Sin City *On Hold*

7

November 19, 1929

It was the middle of a cold night where it seemed like there was no heat that was hot enough to warm up the residents of New Jersey. The sun was hours away and crickets chirped violently outside. However, no amount of coldness would disturb the two, for Josephine laid comfortably beside Kenneth, occasionally scooting in closer to take in his body heat when she caught a shiver. Being the light sleeper he is, he caught onto this and turned to face her backside. Nervousness took over him, he didn't want to make the wrong move. He slightly touched her shoulder, immediately drawing back when she shifted by the slightest. Yet, he still comfortably wrapped an arm around her torso without disturbing the sleeping beauty, squeezing her softly.

Unfortunately, the light sleeper in him wouldn't help much once he was fully awaken by the smell of burning gasoline. Josephine noticed as well and began to shift, causing Kenneth to sit up completely.

"Ken, what's going on?" She mumbled in a groggy voice, rubbing her eyes with her wrists. He looked around the room to locate where the smell was coming from. Until a loud piercing noise, a boom, startled the both of them and drew their attention towards the window. The explosion rent the air as if it was intent on shattering the universe by ripping apart every atom. The both of them rushed to the window, Josie gasping and slapping a hand over her mouth. Kenneth had no words to speak, just stared in disbelief.

"Come on." He grabbed her hand and the two rushed down the hotel stairs, seeing that they had already been beaten there by concerned residents and bystanders. The bright, golden flames of the fire should've been enough to cause one's eyes to light up, but the disbelief and fear in the couple's hearts' were too overbearing.

"Kenny... Tell me I'm dreaming. Tell me this isn't real and this is all a dream and tomorrow we're going to wake up and everything will be fine... Tell me, Kenny!" Josie cried out, gripping onto his arm helplessly. However, there was nothing he could tell her. There was his car, their only source of transportation, the only thing that would allow them to keep their new jobs, in flames that made the air so thick that you could see the heat waves rising.

She wanted to reach out and touch it, just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating or having a lucid dream. To her misfortune, it was all too real. Kenneth didn't say anything, he just let his beating heart speak for itself. He was used to do much disappointment in life, but this wasn't disappointment. This was purely unbelievable. And he knew exactly who did it.

She looked up at him with worry in her eyes, not able to hide her frown the way he would do for her sometimes when she needed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ken. Good lord, this is such a mess."

"This is my fault. I was trying to be bold and now look at what they did." He mumbled somberly, still trying to wrap his mind around the fabric of this entire situation.

"Don't give me that crap! Nothin' in this world, and I mean nothin', will ever excuse how barbaric those boys acted. You did what you could, but you can't stop them from acting plum fools." Josie clutched onto his hand, giving it a firm squeeze. He wanted to smile and pretend it was alright and tell her that she was right so that they could move on, but he couldn't.

They sat on the sidewalk and waited for the fire department to come put out the flames, while the crowd that had formed slowly dispersed and returned back to wherever they came from. Kenneth was approached by a police officer, who had to ask routine questions such as "does this vehicle belong to you?" He answered, saying as little as possible but it struck a nerve in him knowing that they wouldn't even investigate the matter. They quickly concluded that there could've been some kind of gas spill from a nearby car, but he knew it wasn't true. They just didn't care because he was black.