Third Person View
The night air was unexpectedly cold. Everyone outside were wearing autumn jackets and hats. You would think that no one would want to be outside in this peculiar weather, but there was a last-minute storm watch on the news, so people are rushing to purchase necessities for the weekend.
Ajahni wasn’t a big eater; all she would be getting at her local supermarket was a jumbo pack of sunflower seeds and a three-pack case of Ramen noodles. That could hold her off for any storm. She already had pasta too and coffee, two other rations she needed.
But she was second-guessing her small list of food. By the way the weather was feeling, maybe she needed much more. She had a feeling that this storm was going to be bigger than expected.
She took a sharp turn around the curb along with everyone else, and realized that they all were headed for the supermarket up ahead. It was nothing like the Californian supermarkets, but it should have the items she wanted. As she walked, a garbage truck suddenly swerved onto the block, cutting off her path.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” A pedestrian shouted.
“Sorry folks, go around the truck please.” The driver called. They all went around.
“What is this, a garbage emergency?” Ajahni muttered to her own humor. A man on the truck glared at her though, as if he had heard her comment. She couldn’t exactly make out his features since it was dark, and the sky was already cloudy too. So she kept on walking with a roll of her eyes. Hopefully, he’d seen that.
The supermarket was brightly lit, a contrast to the gloomy night sky. To Ajahni’s surprise, it had everything she planned on buying and more. When she left the store, she had two bags full of goodies. Even though she bought more than expected, she was still one of the first people to leave out of the group that had come in. This caused her to be walking home all alone—no moon, no stars, just air. Cold, merciless air.
As Ajahni approached the garbage truck, which was still parked in the middle of the sidewalk, she decided to cross the street in order to avoid the truck. She looked from left to right and back, and began to cross the street. She thought she would just be on her way home to eat some noodles, but little did she know that the garbage truck’s location was part of a sly plan.
Roshon leaned against the garbage truck, both satisfied and shaken to have looked Ajahni in the eye after her side comment. He was happy to know for sure that she was there, since she arrived later than anticipated and he thought that she no longer intended to come out of the house. But it was a bit nerve-wracking because there was the possibility that she had recognized him and decided to take a different route home to avoid him, hence ruining the plan.
But she didn’t.
When she crossed the street, Roshon snapped his fingers at one of his friends and he dashed across the street, grabbed her, and brought her back. Instantly, one of his other men used duct tape to muffle her screams and pre-cut rope to tie her arms and legs. Roshon knew that Ajahni was sneaky, and wanted to take extra precautions in tying her up.
“Stick with Plan A?” Marcus, the boy who caught her, asked. Roshon nodded and re-lit the roach he had sitting on the ash tray. Marcus and the other guy, Nikko, loaded Ajahni into the back of the garbage truck, along with the full black bags of local garbage. The truck was rented by Roshon from a friend. They had to return it to the friend soon, so they had to get moving.
“Come on. Make sure you stuff her into those bags properly so no one sees her. Let’s get out of here.” He ordered, leaping into the driver seat. Nikko got into the passenger seat and Marcus went to ride at the side of the truck.
As Roshon started the car, he noticed Nikko looking at him funny. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” He said freshly.
“I’m just wondering…what do you want to do with her? You know, now that we’ve got her.” Nikko asked reluctantly.
Roshon knew exactly what he wanted to do with her. He knew since before last night, when he met up with Darcelle and planted a tracking/hearing device on her shirt. He predicted that Darcelle wouldn’t be willing to kill Ajahni with him, and he already knew that Chris was on his way to look for Darcelle. It wasn’t hard to tell that Darcelle would set Roshon up with Chris. So he was taking care of Ajahni himself. He would turn on the compacting device on the truck after Marcus and Nikko left, and Ajahni would be crushed and compacted along with the garbage. It was that simple.
And then she would be gone. And he would meet Chris, make him fall in love again, and Ajahni would no longer be in the picture.
It was a flawless plan.