Consume - J. Ryan Elgin

CONSUME


J. Ryan Elgin



CHAPTER ONE

You could clearly see the thumb imprints left around her windpipe. There is a bracing of bruises encircled by once soft skin. There were also the formations of his other fingers, and some of his hands, wrapped around her throat.
He had kept his hands there for eight minutes, keeping a fixed pressure in his tensed hands, constricting. He had fought off the girl’s initial struggles and death throes. She tried to pry his hands free, lift his arms, but it was useless. She never had the time to gouge at his face or punch him; she was concerned solely in regaining her ability to breathe.
To keep the prolonged attack of strangulation on a victim, one must have more than the standard type of fury, hatred. It is more than merely an eruption of brutality after a quarrel. It is an incident where a life is meant to be taken, without pity or second thoughts. This was no mishap.
Eight minutes. That is a long time for one to sustain such dominance and evil. It is, conversely, obligatory in effecting a successful strangulation. There is sufficient of time in which one could to undergo sorrow, regret, and comprehend the damage you are committing.


The ripple of water beneath the thick rubber skin of the water bed swung languidly as she sat on corner of the bed. The oaken headboard rattled against the eggshell paint of the bedroom wall. Her hand slightly quivered as she lifted the pink telephone from her nightstand.
She grabbed a handful of tissues from the flower-patterned cardboard box as she tucked the pink receiver between her neck and shoulder. She slipped her toes under the green floral sheets and listened as the rings purred to her ear.
She gave the baby carrier next to her a quick peek. The newborn was sound asleep. His bulbous belly was bared as the pyjama shirt ruffled up under his neck. The edges of the blue maple leaf were crinkled about over his small chest. His Mom carefully pulled some soft white bedding up to cover him.
Five rings. She tossed her straight light brown hair over her shoulder and peered into the glow of red numerals of the tiny clock on the night table. It was well-passed midnight. She widened her eyes momentarily, realizing that she was calling too late. Seven rings.
'Hello...' An elderly woman answered. There was a hint of French to her words, edged by being woken so late.
'Hi Mom,' She tried to calm her voice so her Mother would not get worried. She set her eyes toward the baby monitor; the single red dot told her that he was not home yet. That eased her somewhat.
'Suzanne, is that you.'
'No Ma, this is Kelly. Sorry for calling so late, I didn't realize-.'
'Kelly, what's wrong? 'Is Kevan okay?’ She was suddenly awake, wide-awake. Her daughter had never called this late before.
'He's all right Mom...he's on the bed right beside me.' I just called to ask you a favour, I guess', her voice started to crackle near the end. She could never hold back her feelings from her Mother.
'I guess I could book tomorrow off...is Janet sick or something', She calmed herself down, nothing was wrong with her fourth grandchild.
'No no no, it's not that...It's...’ Kelly felt a swollen tear tumble down her cheek. She was not sure her Mom would understand, or even support her. She did not want to let her parents down; her parents, like they had failed in raising her might take on her failure.
'What's wrong dear...We can help honey.'
Those words always got to her. It was as she was a little girl, heart broken over a lost Barbie, and she was there to console the way only a Mother can.
'Remember when Dad finished the basement,' Her words were slow and hesitant.
'I guess...what's wrong honey, is everything okay. Do you need some money this month.'
'No Ma, it's not money. Remember what I said when I came over and looked at the basement.' She did not want to tell her outright. It would be better if her Mom could piece it together herself.
'No, not really honey...why don't you just tell me...' Her Mother rambled through a few scenarios in her mind, but none that made any sense.
'Well, I think you thought I was joking or something,' she grounded her teeth and wiped a tear from her cheek.
'Dear, just ask me what you want, it's okay.' Kelly heard her Mother muffle the phone with her hand and mumble something to her Father.
'Well, remember what I said...something like it was big enough for someone to actually rent out'.
'Kind of...I-.'
'Well I said that Kevan and I could probably make a good home down there.'
'Yes...ya, you were having some trouble with Cory. I thought you guys sorted all that out...You weren't serious, were you?’ Her voice stretched and reached out, trying to comfort and console what she now had an inkling of. Kelly and Cory were going through another bumpy road. She knew of them in all the thirty years she'd been married, and the many times she was close to running off with the kids.
'Well Mom, I'm serious this time. I have to get out,' She began to sob into the mouthpiece.
'He didn't hit you...’ Her Mother was now deeply concerned for her child's well fare. This was her most susceptible child, she wasn't as tough and street wise as her other three children. She could tell by her daughter's inflection that she was serious. This was something that she did not want to be denied or talked out of.
'No....No, he didn't hit me. I don't think he would ever hit me. I'm just frightened of him...it's hard to tell you how Mom, I'm just scared something's gonna happen to us. I don't know', She sucked back some tears. 'I have to get the hell out of here'.
'He's not molesting Kevan-', She was terrified of that happening to any of her children's children.
'No. He would never do anything like that. I just don't want to be around him any more...he makes my skin crawl'.
'Is he seeing another woman, is he fooling around with Sarah', Her Mom's vivid imagination was trying to make the strange circumstance equate to something she could understand.
'No. I don't think so...it doesn't matter anyway'.
'Well what the devil is going on honey...You just don't leave your husband on a whim. I went through this so many times with-', Kelly heard her Mom put a palm over the mouth piece and whisper out, '...with your Dad'.
'Mom!’ Kelly started to edge her voice in frustration. She did not know how to put her heart's feelings into words. 'I don't love him any more, I don't'.
'Is he out of town right now', Her Mother had calmed her imagination, and concern now ruled.
'He's in Oshawa, he wont be back until Thursday'.
'Well just take the next few days off and think about what you really want to do...I know you kids can work it out'. She was trying to paint herself with a caring motherly facade. It was a crutch she seldom leaned upon, but right now, she could not muster the correct response or stature.
'I've been...all I've done for the past few weeks is think...I just can't stand it any more...’ Her eyes began to swell again. She was helpless, didn't know what to do, but knew she wanted out. She wanted her Mother to give her a final push, solve her dower problem. Kelly did not want to think any more, her brain had done all it could. Now she was exhausted, and just sought the arms of someone that could ease her, protect her, and understand her.
Her Mother let the line dangle in silence. Kelly could tell that she was trying to give her what she wanted. As a Mother, she had to be sure of what it was she was going to do. She didn't want to become the shim that ended her daughter's seven-year marriage. This would have to be something Kelly really wanted.
'Mom, please...please. We wont be down there very long, just until I can get on my feet again'.
'Okay...okay honey', that is what she needed to here, she was now certain. 'Ray will get hold of Danny's van and we'll be over in the morning, just try and get some sleep, okay honey'.
'I love you Mom', Her tears now flowed and her voice gasped for short pants of air. 'I'm so sorry...’
Kelly put the phone back in its cradle; she could see her tears and mascara run along the side of the pink phone. It was over, time to go on.
She looked at her son, crunched up in the rocker. He looked so angelic, beautiful, warm, and devoted to her affection.
Kelly tossed a quick peek at the monitor. The red dot did not flicker at all. She was safe.

All was quiet in the end unit of the four home row house. 1310 Cedarcroft was mostly darkened, just the peach glow from the upstairs windows that faced the barren crescent.
The moon was a slit in the black of the cloudless night. The tiny bustling of red and yellow leaves swept along the top of the grass lawns. The purr of the odd automobile seeped from the main highway that backed onto the homes across the street from Kelly Thomas's front door.
A distant dog bark floated among the parked cars and soft orange yellow street lamps. It was like a calm before the storm. In Kelly's case, it would be the calm in the eye of the storm.
The sound of a neighbour's stereo wafted in and out of the gently lifting breezes. It seemed as though life was sated all around her, only she was in this torment.
The child's hand awkwardly shot out of the bedding and gently swiped at his little olive skinned forehead. Kelly looked at the soon to be single parent tot. She felt a rock sink into her chest. She convinced herself that she was doing this more for her son's sake, not her own.
Kelly stretched out her tanned legs and took a deep breath. She took solace in the monitor’s single red glow. She was safe now. Things would get better.
Down stairs, behind the blackened front door, all was clean, orderly and serene. Beige thermal drapes were closed along the back of the home, encasing the living/dining room area in night's darkness.
The three-piece wall unit held the colour television and VCR. A few cassettes sat on top of the machine. 'Sleeping Beauty' could be still seen the black room.
A large oak coffee table sat in with the two dark blue love seats. The top of the square table was orderly, People magazines all neatly stacked. The converter lay across the top of a coaster. A baby sound detector stood behind the blue floral Kleenex box, directed toward the front door.
It was Kelly's personal alarm system. She knew Cory was out of town, four hours from that front door, but that did not mean he wouldn't come home early.
Cory had not trusted since the day they first met in College. He was paranoid about someone sleeping with Kelly while he went on business trips to utilities scattered about Ontario.
The monitor softly charged that single red light, Kelly fell asleep staring into the glow, sure that she was safe, and would be from this time on.