That night, Simon found sleep more inviting than ever before. When he had returned to the 'hideout', successfuly, he had been bombarded by question after question from the yearning-for-excitement Taylor. Too emotionally shook up to have any desire whatsoever to answer all of them, Simon waved them off & apologetically told Taylor that all he wanted to do was crawl under the covers for awhile.
And that he had.
Sleep, however, had not come easy. He changed positions several times, would lay still for a few minutes, and flop over again. He tried to match the deep-breathing of Taylor in mid-slumber, but only found his heartbeat quickening with tension. Eventually, after hours of restlessness, Simon dozed off only to be met with a nightmare.
It started out like the past evening had... The trip to the edge of Tulsa & creeping towards the convenience store. Simon hesitantly pushed open one of the glass & metal doors, keeping his eyes low. With his hands in his pockets, he meandered over to a magazine rack as casually as he could, considering he was shaking from head to toe. He flipped through a few magazines... They could have been Playboy & Teen Beat for all of the attention he paid. After a few minutes & still no other customers in sight, Simon grabbed a package of Skittles & headed for the cashier counter.
The woman working looked to be in her mid-to-late 60s, with curly grey hair, reading glasses perched atop her head, and a small plastic pin-on name-tag revealing her name as 'Margaret Rhine'. Simon found this scenario rather odd... A senior citizen working alone in a convenience store. He pushed the thoughts away & focused on the task at hand, figuring she was most likely a relative of a younger store-owner.
"Will this be all?" she asked, flashing him a small, sweet smile which did nothing to ease Simon's guilty conscience.
Simon came incredibly close to skipping out right then, stopped only by fear of Clayton. Instead, he combined all of the courage he could muster & shook his head,"No."
"Well, what else would you like me to help you with, Sonny?"
"I... I... Gi-ive me all your money!" Simon said, his trembling voice matching his hand which now displayed the handgun.
'Margaret Rhine' gasped in shock, her hand drawn to her heart.
"Please... Don't shoot me! I've got my grand-babies to take of care of! Please!!" she pleaded as she began fumbling with the cash register. A small wave of relief waved over Simon. It was almost over.
Or so he thought.
At that moment, he heard the bells above the store's doors tingling, a sign that someone had entered. He heard the person give a cry of fear at the sight of his gun.
"What the hell are you doing???" the voice, a females, exclaimed full of both panic & indignation.
"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?"
Simon still refrained from turning around to face her. He was too concerned about the store clerk, whose face was so drawn & hands were so shaky that she looked as though she could suffer a massive heart attack at any time.
"Smart ass huh?" The voice continued, toughening up,"Well it's a damned good thing I have my trusty cell phone with me.. and that 9-1-1 is such a damned easy number to remember."
Simon's breath caught as he heard the melodic sounds as she dialed each number... 9 -beep- 1 -beep 1 -beep-
"Hello? I'd like to report a burglary in progress. The suspect is wearing-"
Simon couldn't believe this... If he didn't get out of here soon he knew he'd be spending the night in a jail cell. Keeping his head low once again, he turned & ran towards the door, trying to brush past the girl.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not so fast," she said, holding him back with surprising strength for her small frame.
"But, but-" Simon sputtered. He was being held in the custody of a girl. An unarmed one, at that. I'm such an asshole... he thought.
Seconds later, police sirens could be heard in the near distance. Simon once again tried to get past the girl, who had now locked the door & was standing in front of the lock with a no-bullshit look on her face.
A clamor was heard from the back storage room.
...The police were trying to get in through the rear entrance... Simon thought... Fuck this.
"Let me out of here, damn you!"
"Or what?" the girl replied, hands on her hips.
"Or I'll... use this!" Simon bellowed, taking his gun and flashing it in front of her face.
"Oh no you wouldn't. You haven't got the balls to shoot me," she taunted. Suddenly, she looked sharply to the left of Simon's shoulder. He turned abruptly as well, only to hear gruff voices coming from the back room. Next, a door was knocked open & two armed police officers ordered Simon to freeze.
In a last-ditch attempt, Simon spun around, & dashed for the door. Only when he was outside in the cool night air did he realize what he had done.
The barrel of his gun was warm.
In the split-second before running, he turned and saw the girl, now sprawled lifelessly on the floor at the base of the clear-glass door.
Though her face was splattered with blood gushing from the right side of her forehead, Simon had no trouble recognizing her.
His best friend of the past few months... The one person he felt he could trust.
It was his Amalia.
Simon woke in a cold sweat, which was a common occurance as of late.
He would spend the rest of the night in a mental & physical tug of war. His body desperately needed sleep, but his mind was nowhere near restful peace.
~Chapter 35~
~Chapter 33~
~Chapter Index~
~Home~
