Hello Friend

"Hello friend," says the middle aged man who approaches me with a smile as I slow the car down to the checkpoint that he is manning on the outskirts of town.

"Hello," I say sheepishly as I look at the double barrel in his hands.

"I saw the note -- at the service station," I tell him as he walks around the car to inspect it.

He nods, and then whistles while he reaches the back of the car.  In the rear view mirror I can see that he's looking at the back bumper.

A moment later he returns.

"Long drive?" he says with a subtext that I'm unable to decipher.  My mind starts to whirl as I wonder if there is any blood on the back of the car that might seal my fate.

Not knowing what to do, or how to play my cards I decide to tell him the truth.  In that moment my shoulders begin to heave as I tell him every horrible event.  I crescendo when I get to the part about Mildred, and then crescendo again into an almost inaudible squeak as I hyperventilate through what happened with Annie.

He listens in silence as I try to gasp for air --

I look down the road beyond the checkpoint as the heaving turns into silence.  A moment later I feel the last warm tear roll down my cheek and onto my lap.

The man continues to stare.  When I make eye contact with him he squints his eyes into a sharp piercing glare.

I can tell that he is trying to assess whether or not I'm telling the truth.  A moment later I feel the air shift and watch him swiftly move his right hand towards the trigger.

I hear a click, and so I squint --

bracing --

for what happens next --