Let it kill you

“Find what you love and let it kill you.” – Charles Bukowski

Droplets started to hit the pavement and the boy looked up at the dark sky that was covered in rain clouds. He slipped his hood over his head from his black jacket and stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. He was waiting at bus stop out of town. Three buses had already drove past, but he never got on.

The pattering on the ground grew harder, the coldness shuddering through him making his lips quiver. His vision became murky as water clung to his glasses so he wiped them off with his sleeve. As he was putting his glasses back on, he spotted a figure moving towards him in the distance.

The sound of squeaky shoes hitting the ground at a quick pace made him realise who it was.
The girl that came to stand by him was just a little shorter than him and her hair was tucked under a beanie. The girl was shivering and her lips were blue. She was the girl he was waiting for. They had a plan. They would meet at this bus stop and get on a bus to a hotel that was far away from this town.

They were trying to escape and it was imperative that they hurried before their parents knew they were going to disappear. The boy put his arm around the girl’s shoulders just as a bus pulled up. They got on the bus and found a seat close to the back. It was warmer on the bus, but it was quite crowded. It was better that way since no one would pay any attention to them and it would be easier to hide. The boy sat next to the girl and held her hand. Her fingers were ice cold and she rubbed his hand with her thumb in an absentminded manner.

“Jay?” she said to him.

“Yes?”

“Do you think my parents will know where we are going if they find us both gone?

“I don’t know. I hope not.”

He pressed his lips together and watched the buildings pass by from the window. Soon they arrived at their destination. They both got out in a rush and he held her hand to cross the street as they made their way into the hotel lobby. He took his hood down and let her hand go to walk up to the receptionist area.

He asked for a single bedroom, the cheapest one they had, and then paid for it. He didn’t have a lot of money, since his parents could track his credit cards, he just had enough to get them a place to stay and travel fair for tomorrow morning. They would leave the hotel at 5:00 AM to avoid being seen by many people, then they would take a taxi to Cape Town International Airport where they would get something to eat. After that they would book a flight until they were further away than they had ever been before. They didn’t care where they went they just wanted to leave.

“Abigail!” a voice called the girl’s name.

The girl jumped and ran to hang on Jay’s arm. The voice that called to her was her mother. Her dad followed behind her as they came towards the young couple. The girl wondered how they had found out, but then she remembered she had left her notebook on her desk without putting it away. They never came into her room so she didn’t think it would be a problem. They had only been gone for two hours and she was always with Jay at his house so she had no idea why they would want to come after her. The notebook had the hotel address in it and they must have figured out their plan. Suddenly Jay’s parents came swinging through the door as well.

“Just brilliant!” Jay huffed in annoyance that their plan was spoiled.

“What do you want?” Abigail addressed her parents.

“Why did you run away?” her mother spoke.

“You know why,” she said.

“I get that we told you to stay away from Jay, but we have our reasons. We didn’t think you’d run away with him!”

“Why? Jay is really lovely guy. You said so yourself. I don’t get why you forbade us to be together.”

“Honey, let’s just go home. We can talk about this later.”

“No!” she shouted. “I’m going with Jay no matter what you say. I love him.”

Abigail’s parents looked wearily at each other. It was Jay’s dad that stopped the silence that settled between everyone.

“Jayson, you can’t run away with this girl. She’s not right for you.”

“I don’t care what you say, Dad. I’m leaving with her in the morning. I never want to see you again,” said Jay.

“Now Jay,” his mother chided. “Don’t say things like that. Think about your future. Your career? Do you want to just throw it away on some girl from a lower class than us?”

“You always think of money, do you? I don’t care about that. We are going to be together. Now go home!” he told both his parents.

“Mom, please!” Abigail pleaded. “Let me be with him. I’m old enough to choose who I want to marry.”

“But we found such a nice boy for you,” Abigail’s mom said.

“I don’t care,” she bit.

“It’s late,” Jay’s dad addressed everyone. “We can book into the hotel tonight and sort this out in the morning over breakfast. I have a gold card for this place. Would you like me to book you into a room?”

Abigail’s mom pulled a face. “We can pay for ourselves thank you very much.”

Their parents went to the reception and booked their rooms. Jay and Abigail stared at each other in dismay. How could this happen? They went up to their rooms and Jay laid in the bed next to Abigail with the white sheets over them. He was only in boxers and a white tank. They didn’t think of bringing any extra clothes. Neither of them wanted to bring a bag. It was a decision that only made sense to them.

Running away was only for those who couldn’t handle the situation and were not able to face it. In this case, it was the desperate desire of these two lovers to be together. Their parents were both rich, but from two different classes. It was very Titanic mixed with The Great Gatsby. Jay’s parents had gained their money from old family wealth and Abigail’s parents were surgeons at a hospital that had a dubious reputation. Their parents detested each other because of their social standards and Abigail and Jay had fallen in love despite everything.

“What are we going to do now?” Abigail asked him.

“I think we need to figure out a way to leave without them knowing.”

“I don’t think that’s possible. They would expect that. That’s why they got rooms next to us. They are going to watch us closely. I wouldn’t be surprised if my mom comes knocking to check up on us.”

Jay made a noise of agreement at the back of his throat. “Yeah. There’s no way around this is there?”

“We can make a plan. We can do this. I won’t let them win.”

“Me either. But how?”

“We can’t be together because of our parents, right?”

“Yeah?” Jay moved closer to her as he felt like she had a plan brewing in her mind.

There was this glint in her pale blue eyes, it was like nothing he saw before. It was a look of mischief, but also some kind of sheer anger that crumbled her sane mind. It had been a hard two years fighting for each other.

No one would said it would this hard just to find love and keep it. Jay believed that they would be together and he would break himself trying to stay with her. He would do anything she asked. The pain she had suffered had pushed her over the edge and Jay also felt like he had enough now of his parent’s protests. Although he thought that her plan was completely insane that it was actually ludicrous, they were left with no choice. In the dim light of the hotel bedroom the lovers began their devilish plan.

***

Jay knocked on his parent’s room and his mother opened the door.

“Jay? Why are you up so early in the morning? It’s 2 AM. Can’t you sleep?”

“No, mom. Is dad awake? I need to talk to you both.”

“I’ll wake him up now.”

His mom woke his dad up and with a groggy voice he said, “What’s wrong, son?”

“Get dressed quickly. Abigail’s parents are coming here now to talk as well. We need to sort this out now.”

Just then the door opened and Abigail and her parents came inside. Their parents sat at the little table in the middle of the room. There was a similar atmosphere to when they had told their parents they were first seeing each other. The dullness in their eyes, the curious stares, the tension in the room that could be sliced with a knife. There was disappointment in their faces and equal tiredness from their physical bodies. They would never accept it and that was why it had to end. Permanently.

“I’ll give you one last chance to let us go,” Abigail said.

“Are you threatening us?” her mother laughed. “You really think that’s going to scare us? We are your parents. You have to do as we say. After this is all over we are taking you home and that is the last you are going to see of this boy.”

“You are right, mother. A threat won’t kill you. But this might.”

Abigail swiped the knife hidden from under her shirt that was tucked in her pants. She held the knife towards her mother’s neck and watched as her mother howled in terror.

“What are you doing? Abigail! Put this knife away now!”

“No. You have never given me a choice, now I am finally making my own to stop this once and for all.”

“Abigail! Let your mother go!” Her dad shouted in shock.

“Let me go then!”

“Fine! Fine! I’ll let you go. You can run off with that scum! Just stop putting that knife to my throat.”

Abigail laughed manically. “Now you let me be with him? You’ll never let us go. You’ll find a way to haunt us and make us come home. You’ll lock me away. I know you. We’ll probably move. You probably already made calls to go to our house in Johannesburg? No. This will be the last time you tell me what to do.”

Abigail’s eyes narrowed in determination as she sliced her mother’s throat. The blood ran down her white night gown staining it and then ran in puddles on the wooden floor. A loud shriek was heard from Jay’s mom and Abigail’s dad just sat there fear-stricken staring at his only daughter with a sort of look of unbelief and bewilderment. Jay’s dad got up from his seat and turned to Jay.

“You really love this psycho? You let her kill her own mother. What do you think will happen now?”

Jay grinned at him, a blaze of fire in his belly from the adrenaline that was sparked from the excitement of the action he was about to do. He took out his own knife that he had stolen from the hotel’s kitchen. He pointed it at his dad.

“Now I will do the same to you.” Jay stabbed him square in his chest. The knife imbedded deep into his body and when he pulled it out the knife was fully covered with his insides. The metallic smell hung in the air and Jay actually felt pleased with himself. The man dropped to the floor and his mom screamed again.

“Abigail, get your dad quickly and I’ll shut my mom up.”

“No! Please, Jay!” His mom protested, trying to get up from her seat.

He lunged for her and pierced her right in the heart. When Jay looked over he saw that Abigail had already killed her father. It was over. After they had cleaned themselves up and disposed of the bodies in an alleyway, they headed to out onto the street to get a taxi.

The sun was coming up over the mountain tops with a warm glow of yellow and orange. The sky was a joyful blue and the lovers soon found themselves eating at the airport. They boarded a plane to Hong Kong because you didn’t need a VISA. It was easy. Simple. You had to kill the things you like to get what you love. Now they were finally free.