The Chicago River

Daisy slowly climbed the stairs to a very large and lavish house. The lawn was perfectly manicured and the trees all the same height.  I should not be here, I should leave. I really do not want to do this. Daisy shook her head, and knocked lightly on the door.  Daisy waited, she turned to face the city, and she thought she could almost make out the river, shimmering in the morning light.

“So, Miss Swift, you are here to clean my house.”  Daisy jumped and turned to face a very tall and very blond woman standing in the doorway.

            “Yes, I believe I am. Please call me Daisy.”

            “Ok, Daisy, I guess you can start with the kitchen then move through the whole house. I need it all done by six.  Richard and I are having a cocktail party tonight and I want the house to look spotless. Do you think you can manage that?” But before Daisy could even answer, the blond lady snorted and started to walk away.

            “I’ll show you where everything is, but then you are on your own.”

            “Great…that sounds great,” Daisy replied, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

The blond lady left and Daisy got to work. She cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, the guest room, the guest bathroom and the living room before she made her way upstairs. As she climbed the stairs, Daisy glanced at the pictures hanging along the wall.  The pictures almost seemed to glow against the dark maroon walls.  In the center of each one was the blond lady proudly sitting, or standing, with a fake smile painted across her face.

 “At least they don’t have kids,” Daisy muttered to herself as she reached the top stair. She turned, walked towards the huge double doors, and entered the room. It was more amazing than the rest of the house; the bedroom looked like it was taken out of a magazine.

 “Wow!” Daisy exclaimed, as she walked over to the huge wooden dresser. There, sitting on top, was a big purple velvet jewelry box –it was open. Something shone from inside the box, Daisy looked in and saw a perfect, shimmering diamond necklace.  It’s like they want me to take it, Daisy thought as she ran her hands over each stone. She picked it up and felt her heart pound harder as she placed the diamonds around her neck. Suddenly, she heard a noise and turned around.

            “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, YOU LITTLE THIEF!” the blond lady screamed, as she stared at Daisy. Shit.

            “I…I just wanted to try it on,” Daisy stammered.

            “Take it off RIGHT NOW!”  the blond lady yelled.

            “Ok…sorry,” Daisy said as she unhooked the necklace and handed it over.

            “You better be. You’re fired. Get out of my house.”

            “Ok, but can I just get paid first? I did clean the whole house.”

            “How dare you! No, you may not get paid. You steal my things then you want to get paid, oh that’s good,” said the blond lady as she turned to leave.

Daisy saw her chance and pulled her gun out from her pocket. The blond lady had her back to Daisy and was walking towards the door. Daisy moved fast, and with a shaking hand, pulled the trigger.  The blond lady fell to the ground. Blood began to pool onto the stark white carpet, seeping out of her blond hair.

Daisy slipped the gun into her back pocket. She shuddered, as she stepped over the dead lady and made her way back to the front of the house. She looked at the clock that read five forty-five. Almost time. 

            The front door opened and Richard walked in. He slapped his keys onto the table in the hallway and walked into the kitchen. Daisy waited in the shadows, as he opened the refrigerator door reaching for a beer.

“Kelly, you home?” he shouted, as he closed the refrigerator.

            “No, Kelly is…I guess you could say…out,” she said as Richard jumped.

            “What do you mean she’s out?”

            “Why don’t you come with me, I think there is something you need to see,” Daisy said as she led Richard up the stairs towards the master bedroom and pushed open the door.

Kelly’s body was still on the floor, her blood around her head like a halo. Richard let out a sob and sunk to the floor next to his wife’s body. Daisy pulled out the gun from her pocket and put it to Richard’s head.

 “Sorry,” she said as the bullet entered Richard’s skull.

            Daisy walked to dresser where the jewelry box was still sitting open. Slowly she took out the diamond necklace and dropped it into her pocket. As she was reaching for a large pair of pearl earrings, the doorbell rang. The sound startled Daisy and she jumped. The earrings fell to the floor.  

If she knew that dropping those earrings would cost her her life, she might have been more careful that day.   Daisy was too nervous to turn around and that was her first mistake.

                                    ♦                      ♦                      ♦

            “Have fun at work baby?” Alex asked as he revved the car engine.

            “I guess, you know how I feel about it,” Daisy replied as she buckled her seat belt. She reached down for her purse and took out a small bundle and handed it to Alex. Without even glancing at it he put it in the pocket of his black leather jacket.

            “What do you want for dinner tonight?  I was thinking Italian…” Alex said as he rounded a corner way too fast.

“Alex, SLOW DOWN!” Daisy screamed and clutched tight to her seatbelt.

 “Aw baby that silly seatbelt won’t save you, you should know that by now.”  He turned to look at her and gave her a look that could only be called a sneer. Daisy shivered but Alex just laughed and drove faster. He pulled into the drive way of a modest looking house, painted white and red.

“Home sweet home, you can open your eyes now, baby.”

“Alex, God, next time could you please drive slower?”

“But, baby, it’s more fun that way.”

Alex unlocked the door and they both stepped in to their small living room.  Daisy plunked her purse on the table and walked into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator with shaking hands and got out a beer, popped the cap, and walked back to the bedroom.

            “What, no beer for me?” Alex asked as he hopped off the messy bed.

            “Oh, there in the kitchen if you want one,” Daisy replied as she peeled off her sweater.

            “Don’t you talk to me like that; you think you are so funny. There in the kitchen.” Alex laughed as he mocked Daisy.

            “Shut up,” She said under her breath.

“What? What did you say you little bitch? You told me to shut up, didn’t you?” Alex yelled as he walked to where Daisy was standing.

“No…nnno, I was just…umm I was just telling my self to shut up,” Daisy stuttered to get her words out afraid of what the out come might be.

“Yeah, that’s right you were. You would never talk to me like that, right baby?” Alex as he held his fist up, ready to strike.

“No. Never.” Daisy shrunk into the corner as tears welled up in the corner of her eyes.

“Good, that’s what I though” Alex said as he walked out of the bedroom and disappeared.

 Daisy continued to shake in the corner even after she heard the rumble of Alex’s car drive off down the street. After a while she got up, took a shower and curled up on the couch with her book. Just as she was starting to get worried about Alex she heard a car door slam and minutes later he walked into the room. He was carrying a big take out bag from Gianni’s, Daisy’s favorite restaurant. They piled food onto there plates and turned on the small T.V in the kitchen. Alex liked to watch the news, when they were first dating this always surprised Daisy, because Alex did not seem like the news watching type of guy. But every night Alex turned on the six o’clock news. Tonight was no different; they watched the anchormen report about a school that was vandalized, an old man who was pushed off a bus, how far the stocks plummeted, and all the things Daisy hated to watch. Daisy sighed and Alex reached for the remote, but just as he was about to press the power button, the tired looking anchorman’s eyes perked up as he read the paper that was just placed into his hands. 

“This just in,” he read as Alex set the remote back on the table. “The local police are investigating a double homicide in Orland Park. Our on site reporter has said that the police seem to have a clue in to who committed this heinous act. A set of valuable earrings were found just outside the house, in the grass. These earrings were said to have partial prints on them. Could this be the clue the cops need? Stay tuned as channel 2 news brings you the first—” the T.V went black and Alex turned on Daisy.

“That’s where I picked you up today, is there something you need to tell me?” Alex’s fork was shaking in his hand.

“I got scared, people were showing up to the house, I didn’t want to go back and get caught.”

“So you just left them there? You stupid bitch, what did I tell you?”

“Never leave any thing behind,” Daisy whimpered into her napkin.

“Well at least I’m not the one who will be going to jail,” Alex said as he stood up and put his plate in the sink.

Daisy lifted her head from her hands to look at Alex. “You’re not going to take the heat for me? This was all your idea. I never wanted to be a part of this, you know that I hate doing it…I only did it for you,” Daisy said as she started to cry.

“This was your mistake, I taught you the right way, you messed up.”

“FINE, I will just tell them it was all your idea and you forced me to do it or you would have my family killed,” Daisy screamed as she ran into the living room and collapsed onto the couch.

            Alex was right behind her and grabbed her wrist and pulled her back up.  “You whore; you would never lie like that. You know what happens when you say those things…they might come true,” Alex laughed and threw Daisy back down onto the couch.

“I will, I will tell them everything. I’ll tell them what a bad person you are Alex, you won’t get away with this!”  Daisy screamed at him as she ran to the table grabbed the keys, her purse and dashed out the front door.  She ran down the stairs with out looking back, jumped into Alex’s car and backed out of the drive way. She had no idea where to go but she knew she had to keep driving. 

Realizing Daisy had left, Alex ran in to the bedroom and grabbed a backpack; grunting as he lifted it to his shoulders and ran out of the house. He briefly paused as he realized Daisy had taken his car. “Damn that bitch,” he swore as he smashed the window of a small blue Honda Civic. Quickly he re-weird the car and drove off.

Daisy was about two miles away freeway when she decided, instead of getting on the freeway, to go to her friend Abby’s house.  That was Daisy’s second and final mistake. She took the shortest root she knew to get to Abby’s, and was there in less than ten minutes. 

“Oh my God, Daisy, what’s wrong?” cried Abby as she opened the door to find Daisy hysterical on her front porch.

“Are you ok?” Abby asked as the worry spread across her face.

“Oh, Abby, just let me in,” Daisy said as she pushed her way past Abby and fell into the plush couch. Abby left Daisy there to compose her self and went to make some tea.

Alex was driving towards the freeway in his newly acquired car, when he suddenly had a feeling that he should check Abby’s house first. Alex knew that when Daisy was upset she and Abby always got together. Alex was getting madder and madder. He started to drive faster, he ran red lights, made illegal turns and all the while thinking nothing but of getting to Daisy.

 Daisy’s head perked up at the sound of the tea pot whistling, she sighed and walked to the kitchen.

“Chamomile or Jasmine?” Abby asked as she pointed up at a shelf jammed full of every kind of tea imaginable.

“Jasmine please,” said Daisy as she pulled out the kitchen table chair and sat down.  Abby walked over carrying two steaming mugs and sat down next to Daisy.

“Now, tell me what’s wrong,” Abby said, and Daisy did.

She told Abby about how Alex threatened her, about how he killed her puppy just because it peed on the new carpet Abby patently listened as Daisy told her about how protective Alex was of her, how he wouldn’t let her get her own car and how she lost all her friends because none of them liked Alex.

Alex pulled into Abby’s driveway and gently shut the door. He pulled his backpack on and walked to the front door. He knocked three times, and in the middle of the fourth the door swung open.

“Alex, what the hell are you doing here?” Abby looked shocked and this pleased him.

“Oh, I’m just here to finish some business, you goanna let me in?” Alex smiled and Abby realized how handsome he was. “Too bad he’s such an asshole” Abby thought to herself, as Alex pushed passed her.

“Shut the door Abby.”

“No Alex, you need to get out of here.”

“No, Abby, no I don’t,” he said as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a .44 Magnum hand gun and pointed it at Abby.

“No, Alex!” Daisy screamed. She ran into the room just as Alex pulled the trigger. There was a loud band and a big splash as blood and most of Abby’s insides hit the wall behind her, Abby staggered back and slid down the wall, leaving a fresh trail of blood. Daisy ran over to her friend.

“Its’ ok, it will be ok,” she sobbed over and over again as the life was sucked out of her best friend.

“Now there’s only you,” Alex said, as he once again reached into his backpack.

His hand emerged with a large roll of silver duct tape.  Alex worked quickly; he forced Daisy to the ground and bound her feet and hands thoroughly with the duct tape. Daisy put up a struggle but Alex was much bigger and stronger then her. “Talk to you latter,” he said as he tore off one last piece of tape and stuck in across her mouth. He kissed the tape over her mouth and Daisy squirmed, Alex laughed out loud. He picked her up, walked out to the car and threw her into the trunk.

This time Alex knew where he was headed, he drove straight out of Abby’s neighborhood and east towards his destination. Alex drove fast-- he knew the way like the back of his hand.  As Alex got closer he slowed down, the sun was setting and it looked beautiful. The red and orange filled the sky and night began to take over. Alex parked the car and got out; he put his backpack on and took out his gun. He scanned the area before opening the trunk and pulling Daisy out.  She fell out of the trunk and landed hard of the pavement. Alex looked at her and she turned her face away. “This was your fault, baby. You know how I feel about mistakes, this could all have been avoided if you hadn’t been so careless. It’s a shame to waste you, you are so pretty…oh well.” Alex spoke to Daisy as she thrashed around on the pavement. He picked her up again and walked out of the parking area. Looking ahead he saw the glint of the water, his heart speed up and he smiled, this was his favorite place in the whole city. He placed Daisy down gently this time and reached into his backpack and pulled out a large brick. “Daisy, you should be honored, I only put my best customers here.” Daisy tried to scream but it came out as a muffled whimper. Alex tied the large brick to Daisy’s bound feet. “I’m lucky your so small or this might have been more difficult,” Alex said as he checked again to see that the brick was secure.  Alex looked out over the water; he didn’t want to waste any more time. He picked up Daisy, looked her over once and threw her into the Chicago River.

The splash was loud and Alex looked around, thankfully this area was most always deserted. He watched as the bubbles danced across the surface of the river and slowly disappeared.