Thursday, June 18, 2015

Flash Challenge – Maggie’s New Beginning

FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: THE DEAD BODY (Dead bodies: they do a story good.)

Maggie’s New Beginning

“I’ll be God damned.” Maggie’s head fell against the pillow; her chest burned from the effort of pounding her fists on the sweaty mass pinning her in place. “Dammit, dammit, dammit.” She’d heard of dead weight, but this was ridiculous. What the hell was she thinking bedding his fat ass? Thanks to him, her dream of wallowing in a bed full of money had disappeared with a grunt and a snort. She squirmed underneath the weight of his bulk and struggled to breathe as the cold stones dug into her neck.

His arm fell off the side of the bed giving her a glance of the room and a teasing chance to breathe. She maneuvered a leg free, dug her heel into the side of the mattress, and pulled. The muscles in her calf screamed as she tucked her head under his flaccid arm, clawing for the edge of the bed until her whole body shook. The pungent odor of his armpit struck her across the face like a brick and she fell back gasping for air. “Jesus Fred, ever heard of deodorant? “

*

He handed the maid a wad of bills when they arrived and told her to take the rest of the week off with her family. Juanita would be in for a hell of a surprise come Monday. Everybody would gawk and whisper. Anger turned to horror as Maggie realized she’d be the subject of jeers, rumors, and half-truths. How the hell did she end up here?

*

Fred came into the jewelry store, where she worked, looking for an anniversary gift for his wife. Maggie noticed the Armani suit and Rolex watch and nudged her co-worker out of the way, “I’ll take this one, “she said, giving him her most winning smile. Round and soft, he looked like just the ticket to offer her a way out, way up and a new beginning. An hour later, he walked out of the store with a $10,000 diamond necklace for his wife and a hankering for her.

At the time, Maggie didn’t worry about the wife or what Armani was hiding. All she saw were dollar signs and a new future. She played hard reeling him in like a flopping fish on a taut line. Her commission check grew with each visit and she wondered if the shower of glittering gifts surprised his wife, Nicole. He’d dropped her name on his third trip to the store. It had taken two months before Maggie discovered Fred gave his wife and a friend a trip to Europe for their anniversary and saved the jewels for her.

*

Last night, when Fred slipped the necklace around her neck, she lost all reason. “You’ll get the others later,” he said, nibbling her ear. She let his hands roam. As her dress slipped to the floor, she closed her eyes and imagined the body pressing into hers belonged to Brad Pitt. Visions of fur coats, diamonds, and exotic trips filled her mind. Ribboned boxes taunted her from across the room, where they sat unopened on his wife’s dressing table. Her mom always said, “You can do anything for a short time if the payoff’s worth it.”

It became Maggie’s motto. But, when he crawled on top of her with his fat, soft body, sweating like a pig, she almost balked. Instead, she fantasized about Brad, the Caribbean Islands and waited for it to be over. She figured it wouldn’t take long and it didn’t. The loud grunt, and stiffing of his body brought her back to reality. A swoosh of alcohol-laced breath escaped from him like air from a balloon and he collapsed pinning her to the bed. A deadly silence descended. Maggie waited for him to say something or move. “Fred?” She lay still and listened. “Fred?” Easing her hand to the side of his neck, she felt for a pulse. “God dammit, Fred!”

She pushed, punched, and cursed to no avail. The sweat from their naked bodies turned to super glue and slowly, the realization of her fate dawned on Maggie. She wasn’t going anywhere. By the time the maid found them, she’d be nothing more than an afterthought, a greasy spot underneath some rich, hairy ass, cheating bastard.

Not exactly, the new beginning she had in mind.


Filed under: Dark Fiction, Flash Fiction, Prompt, Writing Tagged: #amwriting, #flashfiction, @ChuckWendig, Challenge, Dead Bodies, Prompts, terribleminds

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