Chapter 4: Day Three

Cody awoke as the sun started to stream through his bedroom window on Saturday morning. In one moment he was asleep, then he was wide awake staring at the ceiling. He did not know how long he stayed immobile, staring up at the plain beige plaster roof.

His thoughts were not mindless as he stared upward to the blank ceiling. He reflected on what transpired the last two days, and what he will do over the next few days, or hell, even for the upcoming weeks and months since there did not seem to be an expiration date on The Onyx. He understood that he could not continue to randomly kill bums and bikers around town. He needed to have a plan to avoid suspicion.

Unfortunately, a great idea did not materialize while Cody stared at the ceiling. He finally rolled off the bed and took the large pile of clothes on the floor to the washing machine. He stripped out of what he was wearing and added it to the load in the washer before he plodded to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. Once started he headed to the bathroom and a shave and shower.

By 9:00 AM Cody was dressed in freshly washed clothes and ready to start the day. The problem was that he did not have a plan of action. He sat heavily on a chair in the living room and stared at the blank television. He was jolted back to the present when his cellphone chirped, signaling an incoming call.

“Hello,” he said dully into the phone.

“Hey, sleepy head, I didn’t wake you did I?” Cody’s mom brightly sang into the phone. Shelly, Cody’s mom, was a controlling woman who tried her hardest to keep her natural tendency in check but was not always successful. His dad, Carlton, Carl to all but Shelly, had learned many years ago to just let her take the lead and charge ahead without interruption.

“No, Mom, I’m awake. What’s up?”

“Nothing, really. We haven’t heard from you in over a week so I wanted to call and check in on how you are doing. Everything OK? Didn’t you have a job interview?”

The job interview. That seemed like the distant past with everything that had transpired since that ill-fated morning.

“Yeah, I was supposed to, but I missed it. Long story.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. Well, I’m sure something else will come up very soon.”

Cody grunted into the phone as he rolled his eyes.

“Listen, why don’t you come over for an early dinner tonight? We’re hosting both the Lettermans and Hendricks. Your dad is going to grill hot dogs and burgers and we’ll have a bunch of sides. I know you won’t want to stick around for games with the old fuddy-duddies, but at least come over for food.”

Cody started to decline, but then changed his mind. “Sure, mom, that sounds great. What time?”

He heard the pleasure in his mom’s voice. “Great! Why don’t you come over at 2:00? Your dad needs to run to the hardware store. You can help him with that errand, then help me pat out the burgers. It will give you a chance to see both your parents.”

Normally, Cody would dread spending an afternoon with him mom and dad, but today it felt like the right thing. He confirmed the time and told his mom he would see her in a few hours.

Cody pulled his rattling, taped-together car, into his parents’ driveway a few minutes before 2:00. He swung to the far right and parked in front of the third garage door. It was where he parked when he lived at the house. Now the empty space in the garage was used for bicycles and yard equipment.

The two-bay door was open so Cody entered the house from garage. He opened the door to the kitchen and called out, “Mom, dad, I’m here.”

He heard a voice from the living room. “Good timing, Cody, I just finished double checking my list for the store.” His dad finished speaking when he appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Hey, dad,” said Cody while his dad dropped a cup in the sink. “What project are you working on that you have a list that needs to be double-checked?”

His dad shook his head, “It’s the garden trellis.”

That was all his dad needed to say for Cody to know exactly what was coming. His mom had been wanting a trellis wall on two sides of the patio for years. She wanted to grow ivy up a wooden trellis to both block the sun, but also the neighbor’s view. Ever since the Simms moved out and the Battlefields moved in she felt like the subject a reality television show.

Cody laughed, “Finally got you to build it, huh?”

His dad quickly looked behind him and raised his eyebrows before he corrected his son. “She’s got me to buy the materials.”

Cody nodded conspiratorially and then followed his dad to the garage, taking a seat in the cab of his dad’s well-used truck. The trip to the store was uneventful. They got six 4’x8’ trellis sheets, along with a dozen 2’x4’s and all the needed nails, screws, paint, and glue that may be required to finish the project. When back at the house they transferred all of their newly acquired products from the bed of the truck to a small recessed area in the garage for safe keeping.

“So how long will they live here before you actually build the trellis?” asked Cody as he dropped the last of the bags near the lumber.

“If I play my cards right, I can probably put off this job for several months.”

Cody laughed at his dad, but knew that he was serious and probably would not do anything for the foreseeable future.

“You better get inside and help your mom, she’s been looking forward to having you around this afternoon.”

Cody nodded and turned for the house. His mom did not need his help, but he knew she liked having him around and will have him doing any number of odd jobs as they chat about his life – job prospects, and more importantly, girl prospects.

Cody found his mom in the kitchen pulling ground beef out of the fridge. She had all of her secret ingredients spread around the bowl.

“Just in time,” she said. “Wash your hands and then put the ground beef in the mixing bowl, please.”

Cody did as he was instructed, and then spent the next 90 minutes deflecting as many of his mom’s personal questions as he could without being rude. They finally had the food ready for the grill and the sides prepared.

“Thank you, Cody!” his mom exclaimed. “You are always such a help in the kitchen.”

Cody smiled, “Glad to help out, mom.”

Shelly took the tray of meats and headed to the back patio where his dad had already lit the grill. Alone in the house, Cody scanned the rooms he called home until graduating from college. He loved his parents, and the house was great, but he was relieved to finally be on his own. As his gaze passed over the hallway to his old bedroom he had a flash of insight. He looked to the patio and saw that his parents were busy with the grill.

Cody quickly crossed the living room, into the hallway, and then into the bedroom that he used to occupy. It was now a guest room. He opened the closet and stretched on his toes to find the small lever he built into the wall over the shelf. He flicked it and a small panel door opened. Stretching further, he was able to reach in and find the hidden content.

Cody pulled a small package from the wall then closed the panel. He unzipped the bag and saw the 9mm S&W his dad gave him before he moved into his first apartment. A magazine was loaded into the gun and a spare was snugly tucked into an inner pocket. Both were fully loaded. He remembered his dad telling him that the gun was “clean” and could not be tracked. His dad leaned toward conspiracy theories so Cody was not surprised his dad would find a gun outside of normal commercial channels.

Leaning against the wall, Cody thought about the weekend he moved into his first apartment. At the time, he had a girlfriend that was terrified of guns. She threw a fit when she saw him take the weapon out of the closet. He only left it hidden in the closet at his parents’ house when she threatened to break up with him on the spot if brought it to his new apartment.