Chapter 2

Chapter two

                Lenny’s grandfather left his house through the paned glass door leading into the garage. He snatched the key to his jet Mercedes Benz and headed to the car. Hoping in the car he hit the automatic door opener, slides the key into the ignition and listened to his baby purr to life. Pulling onto the street he looks both directions then zooms off towards downtown.

                While at the stop light at Pine and Given’s he pulls the piece of paper from his pocket with an address scribbled on it. Just seeing the address brings a monstrous grim to his face, he knows what waits for him there. The light turns green and he continues down Pine Street until it intersects with Maple Avenue. He hangs a quick right onto Maple and starts looking at the house numbers. Spotting twenty seven he body begins to quiver and tingle with joy. As much as he hates it he passes the house and drives until he founds a side street. Pulling onto the side street he parks, locks the car and starts back towards the house on Maple Avenue.

                Reaching the house the place looked like a dump. The paint was chipping from all corners of the house and its original color lost to the numerous rain storms. The shutters were one step from gravity taking them the rest of the way to the ground. On the front porch was a faded orange couch with a visible broken frame, and holes bigger than what a buck shot could cause.  The screen door was stuck open with some unidentifiable debris stuffed under it. The front door itself had a slot where a piece steel could be slid to the side to speak through the door, and it had a few bullet dents in it .

                Reaching to knock on the door the steel in the slot flew open and a gruff voice barked “what’s the word.” Stumbling for a second he couldn’t remember the word he was given, but finally he spit it out “Break free.” With that the steel plate slid back into place and the door creaked open.

                Stepping in he found a surprisingly small framed man wearing wire frame glasses with beady little eyes and a pointed nose. His neck was as thin as a pencil and his shoulders slumped forward with an obvious burden on them.  His collared shirt hung loosely and appeared a few sizes too large, and his blue jeans were stained with various substances. Then on his feet he wore sandals exposing his filthy toes. Just seeing this man started to make Lenny’s grandfather start to second guess his choice.

                As the door swung shut shuttering under the added weight of steel a second person stepped out of the shadows. He strode with purpose appearing almost instantly next the man wearing glasses, extended his hand and said “Mr. Murphy welcome.”  Mr. Murphy extended his hand hesitantly to return the shake. The man hand a vise like grip as he shook firmly and released.

                Mr. Murphy nervously said “Thanks for the welcome, and what shall I call you?”

The man replied “You can call me Donald for now, but I have a confusion to make to you as well.”

With a look of panic crossing his face Mr. Murphy said “yes what is it?”

“Well I’m afraid I brought you here under false pretenses. The things we discussed online were only to get you here. I am organizing something big and looking for a few partners, well actually we only need one more to finish the circle I am building. If you want me to lay the plan out for you then I will, and if you want to leave feel free to. There is only one stipulation you can’t hear any part of what this entails without being one hundred percent on board.  That may seem like a steep order but I need it for my protection. I know this is a lot to process so I and my associate are going to step into the other room for a few moments, just call for me when you’re ready. If you decide to leave please inform us so that we can lock up after you are gone.”  And with that the two men disappeared through a door in back corner of the living room.

                Mr. Murphy was feeling faint and dizzy as he half fell onto a chair nearby. He head was spinning from what he had just heard. All he was expecting was to buy a few ounces cocaine and be on his way. Now he had no idea what he might be getting himself into and weather he was actually free to leave or if they were just saying that. Taking a few deep breaths he leaned back in the chair and began to massage his temples, trying to calm the drum in his head. After a few minutes he began to think more clearly.

                He was fifty five years old with a dead wife and stuck with a grandchild he wanted nothing to do with. The only excitement he had in his life was doing lines of cocaine and thinking of ways to punish the child his was stuck with. Pondering this he decided that he would close Donald’s circle for him. In the end he really had nothing to lose.

                With a raised voice Mr. Murphy called to Donald “I have made a decision.” As if he knew that he name was going to be called Donald glided back into the room and took a seat on the couch directly across from Mr. Murphy.

“So Mr. Murphy what have you decided?”

“Well I thought about my life and how boring it has become since my wife died, and also the effort you made to get me here, so I’m in.”

                A smile worked its way to Donald’s lips as he said “I’m glad that you will be joining us Mr. Murphy.”

“I’m glad I am as well. When will I get the details of exactly what we will be doing?”

“Soon enough but not here, that dork that opened the door for you is not part of us he is only hired help and has no idea what we are about. Do you have anything scheduled for the rest of your day? If not then we can take a ride and begin discussing the details and other members of the circle.”

With a chuckle Mr. Murphy said “I am an old man with no wife and a grandchild I don’t want, the only thing I have scheduled is death at some point.”

“Very good then let’s proceed. Leaving here I want to be a little careful, this house used to be a big drug dealers house so I want you to leave then about ten minutes later I will. Meet me at the black Ford Explorer parked two blocks down.”

                Getting up headed for the door Mr. Murphy said “okay I’ll be there.”

                As soon as the door closed Donald engaged the dead bolt lock and headed towards the back room he disappeared into earlier. Pausing by the door he reached into his waist band and drew his nine millimeter. Holding the pistol in front of him he swept low through the door into the room looking left then right. He spotted the glass wearing dork at the far end of the room with an expression of shock on his face. Before the expression could change Donald let two rounds loose, the first catching the man in the middle of the forehead and the second rocking the bridge of his nose. Satisfied that he was dead Ronald pocketed the shell casings and replaced his pistol heading to the door. Walking out the door and headed towards the Explorer he light a match and dropped it on a stream of gasoline that had been laid while he was meeting with Mr. Murphy. As he picked up his pace a little the gas leapt to life and raced towards the house.

                Reaching the Explorer he saw Mr. Murphy waiting as promised. Unlocking the SUV as he walked up he shouted “jump in.”  As soon as Mr. Murphy’s door clicked shut the SUV shot out of the parking spot cutting off a moped and almost colliding with a sedan driving the opposite direction.  Fish tailing around the corner Donald smashed the accelerator so hard Mr. Murphy thought it would go through the floor board. As the sped down the street Mr. Murphy grappled with his seat belt while trying to hold on for dear life. Slamming the brakes the Explorer skidded to a stop, as an eighteen wheeler barreled through the intersection in front of them. “Damn that was close.” Donald cheered as he looked both directions and turned right. Mr. Murphy just stared at him appalled.

                Looking over to Mr. Murphy Donald said “First thing I am going to call you Murphy if that’s okay with you. I hate saying Mr. all the time plus our relationship is not going to be that formal. I’d also like you to call me Don.”

                “That’s not a problem I have been called Murphy all my life. I always hated my first name so I introduced myself as Murphy.”  

“Okay well I’m done driving like a lunatic, you might want to try to get some shut eye we have a long drive. A lot to talk about once we reach our destination, and after the talking is done things will start to move quickly.”

“I’m not sure if I will be able to sleep but I’ll give it a try.” Said Murphy while hitting the recline button on his seat.

                Don glanced over to see how his companion was doing as he veered onto the thruway. Murphy was already sleeping like a baby.

Author's Note

All feedback welcome and thank you in advance.

Reviews

[Rave]

A few comments.
The man replied “You can call me Donald for now, but I have a confusion to make to you as well.”.. I think you meant confession.

'Now he had no idea what he might be getting himself into and weather he was actually free to leave or if they were just saying that.' ... Weather or whether?

"the child his was stuck with.." his...he

Excellent work, the story picked up quickly.

[Brenda Lee Keech]

Well Kevin, you got me wondering what the next chapter has in store. If the book was all written I would find it hard to put down.