Authors: Jeffrey Littorno
“Okay, okay!” Despite my best efforts, my companions managed to irritate me. “Maybe we should take a look around to see what else we can find before … uh … Theresa … comes back.” I was surprised at my problem, with even saying the name. This did not go unnoticed by the others.
“Good idea!” Joey was headed out of the room before anyone had a chance to respond.
Louis and I were left alone in the room staring at each other.
“You know that you must overcome your infatuation with her, don’t you?” Louis spoke quietly.
“What do you mean? I haven’t even met her. I said I would go along with the plan, didn’t I?” My response sounded weak even to me.
He smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. “Yes, Thomas, you did, and I have no reason to doubt your word.” Stoaffer turned and walked out of the room.
I stood alone there for a minute staring at the wall safe and wondered if I had reason to doubt my own word.
Chapter 12
Climbing the stairs, I kept thinking about what Stoaffer had said about my feelings toward Theresa and trusting me to keep my word. The conversation gave me a sense of dread about how the plan I had agreed to follow would turn out. My stomach twisted in knots, and I felt like puking. In the middle of my inner storm, Theresa’s face came into view. I was again struck by her light blue eyes and bright smile. In an instant, the nausea and dread was gone. My mouth curled into a smile. Every negative thought was instantly gone.
At the top of the stairs, Joey stood watching me with a curious expression. “Thinkin’ happy thoughts, Thomas?”
The question killed my moment of contentment. “Imagining how I’m gonna enjoy heading off to some warm beach.”
“Now that sounds good!” Joey commented with enthusiasm. “How ‘bout we spice up this dream with some hot babes?” With his loud laugh, the nausea began bubbling up once more but I managed to squash it back down.
The bedroom straight ahead had clearly not been used in some time. Another bedroom to the left seemed to be just for guests and also appeared to have been unused for quite a while.
“Apparently, Theresa lives alone and doesn’t entertain much,” I thought to myself. For some reason, the thought blossomed into another smile. I wondered for just a second about the effect the young woman was having on me. I entered her bedroom and forgot everything else.
The huge room held an off-white stained canopy bed. White and pink material hung from above with linen decorated with roses. Lots of pillows and stuffed animals covered the pink comforter on top of the bed. It reminded me of my sister’s bed when she was about ten. I could not remember the last time I had thought of Mary.
Enormous glass doors leading out to the balcony drew my attention away from the bed and thoughts of my little sister. The balcony overlooking the backyard. From this view, the backyard resembled one of those old paintings of the land around palaces in Europe and places like that. The groups of plants were organized into a living patchwork quilt.
The place, the view, everything about it seemed right. I pictured myself sitting in a chair on the balcony with a glass of wine, enjoying the view, and chatting with the person in the chair next to me. I turned to offer a toast to that person and realized Theresa was sitting there. A smile turned my lips before I gasped like a punch had landed in my stomach. It took a moment to regain my breath, and when I did, the image of Theresa had left my head. Yet I still felt uneasy about my thoughts of a woman I had not even met, uneasy with such thoughts of a woman who would soon be dead.
My discomfort must have been clear to Stoaffer as he came up behind me and asked, “Are you all right, Thomas?”
I jumped at the sound of his voice and quickly answered, “Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
“You look pale, ‘like you’ve seen a ghost’ as the saying goes.” His face could not hide his amusement. “You didn’t, did you?”
“Didn’t what?” I snapped.
“See a ghost,” he answered and let lose a huge belly laugh which echoed through the yard.
I managed to squeeze my words through a tight smile, “No, I didn’t see any ghosts yet. How about you?”
“How about what?” Joey asked walking onto the balcony as if on cue.
“Thomas and I were discussing the presence of any disembodied spirits in the vicinity.” Louis answered.
“Yeah, whatever, Lou,” Joey replied as he looked over the balcony at the yard below. “So I’m inside lookin’ fer jewl’ry or another safe or sumpthin’, and you guys’re out here enjoyin’ the view.”
I smiled at Joey’s feigned indignation and said, “Yeah, it must be tough working with a couple of slackers like us. Anyway, so our great plan is just to hang out here until…um....until Theresa comes back?”
“Makes sense to me!” Joey answered.
Stoaffer said, “I agree. Being inside saves us from the awkwardness of forcing our way in later. Plus, we get a chance to scout out any other places which might contain items of value. Most importantly, I am much more comfortable waiting for Theresa here in the house than in the car.”
We began reflexively moving through the rooms looking for anything of value. I had to admit Stoaffer’s words made sense. Another thing I had to admit was that being in the house was stirring up a jumble of emotions. Every time I got close to something which brought Theresa’s image to mind, a wave of excitement would break over me. In the next instant, the happiness would be drowned by a flood of dread.
The videotape collection in the cabinet near the television revealed Theresa was a big fan of romantic comedies. The notion brought an image of the two of us sitting on the sofa laughing at the screen. I smiled.
“Everything okay, Thomas?” I turned at the sound of the voice to find Louis standing a few yards away showing an expression of combined amusement and curiosity.
I blushed like I had been caught looking a dirty pictures or something. Even though I had no reason to be embarrassed about anything, I stammered, “Sure, Louis, why wouldn’t I be?”
His face became dark and furrowed as he appeared to give my words careful consideration. All of a sudden, his face brightened and a smile formed. Rather than lightening the mood, his twisted grin irritated me. “For some reason, I am getting the impression your heart might not be in the task at hand.”
The idea of again being questioned about my commitment to doing what I had promised really pissed me off. It took every bit of my limited self-control to keep the rage out of my voice as I responded, “You don’t need to worry about my heart, Louis. I already told you I would do whatever needed to be done, and I will. So stop worrying about me, okay?” I managed to force a broad if not necessarily sincere looking smile to my lips.
Stoaffer watched me for a few seconds as if evaluating the words I had spoken. Finally, he nodded and said, “I apologize, Thomas, but I do worry. I worry about be forcing you to do something you don’t want to do.” He walked to within a few feet of me before continuing, “It might be better for everyone if you just walked away. There is no shame in exercising you free will. It is admirable actually. If you do not feel right in killing Theresa, then you should take no part in it.”
He watched me with an expression of fatherly concern. Whether the expression was heartfelt or not, I was not sure. All I know is that Stoaffer’s sudden display of compassion infuriated me, and I was no longer able to hold my emotion inside. “Listen to me, Louis! I told you I was ready to do this, and I will! Now fuck off!” I walked quickly from the room so I am not quite sure how he reacted. In my mind, I imagined that he was shocked by my outburst, and the picture pleased me.
Within a few seconds of being out of the room, the sense of rage turned to regret. My temper tantrum now seemed more childish than anything else. I had acted like some spoiled kid who didn’t get his way so he threw a fit and left. I was considering whether or not to turn around and go back when Joey’s voice shouted excitedly from the kitchen.
“Hey, check out what I found!” He sounded surprised but pleased.
I headed downstairs to the kitchen. As I stood in the doorway, I turned to see Louis standing right behind me. Without even acknowledging my presence, he moved around me and into the kitchen. Joey stood at the big silver refrigerator with the freezer side open. His face was pressed inside and his body hid the contents of the freezer.
“What?” Louis asked. “What did you find?”
Joey turned to show a grin covered in ice cream, “I think it’s Tin Roof Sundae!” He continued digging ice cream out of the round container with two fingers and shoveling it in his mouth.
Louis looked down and shook his head slowly. After a moment, he raised his head and quietly said, “Joey, I understand you are having fun. We all like having fun, but we are engaged in some very serious business here. There will be time later to have fun and eat ice cream or whatever else you want. Right now, it is important to focus on what needs to be done. We are supposed to be searching the house for anything of value.”
Joey stopped shoveling ice cream into his mouth and said, “Any valuable stuff, hunh?” He turned back toward the freezer, put the ice cream container on one of the shelves, reached to the back of another shelf, and took out a bundle covered with frost. He turned back away from the freezer while holding the bundle up for Stoaffer to see. “You mean like this? Or like those?” Joey nodded toward two similar bundles sitting in the sink, one of which had been torn open revealing stacks of $50 bills inside.
I smiled as Stoaffer let out a roar of laughter and exclaimed, “Yes, my boy, I would say those qualify as things of value!” He stepped toward the sink. But instead of looking at the packages, he pulled open a drawer to the left and took out a spoon. He handed the spoon to Joey and said, “Go ahead and enjoy you ice cream!”
Louis guided Joey over to the table and even pulled a chair out for him to sit in. I immediately thought of a toddler being guided by a parent. Joey’s docile manner certainly completed the image. He even sat at the table wearing a big smile and devoured the whole container of ice cream.
Meanwhile, I headed over to the sink and tore open the bundles of cash. There looked to be about seventy-five grand all together. I have to admit that I was a little too excited to count it all. I could not remember when, if ever, I had seen that much money at one time. It sort of took my breath away.
“This, my friends, is what they call cold, hard cash!” Stoaffer announced as he smiled at the stacks of money. The kitchen filled with enthusiastic laughter, and any thoughts of what had happened upstairs were wiped away.
“Why would someone stash so much money in the freezer?” I wondered aloud.
Stoaffer replied slowly, “It might be a lack of trust in financial institutions or for a quick exit.”
“You mentioned before uh … your partner’s wife didn’t trust banks. Now you’re saying
this
Theresa is involved in some scam here? Not sure we can buy anything you say.” My voice made me sound irritated, and I was. But I was also enjoying the idea. I had pleasure of getting dirt on someone who acts too perfect. Even if the pedestal was solely a product of my imagination, in some strange way I liked seeing Theresa knocked from it.
Again, Louis did not answer right away but regarded me with curiosity for a moment. “I am not accusing her of anything,” he replied with a smile. “I am simply tossing out possible reasons for a person to have a freezer stuffed with money.”
A snicker came from Joey as he wiped his chin off with a dish towel. “So I’m thinkin’ maybe yer little angel ain’t as pure as you thought,” he giggled.
“Possibly,” Stoaffer commented flatly. “However, she might also have a legitimate reason for storing money in the freezer.”
“I remember hearing somewhere that the freezer is a good place to store important documents, because they will be safe even in case of a fire,” I offered before realizing how ridiculous I sounded.
Both Joey and Louis stared at me for a few seconds before Louis said, “The reason for money being in the freezer is of no concern to us. Enough that we found it. Now we should be searching for any other reserves of money or other valuable documents around the house.”
“So I guess those gold coins and all the secret stashes were more of your bullshit,” I spat out.
Louis grinned and replied, “Please forgive my melodramatic flair, but I had to keep you interested.”
After watching him for a moment, a thought popped into my mind, and I blurted it out without thinking it through, “Why not just grab the cash and head out?”
Stoaffer shot me an ice-cold stare, so I turned my attention to Joey in the hope he might see the benefit of my idea. “This money would go a long way toward living the good life on a warm beach somewhere.”
As soon as my words were out, Louis broke in by asking, “Why leave when there is so much more to get?” He shook his head like he could not understand such a concept. “I mean, there is an opportunity here for you to be set for life. No more pulling little holdup jobs. No more having to worry about the next job going badly. No more having to worry about where you were going to get money for your next meal or cheap motel room. You keep talking about a warm beach somewhere. Well, this is your chance to make your dream a reality. But rather than making the most of the opportunity, you are talking about being satisfied with a small score which won’t keep you in the black for more than a few months.” Louis extended both of his hands palms up as if comparing the weight of two things. “A few months on Easy Street? Or a lifetime on that warm beach?”