Red Roses ~Marcus Lopez Arguello

6~ Polaroid Pictures

AP Black Arts, Kings Dominion, 1987

"So I found this hagged-ass homeless lady who told me about this dude. Full hardcore. He was collecting memorabilia, like we learned about in class." Willie looks towards Lin, proud of using something he learned. "So I waited for him. Crept up on him."

Scarlett sat next to Marcus, right behind Brandy. She wasn't so sure about this whole situation. She thought- no, she knew Willie wouldn't do this. He was a pacifist; she knew that. "This dude, he was about to stab me with a screwdriver. And I found this pipe. I crushed that fool's head in."

Scarlett sees Marcus out of the corner of her eye and turns to face him. 'Something isn't right here.' She sees Marcus clenching his fist as Willie mentions the altercation. She looks back at the boy standing in front of the class.

"Dumpstered the body. Set it on fire, and got out of there." Willie finishes his story.

Scarlett now notices the more prominent attitude on the curly-haired boy's face. Marcus unclenches his fist as Willie walks past. He had to have done it, he was with Willie, however, only Scarlett knows that. And it was a homeless guy, one that Scarlett can assume, knew Marcus personally. She connects the pieces but she wants confirmation, something she'll get later.

Lin walks after Willie has finished his story. "Scarlett, may you come up and explain who you killed and why?"

Everyone looks at her as she nods and stands, holding the set of pictures in one hand. She walks to the front and throws the pictures on Lins's desk, them now scattered, showcasing the body of the old man from the alley.

"This was an unexpected interaction wasn't it Scarlett?" He picks up a picture.

"I don't particularly enjoy killing in an alley but given the circumstances, it was necessary."

"Even then, the cleanup seems to be quite spotless. True art of a professional."

"That man works for a partner of my father and I. We regularly make deals for drugs, artillery, etc. I was across the street from the alley filling my motorcycle with gas when I saw a little girl across the street, about 6 or 7. I see her get pulled into an alley. I rushed across the street, and pulled out the only weapon I carry on me casually." She lifts up her skirt as much as it allows, showcasing a thigh strap, the gifted butterfly knife from when she was a kid, resting in its slip. "The most detail I'll offer is that he was attempting to snatch her and traffic her. That's all I got out of him. Before I slit his throat, ear to ear, dumpstered the body, and set it ablaze. And before you ask, I did carry the body on my own. That's thanks to my profession, since I won't always have someone to help me dump a body." Willie and Marcus seem to have frozen at her last statement. It felt targeted. Even if she didn't know, that paired with her staring at the both of them, set them off slightly.

"Why'd you kill a colleague of yours, for a little girl you've never met?" A kid in the front mutters to himself.

"He wasn't a colleague, but even then, I don't hurt kids. Nor will I ever let them get hurt by someone else." The classroom stares at the girl, not believing Scarlett draws the lines at kids. "I'm a murderer, but never is there a reason for me or others to hurt a child."

Marcus looks at the girl emotionlessly speaking about killing someone. He wonders how many kills it took for her to be able to speak about death so casually, just as easily talking about it like it's what she had for lunch. He's scared, not about the casualness of it all, but the nervousness that he too, might speak about it like that someday. That terrifies him.

By now, Scarlett has already sat back down, and looks over at Marcus. Marcus is staring at where she stood prior, zoned out for the second time that class. Ripping a piece of paper from the corner, she rolls it up into a ball and throws it at the boy, hitting him square in his temple.