Thank you, for everything! (pt. 2)

Today would be the day. Jeanne sighed and listened for a while, before opening her eyes. She could hear bars slamming, yelling and whistles in the distance, but she’d grown accustomed to it, like one who no longer hears the crickets at night. When she did open her lids, a cloudless sky mocked the seriousness of her final day.

The lifeless black box stared at her when she entered the main room. It remained where she left it, on the table, and defied her very use of it. Jeanne almost wanted to throw it across the room, but she knew its purpose here, and why she asked for it in the first place.

She sat on the table and stared back at the tape recorder. It was time.

Record.

“I returned to my apartment, which is strange to describe. It consists of three levels, the the main room is an open square. Each level has its own staircase and the room that day was flooded with sunlight. That’s when she came in.

“I saw her from the corner of my eye and tried to get to my apartment before she could reach me, but she just came up to me yelling like a mad woman.

" ‘Why were you with him,’ she fumed!

" ‘You’re taken, why do you care,’ as if it wasn’t bad enough I hurt him, this bitch was getting on my case.


" ‘You had no right!’ she was grabbing my shoulders now, but her little frame could hardly move me.

" ‘I know, I didn’t want...’ I tried to finish but she cut me off.

" ‘LIAR! He just wanted to be your friend and you..’ the rest was indescribable. That woman looked at me with crazed eyes.
‘You just wanted his warmth.... But you stole that from him!’ “

Pause.

She put the device down and went to the fridge. The water wasn’t changed; that meant they didn’t complete surveillance last night. Maybe they wanted to give her a last chance for a good night’s rest. She let the door to the fridge close on its own and returned to the table. Rays of sunlight were already heating the floor.

Unpause.

“She was wearing a bathrobe. I figured her feet must be wet, but I came to accept the truth of it. She couldn’t have slipped from the landing, the stairs are carpeted.

“When she screamed, someone from the third level came out to see what was going on. I don’t think he saw me push her, or even see where she initially came from. But he did see her broken body strewn across the bottom floor, blood pooling from her head and chest.

" ‘Jeanne... Jesus, what happened? ‘ he asked me.

“Although I opened my mouth, nothing came out. My legs had another idea.... and I found myself running. Through my front door I went, looking to climb out to the window ledge to escape. There’s a trellis-thing on the side of our building that I’ve used often to get to the roof for privacy – it was very convenient for that instant. When I reached to one of the window roofs, I sat there and cried.

“Have you ever had the feeling that your heart was sinking? That you’ve done something so terrible, it-it makes your heart feel lower in your chest? Well, that’s the feeling I still carry with me. The reason I’m doing all this. I wanted to tell Mr. Adam thank you, for everything he showed me... I...”

Pause.

Jeanne sniffled, then wiped her eyes. “Now I have to explain Derek... Damn.”

Unpause.

“Derek was the guy I talked about before, the one who might have seen the fall. He used to date the crazy bitch, well, he still might have but the way we were going at it, I’d say he lost interest...” Jeanne smiled and laughed at that.

“Derek worked on cars at the mechanic’s shop downstairs from our apartment. He always smelled of oil and tires when he came home. Even though he was going out with the crazy bitch, her name was Marianna, we didn’t let our looks to each other go unnoticed. So, we fooled around once or twice, it meant nothing, just fulfilling our basic instincts, and remained friends.

“When I was out on the roof, crying, Derek came up to see if I was okay. When he offered that greasy hand to help me down, I realized the mistake I made. Marianna wasn’t talking about Adam earlier. I pushed her because I thought she was blaming me for Adam’s sadness. Since that wasn’t the case, it was time to turn myself in.

“I accepted Derek’s hand and climbed off the roof. The police were already downstairs and he turned to me:

" ‘Are you sure you want to go down there?’

" ‘Yeah...’ was all I can remember saying.

“The police were waiting for me, and they seemed surprised that I was the one coming forward. I turned toward Derek and thanked him, to which he replied:

“ ‘Just returning the favor. Please, take care of yourself.’ And the police took me away.”

STOP.

A knock at the door startled her. “I’m done,” she answered. Sliding the tape recorder across the table, she whispered “I’m done...”

Keys jangled at the lock, and the cell door opened.

“It’s time Miss ...”

“I’m ready,” she interrupted.

Although this was off her chest, she still felt remorse. Stiffly, she held out her arms to be cuffed and they led her away from the cell. Since she was completely cooperative with the police, she was offered two requests before her execution. Jeanne asked for a bottled water, and a device to record her confession.

True, she was being held because of the murder of Marianna Kensington, but this sentence was only fitting for her behaviour. The act of rejection was truly the worst crime of all.