"Black Beauty"

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

“Black Beauty”

By Cody Williams

 

1.

            Aaron Stone looked around the whole God damn used car and couldn’t seem to find one he wanted. His dad Jimmy took him out to celebrate his sixteenth birthday by buying him any used car he wanted.

            “How about this one son?” Jimmy asked him as he pointed to a 2009 model of a Honda Civic. Aaron looked down at it for a moment and placed his hand on his chin. He just stood there for a moment without saying a word before he finally shook his head.

            “No.” He said to his father. Jimmy rolled his eyes and sighed with frustration.

            “But Aaron, it has great gas mileage, not that many mile on the engine, and is in nearly new condition. What the hell is wrong with it?” Jimmy asked him.

            “It’s just not what I’m looking for.” Aaron answered.

            “Well, what are you looking for son?” Jimmy asked as he began to get frustrated.

            “I don’t know. Just not this. I want something more than this. Something with a better image than this. I want something, and pardon my French, but something more bad a*s than this.” Aaron said as he explained. Jimmy looked up to the sky and sighed. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a pack of Marlborough Red cigarettes and a lighter. He took one from the box and placed it between his two lips. He lights it and slid the lighter back into his pocket.

            “Can I help you guys with something?” A man asked as he began to run towards them. “How do you do? My name is Stan the car Man and this is my here used car lot where we sell the finest used cars in the tri county area!” Stan said as he reached out and shook young Aaron and Jimmy’s hands. He was wearing a short-sleeved button up yellow golf shirt and a pair of kaki pants with a brown leather belt running through the belt loops. He was very tan and this and had wavy black hair.

            “It’s nice to meet you Stan! My boy just turned sixteen today and he got his license this morning. We’re just here to celebrate by buying him a nice and affordable used car.” Jimmy said.

            “That’s very nice. What is it that you are looking for kiddo?” Stan asked him. Aaron thought about it for a moment and then just shrugged his shoulders.

            “I don’t really know sir. I just want a nice car with an image.” He told him.

            “Image? What kind of image are you looking for?” Stan asked.

            “I don’t know. Something bad a*s though.” Aaron told him.

            “Okay. I’m sure we can find something that will fit the image you are looking for. Shall we?” Stan said as he led the men throughout the car lot looking once again at nearly every car there.

 

2.

            “How about this one young man?” Stan asked him as he pointed down to a 2011 Chevrolet Impala. “It too has many miles to the gallon in is in perfect condition.” Stan continued. Aaron thought for a moment and then shook his head again.

            “No it just doesn’t fell…” He began to explain when something caught his eye. In the corner of the lot was a black 1967 Cadillac convertible. Aaron just stared at it for a moment in awe. He began to make his way towards it. When he reached it he gently slid his hand across the exterior of the car. “This is it! This is the one!” Aaron said proudly as he looked over to his dad. Jimmy looked at Stan.

            “How much Stan? Cheap. You can drive it off the lot for $200.” Stan said with a serious expression on his face.

            “$200? You’re shitting me!” Jimmy said to him in an unbelievable tone. Aaron continued to look at the car with his mouth hanging wide open.

            “Come on.” Stan whispered to Jimmy as he pulled him inside of his office leaving Aaron there to admire the car.

            “I s**t you not Jim! $200 and I’ll let you drive it away.” Stan said to him.

            “You’re serious?” Jimmy asked him.

            “Yeah. I am. But I’m not sure how much you will want it after I tell you this.” Stan began. “You see, they called her ‘Black Beauty’. That’s what everybody in the used car business calls her anyway. Black Beauty has a dark past.” Stan continued. He had Jim’s attention. Jim leaned in closer to him in suspense. “The car was first owned by Don Schmidt. He was a businessman who owned his own record shop back in ’67 when the car was first manufactured. He was a rich son of a b***h that’s for sure. Anyway, he bought the Cadillac and drove it everywhere he went. He loved that car to death. Some say he loved more than his own wife if it was possible. But the mistake he made was he didn’t love it more than Lucy.” He continued.

            “And Lucy was?” Jim asked him.

            “Well that’s where the story get’s interesting. You see, one day his wife, Jennifer, began to clean out the car when she found a note addressed to Don from a woman named Lucy. The note read:

            Dear Donnie, meet me tonight at the Hillcrest Motel "Lucy XXOO

            Under the place where she signed it was a kiss mark with pink lipstick. This furcated her. She began to think of ways she could get him back. Oh she wanted to get him back real nice. So, how did she do it? By destroying one of the things he loved more than her. By killing Black Beauty…and him. One night when he was sneaking out to meet his mistress, he walked into the garage. Black Beauty’s engine was started and she drove right into him. Nailed him up against the wall of the garage. But it had a price. She was thrown from the car through the windshield. She died instantly. When the cops found them the took the bodies to the morgue and took the car to the crusher.” Stan continued.

            “But if they destroyed the car, how is it still here?” Jim asked.

            “It can’t be destroyed. It can’t look anything but new. Do you know when the last time I or anybody else washed that car?” Stan asked him. Jim shook his head. “It’s not been washed since Don did it in ‘67. It always looks like that. The dirt just runs right off of it. Whenever the car was destroyed in a crash, it always healed itself.” Stan told him.

            “You’re full of s**t!” Jimmy said to him as he stood up from his chair. He began to walk out when Stan stopped him.

            “Look, I know it sounds crazy. But all of it happened. The car is f*****g possessed by the ghost of Jennifer Schmidt. Look, many men have come by here and bought that car. The car always comes back. The car always kills the man that bought her.” Stan tried to explain.

            “Even if it is true, why would the car do that?” Jim asked him.

            “My guess, Jennifer’s last experience with man was a very unpleasant one. Maybe she just thought that no man was a good man. Sometimes being a b***h is all a woman has to hold onto. Now, I’m begging you, please reconsider. Please do not buy that car.” Stan begged him. Jimmy reached into his back pocket pulling out his wallet. He reached into it and pulled out two crisp one hundred dollar bills and slammed them on Stan’s desk.

            “You’re full of s**t Stan. Just give me the God damn keys!” Jimmy demanded. Stan reached back grabbing a key ring with the car key on it and handed it to him.

            “You making a big mistake.” Stan said one last time.

            “Game over Stan. F**k off.” Jimmy said as he grabbed the keys from him and walked out of Stan’s office. He walked back over to Black Beauty and Aaron and handed his son they key with a big smile on his face.

            “Congratulations son! Here’s your first car.” Jim said. Aaron grabbed the keys from him and two of them got in the car. Aaron started it and the two of them drove away from the lot.

 

3.

            Aaron drove the Black Beauty into the drive and the two of them got out of the car and walked into the house.

            “Hey honey! I just saw your car! It looks great! Are you going to take Trish out tonight in it?” His mom, Linda, asked him as she kissed him on the cheek as he walked through the doorway. Trish was his girlfriend of two years.

            “Yeah. I just got off of the phone with her. I’m going up to change.” He said as he ran up the stairs. Jimmy walked into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. He picked up the newspaper and began to read it like he always did. Linda walked up behind him and began to massage his shoulders.

            “How much was that car? It had to be pricey! It looks like a collector’s item!” Linda said to her husband of twenty years.

            “Two hundred dollars.” He said as he continued to flip through the paper.

            “Two hundred dollars? How did you pull that off?” She asked him.

            “He tried to sell this bullshit story about it, but I didn’t buy into it. I told that mother f****r to go to hell!” He said proudly.

            “Now Jim, you know how I feel about profanity in my kitchen. Do you have to use such words?” Linda asked him as she tried to kiss him on his cheek. He pulled away from her and threw the paper down on the table.

            “I’m a grown damn man Linda! I’ll do whatever the hell I want, and I’ll say whatever the f**k I want! You get that b***h?” Jim shouted at her. She began to cry. Jim sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m going out for a smoke!” he said to her snotty as he left. She continued to cry when Aaron came down the stairs. He stopped and looked at her.

            “Mom, are you okay?” He asked her.

            “She wiped her eyes and stood up.”

            “Yes I’m okay honey. Go! Have a good time with Trish!” She said to him as she gave him a hug.

            “Okay. I’ll be back soon.” He said confused as he walked out of the house. He walked towards Black Beauty and just stared at her for a moment. The car’s engine was then started.

            “What the f**k?” Aaron said to himself. Black Beauty put herself into drive and drove through the garage smashing and killing Aaron against the brick wall.

 

4.

            Jim and Linda drove their station wagon into the driveway of their home. The garage was completely destroyed but something was different. Black Beauty was not the same s**t pale she was when they left the house. She looked brand new again. She looked like she just she rolled off the line in ’67.

            “What the hell?” Jim asked as he stepped out of the car and walked over to her.

            “What’s going on? What happened to the car?” Linda asked him.

            “She fixed herself up all nice and pretty.” He said with a smile on his face as he began rub her. He had this smile on his face like he used to have with Linda.

            “Oh Jim, quit talking like this. Just please sell this car! It’s too hard to even look at.” Linda said to him.

            “No way! This beauty is mine now!” He said with pride.

            “Honey, this was Aaron’s car. I can’t just look at it. Please get rid of it!” She begged him.

            “F**k off and leave me be.” He said to her. She began to cry again. She put her hand over her mouth and walked into the house. She walked into the laundry room and grabbed a pair of Jim’s blue jeans. She cleaned out all of the pockets finding nothing. She placed the jeans into the washing machine and then picked up another pair. She checks the pockets for it finding a piece of notebook paper folded up in it.

            Hey honey! Whenever you get rid of that wife of yours, meet me in the Shark Motel downtown tonight for a good time.

 

-Love Carly

 

            The paper read. Linda began to cry hysterically as she ripped the paper multiple times.

            “Linda.” Jim shouted out as he walked into the laundry room. She quickly hid the torn paper and looked up at him. “I’m taking my little Black Beauty out for a spin. I’ll be back later!” He said to her.

            “Okay honey. What time will you be back?” She asked him.

            “I’ll be back when I get back! Just be sure you have me a hot meal ready for me.” He said as he walked out of the house.

            “Oh, I will!” She said with a wicked smile on her face. She knew that she needed revenge. And she knew just how to do it.

 

5.

            Jim walked out of the front door of the motel and down a dark ally where he parked Black Beauty. He parked her in the ally because he found her too fit to be parked with the rest of the cars and he figured it would be safer in the ally. When he saw it he had to stop and just stare at it for a moment.

            “Oh God I love you!” He whispered to her. The cars engine was then started and the headlights were turned on. The car was put into drive and quickly began to drive towards Jimmy. “Oh s**t!” Jim shouted as he began to run away from the car. He ran for a few moments until reaching a dead end. He turned his back to the brick wall and gazed into the headlights of Black Beauty. The car stopped for a moment and revved up the engine. Jim placed his hand over his eyes to see if he could see who was in the car. He couldn’t.

            The car’s tires began to smoke and the car drove towards him with fierce speed pinning him up against the brick wall. The car was then put into reverse and it slowly began to back away from Jim. The car was then put into PARK and the driver side door swung open. Stepping out of the Cadillac was Linda. She walked over to her husband and knelt down beside him.

            Jim just looked at her. He tried to speak but he couldn’t. The words just wouldn’t come out.

            “Shhh!” She said to him as she placed her index finger across his lips. She stood up and began to walk back towards the car. She just stood there as Black Beauty began to look like her former self. The blood was imminently washed away from the car effortlessly. Every dent and every scratch seems to have disappeared as the sheet metal popped back into place and the broken headlights in the front were now backing to normal. She opened the left back door of the car and got into it. She slammed the door shut and the car put itself into reverse.

            “Now that’s a good girl! Looks like it’s just you and me now Black Beauty. My Black Beauty!” She said with a smile on her face. The car began to back up more and then put itself into DRIVE. With not a soul in the front seat, Black Beauty slowly drove away unharmed.

Copyright 2014 by Cody Williams

Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

I first got the idea for this story after seeing a picture of a 1967 black Cadillac Convertible. I thought to myself "Man, now that looks like one bad ass of a car". It looked like that kind of car that a man would buy during his mid life crisis. It looked like a car that a woman would be jealous of. It looked like a black widow.

I began to think of that car as if it had a dark past. it was the easiest story I have ever written. The words just came to me. It was as if Black Beauty was telling me her side of the story and I was just writing it down. She spoke to me. In the same seductive manner she spoke to all of her victims. It's a story of revenge with a dark twist.

-CW

Reviews

[Dayran]

A convertible always reminded me of a woman in a strapless gown. Which brings a special delicate nature in the way a man would handle a 1967 Cadillac convertible. Obviously a super sensation of a car when it came out ... taking along with it ... the breath of many ... who never realized how good a car can be ... and how good the impression it creates on a man.

However ... it appears it may compete with a woman of the same breathless beauty. User beware ... Nice write CW.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW

[Michael Stevens]

I guess be careful what you wish for, huh?

[Cody Williams]

Exactly! Thanks for reading Michael!

-CW

[Lyn Anderson]

An ode to "Christine" with a twist. An interesting piece.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading KL! I first got the idea for this story after seeing a picture of a 1967 black Cadillac Convertible. I thought to myself "Man, now that looks like one bad a*s of a car". It looked like that kind of car that a man would buy during his mid life crisis. It looked like a car that a woman would be jealous of. It looked like a black widow.

I began to think of that car as if it had a dark past. it was the easiest story I have ever written. The words just came to me. It was as if Black Beauty was telling me her side of the story and I was just writing it down. She spoke to me. In the same seductive manner she spoke to all of her victims. It's a story of revenge with a dark twist.

i'm glad you liked it.! Thanks again for reading!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

A haunted car, a black beauty, killings and so forth. I was grabbed all the way to the end. Man you do it best. This time long but I had to read...Bravo


Khaki and not kaki. Marlboro and not Malbourough. Feel not fell.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:).....................

[Marie]

This makes me think of the Plymouth "Fury" in "Christine. Good story.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Marie!

-CW