Served on a Cold Dish

It's a revenge story.

Served on a Cold Dish

by: Craig Trainer

 

            Music was the only thing that continuously filled the room with noise, along with the occasional clinking of metal.  Charlie, Derrick and Marcus sat closely together looking down at their duffle bags, clearing their minds.  Derrick and Marcus got up and carried out their bags, leaving Charlie in the room alone with his thoughts and haunting memories.  He sat on the edge of his bed, unmoved, in a more deep state of concentration than any Zen-Master, going over the plan.  Inside, his heart was racing until he finally raised his head out of his hands, with the same determined look he used to wear on his face when he was a varsity athlete.  He was ready.

            Outside, Derrick and Marcus sat on the car’s trunk having a smoke.  They were ready too, but this didn’t mean as much to them as it did to Charlie.  They were just being friends, and lending a few extra pair of hands.  “You think the plan will play out,” Derrick asked, passing the cigarette.

            “Definitely,” Marcus quickly replied, as he inhaled.  “He’s had plenty of time to get it right.”

            Charlie opened the door, emerging from the apartment and walked up to his boys, giving them both a nod.  He put his bag in the backseat with the others, stopped as if he was making a mental checklist of everything they needed.  He looked around for a minute, then tapped on the roof of the car with his forearm, and got in the drivers seat.  Marcus flicked the cigarette butt into the driveway, and he and Derrick got in the car.

            “Ay Charlie, you good bro?  You ready for all of this s**t to finally be over,” Derrick asked to break the silence.

            “Yeah.  I’ve been waiting twelve years for this s**t,” Charlie said without batting an eye.

            “Who’s the fourth person on the team,” Marcus asked from the backseat, meeting Charlie’s eyes in the rearview mirror.  “And why haven’t they been here planning this s**t with us for the past few weeks?”

            “We’re doing all of the heavy work, the fourth has a special assignment and you’ll find out who it is soon enough.”

            “What’s with all the f****n’ secrets lately,” Derrick asked.

            “It’s not a secret, we’re headed over to meet up with them in just a bit.”

            “Charlie, man, I’m just sayin’ that there’s a chance that we get caught, hurt or die doing this s**t, and I just want to know who it is and whether or not we can trust them.”

            “Derrick, chill out man, Charlie wouldn’t screw us over.  This isn’t some light thing here, it’s some serious s**t, I trust his judgment.  And he said we’re on the way to meet up with who ever it is so just sit back and calm down,” Marcus said, then leaned back in his seat.

            The car fell quiet again, as the intense emotions the three of them were feeling built up in the car.  Charlie opened the windows and turned the radio on to help them all loosen up.  In the back of their minds, they all knew this could be the last time that the three of them were all together, passing by familiar landmarks and favorite hangouts.  It weighed most on Charlie though; this was his mission and his friends that he was putting in danger, even though they all had volunteered to help.  He had to make sure that everything went as planned as well as making sure his three friends didn’t get hurt, or worse.  It was another grueling hour inside his own mind, but compared to the past twelve years, it was nothing.

            Charlie started easing over to the side of the road and brought the car to a stop a few hundred feet away from their target house.  It was a tan, two-story house with a big back yard and a tall privacy fence.  On the front porch stood their targets, a man and wife, talking to a young lady in what looked like a schoolgirl uniform to Derrick.  He then sat up in his seat and leaned forward to get a closer look, and began to laugh.

            “Is that seriously your fourth?”

            “Let me see,” Marcus said sticking his head up into the front with the others, “Oh s**t Charlie, you’re a sneaky f****r.”  Marcus looked at Derrick, then back to Charlie giving him a nod and pat him on the shoulder, “smart, sneaky f****r.”

            The girl on the porch talking to the targets was a friend of theirs, Sherry.  She was a beautiful girl, and looked a lot younger than her actual age of twenty-four.  She met Charlie while they were in college, and after they had gotten close Charlie told her what had happened, and she insisted that he let her help in some way when he finally went after his payback.  He tried to tell her no, but she slapped him in the mouth and told him that he didn’t have a choice, and if he didn’t let her help, that she’d hurt him.  That was when he realized that he could use her as a spy.  “What else could I do, she’s persuasive and feisty,” Charlie said, with a small chuckle.

            Derrick and Marcus laughed in agreement, but couldn’t resist the urge to crack a few jokes on their friend as they watched Sherry work.  She was invited into the house, which was the best-case scenario because she could give the boys a layout of the inside of the house.  It had been fifteen minutes since she had gone inside, which made Charlie nervous.  He was about to send Derrick to walk passed the house when the front door opened and Sherry came out, followed by Wayne and Victoria, the targets.  She finished talking to them, and as she turned to walk down the front steps, she was scratching her right ear.

            “S**t,” Charlie muttered.

            “What’s the matter,” Marcus asked.

            “That’s the sign that she needs to talk to us, something must be up.”

            “Think they are suspicious?”

            “I have no clue Marc, but as soon as she’s finished pretending to sell s**t, we’ll meet up with her and find out.”  Charlie pulled the car out and drove passed Sherry, passing back a sign that he saw her signal.  They went and checked into their hotel, then went to go meet Sherry at a diner.  They ordered some coffee and food while they waited for her to show up.  They made sure they were in the corner away from everyone, so nobody would accidently overhear them talking.  Sherry arrived and walked up to the table being starred at by Derrick and Marcus.

            “What,” she asked.

            “We were just hoping you would still be wearing that schoolgirl outfit, that’s all,” Marcus joked.

            “Aw, I bet you did.  Maybe when this is all over I’ll put it on for you,” she joked back, shooting a wink to Marcus, and scooted Charlie over so she could sit.

            “So do they have something in there that we’re not ready for,” Charlie asked.

            “Damn Charlie, let me sit down first,” she said getting her self settled in the booth, “they do have a serious alarm system though.  It’s set on every door and window from what I could see.  I only saw the living room and dining room though.  There were also a lot of boxes of hand and shotgun ammo on the bookcase in the dining room, but I didn’t see any guns.”  She watched all of their eyes as they intently listened to her go on about the layout of the house.  “Oh, and Charlie you were right, he does have an in-ground pool in the back yard, I did see that through the kitchen window when Victoria went back there.”

            “So we can go skinny dipping when this is all done then,” Derrick chimed in.

            “Nah man, I’ve got an even better idea, check it,” Charlie said.  They all leaned in to form a tighter group as Charlie told them his new idea.  They all sat back when he was done explaining it.

            “That’s some sick s**t right there man, I like it though, I vote yes,” Marcus said.

            “That’s what I’m talking about bro,” Derrick added.

            Sherry looked shocked, and was clearly at a loss for words.  She just looked down at her coffee, and then at the group before looking back down.  Charlie put his hands over hers, and she looked over at him slowly.  “Hey, they aren’t good people, and he took a lot more from me when I was just a kid.  I know what this sounds like, I do, but you’re not the one who’s going to be doing it, and you don’t even have to see it,” he said trying to explain and comfort her at the same time.

            “It’s not that, they deserve everything you guys give to them.  I’m just worried about you guys that’s all.  Not just physically, but mentally too.”

            “Sherry, you’ve known us for a while, we have been crazy up here way before this,” Derrick said pointing to his head.

            “Don’t worry, we will be fine,” Marcus said.

            They sat at their table for a while longer joking around and telling stories, lightening the mood before they all got up and headed back to the hotel.  Charlie knew what has going to happen in the morning, and was happy that they all still were able to show a bit of their sense of humor. 

Charlie found it hard to stay asleep, which was nothing new to him, but it was different tonight.  Every time he closed his eyes, images from the night that his plan took life, would flash before him, like he was reliving it.  He saw his mother being drug by her hair and screaming.  A man then pulled her to her feet; who then punched her in the mouth, knocking her back to the floor.  The man, Wayne, then began to kneel over her screaming in her face, when Charlie and his sister, Nicole, went running at him to attempt to pull him off of their mother.  Wayne grabbed Nicole and backhand slapped her, and then punched their mother again when she screamed at him for hitting her daughter.  Charlie grabbed his pocketknife out of his pocket and attempted to stab Wayne, who caught Charlie’s hand and laughed at him.  “It’s not nice to play with knives son, someone could end up dead,” Wayne said to him before grabbing Charlie by the throat and slamming him into a wall.  Charlie blacked out after that, but when he came to, he saw both his mom and sister lying on the floor, beaten badly, and so was he.  Charlie crawled over to his mom to roll her over, and he saw his pocketknife sticking out of her chest.  He began to scream"and was also screaming while he slept, which woke Sherry up.  She ran over to the bed and snapped him out of his nightmare.

“Charlie?” She had a worried tone to her voice, “Are you alright?”

“No,” he said between short, shallow breaths, “I relived that night… the night that mother f****r beat me and my sister and killed my mom.”

Sherry didn’t know what to say, but climbed onto the bed and sat with him.  “I’m so sorry Charlie,” she said with tears streaking down her cheeks.  “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, lay back down and remember that you’re going to get justice for what he did, tomorrow.”  Charlie just sat there, with her arms around him, and eventually fell back asleep.  Sherry gave him a kiss on his forehead and whispered, “You better be careful tomorrow, because I love you, and my life wouldn’t be the same without you.”

The morning came, and sunlight fought its way into the room, waking up Derrick.  He woke Marcus up and pointed to Sherry and Charlie lying in bed together.  “Looks like he finally slept with her,” Derrick whispered to Marcus.

“You didn’t hear him wake up screaming last night?”

“What? No.”

“Yeah man, that s**t was crazy, scared the s**t out of me.  I heard him tell her that he relived the night that Wayne killed his mom.”  Marcus picked up his pack of cigarettes and waved to Derrick to follow him outside.  They closed the door and stood on the balcony to have a smoke.  “S**t, if anything, she’s keeping his head on straight, we wouldn’t of known what to do to calm him down.”

“S**t, I didn’t even hear a thing, I wouldn’t of been any help,” Derrick said.

“Just be more useful today bud, I don’t wanna end up with lead in my a*s ‘cuz you were day dreaming,” Marcus said pushing Derrick.

Inside, Charlie began to wake up and noticed that Sherry was still holding on to him.  He looked for Marcus and Derrick, and heard them outside.  He took a deep breath, which woke Sherry up.  “Sorry.”

“Did you sleep better,” she asked through a yawn.

“Much, thank you.  I owe you a big one.”

She smiled at him, then rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom, starting the shower.  Charlie walked outside to join his friends for a smoke.  He opened the door and was greeted with, “Congratulations!”

“Shut up Derrick, it’s too early for your s**t, and no we didn’t have sex, a*****e,” Charlie said reaching for the smoke.  They stood out there for a while, shooting the s**t, like they always did.  They finished their smoke and went back inside, Sherry was still in the shower.  Derrick took that opportunity to give Charlie a few more pokes about never making a move on her.  When she was finished, she came out wearing her schoolgirl outfit, and calling Marcus’ attention to it.  She grabbed her stuff and walked toward the door.

“Sherry,” Charlie called out and walked over to her. “Thank you,” he said and kissed her on the cheek.

“You’re welcome,” she said and walked out.

            Charlie, Derrick and Marcus all checked their bags one last time.  Charlie made sure that his gun was clean, giving it a military inspection.  He emptied the clip of bullets and reloaded them to make sure they wouldn’t get stuck when the bullets started flying.  Derrick was putting together and taking apart his shotgun to see how fast he could do it while keeping relatively quiet.  Marcus was walking around the room shadow boxing with himself after he checked his bag.  They had everything that they needed, and were ready to go, all they had to do was execute.

            The ride back to the house was silent, only the sound of the tires on the road made noise.  Marcus kept his head in his hands, visualizing his role.  Derrick was focusing on the road, but had a smirk on his face, like he always did before a fight.  He noticed Charlie playing with something that was in his pocket.  His eyes were closed, but he was tracing an object in his pocket with his fingers.  Derrick didn’t know what it was, but was sure that Charlie had a reason for bringing it.  The car stayed silent until they arrived at the house.  The block was calm, which was normal being that it was mostly made up of older people.  The morning haze was starting to life, when Charlie broke the silence.  “Now,” he said.  “We go now.”  Marcus and Charlie exited the car, and grabbed their bags.  Derrick pulled down a side street to keep from being noticed if the plan went to s**t, and they had to run.  “Marc, I want you to do me a favor,” Charlie said as they approached the house.  “If anything goes wrong, I want you to get the hell out of here, and make sure Derrick goes with you, I don’t care if you have to shoot him.”

            “We ain’t leaving your b***h-a*s here Charlie.  We’re in this s**t ‘till the end, with you.  ‘Till Death Only, remember?”

            Charlie nodded, and they walked up to the front door, checking the windows for movement.  Derrick went outback incase any one tried to run, and had his shotgun ready to persuade them to go back inside. Charlie saw them eating and noticed that the alarm panel on the wall had the light on in the disarmed position.  “I see them, go ahead and knock,” Charlie said to Marcus.  He waited for Wayne to put his hand on the doorknob when he told Marcus to kick it in.  The door swung back hitting Wayne in the face, knocking him to the floor.  Victoria jumped up from the table and tried to run for the kitchen, and was chased by Marcus.  Charlie walked in and found Wayne scurrying to a corner table.  Charlie grabbed him by his hair and pulled him away from the table.  Charlie then slammed Wayne’s head down like a football, and waited for him to roll over.  When he did, Charlie introduced the bottom of his boot to Wayne’s face.  Then he checked the corner table Wayne was crawling toward and found the same gun that Wayne taught him how to shoot with. 

            There was some commotion coming from the kitchen that quickly ended when Charlie heard the cocking of Derrick’s shotgun.  Marcus grabbed Victoria, and walked her out of the kitchen.  She reached for a knife as they walked through the door, but Marcus grabbed her wrist and shook the knife loose.  “Nice try, b***h,” he said in her ear.  Derrick walked around the rest of the house to see if they had any other surprises in the house.  He saw the boxes of ammunition that Sherry had told them about, and went searching the house for the guns they belonged to.

            Victoria yelled into Marcus’ hand when she saw Wayne lying on the floor with Charlie standing over him.  Charlie grabbed Wayne’s face, and made him look into his eyes.

            “F**k you, Charlie.” Wayne said to him, then spit a mixture of blood and spit onto Charlie’s arm.

            “That’s not a nice way to welcome your step-son into your house,” Charlie said, grabbing Wayne by they hair, and punching him in the mouth.  “Doesn’t feel too good does it?”

            “I knew I should have just killed all three of you instead of just your mother.  You should have heard that b***h scream when I stuck your knife into her chest.”

            “Don’t worry Wayne, you’ll be making that same sound here in a few, when I gut you, and that c**t over there.”

            Wayne attempted to fight back and get up, but Charlie kept him on the ground by kicking him in the ribs and putting his knee on his throat.  Wayne reached up and grabbed Charlie by the neck and squeezed.  Charlie just laughed.  Derrick saw what was going on and ran the butt of his gun into Wayne’s head, knocking him out.  Victoria stomped on Marcus’ foot, and tried to shake loose, but couldn’t.  Derrick tapped up Wayne’s mouth and hands when there was a knock at the door.  Marcus drew his gun and held it to Victoria’s head.  “Make a sound and your dead.”

            Charlie opened the door.  “Hello?”

            “Hello, I was here yesterday selling some products for my school fundraiser to Wayne and Victoria, but my little brother destroyed my order form while I was at cheerleading practice.  I think I remember what they ordered, but I was just here to double check.”  It was Sherry, and she was trying not to laugh when she stopped talking.

            “Sure, come on in.  I’m expecting them back any minute now,” Charlie said as he welcomed Sherry into the house. 

She stopped in the middle of the floor and drew in a deep breath like she was going to scream, Charlie grabbed her by the mouth.  Victoria attempted to scream, but the sound was muffled in Marcus’ hand.  Charlie whispered in Sherry’s ear, she took a step away from him and slapped him then said with a whimper, “no, please don’t hurt me.”  Charlie rubbed his face while she smiled at him; Derrick came over and brought her in the other room with Marcus and Victoria.  Sherry ran into Victoria’s arms and played along for a while Derrick and Charlie set everything up outside.  “What are they going to do to us,” Sherry asked Victoria when Charlie and Derrick returned from carrying Wayne outside.

“Let her go,” Victoria said.  Charlie walked over and grabbed Sherry and pulled her away from Victoria.  “You b******s, let her go, she… we didn’t do anything!”

“Actually,” Sherry said turning around, “you know exactly what you did, b***h,” and threw a haymaker into Victoria’s cheek, dropping her to the floor.

The boys were all shocked at the power of the punch Sherry had hit Victoria with.  She picked up Victoria’s legs and waited for one of the boys to help her.  Marcus was the first to snap out of it, and picked up Victoria’s hands and they carried her outside.  The four of them quickly got Wayne and Victoria in place.

It took longer than expected for Wayne to start opening his eyes.  He was tied to a tree in his own back yard, arms stretched out and held in place so he couldn’t pull them back in.  He had rope taped in his hands, and he followed the rope down to the other end, where he saw his wife.  She was tied to a chair with the same rope that he was holding onto.  She was also leaning back over the edge of the pool, and the only thing keeping her upright, was the rope in Wayne’s hands.  Wayne began to struggle, and the rope slipped a bit.  Charlie emerged from behind him and cut the tape off of Wayne’s hands.

“Let me explain what’s about to happen here.  You are going to feel the same helplessness that I felt when you beat up my sister, and killed my mom,” Charlie said pacing in front of Wayne.  “Except, I’m not the one that’s going to kill your wife, you are.  See, unlike you, I am giving you a chance to save her.  If you can hold on to that rope until someone notices your missing, you will have saved her.  However, that’s unlikely, and you’ll get to watch as she slips from your grip and falls back into that pool; knowing full well that there wasn’t a f*****g thing that you could do to save that b***h.”  Charlie leaned down to Wayne’s eye level, “Sucks to be you,” and began laughing.  He joined the others on the patio as they watched the show unfold in front of them.

Sherry went over to Victoria as Charlie sat down.  “You’re as big of a piece of s**t as he is, and if it wasn’t for you, than Wayne would have never hurt Charlie’s family.  F**k you, I hope this hurts.”  She rejoined the group on the patio. 

After five minutes of watching Wayne struggle to keep the rope in his out stretched hands, Marcus asked, “I wonder what exactly they’re thinking.”

“I don’t think I can even come close to getting it right,” Sherry said.

“F**k ‘em both, they are both piece of s**t,” Derrick said.

“I know what they are thinking,” Charlie said sitting up in his chair.  “He’s thinking that this can’t be happening, and he’s gotta hold on that rope with every fiber of his being or he’s going to see his wife drown.  She’s thinking that she has to be still, and that he will figure out how to save her.  She’s also thinking that we’re gonna step in and stop this.”  Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocketknife that Wayne had killed his mother with.  “After she dies, I’m returning the favor.”  He opened the blade and it was still stained with the blood of his mother.

Charlie walked over to Wayne with the knife in his right hand, unshaken.  “You remember this don’t you, a*****e?”  Wayne squirmed causing the rope to slip, tipping Victoria back over the pool even more.  She was almost at the point where gravity would take over and send her plunging into the deep end of their pool.  “I bet your forearms are on fire.  Want me to put you out of misery?”  Charlie was rubbing the blade across Wayne’s neck, then drew it back and brought it toward his chest, but stopped short, “not yet.  You still get to watch that b***h die.

 Wayne had been holding the rope for about ten minutes up to that point.  He was sweating profusely and his grip was weakening.  Wayne’s eyes met Victoria’s both were filled with tears.  Wayne’s suddenly exploded into a wide, terrified look as the rope slipped from his grip.  He tried his hardest to keep hold of it, but the sweat on his hands made it impossible.  Victoria fell back into the pool, and sunk to the bottom.  Wayne felt her hit the bottom, and begin struggling to free herself.  The rope wiggled in his hands as she thrashed about under the water.  He kept trying the struggle and break free from the rope, to no avail.  Victoria had no way of freeing herself or making it up to the shallow end, they had measured the rope to make it a foot short if she made it that far, as a cruel f**k you, right before she drown.  She didn’t even make it close to the shallow end before she stopped moving, and the last air bubbles trickled out of her nose and popped at the surface.

“One down, one to go,” Charlie said and walked away from the pool back inside.  He waved everyone else over to him. 

“What’s up bro?” Marcus asked.

“Stabbing him isn’t enough, it’s creative and s**t but I want him to suffer.”

“Suffer,” Sherry interrupted.  “We made him watch his wife die, I’m sure he’s suffered.”  She walked over to Charlie and put her hands on his and looked him in the eye, “I know what he did to you was awful, and he deserves whatever you decide to do to him, but he emotionally suffered,” she said and walked into the living room, where she could still hear them talking.

“What do you have in mind bud,” Derrick asked

“I want him to suffer physically, before he burns in hell.”  They stood in the doorway looking at the man tied up to a tree still holding the rope his drowned wife was attached too.  “I think you guys should go and I’ll meet up with you at the hotel.”

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere man,” Derrick said.

“You already know I’m not,” Marcus added.

“It’s not you two I’m thinking about,” he said leaning to see Sherry sitting in the living room, except she wasn’t there.  “Where the hell did she go?”

They all walked around to see if she was in the dining room, or upstairs.  She wasn’t.  They looked out the window to see if she was walking down the street, she wasn’t there either.  They walked back to the back room through the kitchen to see if she was there. Still nothing.

“She’s a "”

“Psycho, just like Charlie,” Marcus said, cutting Derrick off and pointing outside.  Sherry had gone to the shed and grabbed a gas can and was standing over Wayne splashing it on him.  They ran out and Marcus took the can away from her.  “S**t Sherry, you two are perfect for each other,” and handed the can to Charlie. 

“Damn, this is a great idea,” Charlie said looking at Sherry.  He took the knife out of his pocket again and in one motion turned around and rammed it into Wayne’s chest.  His scream didn’t escape the tape.  Charlie finished dousing Wayne with the gasoline as Marcus and Derrick lit up a cigarette.  All four of them took a drag of it, Charlie being the last.  “Here’s a preview of how you’ll spend eternity, scumbag.”  Charlie flicked the cigarette into Wayne’s crotch and watched as he ignited into flame.  “Rot in Hell Wayne. ‘Till we meet again, a*****e.” 

The four of them watched as the flames grew bigger, then grabbed their stuff and walked out the back gate and split up.  Derrick went to the car, and began driving around picking the rest of the crew up.  They pulled over once they got out of the neighborhood to hear the sirens of the fire department responding to the fire.  Charlie’s serious look faded into a smile as he took a deep breath and let it out with a shrug of his shoulders; as if he was letting twelve years of burden fall off of his back.

“Where to now,” Derrick asked Charlie.

“Road trip, “ Charlie said looking at each one of his friends, “we’re going to go visit my mom’s grave, and let her know that she can rest easy now.”

Author's Note

This is the first draft. Please give me your opinions, and what you like or don't like about the story. I'm sure there are some grammatical errors, so if you notice any, could you please point them out?

Reviews

[Monica Carr Innovation]

This was really great! Definitely some movie grade writing! I enjoyed my read. Could have been more descriptive with Wayne's death, but maybe they don't allow that type of writing. Anyway, it was great :]

[Lindsay]

great photo with it too! really great.

[Lindsay]

wow. that was seriously sick.

but twisted evilness aside, it's sooo descriptive. I really saw it happening, especially the fight in the house, the entire scene in the backyard. Wow. Besides a few minor grammar things (question marks, typo, nothing major), it is seriously awesome.

i was just thinking, how about alternate ending: they light Wayne on fire and Charlie is standing there smoking a cigarette and the flame jumps up into his face and he dies too. Sorry, guess I'm sick too.

Great job, Craig!

Oh and I love Sherry's character. A lot of great description. I think you have a thing for her.