One Page Short Stories: Duplicity

 Keyword: Duplicity

"Kara's whole vibe changed as soon as we turned the corner onto her street. One minute we're laughing and talking about our Halloween costumes, and the next thing you know, she clammed up and started walking super slowly. I sent Josie a look like what the heck just happened? and Josie just shrugged and we kept going like it wasn't totally weird. 

"It was almost like Kara didn't want to go home. Her weird neighbor Bobby Hayes was out raking leaves on his front lawn. He waved to us. Kara actually stopped to talk to him, which we never do. She asked him about his Halloween plans. He said he was having some friends over to play DnD or TNT or something- I wasn't really listening. I kept trying to catch Josie's eye but she was off in la la land like usual. 

"After a few minutes of Kara pretending to be nice to that scuzzball, I decided to cut in and say goodbye to Bobby. Loser. The wind was picking up and blowing leaves all around his yard, so I said good luck and nudged Kara towards her place. It was supposed to be pizza day at school, but some dummy messed up the food chain messed up, so I was hungry enough to eat a horse, and Kara's mom always has the best snacks. 

"It got worse the closer we got to the mailbox. I practically wore out the neck of Kara's sweater trying to pull her past it. Two jack-o-lanterns were already carved and sitting on her front porch, and Kara's dad pulled up into the driveway just as I got Kara to the front door. She froze as she watched him getting out of the car, and her whole body went rigid as he walked over to the mailbox. Sh-"

"Let me just make sure I have this straight. This is the night of the second delivery?" the officer asked. Maisey paused in her story to take a delicate sip of water from the cup beside her. A clock ticked over the metal door. Maisey shook her head. 

"No, Kara said this was the fourth. The first was back in September, a few days after we started school." 

The officer nodded. "Can you describe the knife that was delivered that night? The..." He checked his notes. "The 28th of October?" 

Maisey pretended to think hard, but she had the mental picture at the ready long before she walked into the police station for questioning. It was a run-of-the-mill Cutco knife with a thin silver line down the back and three matching circles along the handle. On the blade, someone, some freak of nature, had written '4 u' in red Sharpie. When all four knives were arranged, they spelled out the message: im going kara-z 4 u

"Ms. Davies, do you have any reason to believe Kara has any enemies? Anyone with a reason to threaten her?" 

"No, not at all! Everyone loves Kara!" Maisey said with as much emotion as she could shoehorn into her voice and fought the urge to look at the clock. If all was going according to plan, the fifth package would have just arrived in Kara's mailbox. Maisey smiled to herself as she thought of that bitch's hands trembling as she unwrapped the final package: a DnD game piece stolen from dumb, dweeby, asshole Bobby Hayes' bedroom and a knife that read 2nite.