Comedic piece
A man sucked on a joint as if it were his last connection with life. He was standing in a corner of the square. Squinting, he stared at the ground and then looked up to the sky, feeling the sensations. She glanced at him while she strode towards a brown brick building. After pressing the intercom, she fixed her hair, her brow furrowed, her bag strap squeezed.
The joint guy stared at her.
She looked the other way and the door opened. As she rode the elevator she felt herself perspiring. The transaction was to be done in silence and she had to take her clothes off. Those were the conditions.
They told her they didn’t want surprises but they could take care of surprises easily.
She was scared when she heard that. Now she was petrified.
But the rage, the rage that just shuts down your goodness, closes off all mercy towards another human being, the rage that some people call “seeing red”. That rage was what she felt. And when she conceived her plan she realised she now knew madness.
She was going to get rid of her cheating gay husband, Alessandro. She would hire an assassin.
Yes, it was her fault for marrying him after only a few weeks of meeting. But he was wonderful, interesting, attentive and Sicilian. He looked manly enough. Who knew what really lay in that pink, beating heart of his? The image of Alessandro with his lover in their own bed would be difficult to erase. That’s why she was going to erase him from this Earth. She pressed the doorbell of apartment 5B. A little man with dark glasses opened immediately. As they settled in the living room, she took a deep breath and did as she was told on the phone.
She unwrapped her wrap-around dress. It seemed to be the wisest choice, easy to put on, easy to take off. Later she put a manila envelope on the table.
The little man took it, checked the contents and nodded. He waved a hand signalling her to put on her clothes. She did so. And then her husband appeared.
She gasped.
What was he doing here?
The little man smiled.
She tried to run to the door.
Alessandro stopped her. They struggled.
She dug a heel on his foot. He howled.
The little man pointed at her with a gun. She raised her hands.
The little man was Alessandro’s boyfriend?
Falmouth is really a small place.
Copyright © 2005 Rocio Grimaldo
