Piggott Arkansas

ONE LAST TEAR TO SHED.....INSERT ONE………
‘I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. It was like I was in a world that was twirling and sucking me in it except that I was only in one place--The comfort of my room clutching the tips of my blankets as my finger nails dug deep into the beddings. What was happening? It was like I was reliving a moment…wait….I was, wasn’t I? Blink……
Uproar!!! The car’s rumbling engine took over as the sounds of a woman I’d known almost my entire life to come to believe could’ve possibly been, if only it were the case, tied to me by blood was screaming her lungs out at me but gripping the steering wheel eyes fixed on the stern ahead, I chose to drain out her shouts and stepped on the gas. The car rumbled and never in my wildest imaginations had I ever pictured myself taking the most daring move to drive off a moving ship all in the name of ending it all for the best of us…. The both of us… The smashing came and the splintering of wood breaking from the main ship’s body, the wheels of my ride rolling in mid-air, a moment where even the sound of my best friend’s cries were inaudible, my heart’s thumping being the only sound I could hear besides the seemingly faint revving engine of the car…….
Ka sploosh! The water was everywhere as the car dived in bonnet first into the river and like all had stopped…. Everything went blank…. I don’t know why I acted so irrational but amidst the turmoil, I saw her face, her calm somewhat radiant face gazing back at me; eyes so calm with her hand on mine clutching the gear. Her sweet words echoing like smooth melody despite the situation appearing far beyond than surreal…
“Open the doors”, she echoed in my ears before…….’
“Ahhhhh!” the woman woke up with a start looking at the shady room she was in, a clock had been ticking and her mind seemed rather slow to process whatever was happening. Her hands, running through her sweaty nightie, felt the constant throbbing of her heart, eyes uneasy landing on every corner of the room as if still battling the reality before her. Was it all real? “What a nightmare!” she muttered shaking the thoughts from her head stepping out of bed to look herself in the mirror of the room she was in, raffled hair that came in between her eyes--sullen, soft eyes as she ran her hand through her long hair…..
“What’s happening to me?” she asked herself literally.
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“You are free to go”, came the voice of the usual daily routine officer clanging the burglar bars with his metallic rod, eyes stern, face as solemn as it possibly could’ve been for the only man that was at least kind enough to show me some love in a place like that…..
“Get up”, he said tossing a pile of clothes for me through the bars and though seeming to have been lying on my pillow cuddling on the floor, in my jailbird overalls, I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant.
“Huh?”, I asked blankly, focussing my sight on him, peering at his tall masculine figure towering me from the place I lay on from which he stood the only barrier being the cell, “What are you talking about?” I questioned eying him with puzzlement written all over my face.
The man didn’t say a word but response came with the unlocking of the prison cell and with palms cupped together, swaying his head towards the free route he had come in from, he said soberly the same thing, ‘You are free to go’.
Unpacking my things, the officer went dropping everything, my phone that dad had managed to convince the chief officer in charge to keep for times he wished to speak with me for strange enough that part of Mukobeko Prison was rougher than the usual. I didn’t know if the officers were only plain mean trying to act tough or what but besides visiting hours, nothing was there that allowed a man dressed in uniform to let a convict like me make phone calls to anyone.
“You are here to become a better citizen and with the remorse you will have considering how much time you young lady will have to spend here, you just have to learn it the hard way”, the top chief of officers had said coldly the first day I was brought in after my sentence to ten years imprisonment, eying me like the convict I was, “You will firstly crack in here before you get to contact the outside world”, he muttered with hatred, “No phone calls for you!!” he’d yelled slamming my cell leaving me with other wicked women that gloated whilst I crawled to my corner and cried my heart out…my first day was going to be horrible…days of heartache I felt seemed to ensue one after the other as time seemed to elapse slowly but progressively until a shimmer of light came in form of a pastor with the Word of God in hand, him smiling like in me he saw winning a lost soul.
“Your Bible”, the officer said to me looking at me almost shocked that in the past two years I had been in jail I’d changed thus much to study the Word. He smiled dropping the Bible in the brown paper bag and went, “You’ve been cleared of all the charges that had been pressed against you and all you have to do is meet senior officer Livuma to give you your release papers”, officer Chemba said for he did have a name after all, kind soul. Wondered what would’ve become of me back in there hadn’t it not been for his caring and kindness towards me, an inmate I had been deserving what was my fate to live with.
“Rebecca Chishima”, the man began gruffly, “Concerning all that had been charged against you and rendered you guilty by both the judge and jury concerning article 324 of the human rights documentation, but now having been pardoned for portray of sincere decency and discipline”, the same officer who’d thrown me in jail two years ago spoke gruffly eying me, his former prisoner, “I say that you are free. Be a good citizen and go live a life that this society deserves and wishes to see in you”, he signed the papers and two policemen came to escort me, dressed in my own clothes, clutching tight the brown paper bag containing my belongings; Slowly led outside with the company of the two behind me, the door flung open and into the open daylight with the sun’s rays to my face as I peered at the partly cloudily hidden sun the song that sung to my soul sweet freedom…..freedom…..’ wedding
Open-up, the rambling man behind the door on the outside snapped Rebecca from her reverie and for the first time she came to her senses. Where was she? A rented apartment? Probably. Oh, how much she’d missed Vanesa, her family, her dad especially, there was so much to say. Who would believe that she would get set out of jail pardoning her decade sentence she’d been charged for attempted murder?
“Are you deaf?” came the sound of the man banging on the door, “Open this door before I break it!” he warned gritting his teeth.
“Coming”, panicked Rebeca, “Argh, pestering landlord”, she said in her breath looking for something to wrap herself in and luckily found a towel but some old and beaten up rack. Wrapping herself up whilst taking a glance at the alarm clock it was only quarter past seven pm in the evening. Must have been really tired she’d, thought. The constant banging went on for a while only seconds later as she’d tied her hair into a bun, when she’d found something to tie with on the cabinet, that she heard retreating footsteps. Fumbling in a brown paper bag that seemed to belong her for her phone and other things were in there she found herself feeling on something rather odd, strange to be in there but none the less unfamiliar as she pulled out a 3.6 inched, master piece, revolver black with a shiny trigger….
Time froze…her heart seemed to have lost its beat as her eyes locked on the gun, and checking the drawers she found tons of bullets in their packets, what was going on?
“Hey!” bellowed the same man outside scaring Rebecca who nearly dropped the gun, “I will split this door in half in you don’t step out this instant!” he warned.
“I’m coming, I’m coming”, replied panicky Rebecca trying to dispose of the gun only placing it back in the bag on the cabinet and cautiously walked to the door contemplating opening but she feared the man’s actions. The key turned and she held the knob opening the door ajar giving before briefly taking in the looks of a tall built up man with shaggy clothing passing for a jacket and a big rough face he had, unkempt beard too, she swallowed hard, “Are you my landlord? Rent is due?” she asked in her most daring state of mind.
The man stifled a laugh as if he’d heard the dumbest thing, “No, I’m your bank manager here to claim the money you owe the bank concerning overdue loans and account charges” he said ironically instead.
“Huh?” Rebecca asked looking lost, “I beg your pardon but what?”
“I see she’s finally up”, came a sinister voice of a man wiping the barrel of a 2.4 inched pistol, snarling as he passed by them heading down the stairs hardly stopping for a minute and disappeared.
Rebecca was scared now, “Who are you people and what am I doing here? How did I get here?”
“What do you think?” the man said as a smile popped up, “We got you here nice and swiftly”.
“But I was released from jail a couple days ago if my memory saves me right. How did I land into your captivity shortly after being granted my early freedom of my ten years imprisonment of attempted murder?”
There came a trail of laughter from men that were coming up the stairs, beady eyes on the woman that was getting uncomfortable and the only big man in her way folded his arms pulling a cigar from his pocket and lit it proudly in her face.
“Woman. I don’t know what you are mumbling about for last time I checked we got you out of there ourselves and you’ve got to be thankful for that”, the man said enjoying the panic that was about to break forth.
“I don’t get you”, spoke Rebecca backing away from the door but the man held her hand firmly pulling her back to him getting her more frightened than she already was.
“Let me make it clear for you”, a cloud drifted in her face, “We busted you of jail. That’s what happened”, he said proudly with eyes wild but with resonance like he was enjoying every bit of the moment whilst the woman’s face went pale, “Congrats, you are now a wanted ex-convict, Rebeca”.
My name seemed to have echoed in my ears far longer than usual…. Rebecca, Rebecca… then came swooning feeling beyond my state of mind as if in an instant, I was back to that fateful day, that day I vanquished over my seemingly unending feud with her…Vanesa……
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………TWO YEARS AGO……….
“I still love him!!!” stormed Rebecca.
“But he’s married to Isabel. Why did you let her marry him if you wanted him for yourself?” Vanesa inquired.
“I couldn’t stop him from being happy”, Rebecca confessed, “He would never have loved me still. Not after what he had been with you, what I made him believe, he would never have settled for me not when I was your best friend. I knew he could never do that to you. So, I let him marry another woman”.
“And what did you possibly gain? You still lost the man as well in the end!!” Erik yelled before he was chastised by the men holding him by the arms, “You still lost!!!”
“No”, Rebecca denied, “We both lost him and I was willing to make Vanesa suffer a lot more after that to ensure that she knew how angry I was at her. If I couldn’t have him then neither could she”.
“You are indeed a monster”, Erik admitted, “You ruined a friendship like you cared nothing for Vanesa!”
“It’s her fault. I did what I had to do and I will still do what I have to do. Making sure that she never sees her son!”
Cupping her hands, “Rebecca. I’m sorry. Please spare my little boy. Don’t hurt him. Where’s he?” she asked in a plea.
“I won’t hurt him like before I will only separate him from you. He’s not here”, Rebecca said sighing, “I think have enough. Blood ties, family, argh!!!” she snarled, “Let’s see what you are made of”, she began moving her fingers about the trigger, “They say blood is thicker than water”, she smiled, “Let’s see how thick your blood is Vanesa!!!!” She roared firing at her friend.
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………TWO YEARS AGO, BEFORE CAPTURE BY THE POLICE………
“Kindly fasten your seatbelt please”, Rebecca spoke lowly.
“No”, declined Vanesa shaking the locked door’s handle, “Let me out…. I need to get out”.
“You are not going out Vanesa”, Rebecca said making the car roar more, “We aren’t going out”.
“No”, Vanesa began to weep, “What do you mean by that? Rebecca please open the door”.
“I’m not going to do that”, Rebecca declined as tears fell down her cheeks, “I’m sorry”.
“Rebecca please….” Begged Vanesa.
“I said fasten your seatbelt!” Rebecca spoke loudly scaring her friend who hurriedly did as she ordered her to, “Thank you”. She said holding the gear and Vanesa gazed at her with shiny eyes, “Hang tight”.
“What? What are you doing?” Vanesa inquired still, putting her hand on top Rebecca’s that held the gear, “What are you doing?” she had a bad feeling about it.
“Ending it for the both of us. It’s the only way this will end between us”, she replied.
Vanesa wept, “No, Rebecca”, she shook her head profusely, “Please don’t do it”.
“We are sisters, bond by blood or not we are still sisters”, Rebecca said strongly and weepily. She put the gear in drive and rolling the tyres went, startling the captain of the ship the car roared and took off at high speed with Rebecca driving nonstop heading for the stern, “Brace yourself”.
“Rebeccccccaaaaaaa”, Vanesa cried aloud with a wild face, “No!!!”

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I couldn’t fathom whatever this all meant…it was strange…weird yet I kept seeing her face…that same bright face in the two years I’d been behind bars that kept radiating and shining at me and then there was her five-year old son, that cute little boy I tried previously to take away from her. Ephraim was really grown holding his little sister’s tiny hand, Blessings.
“What are you doing here?” Vanesa asked with a face as white as snow, astonishment took over and as expected she was as flabbergasted as I was about my sudden release from jail. Her hand ran to her back, fingers locking on strands of her thick Peruvian weave, “But, but how did you get out?” she asked clasping Ephraim by the shoulder as he stood right in front of her and me.
I clapped my hands swaying, “Trust me I have no idea either”, I smiled lightly, “I was a well-behaved girl so they said hence my getting out of jail this early”.
“You lie”, laughed Vanesa whilst rubbing her son’s shoulders, “You’re serious?” she said whilst handing over the little girl some fruit juice in a baby cup and carried her in to her arms placing the little girl on the side waist sipping from her cup of juice.
“Believe you me that’s the only truth around”, I said tucking my hands in my skinny jeans smiling, glad to be free and finally rid of the old rags I was previously forced to wear. My eyes strayed about Vanesa’s kitchen and I could tell that she’d done some redecorating besides the kindergarten drawings of little Ephraim and Blessings pinned to the fridge door by letter magnets. Ephraim, he’d changed so much since the last I saw him even though it was only a couple weeks in count. Probably my mind registered it to have been a year. I turned my eyes to him and he smiled to me, that innocent kind of smile that melted my heart away.
“Are you staying? For dinner?” Vanesa asked with a radiant look that was heart-warming.
I smiled a nonchalant smile, “Why not?”
“It’s great to have you back……Rebecca……..”
********************
Rebecca felt a jerking feeling pull her back to present time gripping her sweaty clothing as she abruptly woke up eyes shooting like wild arrows, coming to lock them with the same intimidating man that had been first at welcoming her that evening.
“What happened?” Rebecca asked attempting to sit up straight for she’d been lying on a couch the whole time but felt weak and slightly dizzy, wondering why, “How did I get to the living room?”
The man smiled deviously, “Well”, he said hardly sparing her a look seeming to be carving a wooden creature with a knife and other tools, “You fainted”.