Page 58 of Dear Mr. Vampire

“I got out and I couldn’t find you. You skipped town.”

“Lonzo, you had your sister threaten to kill me.”

“I was just fucking with you. Soon as I got out of county lockup, I thought about how I was going to deal with you.”

“I didn’t see anything. They came to me. I never placed you at the scene. I only answered the questions. I never saw you do anything illegal.” Somehow this was technically true, but didn’t mean much to the police. I heard people being murdered, but I never actually saw Lonzo pull the trigger. Of course he did it. Ofcourse I saw the gun in his hand before and after three people lost their lives, but what my ears heard, my eyes never saw. Whether that mattered in a court of law, I didn’t know. I was a nurse, not a prosecutor.

“I don’t know what you said or didn’t say, but I know the States Attorney had been trying to lock me up for two decades.”

“Lonzo, you know I don’t want to have anything to do with any of this.”

“I can’t control what you say when you get on the witness stand.”

“I’m not going to say anything.”

Lonzo’s eyes left me to rest on the bed. “What’s up with these suitcases? Where are you going?”

“Just a quick little trip back to Minnesota.” I had to make up a lie. It seemed to be a good one. Since he was closer to the bed, that gave me a little space to run for the door. Could I make it? I just didn’t know for sure.

“Who you packing lingerie for that White boy that I saw you with at the funeral?”

“Who?” It was time to really come up with a lie. The only funeral was Craig’s, and Lonzo didn’t know him. I needed to get Lonzo out of my apartment before Zand came up to get me.

“That White muthafucka at the funeral?”

My first response was, my cousin. No one would believe that Zand was related to me. I had to come up with a better response.

“Oh, that’s Morgan’s cousin.” That was believable. Morgan was White passing and Lonzo wouldn’t know her race. She looked White.

“I thought you were fucking him.”

“No, he’s White.” I made a sour face.

“That’s good, because I didn’t want to put some lead in that muthafucka head.” Lonzo slowly lifted his shirt and removed a gun from the waistband of his jeans. “I already ran your little friend Craig off the road.”

“You killed Craig?”

“Yes, I needed to find you. I tried to follow your friend, but she’s too smart. I got Craig’s cell phone from the wreck and he was texting his girlfriend in Chicago. You remember when your girl came down here to visit you.”

I remembered it vividly. Now I can never forget that Craig’s road rage accident was no accident at all. It was Lonzo trying to find me and killing some innocent person just for that purpose. I was sick to my stomach. I wanted to throw up. If I survived this, Morgan would never forgive me. I’d talked to Morgan earlier when I was at work. I hoped and prayed she was okay.

“Did you do something to Morgan?”

“No, I didn’t have to kill that White girl.”

I needed to live. “We should go out together on a date. We haven’t been out together in a long time.”

“I want to stay in your little apartment. It’s cute. You got pillows and shit. You got food in the fridge. No Mexican food, but we can fix that. You got that fat, juicy pussy right here. I don’t have to go nowhere.” He grinned like a villain in a MCU movie. “Come here.” He used the gun to wave me over.

He was talking to me, but I couldn’t even move my fragile body to take a step in his direction.

“Lonzo, I think we should go out, get food or something.” Lonzo waved the handgun around and stalked over to me. He waved the gun in my face.

My heart lurched. My eyes grew large. Knees, what knees? They were as fragile as glass. I looked down at the bed. My cell was inside my purse. I couldn’t get to it.

“I don’t want to go anywhere. I told you that. I haven’t been with anybody since you. I want some of the good shit you got.”

“I’m on my period.” I hoped that lie would work.

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