In the Family

A Story by Amy Pinkston

750 word short story

Scott walked into the post office, holding the door for Mrs. Pryor, his first grade teacher. She smiled and patted his arm.

“You were always such a polite boy,” she said. “I know your mama is right proud of you.”

He smiled tightly and let the door close. Yeah, his mom sure was proud of him. She was especially proud the day he moved into her basement because he lost his job and was evicted from his apartment.

He opened his box and saw a thin white envelope inside. He looked it over and didn’t have a clue who it was from. It had his name and address in block letters, but that was it. No return address.

He took it to his car and opened it before turning on the ignition. The message inside was also in plain block letters.

Mr. James,
Thank you for your interest in our employment opportunity as posted in the Weekly
Observer. If you are still interested in pursing this line of work, please come to the
fifth level of the Baker Street parking ramp at 10pm tonight.

Scott investigated the paper, but that was it. Just those instructions. Maybe something good would come out of moving back here. This deserved a bit of celebration. He stopped by the diner for a burger and shake and the eye candy that was Monika Morrison, waitress extraordinaire. Monika was a year ahead of him in high school. She had the kind of body a cheerleading uniform was made for. Enough junk in the trunk to make the skirt pop out in back and tits big enough to make the sweater pop out in front. He’d lost track of her when he went to college, but evidently she’d stay in Monroe and was still hot.

He drove home and found his mom in the kitchen. All she ever did was putter around the house. It drove him crazy.

“Honey, can I make you some lunch?” she asked.

“No,” he called, already halfway down the basement stairs. “Stopped at the diner.”

“Oh honey, you know the food there is terrible for you,” she said, standing at the top of the stairs. “I told you I’d take care of making your meals for you. You need to take care of yourself.” Scott heard the wood creak as she stepped down onto the first step.

“Mom, don’t do it,” he called. “And shut the door. I’m busy.”

He heard the door click shut. He’d trained her well. Scott turned out the overhead lights and checked his watch. He could get eight hours of practice in before his meeting. He popped Hitman: Absolution into his PS3, settled back into his bean bag chair and accepted his first contract under the blue glow of his Bud Light happy hour neon light.

Three hours later the door creaked and before his mom could say anything, he called out, “Just leave it on the top step and I’ll get it in a little while.”

“Honey, are you sure you don’t want to join me tonight? I made your favorite.” His mom had no idea what his favorite was.

“Just leave it. I’m in the middle of something.”

“Okay then. I’m going to play Bridge tonight, so I’ll see you later,” she said. After a long pause that he ignored, she said, “I love you Scotty.”

The door clicked again and Scott finished his fourteenth contract of the day.

At nine thirty, Scott left his dirty meatloaf plate in the sink, grabbed a coke from the fridge and left for his meeting.

He pulled into the parking ramp and slowly circled up to the fifth floor. The ramp was empty beyond the third floor. He drove slowly until he saw a small briefcase. He parked and inside the briefcase he found a small disassembled rifle with a silencer and a note.

The lady in the pink hat.

He looked at ground level and saw the backdoor of a church basement in the alley. Wasn’t that where his mom played bridge? He put the rifle together and waited. The door opened at exactly ten thirty and a lady in a pink hat walked out. Scott lined the hat up in the scope and pulled the trigger. One shot, just like his video game.

“Nice shot. No hesitation. I like that,” a woman said, walking up behind Scott.

Scott turned around and saw his mother approaching.

“Welcome to the family business Scotty. Your father would be proud.”