The lit cigarette smoke barely reached my nostrils when a sudden downpour ebbed it out. I sat there, ... fifteen minutes...maybe four hours. It was hard to tell in the dark. Drops of rain dripped down my forehead...or maybe it was blood.
"She was so full of life. My wife. God knows I loved her.", I rehearsed. A story had to be consistent and the words unchanged. That was all I had managed to pick up from all those years of crime dramas on TV.
Hell! I never paid much heed. It wasn't like I planned this murder.
"This is not murder. This is self-defense!", said a voice in my head.
"This is exactly what happened, officer...my wife lunged at me and I panicked in self-defense and stabbed her.", I meditated.
They might even believe me given my timid build compared to her rotund, obese and intimidating existence. Existence that lies flat out cold and wet with her face close to my shoes. The shoes that she bought me. I moved the tip of my shoe closer until it penetrated her open mouth.
"Body, motive and weapon." -- That's what they need to tie down a crime don't they? Well, I'm certainly not going to make this mess disappear 'Breaking bad' style. And the husband can always be suspected with a motive to kill his wife. That leaves me with making the weapon disappear...
There was a solid knock on the front door and my heart leapt into my throat. I could barely gulp. My rib cage shuddered with each heartbeat and my body froze to react.
"Thunk", someone tried to push the door after a while. I heard a voice over the patter of rain on grass. It felt like that of a woman. It felt like that of our neighbour. What was Alice doing? Fuck! I tossed my cigarette on the chest of my dead wife and stood up in the backyard. My clothes were beginning to get drenched. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and managed to smear blood on my shirt cuffs. The bitch took her last blow even in the face of death. If I only knew where her soul was moving next I'd ebb out that life too! Every inch of my body lived to hate her soul.
I tiptoed inside to ensure the front door was locked. It was a matter of time before Alice would go away. I then slipped into the bedroom and switched off my wife's phone before it could ring. Sure, Alice would have tried that next. I then switched off my phone in my pocket and waited until Alice's silhouette in the front door disappeared. It felt like a while and eventually, all I saw on the front door glass were beads of rain slipping down to the sill. It was almost therapeutic as I sat on the edge of the sofa arm, admiring the view. A faint glimmer of moonlight through the door glass lit my hands enough for me to see the blood on them. It wasn't the usual colour. It appeared dark brown, almost black.
The clock in the kitchen struck on the hour. I couldn't count the bells precisely but it seemed to be between nine or ten in the night. Sunday the 24th of April, 2016 and I've managed to kill Satan on this eventful night. Only, there isn't any homecoming or celebrations. Not public, at least. But my heart was singing, even if palpating. I managed to smile as I pulled out my pack of cigarettes and lit up, drawing a big one in and holding it before I lifted my chin and exhaled. The smoke hung about in the room, in the moonlight. It seemed ethereal. Everything did. Meanwhile, the raindrops continued to batter the glass on the front door.
YOU ARE READING
Death Wish
Mystery / Thriller"I killed her...and I am the only victim." A chilling account of a husband who believed he had seen the last of his wife when he drew a knife through her. Only, he could not have been more wrong. What follows is the beginning of his world turning u...
