Entry# 13: Is There Really A Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Aaliyah Jasminda

I yelled, "What the hell?" No sign of Cassandra anywhere.  I jumped out of the car and raced into the house.  Cassandra apparently woke up in a rage as the living room was trashed.  I ran back outside and looked at Omar. 

"Get in the car," he commanded. 

My mind was racing as I slid into the passenger seat.  I was tired and over this mess.  "Where in the hell did she go?"  I asked.

"I think I have an idea.  She seems to be dead set on getting back at ol' boy," Omar said as he pulled out of the driveway.  "We gotta go back and get him."

"What?  Where is he?"  I asked.

"In the middle of nowhere.  Even if he got out, he won't get far.  The funny thing, he is closer to home than he thinks."

As Omar sped down the road, all I kept thinking was when would this be over.  I couldn't get mad at anyone else but myself.  I chose to go down this path of revenge.  I chose to drag Omar down the path with me.  Now we have a psycho chick on the loose.

"Okay, so wait.  Where do you think Cassandra went?"

"She probably went back to the motel which is not too far from where I left ol' boy and if he has managed to start walking to try to get some help, there is a chance that their paths may cross."  Omar pulled out his cell phone.

"Who are you calling?"  I asked.

"Cassandra.  If I can come up with a way to give her some closure, I can keep her from doing something stupid."  Omar didn't get an answer so he ended the call.

I stared out of the window.  All I could do was ask the good Lord for nothing crazy to happen.  I shook my head at the irony of asking God to help me in a mess that I created;  one that He surely would not smile down on.  I laid my head against the headrest and closed my eyes.  I must have fallen asleep because by the time I opened them, we were in front of what appeared to be an abandoned farm house.

"Where are we?"  I asked.  I squinted my eyes while using my hand to shade them as the sun was beginning to rise. 

"In the middle of nowhere," Omar replied as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the car and then headed towards the entrance.

I followed Omar and stopped dead in my tracks once I entered the doorway.  Geoffrey was laid out on the ground and it appeared that he pissed and crapped on himself.  Omar walked over to him and nudged him with his foot.  Geoffrey stirred some and then stopped. 

Omar nudged him again and then yelled, "Hey! Wake your ass up!"  Omar then poured water on Geoffrey's face.

Geoffrey  began coughing and shook his head as he tried to sit up.  He slowly opened his eyes and looked very confused.  He turned his head and looked up at Omar and flinched.  I couldn't even laugh as I no longer found the situation funny.  I don't know what Omar did, but Geoffrey looked like he was beat up pretty badly.  Omar then grabbed Geoffrey by the collar and pulled him into an upright position. 

Geoffrey was the first one to break the silence.  "I thought you weren't coming back," he said.

I looked at Geoffrey.  He really was a certified jackass.  With all that had happened he still couldn't turn off his sarcasm.

"Shut the hell up.  The plan has changed," Omar said.

At this point I was wondering what the plan was.  I wasn't supposed to know what happened to Geoffrey once he left the house, but seeing him made a very small part of me begin to feel guilty of his condition.  I began to wonder if all of this was worth it.  I cleared my throat.  "Where do we go from here?"  I asked.

"Once we find Cassandra, we are going to turn him in," Omar stated.

"But I thought we weren't going to do that?"

"Look AJ, I have enough on ol' boy to get him convicted for at least credit card fraud.  With his 

record, he may do a year or more.  He clearly can't afford a good attorney."  Omar then walked over to me.

"We need to end this and I can see that you are ready for it to end.  Truth be told, this really ain't your thing.  Well at least not the violent part of it.  You are turning into someone you are not.  We can turn him in and keep our hands clean.  We know where his wife is.  He doesn't.  As long as we keep a tight rein on her, he won't breathe a word of our involvement.  He'd rather serve time than have his son's mother go down with him.  We just need to find Cassandra and have her turn him in.  She doesn't even know who we are and will never be able to track us down.  I will make sure of it."

I looked over at Geoffrey and then walked towards him.  I stooped down beside him and then stood right back up because he smelled awful.  Just as I opened my mouth to speak, I had an idea.  I walked back over to Omar.

"Why don't we just drop him back off at his home and tell Cassandra where he is.   At that point what happens to him next is completely out of our hands and we just walk away.  I'm tired and I am ready to move on."

Omar remained quiet for a moment and then nodded in agreement.  He walked over to Geoffrey and said, "Get up."

Geoffrey could barely manage.  Omar grabbed him by the collar and yanked Geoffrey to his feet.  Geoffrey winced in pain as Omar shoved him towards the door.  Geoffrey looked at me with remorse.  I looked at him with a blank stare.  At that point, I was feeling emotionless and numb.  After the hellish night he had, I was sure in that moment that Geoffrey would think twice before pulling a con ever again.

Omar popped the trunk and without resistance, Geoffrey slowly climbed in.  Once we were settled in the car we headed back to Geoffrey's house.  My mind started to feel more at ease as the light at the end of the tunnel was coming near.  I looked over at Omar and grabbed his hand and squeezed it.  

Although things got out of control, he still had my back and I was so appreciative of him for that.  As we approached Geoffrey's house, I looked around to see if maybe Cassandra returned.  There was no sign of her.  Omar tried calling her again and the phone went straight to voice mail. 

"She will find her way back here, she needs closure," he said while pulling into the garage.  I then grabbed the remote and closed the garage door.

Omar climbed out of the car and opened the trunk and Geoffrey slowly climbed out.

"What now?" Geoffrey asked. 

"Nothing. We are done.  I guess you can call us even," Omar said.

"Where's Terry?"  Geoffrey asked.

"You will find out eventually, until then, we are done with you," I said through gritted teeth.  Like I said before, only a small part of me felt bad for him.  "You don't contact me and I won't contact you.  That way you don't have any problems."

Geoffrey opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off.  "Quite frankly, I really don't care about what else you have to day.  Just get in the house," I said as I walked back to the car and opened the passenger door.  I then pressed the garage door opener and  tossed it on the garage floor.

"You heard her," Omar said as he got into the car.

Geoffrey turned around and went inside of the house.  When he closed the door, I realized that I had stopped breathing.  "Is it really over?"  I asked Omar.

"I hope so," he said as he backed out of the garage.

I leaned my head back and breathed a sigh of relief.  I just wanted to go home and take a nice hot bath and get some sleep.  We still had to go back to the diner and get my car.  As we were driving, I began to fully understand why revenge was truly a waste of time.  I had no sense of satisfaction.  I felt empty.  What did I really accomplish was the question that came to mind.  I rubbed my temple as I felt a headache coming on as we approached the diner parking lot. 

Omar pulled up next to my car and said "I'll follow you home."  I climbed out and got into my car.  I hung my head down low and sat quietly for a moment.  I just needed to put this behind me and move on.  Regardless of the feeling of emptiness, I was just glad that it was over.

Once we got back to my house, I took a long hot bath and then crawled into my bed.  It took a while for me to fall asleep but when I finally did I slept for a good six hours before Omar woke me up. 

"AJ," he said as he sat on the edge of my bed and reached over to the nightstand for my TV remote control.

"What?"  I asked groggily.

"You need to see this," he said as he turned on the TV.

I looked over at the image on the screen and was hoping that I was just dreaming. 

"It looks like Cassandra got her closure," Omar said.

My jaw dropped open.  Cassandra was being escorted in handcuffs by two police men.  "What happened?"  I asked.

"Ol' boy is dead."

"Huh?"

"Cassandra killed him."

©All original content copyright Kim M. Washington, 2014