– Your life is too pathetic to write your own friggin autobiography – You have to desecrate the story of the Satin Strangler – Make a mockery of the legend through your fictionalized Destiny Blande character – FICTION – The Satin Strangler – FICTION – I want to wretch
– You will be rich beyond your wettest dreams – Smiles and signatures – They cheered your court conquests – Now they hang on your every word – Worshipers lined up along the streets – Sea View is bursting at the seams – Where have they all come from – And why – All the beloved – But beloved not of you – Do not fool yourself – These are the mesmerized rank and file of the Satin Strangler minions – You have stolen them from their rightful owner to make a mockery of her legend – To turn her into fiction – FICTION
– Eighteen people and then me – Back up back up – A security guard stares down the crowd – He tries to keep them from you – Chubby tough guy – Flashlight in a holster – Feigning power but wielding none – They all must move back – Or what – Maybe he will shine his light in their faces – Everyone on line will get their turn
– Zit girl at the cash register watches you – She sweeps book after book across the bar code sensor – Credit card after credit card – Twenty dollar bill after twenty dollar bill – All for you
– Fourteen until me – I have lived on this line for over two hours – Suffering the mindless banter of the masses – Beach plans and sports teams and favorite songs – Idle chatter to make a head explode – Now they are nothing but giddy – They know they will meet the famous lawyer author soon – They smile and wave and chuckle to each other like school children on a field trip
– The family in the front of the line stops to take a photo with you – Not just one camera – Everyone in the family has to take a photo – The balding dad and the fat mother and their three freakishly misshapen children – You smile with them Horace P Krouch Esquire – Tough luck the others will have to wait extra time – The security guard waits to let the next set of admirers near you for a few seconds – Reaches for his flashlight in case there is trouble
– My turn is coming – The knife dangling from the holster on my thigh seems heavier – Will today be the day when I make my sacrifice at the altar of the Satin Strangler
– Flashes – From where – From behind me – Rapid fire flashes – The New York Times photographer has come all the way from the big city – NBC races right behind them through the store entrance with video cameras rolling – Everyone in line fixes their hair – SYNCHRONIZED – They need to look pretty on television – The excitement reaches a crescendo – They all hope to star on the news tonight – Smile and wave – They will say hi mom I have been waiting over two hours to buy a book and get an autograph
– I turn so the knife on my thigh is away from the cameras – The world will see it only when I am ready to make the sacrifice – The pig is ready for the slaughter – Just a few feet away
– The cameras lock in on the blonde at the microphone – The human line severs momentarily to allow the reporter and crew through – Security boy flexes his chest and biceps to ripple his chub – Is he ready for a sacrifice today – No he is only posing – Tightens his jaw – The show is on
– The cameras are rolling – The manikin reporter asks why you wrote the book – How you know so much about the murder details – Is Daphne Blain really Destiny Blande – Did Destiny Blande really commit the murders – Did she ever admit to committing the crimes – Were the two of you really lovers – LOVERS – Now there is your fiction
– The reporter brushes blonde from her face – She turns slightly to the right then slightly to the left – Which side is more photogenic – Mirror mirror on the wall – She cares nothing about the facts of the Satin Strangler – The world would be a better place without her blonde dye
– This is my chance to correct the story – I grasp the handle of the knife along my thigh and step forward
– The store manager hands out a series of pre-signed books for the cameras – As though this will pacify us – He points us to the zit girl pushing books along the scanner at the cash register – He thanks us for coming – Mister Krouch has to get to the television studio for an appearance
– But I just want to have a few words with him – Just a few words – A eulogy after I slit the throat of the friggin pig lawyer
– I will have to wait for another day – But I am patient – I must be patient
– Barabbas
-----
This is post #74 in The Satin Strangler Blogs (TSSB).
Read the next post in TSSB.
Start TSSB from the first blog post.
See links to all 105 posts in TSSB.
“Like” TSSB on Facebook.
If you are enjoying this free and unique online reading experience, please tell your friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment