Then he stopped moving, but I didn’t. It was like the flood gates had opened and I couldn’t stop myself. “AAAAAAAAAAH!” I screamed and kept the pillow on his face. Then I screamed again, “YES, YES, SHIT, YES!” and collapsed on his chest. I laid there for a while, breathing hard, but feeling feelings that I had never experienced. This was even more intense than when I killed Marvin.
I don’t know how long I laid there before I finally got up and took the pillow off his face. I pushed him a few times and he didn’t move. I leaned close to him to see if I could hear him breathing, but I couldn’t. I got out of bed and got my mirror from my purse. I held it in front of his mouth. He was dead. I laid back down next to him. I had an uncontrollable urge to masturbate while I looked at him. Looked at the man I had just killed. I fingered myself and looked at him and I came again.
Over the next two years, I killed five more men before I saw on the news that the police were looking for me. I moved to Dallas two days later. When I got to Dallas, I promised myself that I wasn’t going to do it anymore. But before long, I found myself out late at night, in a bar, and leaving with my prey. I stayed there for three years and eight more victims, before moving on to Phoenix. My pattern continued in Phoenix for a year, and then I relocated to Las Vegas. I stayed in Vegas for five years. That’s when I lost count of how many men I had killed. It was so easy to kill in Vegas because there were so many willing prey. But as always, the police began looking for me, so I moved on to LA. It didn’t take them as long to realize that they had a serial killer on their hands, and because of my own carelessness, over confidence really, they even had a description of me. That’s when I decided to that I needed to move east.
I had heard so many good things about Atlanta and, once again, I promised myself that I was done. That I was going to try to lead a normal life. That I was maybe even going to get some help for myself, ’cause you gotta admit, I am a little crazy. That night in Chicago was my last one. I’m for real this time.
Chapter Six
Tavarus
The worst part of going back to work on Tuesday morning, is that everything you put off on Friday, plus all of Monday’s work, awaits you. I worked as an accountant for Abraham, Hall & Associates; an established and well-respected firm with a large client base.
I sat at my desk and systematically began to dispose of all the work that had piled up. I planned to get back on track by staying late that night and coming in early the next morning. I don’t like being behind, my work ethic won’t allow it. When I was growing up, my pops always worked hard. It was him who instilled this work ethic in me. He would throw little clichés like “an honest day’s work for a full day’s pay,” “hard work breeds character,” stuff like that. It’s amazing to me sometimes how stuff you hear when you’re a kid suddenly comes rolling out your mouth.
Now, I’m not one to pat myself on the back, but I’m a pretty good accountant. I come to work. This ain’t no place to play. I come here to get paid. I handled a number of very large and very important accounts and I received adequate compensation for my efforts; and I’m always available to answer questions or help in any way I can. People tell me that I’m a natural leader.
Several months ago, Allan Lewis, who had been the account manager for the last ten years, quit abruptly, and moved to Alabama with a handful of client’s to start his own firm. In a move that surprised many, myself included, I was asked to assume the quote, “administrative duties” of the vacant position on an interim basis. Basically do the job without the title and the money. However, with the beginning of the new fiscal year, money had been allocated to permanently fill the position. So I applied and I’m confident that the job is mine.
My strongest competition would be Peggy Lynch. Peggy is a California girl. Very pretty for a white girl, with smartly cut, blonde hair, gray eyes, and a cover girl figure. Most people around the office think that she’s sleeping her way to the top, but I think they’re wrong. She’s a formid
able presence and not to be taken lightly. Peggy is very smart, extremely aggressive, highly motivated and exceedingly ambitious. She came to the firm three years ago and began a meteoric rise to prominence.
The only other applicant is Brent Davidson. He came from another firm about the same time that I started working here. Most people wondered how he passed the CPA exam. Sometimes Brent just seems like he’s not all there. He asks stupid stuff. Brent always had questions and you’d have to break answers down to the lowest common denominator for him, otherwise, he’d be lost. He was more the type of guy that you would like to have hosting your cocktail party than running your office.
The day dragged on and I plowed through my work. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes for a minute. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
“Wake up, Tavarus.”
I opened my eyes and Linda Terrell stood before me. She was one of the four Black accountants at the firm. Linda was the first Black accountant hired at the firm. She had been with them for fifteen years and handled her job exceptionally. She was the kind of woman that made you proud to be Black. It was more than just the way she did her job. It was the way she carried herself. And, on top of that, even though she was married and ten years older than me, Linda was sexy as hell.
When I first came to the firm, Linda took me under her wing and taught me a lot about the business. She looked out for me the way a big sister looked out for her younger brother. Once I got my feet under me around the office, Linda took me .
It started out simple, little flirtatious comments, followed by a little harmless sexual innuendo over long lunches. But she would always retreat behind her marriage when things got too thick. That all ended one afternoon when Linda was getting ready to leave and I was getting ready for another late night. I never will forget that day.
Linda was wearing the shit out of this tight red and black dress, and she came into my office. She closed the door behind her and sat down on my desk, something she had never done before.
When she sat down, Linda crossed her legs in a very ladylike manner, but it was the way she did it. Linda lifted her leg slowly and my eyes were glued to her thick thighs. “Why don’t you come and have a drink with an old lady? My treat.”
“Not tonight, Linda. I got too much on my plate.”
Linda shifted her legs; I was drawn to the sound of her stocking rubbing together, and I thought I heard her moan just a little.
“Honey, that work will be here tomorrow and you can get back to it then. Now come on.” Linda leaned forward, giving me a nice look at her cleavage. She took the pen from my hand. “Put all that work away and come drink with me.”
So even though I had more work than I knew how to handle, I packed up my work, put on my jacket and followed her. We talked about business over the first two drinks. The flirtation continued while we sipped our third. By the time the bartender placed our forth drink in front of us, Linda’s hand was rubbing my thigh up and down. We were looking at each other, not like a big sister looks at her younger brother. Now we were talking about what hotels were nearby.
Even though things were going the way they were going, I still expected her to, at some point, take cover behind her ring as she had done so many times before. Truth was that, despite the difference in our ages, I found her to be a very attractive woman. One that I had thought about having sex with many times, but never thought it would happen. “What about your husband?”
“What about Cynthia?” Linda asked about my girlfriend at the time.
“What about her?” I asked.
“What about him?” she asked. “This isn’t about them. This is between you and me, Tavarus. I’m not talking about leaving my husband or you breaking up with that airhead you call a woman.”
“What are you talking about then?”
“I’m talking about me finding out if you’re as good as I’ve fantasized you are, every day since Allan walked you into my office.”