’re not going there. That was a different time, a different life. You’re in a much better place now, and I have Father Daniel to thank for that.
It didn’t matter why Suzanne chose to sit next to me. My life improved ten-fold when I met her, and there will never be a day that I am not grateful.
“Mr. Johnson, are you there?”
I forgot Alex was waiting.
“Yes, Jeannette, I’m here. You can send Alex in, and please hold all of my calls,” I said while depressing the button for the intercom.
Jeannette’s voice crackled through the speaker again as soon as I let go.
“Yes, Mr. Johnson.”
“Jeannette, one more thing.”
“Yes, Mr. Johnson?”
“We’ve talked about this before; please call me Desmond. You’ve been with me from the beginning, and you’re practically family.”
“Yes, Mr. John—I’m sorry, Mr. Desmond.”
Jeannette is more than just a personal assistant. She was my first employee when I started this company seven years ago, and she is irreplaceable.
This company wouldn’t have been able to grow so much without her help and sacrifice. I may not always be the easiest person to work with, and I am grateful that she has stuck with me.
*Knock…knock*
“Come in.”
Alex hesitantly opened the door and paused before slowly stepping in. What is it about getting called into your boss’s office that makes you feel like you’re in trouble?
“You wanted to see me, Mr. Johnson?”
“Yes, Alex, come in and sit down.”
Alex looked like he was waiting to be told that one of his family members had died. Relax Alex, unclench your butthole, is what I wanted to say, but I opted for, “don’t worry Alex, you’re not getting fired, reprimanded, or anything like that.”
He exhaled and let his shoulders droop a little.
“The reason that I asked to meet with you is that I’ve heard a lot of good things from your manager and—”
“Mr. Johnson, I know you said you wanted me to hold all of your calls, but your son’s school is on line one.”
I hope everything’s okay.
I thanked Jeannette, gave Alex the universal ‘one-moment’ signal, and picked up the phone.
“Desmond Johnson speaking.”
“Hello, Mr. Johnson; this is Principal Mathers. I am calling about your son, Edmond.”
“Hold on one moment.”
I covered the mouthpiece and whispered to Alex that we’d continue the meeting tomorrow. Once he left, I continued to speak.
“Sorry about that, Principal Mathers. I was in the middle of a meeting. Is everything okay with Edmond?”
“Edmond is okay, but the boy he got into an altercation with earlier is not.”
“Oh.” I paused. While I didn’t know for sure, I had an idea of who Principal Mathers was talking about. “I’ll head over to the school as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Mr. Johnson; we’ll see you soon.”
I hung up the phone, gathered my things, and walked to Jeannette’s desk.
“Hey, I have to pick up Edmond from school.”
“Oh, is he okay?”
“It sounds like he got in a fight.”
“With the Richards kid?”
“The principal didn’t say, but that’s my guess. That kid is a douche. I wonder if he gets it from his parents. Anyway, I’m going to head out. Don’t work too late, and I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Have a great weekend, Mr. John—” I looked at her. “Mr. Desmond.”
“Desmond is fine, Ms. Caprice.”
She smiled as I left the office.
I walked to my car, got in, and drove to Edmond’s school.
He’d been having issues with Kyle Richards kid for the past few weeks. He was constantly making fun of the birthmark that Edmond had on his hand. I understood that they were only seven, but why did kids have to be such dicks.
There wasn’t much traffic on the road, probably because it was still early in the afternoon, and I got to Edmond’s school in record time.
After checking in with security, I walked to the main office where Edmond had his face buried in a book.
“Hey bud.” Edmund looked up.
“Daddy!” He practically jumped in my arms. “Kyle was being mean again and he tripped me on purpose and I remembered what you said so I hit him. Are you mad at me?”
“Slow down, buddy. It’s okay. I’m not mad at you, and you aren’t in trouble. I’m proud of you for defending yourself.”
I was. Edmond is a gentle soul, unsullied by the true horrors of this world. Unfortunately, some take advantage of that kindness and try to bully him around.
“Do you mean that daddy? You’re not mad at me.”
“Of course, I’m not mad at you, but let’s keep that between you and me. Deal?”
I held out my fist, and he bumped it with his.
“Deal.”
As I ruffled Edmond’s hair, Principal Mathers approached us.
“Mr. Johnson, so glad you could make it.”
He said that as if I had a choice in the matter.
We shook hands, and he led us into his office. We took our seats, and he started talking.
“Mr. Johnson, as I stated over the phone, Edmond was involved in a physical altercation with another boy in his class.”
“But he tripped me first,” Edmond blurted out. I patted him on the knee, and he stopped talking.
“From my understanding, Mr. Mathers, Kyle Richards tripped my son.”
“Oh, I was not aware of th—“
I didn’t let him finish the sentence.
“And I’m sure that you aren’t aware of the fact that Kyle Richards has been taunting and bullying my son for the past few weeks; a fact that I brought up with Edmond’s teacher on more than one occasion. I trusted that she would handle it, but I see that it must have slipped her mind.”
I saw his brain going into overdrive, trying to formulate a response.
“But Mr. Johnson, regardless of what has taken place in the past, that is still not an excuse for your son to hit Kyle.”
“I think it is plenty of an excuse. Let me ask you a question. Would you like if I teased you every day about your coffee-stained teeth or that stutter you try so hard to hide?”
“Of course not, but as I said before, that is still not a rea—“
“And what if I kept escalating it, bumping into you on purpose, causing you to drop whatever you had in your hand. And what if I kept on every day until you felt hopeless and could do nothing but cry. And what if one day I tripped you, causing you to fall. How would you feel? What would you do?”
“B-but. M…m…Mr. Jo-Johnson—“
He started to stutter badly. Finish Him!
“Principal Mathers, while I am not a fan of violence, my son will defend himself. I think you should address the issues that I have brought up with Edmond’s teacher. With that being said, I think we’re done here.”
I stood up and extended my hand. Principal Mathers reluctantly shook it.
“Th-th…thank you f…or coming in.”
“It was my pleasure.”
I looked down at Edmond. “Let’s go, kiddo.”
He turned to the husk of a man standing up and said, “goodbye Principal Mathers.”
As we walked out of the office, I heard heavy breathing and a tear splash on the oak desk.
It was not my intention to embarrass Principal Mathers, and I garnered no ill will toward him, but sometimes adults need to be reminded what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a would-be bully.
Once we got back in the car, my phone rang. It was Suzanne.
“Hey honey, is everything okay. I called your office, but Jeannette said you had to pick up Edmond early.”
“Yeah, everything is fine. He got into it with that Richards kid.”
“What a pissant.”
“I know. Everything’s okay, though. I’ll tell you more later when I don’t have prying ears.”
She laughed.
“Hey, if you haven’t eaten already, how about we meet you for a late-ish lunch?”
“I would love that.”
“Great. We’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Suzanne made a smooching sound and hung up.
“Are we going to get lunch with Mommy?”
I wondered if we had been sitting in the same car. It always amazed me when kids were in the room where it happened but still asked what was going on.
“We sure are. Are you excited?”
“Yup!”
How he was able to fit so much enthusiasm behind a one-syllable word is beyond me.
“What do you think we should get for lunch?”
“Pizza!”
Of course he said pizza. It was Friday, after all.
“If we eat pizza for lunch, what are we having for dinner?”
“More pizza!”
I laughed at that. He loved pizza just as much as his mother.
“How about we ask mommy what she wants?”
“Okay daddy.”
“Speaking of which, there’s mommy.”
Suzanne was already outside by the time I pulled up to her job. She got in the car, ruffled Edmond’s hair, and kissed me before buckling herself in.
“Hey hun, what’s shaking?”
Suzanne had this weird sense of humor, but it was cute, and I loved it. Although I couldn’t match it, I always tried my best.
“Certainly not bacon.”
She gave me one of those “an A for effort” laughs.
“I’m starving. What’s for lunch?”
Edmond immediately chimed in, “pizza!”
Suzanne seconded the motion.
“Fine,” I relented, “but I’m picking the place. Let’s try that new fancy-schmancy pizza restaurant.”
“Yay!” They both yelled in unison.
I was so very grateful for my family.
Thank you, Father Daniel, for helping me get a new lease on life.
When we arrived, the lunch crowd was out in full force, but we managed to secure a table for three.
The waiter brought over a pack of crayons and an activity sheet for Edmond and took our order, a large cheese pie, mozzarella sticks, and chicken tenders. We should have enough leftovers for dinner.
While waiting for the food, we talked about school, work, and what we wanted to do for the weekend. Edmond suggested that we go to the zoo, and Suzanne and I agreed.
Might as well take advantage of that membership.
The pizza and sides arrived relatively quickly. I thought it was good, but I doubted it was worth the price.
“What do you guys think?”
They both smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up.
“I’ll take that as a ‘good job on picking this place, daddy/honey.’”
While contemplating whether there would be enough food to take home, the waiter approached our table.
“Excuse me, Mr. Greene, someone is on the phone for you.”
I stared at the waiter for a long moment trying to figure out if this was a joke or not.
“I’m sorry, but there is no one here by that name.”
Hasn’t been in over a decade.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, sir, it’s just that the caller gave a pretty accurate description of you, but I guess I was mistaken. Again, sorry to disturb you.”
The waiter walked away, and I slowly swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.
“Who’s Mr. Greene, daddy?”
“I’m not sure, buddy. Probably just a prank call.”
“What’s a prank call?”
I debated explaining what one was but decided that it wouldn’t hurt.
“It’s when you call somebody and try to tell a silly joke.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Let’s say I called mommy and asked if her refrigerator was running, and when she answers yes, I’ll tell her that she better go out and catch it.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“It’s okay. You’ll get it someday.”
There are probably a thousand Mr. Greene’s, and they do say that everyone has a doppelganger.
“Is everything okay?”
Suzanne wore a look of concern. I was trying to be cool and remain calm, but I guess I was doing a shitty job.
“Yeah, everything is okay. I’m just feeling a little hot.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Let’s get the check before Edmond eats all the pizza.”
We all laughed at that, and I signaled for the bill.
While waiting, a different waiter approached us.
“I’m sorry to interrupt Mr. Greene, but your wife is on the phone. She said she urgently needed to speak with you.”
No! No! No! It’s impossible.
You’re right. It’s not possible.
Just some sick fucking prank.
Play it cool Desmond. Play it cool.
“My wife is sitting right across from me, and for the last time, my name is not Mr. Greene.” I showed him my ID. “Look, right here! Desmond Johnson. Now please give us the check so that we can leave.”
Goddammit, that was not cool.
“Of course, sir, sorry to disturb you.”
Breathe Desmond. Inhale 1…2…3…4…5… Exhale
As soon as the waiter walked away, Suzanne spoke sternly, “you better not lie to me,” voice.
“Desmond, what is going on. You’re acting weird.”
“It’s nothing, I promise. Where is this damn check?”
“Desmond! Watch your language.”
“That’s a dollar for the swear jar, daddy.”
“I’m sorry you had to hear that. How about I put one in the swear jar and give the other to you.”
“Yay!”
Edmond was my pride and joy, and he and Suzanne meant the world to me.
Brrrring…..brrrring…..brrrring
Suzanne’s phone rang.
“Sorry, I thought I put it on vibrate.”
She answered, and her face turned sour. She listened to the caller for what seemed like an eternity and handed the phone to me.
“It’s for you,” she said.
I gulped hard and took the phone, hoping it was just a cruel prank, an (in)famous Phone Tap.
Suzanne stared at me, an aura of sadness and betrayal surrounding her.
I took another deep breath and answered.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Reginald. Did you miss me?”
It can’t be!
“Who is this? Do you think this is funny? News flash, it’s not.”
It’s not her!
“Oh, Reginald. Don’t be like that. How can you say such things to your wife?”
I disconnected the call, and my phone rang immediately after.
I picked it up and yelled, “just leave us alone,” and hung up again.
I took out a hundred-dollar bill, tossed it on the table, and said, “we need to leave, now!”
“But what about the leftovers,” Edmond said. Although he didn’t understand what was going on, he looked concerned.”
“We’ll figure something out. Come on, let’s go.”
I scooped Edmond up and looked at Suzanne again.
“We really need to go. I’ll try to explain later.”
“Try? You better try hard!”
She was pissed, but that didn’t matter. I needed to get them to safety.
We got in the car, and I drove as fast as legally possible, but Suzanne’s phone blew up with text messages before we got home.
“Desmond, whoever this is has been in our house. They are describing our furniture and saying how comfy the couch is. I’m scared. What is going on?”
“I’ll explain once we get to a motel.”
“A motel?”
“Why are we going to a motel daddy?”
How is it that kids always know the worst time to ask questions?
“Yes, we’re going to spend the night in a motel. Think of it as an adventure.”
“I love adventures.”
I could feel the heat coming from Suzanne’s eyes.
“Please, just trust me,” I whispered.
I made my way to the highway and drove like our lives depended on it because they did.
I drove until the sun was replaced by the moon and pulled up to a motel.
Edmond had fallen asleep hours ago, so I ran inside, got a room that was a straight shot to the car, and carried him to bed.
Suzanne and I went into the bathroom to talk.
“Explain yourself, now! Reginald.”
The look on my face said it all.
“What’s this about you having a wife and abandoning her.”
“It’s not what it seems. I can expl—”
“So, are you saying that your name isn’t Reginald Greene?”
“Reginald Greene was my name, but he died in a fiery car accident, and there was nothing left to identify a body.”
“So, you’re saying you faked your death to escape your wife.”
“Yes, bu—”
“But what Reginald? Please share with the class.”
“Whatever that thing is that you spoke to was not my wife? Sheryl died a long time ago.”
“So, are you saying it was a fucking ghost?”
“Worse. A demonic entity made up of unimaginable evil.”
“Give me a fucking break, Reginald. Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Why don’t you be a man and tell me the truth?”
Unfortunately, I was telling the truth, but I knew Suzanne wouldn’t believe me.
“Look, I need you to trust me, okay. I have always been there for you, and I will always be there. Yes, I was born Reginald Greene, and I faked my death, but that was my only way forward. I am Desmond Johnson now and will forever be your Desmond Johnson. I just need you to trust me. I need to make a phone call. Lock the door behind me, and don’t let anyone in unless it’s me.”
I kissed Suzanne and left the room, listening for the click of the chain behind me.
I couldn’t believe my world was unraveling right before me. How could Cheryl have come back from that? I killed her and spread her body parts across the globe, all goddamn 1999 pieces of her. Father Daniel ensured me that it would work.
I hastily dialed his number while I walked back to his car.
No answer, voicemail.
Fuck! Again.
No answer, voicemail.
Fuck! Again.
Brrrring…..brrrring…..brrrring
I heard a phone ringing.
Brrrring…..brrrring…..brrrring
It was getting louder the closer I got to my car.
Brrrring…..brrrring…..brrrring
It was coming from the trunk.
I wiped the sweat off my brow and slowly opened the trunk.
BRRRRING…..BRRRRING…..BRRRRING
I recoiled in horror at the sight and vomited onto the pavement. Father Daniel’s head was looking at me, his eyes wide open. His facial expression was wracked with fear.
Four long and rusty nails secured Father Daniel’s phone to the side of his face.
I couldn’t believe he was dead.
I went to Father Daniel when I first suspected something was wrong with Cheryl. Her behavior had come undone, and he was the only one that stopped and seriously listened to me.
He said that she was possessed and performed an exorcism, but the only thing that was expelled that night was the life forces of the priests that were helping.
“She is beyond help,” Father Daniel said. “Her life must be extinguished.”
He told me what to do and how to do it, and I followed his directions to a T. How the fuck is she still alive? And why come for me after all this time. It’s been over ten years.
Oh no. Suzanne and Edmond.
I ran back to the room and banged on the door.
“Suzanne! Open up; it’s me.”
Bang
Bang
Bang
“Suzanne! Edmond! Please answer me. Open the door.”
People started coming out of their rooms to see what the commotion was about.
Bang
Bang
Bang
“Suzanne, I’m sorry, please open up.”
I started to kick at the door.
“Hello, police. A man is trying to break down the door to a motel room. Come quick. He looks dangerous, and I’m afraid he’ll hurt whoever is inside.”
I finally kicked the door in, and I screamed at the sight of Suzanne splayed out on the bed. Her chest cavity was ripped open, and there was a space where her heart should have been.
I looked everywhere for Edmond, but he was gone, too. I collapsed on the floor and just cried.
Everything had been taken away from me.
The police showed up minutes later and arrested me.
After a few days, I was let go because nothing was tying me to the murders of Father Michael Daniel and Suzanne Johnson.
Edmond was never found.
I sold my business and started drifting from one shitty motel to another. I kept that up for months until a cooler was left at my door.
I opened it and wasn’t even shocked at the sight. Part of me was expecting what I saw.
It was a hand that had a familiar-looking birthmark on it.
Edmund’s hand.
I closed the cooler and set out what I had been too chicken-shit to do before.
I got my pistol out, loaded it, took the safety off, and placed the barrel against my temple.
Don’t worry; I’ll be joining both of you real soon.
Click
“Fuck!”
Click
“Fuck!”
Click
“Fuuuuuuuck!”
Click
Click
Click
“Please, God, let me be with my family.”
“Sorry, Reginald, but God called in sick today.”
It felt like she whispered into my ear, but when I turned around, nobody was there.
“What do you want from me, Cheryl? Haven’t you already taken enough? Suzanne! Edmond! When will it be enough? When will you leave me alone? Please just let me be with my family.”
“I’m so hurt, Reginald. I’m your only family now. Besides, we took a sacred vow. Do you remember those words?”
She paused, and I sighed.
I said, “until death do us part.”
“And I’m not ready for you to die yet.”