IT'S ALL RELATIVE

I hope I didn't post this one before; if I did, I hope everyone's forgotten it.

“Please don’t kill me,” the man begged. “I’ve got a wife…kids…I won’t tell anybody…”

 

     “You sure won’t,” Camden said, and fired.

 

     Now there were five corpses on the floor, and Camden had one bullet left for anyone who came nosing around. He killed people; that’s how he worked--never left witnesses. Women and children were like anybody else. If they got in the way they were dead.

 

     Camden rifled the desk drawers and was disappointed. There was probably money in the safe, but he didn’t have time for that now. He went through the pockets of the men he’d shot and was disappointed again. What am I going to do with credit cards? Doesn’t anybody pay cash these days? He could have taken the meth, but he didn’t use, didn’t sell and didn’t know dealers. He stole valuables and killed if he had to. That’s what he did. Now he had to kill Sylvan.

 

     Sylvan had told him about this lab (not as a tip but in casual barroom conversation--he’d been too drunk at the time to know what he was doing). It’s a small operation, but real sweet…easy…

 

     Well it hadn’t been either, and when Sylvan read the morning headlines about a meth lab and five corpses, he’d know who did it. And he’d talk; he couldn’t help talking.

 

     Sylvan wasn’t at home, and he wasn’t at his girlfriend’s apartment. He wasn’t at Casa Rosa or the Blowout. I’ll get him tomorrow, Camden decided, before he has a chance to sober up.

 

     He didn’t have to, though. When he started his search the next morning Camden discovered that Sylvan’s body had been pulled from the Brazos River, a bullet through his head.

 

     Good f*****g deal, Camden said to himself. Saves me the trouble.

 

     But now he had to find something  more lucrative.

 

    There was an easy looking bank on South Main, but Camden didn’t like banks.  Guards, too many people, silent alarms. Convenience stores weren’t worthwhile. How about the Dominion? It was a rich, gated community, and he’d hit it once before. Maybe he should do it again.

 

     Camden went to his computer and pulled up a list of family names that weren’t supposed to be published anywhere. Albertson…Bazaldua…Carstairs…Cartier…

 

     Cartier. That name sounded familiar, but Camden couldn’t quite place it. However, that would be as good as any.

 

     Killing the guard and getting through the gate was no problem; nor was cutting the alarm and bypassing the lock. The problem started when Camden entered the house and found himself facing a small boy standing behind a big gun. He pulled out his own weapon and began raising it. “Put that away Kid. Before you hurt yourself.”

 

     “I’m not the one who’s going to get hurt.” Suddenly Camden’s right hand exploded in pain and his gun went flying. “Don’t call me Kid. My name is Johnny. You killed my uncle.”

 

     Sylvan. Sylvan Cartier. Of course. That’s why the name had sounded familiar. “I knew your uncle, yeah. But I didn’t kill him.”

 

     The gun didn’t waver. “My Uncle Sylvan taught me everything. He told me everything about you, and he was afraid for his life. He told me to get ready, because you might come here. So I did.”

 

     Camden swallowed, licked his lips. He’d never been on the wrong end of a weapon before. “Honest to God--I didn’t kill your uncle.”

 

     “Maybe not. But he’s dead, and someone has to pay for his life. It might as well be you.”

 

     “Please J-Johnny,” Camden begged. “I’ve got a wife…children…” And those were the last words he ever spoke.

 

     Johnny looked down at Camden’s dead body and felt a pleasure he’d never known before. His first corpse. But not his last.

 

    

Reviews

[steve]

That was really satisfying to read. A real page turner. You are certainly good at what you do, so my hat off to you.

[Taylor]

Wow! Good, tight story with crisp, efficient movement. I love the irony of it all and the perfect what goes around, comes around twist. Ugh, I have the chills!

[Marie]

Thanks. I didn't know, when I started writing this, that Camden was going to end up shot by a little boy, though I realized something pretty bad was going to happen to him.

[Woody]

I haven't seen this one before. solid storytelling. it's like a miniature detective story.
it could very well be the beginning of a longer story.
excellent at any rate.

[Marie]

Thanks. I've posted work here and then deleted it, and I don't always remember what's new and what isn't. As always, with my short pieces, this is complete whithin itself.

[Helen Crutchett]

I enjoyed this very engaging story Marie. Your stories are always top=class in content and in grammer, punctuation etc. What a joy to see a perfect piece of composition.

P.S. I bet you were a school teacher!

Kindest regards,

Helena :)

[Marie]

Thanks Helena. Coming from so gifted a writer as yourself, this is high praise. I was never a school teacher, but I did teach Special Ed.

[Helen Crutchett]

Thought so Marie! I have been away too long from the Cafe and writing. Trying to catch up for lost time!

Hope you are well,

Cheers,

Helena :)

[Jimmy Yetts]

Bad guy dies; another bad guy is born. (Nature's way, apparently, of insuring an "arms balance.")
Always a pleasure to see a killer get his; now, we begin the "Johnny watch."
Your stories, Marie, always greatly entertain and well gratify--something, it seems to me, in which you can take great pride.
Thoroughly enjoyed the read!

[Marie]

Thank you. It's a little too violent for my taste--I think I counted seven corpses by the end of the story.