The Deal

Forty-Seven-Bernadette

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Not kidding! Come outside and see for yourself! Damn you, woman!"

My ears hear it, but I can't get my mind to process this dilemma. When I open the door, I can no longer deny it. The first thing my mind tells me is to run back inside and hide in the guest room with Krystal and Andy's bodies, but I stay there frozen. Questioning how the hell did I go from living a good, quiet suburban life to having my past come back to bite me in the arse? I noticed I thought of Andrew as a corpse already. It could be any of the nosy neighbors, I tell myself.

They were unto me from the beginning. I knew these foolish dark urges would ruin what I've built. I was the idiot who was caught bringing Krystal and Andy's bodies here.

It's definitely the young couple across the street. I should have killed them from day one. They were the first neighbors I spoke to. I knew they were trouble.

"You've got some explaining to do, you hear me?" Baduza barks at me over the phone.

The camera lights snap me out of the shock. "No shit! It's true! It really is her!" A paparazzi scumbag bellows. "The plastic surgery, man! I swear it's dope! You'd never recognize her!"

"Bernadette Amara! Is it true? Have you been hiding in this neighborhood for eleven months now?"

"Do you have an identical twin sister?"

"No, man! They're doppelgangers!"

"Neat!"

"Where did you find your doppelganger, Mrs. Amara? Did you know her from your childhood? Are you related?"

"Do you have a secret group of doppelgangers? You're wealthy enough to have them at your beck and call."

"Why did you troll us, Mrs. Amara? Was this all a publicity stunt?"

"Wh-wh-where are you?" I ask Baduza, eye twitching and limbs shivering. I think I'm legitimately going to have a panic attack. "Where the hell are you?! Talk!"

"In the damn vehicle, where else?"

I throw my gaze at the police cars parked a far distance near the other flats. "Are you incompetent all of a sudden? You're supposed to be here doing your damn jobs! What do you think I pay you for? To help you pay your damn bills?"

"Not when it involves getting our faces printed on the tabloids! I'm not putting my life and family on the line for you when shit like this happens! I knew you were going to screw us up, eventually!"

The camera lights distract me, so I hide my face. "I'll pay you triple if you get back and kill the bitch and her kids for me! If you leave, I am going to expose your dirty secrets to your family! Your work isn't finished! Do you hear me, you old fool!"

"Go ahead, little bitch! Our attorneys will be waiting. Go live in your fantasy land and fight for it yourself. Screw this and screw you! We're out!"

"Baduza! Get back here now!" My words fall on his old, deaf ears as he takes off in his vehicle. The other one following suit. I don't even notice the call's been cut. People have always backstabbed and deserted me, right from childhood. My dead father showed me the worst in humanity. My mother decided to desert me by dying in the nursing home. My best friend only cared about her show instead of helping me take my pain away. So, I'll show them the worst in me. I'll show them all.