SUDDEN DEATH

A Story by Patrick O'Neill

Noble lag, Petersen, gets a second chance to shine after being locked up for D & D -- but will he make it this time with girlfriend Amy?

SUDDEN DEATH

- Petersen, 190401!

- Sir!

Petersen stood to attention by his bed clicking his heels.

- Here!

The warden threw him his clothes.

- You’re outta here! You’re free to go!

He stepped outside the gates into the brilliant sunshine. He stood there for a moment taking it all in. It was a beautiful day - the sun shone brightly, birds chattered in the trees.

Moments like these it feels good to be alive, he thought.

He’d not decided yet whether to stay or leave. He’d have to talk to the girl.

To stay alive in prison you had to concentrate on the moment.

He stood there in the sunlight and closed his eyes, rocking backwards and forwards on his heels, the soft breeze caressing his face, thinking about how they'd moved here in the first place.

Two years earlier, he was determined to make a fresh start. Bought a boating business from a friend at a knockdown price. His friend forgot to mention the debts.

They arrived on a hot afternoon. The girl helped him unload the truck.

He fell in love with the place from the start. The jetty jutted out into a remote lake in a quiet corner of the country, hidden from view by the bull rushes that covered the entire area. You got to it by a back road through the marshes. It reminded him of his childhood, chasing the neighbourhood kids by the shore.

Eyes closed, he could hear their screams. There was one fair-haired one he’d always fancied. She was his girl. He still couldn’t remember her name. He tracked it now in the dark pool of his mind and saw it swim lazily away into the shadows - let it go. Then his father got a job in the city. They moved. He never saw his friends again.

The business failed. When the Peabody man came to shut him down he was out of town. They turned the place into an eyesore overnight, locked up the front gates, stuck razor wire on the fences, banged notices up all over the place – ‘Property of the Peabody Company! Keep out!’

He was furious when he saw it. Raced into town, gunning through the gears all the way. He was drunk by six. He charged round the house, shouting, swearing at the woman, pushing past her into the garage, grabbing the gasoline. He rushed out, smashed the place up, swearing blindly.

- Dirty sons of b*****s! Don’t they know who I am?!

Lights snapped on all round the bay.

He doused the pier in gas, lit it, blew it up.

He just about jumped in time.

They pulled him from the water spitting, sobered.

He was hauled before the beak next morning. They gave him six months for drunk and disorderly. His lawyer advised him not to appeal.

The horn blared. His eyes opened. He looked around. Amy!

- Hi!

She waved back at him.

- How are you?

- Fine! And you?

She laughed.

- Fine ………. now.

She pushed the car door open towards him. They drove to a motel. Made love the whole afternoon.

- We need groceries, she said.

Pushing her arms behind her head on the board exposing her bare underarms.

- I’ll do it, he said.

He lay there with his head on her belly enjoying a feeling of peace he’d not known for a long time.

He wanted to forget the nightmare of the past; the whole thing was a mess. They’d given it a good try and it hadn’t worked out, it was time to move on. But he still couldn’t get the jetty from his mind.

- Back soon, he said.

He leaned across, kissed her softly on the lips.

Walked from the room to the car.

As he drove back from the store he’d made up his mind.

They were leaving.

He raced through the lush countryside eager to get back to the girl.

He glorified in the sensation of the wind on his face, tilting his head towards the sun, he closed his eyes for an instant, saw her smiling image before him.

He didn’t know much about the truck when it hit. It was a cornflower blue Chevrolet with a thick silver side stripe, towing a one hundred and eighty foot yacht behind it. ‘Property of the Peabody Company’ the plaque read on the side, ‘Keep out!’

He ploughed straight into it, dieing instantly.

The Peabody Company jetty stood half a mile from the crash.

It wore a sinister aspect in the fading light. The barbed wire fence loomed out menacingly against the horizon. The waves slapped greedily against the charred timbers below. A thin spiral of smoke rose from the adjacent road. Apart from the noise of burning everything was still.