A Wedge Between Pt. 5 (Final Chapter)

A Wedge Between Pt. 1

A Wedge Between Pt. 2

A Wedge Between Pt. 3

A Wedge Between Pt. 4

“What are you doing here?” Stodler asked.

“My private dick saw everything and I thought I could help” she answered, feeling victorious. “Is the old man really dead?”

“I don’t know, but I think so” he answered.

“And the dumb bitch? Looks like you haven’t taken care of her yet.”

The last sentence hit Stodler like a ton of bricks. He realized just then that Isabel was a problem that had to be dealt with.

“Isa, honey” Stodler kneeled down and took her hand. “We’re gonna get through this, right? You can be quiet about this?”

Isabel snapped out of her catatonic like state, turned her head to Stodler and said “Fuck you, you’re gonna rot in jail” She tried to pull her hand away to stand up but Stodler tightened his grip.

“No, my love, it can’t be like that. I’m sorry”

Isabel let out a shrill scream that was cut short. Blood sprayed the wall behind her. She slumped over. Stodler turned to see a smoking, silenced .40 caliber in the dectective’s hand.

“This is gonna cost you, miss” the detective said to Amanda.

“I’m good for it, besides, the bill is only going to get bigger. I’m going to need you to clean this up” Amanda replied.

“Consider it done” the detective said.

Stodler was relieved. He had seen his future come to an end only to have it resurrected by the hand of the detective. Stodler and Amanda ending up dating. Amanda eventually threw Stodler away when she became bored with him. Stodler was none the happier, he was with her more out of self-preservation anyhow. In the years after the incident, Stodler graduated top of his class and enjoyed a successful career in politics. In two decades he ran for a Senate seat. He won.

A Wedge Between Pt. 4

A Wedge Between Pt. I

A Wedge Between Pt. 2

A Wedge Between Pt. 3

“What have you done?” Isabel cried.

“I dunno…I went blank. I wasn’t in control” Stodler answered.

“We have to call an ambulance, the pol…” she said before Stodler interjected.

“NO! We have to figure this out first” he said, visibly shaking all over.

“What’s there to figure out? My father needs help!” she barely got the words out through heavy sobs. She knew her father was beyond help and she saw Stodler through different eyes. He was a monster to her now.

“This can really fuck everything up I’ve worked for, so far” he said.

“What are you even saying?” she said as she reached for her cell phone. Stodler promptly slapped it out of her hand.

“Let’s calm the fuck down here. We can take care of this. Together. I hope.” Stodler started to become eerily calm.

Isabel could only cower. She was truly afraid of Stodler. She was now looking for a way out of this alive.

“He was going to ruin us anyway. This is for the better. We can hide the body. Nobody will know” Stodler said with a wild look in his eyes.

“Monster! Who are you?” Isabel shrieked, snapping out of her trance.

Just then an Audi pulled up and immediately turned off the headlights. A pretty young woman and a balding man with a pot belly got out. The man was so sloppy about concealing his weapon, the hand grip of his .40 caliber Glock was showing above his waistline.

Stodler went to the window to see who arrived. “What the hell?” was all that he could mutter. The new arrivals didn’t even get to knock on the door, Stodler opened it before knuckles made contact with the wood.

“I bet your glad to see me” the woman said. She surveyed the room. She saw a broken table, a dead man and an almost catatonic woman on the floor.

“I haven’t seen you since high school” Stodler said, searching his mental data base for a name. He finally came up with one, “Amanda?!”

 

A Wedge Between Pt. 5

 

 

A Wedge Between Pt. 3

A Wedge Between Pt. I

A Wedge Between Pt. 2

 

Mr. Decker’s driver raced up I-95 towards Providence. He kept repeating to himself “That girl will be the death of me”. He was too intoxicated with rage to take in the familiar sights along the way. He compulsively opened his phone to look at the disgusting pictures of his little girl in compromising positions with a plebian. The pictures were sent by an anonymous “concerned individual”.

Landmarks that lined the road, unmovable like boulders on the bank of a river, passed in a blur until the car finally slowed to a stop.

“Shall I wait here, sir?” the driver asked.

“No, go to town. Have a coffee. I shall ring you when I am ready” Mr. Decker replied.

“As you wish sir”

Mr. Decker knocked on the door and a handsome you man, wearing nothing but basketball shorts answered.

“Hello, can I help you?” the athletically built, polite youth asked.

“Are you Frank Stodler?” Mr. Decker asked.

“Yes I…” Stodler answered but was cut off.

“Daddy?” a voice cried from within the small house.

“Isabel?” he answered.

“Uh, excuse me, what’s going on here?” Stodler asked when in fact he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

The well-dressed elderly man pushed Stodler in the chest. He was deceivingly strong. Stodler fell back, stumbled and hit his head on an Ikea end table that broke to pieces immediately. Stodler’s world went black with hints of red in a fit of rage. The only things he saw were the objects in his immediate focus. His anger had cut off his peripheral vision.

Stodler was abused his whole childhood. His state appointed counselor posited that it was the source of the fire that drove him to succeed. Though he worked hard to try to eliminate these demons, they were only weakened and could still be triggered and triggered he was.

Before standing up he grabbed a piece of the broken end table and went straight at Mr. Decker. He unleashed years of pent up fury on the gentleman. The piece of wood fell upon her fallen father with such speed and ferocity that Isabel stood frozen in time and space.

To be continued…

 

A Wedge Between Pt. 4

A Wedge Between Pt. 1

Frank Stodler, mostly known as just Stodler, met Isabel during his first week of attending Brown University. Isabel’s family tree has roots that burrow into Brown’s soil before the Civil War. Stodler, on the other hand, was the first in his family to go to college. Isabel came from a long line of money and privilege. Stodler came from a long line of poverty and struggle.

Stodler was able to go to Brown due to a generous benefactor from his home town. Every year, the benefactor choose one extraordinary and needy student and paid for four years of college. This year his generosity would be tested. Brown is much more expensive than the usual state schools or community colleges he was used to paying for.

Stodler fell in love with Isabel the moment he saw her. He left their first meeting floating in thin air, getting a boost higher every time he mouthed her name  “I S A B E L ”. The name echoed in his head. The best or worst part, depending on the point of view, was that this was his first time in love.

As months passed by, their relationship progressed. Isabel fell just as hard for Stodler as he had for her. They were practically inseparable. They only parted when Isabel spent time with her friends and family. She told Stodler a healthy relationship needed some separation to flourish. The separation that Isabel required grew so radical that Stodler became suspicious.

Stodler’s suspicions were somewhat confirmed. Though he thought Isabel was ashamed of his social status, she really wasn’t, but word of their romantic bond could never be heard by her father. Her father wouldn’t accept her dating anything less than a future senator; and even that was aiming low in his estimation.

One afternoon Isabel’s treachery was discovered. She explained herself to Stodler. He took it well. In fact, knowing that they would have to be a little sneaky excited Stodler. He took pride in knowing he was “sticking it to the man” while “giving it to his daughter”. Little did he know, he was playing with fire.

To be continued….

A Wedge Between Pt. 2

A Wedge Between Pt. 3

A Wedge Between Pt. 4

 

Dirty Work

“It´s hard to pay the bills sometimes” Sheila said as she nervously puffed a cigarette and stared out of the window at nothing and everything at the same time. “You got to do what you got to do sometimes”

“Aren´t you ashamed of yourself?” Beth asked. She had just found out Sheila´s secret font of income.

“No!” Sheila said turning her head and fixing her gaze at Beth. “Not for one second”

“Calm down, Sheila. I am not saying that you should be. I am just asking as a friend”

“Well, stop asking. I don´t want to talk about it” Sheila said as she freed another cigarette from the pack and lit it with the burning filter of the last one. “What the fuck were you doing there in the first place?”

“I go there sometimes. That´s all” Beth said, now feeling the spot light of shame shining on her. “Listen, we all do things for money that we are not proud of sometimes. It´s ok.”

“No, we don´t! There are many people in this world that do not even have to do anything to get stuff. They were just born with stuff. They do not have to humiliate themselves ever and they even get to live better than those who do!” Sheila said now crying.

“Listen, Sheila, that´s life. Some people are born with everything, some are born with nothing. Some are born healthy, some are born dead! That´s just the way it goes. It is what it is” Beth stopped when she realized she sounded like a cliché reproducing robot.

“Well I was not born to greet people as they come into Wal-mart!” Sheila said, her eyes now furiously pouring tears.

 

On The Outside Looking In (Pt. 4) Final Episode

Link to part 1: http://goo.gl/xig689

Link to part 2: http://goo.gl/aLWd5f

Link to part 3: http://goo.gl/tU4H8F

 

As night fell and the two men sat waiting to be called. The driver´s legs were cramped and he could not find a comfortable position to sit. Makmood had no legs and was perfectly comfortable lying on a stone bench.

A single guard entered the courtyard and the driver poked Makmood until he woke.

“The sheik would like to see the two men who saved his life at once” the guard softly said.

“Yes, sir” Makmood said enthusiastically.

“Yes, sir” the driver said with little emotion.

The two men made their way to where the sheik was recuperating. He was propped up on silk pillows. A thin silk sheet was pulled up to mid torso exposing his powerful upper body. He did not look like a man who earlier that day was close to death.

The two men waited at the door waiting for the sheik to invite them in. He waved them in.

“Good evening gentlemen” the sheik said.

With heads bowed and their stares fixed upon the floor, in unison they repeated, “Good evening”

“You may feel at ease, gentlemen. No formalities during this encounter” The sheik said.

“As you wish” said the driver without lifting his head or glance.

Makmood, waist high to the driver, looked the sheik in the eyes, scooted towards him and offered both hands. A guard stood at attention but the sheik waved him off.

Makmood took the right hand of the sheik into his and said “It it a great honor to have ridden upon the same cart as you”

“Surely it was only an honor after you had found out who I was” the sheik said.

“No, sir, it is a privilege of God to be put in situations where one can be of service to their fellow man. The more dire need of your service, the greater the honor. I was blessed today”

The three stayed in silence for a moment. A tear rolled down the sheik´s eye. “Guard, please leave us alone”

“But, sir…..” the guard protested.

The sheik shot a glance back at the guard that was more piercing than the sword he had taken in the thigh during battle. “Yes sir” he acquiesced.

As the door shut the demeanor of the sheik changed. His warmth evaporated. His expression almost mean.

“You two will have to leave the territory immediately. You cannot even go home to you holes in the mountain. You will have an escort to the limits of the province, about two days travel away” the sheik said.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Makmood asked. The driver was paralyzed with fear.

“You are lucky. Everybody else involved will not breathe another breath after sun rise today” the sheik said, looking out the window at the full moon.

“Why?” Makmood asked with little signs of emotion.

“You found me and exposed my shame. I had drunk poison and was trying to make my way to the caves. I wanted to die in a cave. I miscalculated and must have passed out on the road. How far was I from the caves?” he asked.

“Not so far” Makmood said. “May I be so bold as to ask why you would do such a thing?”

“Yes” the sheik said and sat in silence before offering his answer. “Animals, when they can, often go into the woods to die. I, wanted to go into the home of the animals to die. No offense” he meant that. He only realized what he said could be construed as offense after the last word had left his mouth.

“Non taken” Makmood said. The driver, still paralyzed.

“As a boy I watched the fires burn in the holes in the mountains from the palace. I would invent stories in my head about what was happening at that moment. As an adolescent, I even wrote some of these stories down. It was the only time I didn´t feel bad” he suddenly stopped talking and looked away, though there was a feeling in the air that there was much more to be said. He looked back just to say “You must leave immediately. I have arranged your escort. Do not say one word until you leave this building if you wish to take another breath outside of it” and with that he looked away once more.

 

On The Outside Looking In (Pt. 2)

 

Link to Part 1: goo.gl/xig689

 

The naked man had not moved, save the jostlings of the cart over the rough terrain. It would be difficult to tell that he were alive if it weren´t for sporadic labored breaths. Makmood had taken a sheet off of a basket of apricots to cover the man so he would not suffer any more burns from the sun than he already had.

The cart dustily rolled its way into town and made its way to the first of a series of military checkpoints. The driver bowed his head to the soldiers as he slowed to cart to a stop.

“Good morning gentlemen” the driver said.

Makmood, without taking his glance off of his new friend offered a hand in the air and a “Hello”.

Four soldiers flanked the cart, as per protocol. “What do you have in the cart?” the tallest of the soldiers asked.

“My usual, apricots and nuts for the market. And a beggar!” he said with a chuckle as he amused himself.

“And who is that?” the tall soldier said with a horrified look on his face.

“Who?” the driver asked, puzzled by the question. He had forgot about their earlier heroics.

“Is that man dead? Uncover his face at once, beggar!” The soldier ordered Makmood.

As Makmood pulled back the sheet there was a loud gasp from all four of the soldiers.

“You two are under arrest!” the tall soldier declared.

“For what?” the driver asked with a cold feeling in his stomach. His mind was scanning for reasons for this declaration. He had paid duties on the apricots. The nuts were from a new vendor. Could they be contraband? Makmood had a cool calm to him. It´s hard to rile a man who has nothing to lose.

One of the soldiers, dumbfounded, with a single tear rolling down his eye gasped “Sheik Masoud, what have they done to you?”

Makmood realized what was going on and piped up “Gentlemen, we found him on the road many miles back. We saved his life! He was unconscious in the sand. He would have baked in the sun. We just gave him a lift. In fact, we had no idea who he was. It was our honor to help this man, be him a sheik or be him a lowly beggar such as myself”

The tall soldier, who appeared to be the leader of the squad, seemed to buy Makmood´s story, at least momentarily. But there was protocol to follow.

“Beggar, I would like to believe you but there are rules to follow. We will have to take you to the magistrate to see if your story checks out and to record all of these happenings” the soldier said.

“Will there be lunch?” Makmood asked.

“If everything checks out, sure” the soldier said.

“Great” Makmood said.

“No! Not great!” said the driver of the cart. “I´ll lose a day at the market! My family will go hungry!”

“Easy, man, you have apricots and nuts. They surely will not spoil. You´ll have tomorrow” the soldier said.

The driver shuffled, dejected, towards the magistrate building with his cart in tow. Makmood rode upon the cart elated knowing where at least one of his meals was coming from.

 

Link to Part 1: https://ryanimpink.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/on-the-outside-looking-in-pt-1/