Forever Broken: chapter one

                                                                       Chapter One

     He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. It was everything from the idea to the reason. There was nothing rational about their thinking, yet he would go along with it. He always went along with their bickering; even the one that would catalyze the initiation of dreadful events.

     Dalvin Jamison did not believe himself to be either smart or foolish. He just wanted to live free. He refused to be a statistic. The idea of going to prison was not an appealing one.

     His posture was tense, eyes observant. Analyzing the situation led him to the same conclusion: Inescapable sentence. Dalvin knew he wanted no part of this. However, he had already agreed and according to his friends there was no turning back. So, quietly he leaned on Ryan. He wanted to cause some type of reaction.

     “Are we going to wait for her to walk out of the building or are we going to get her?” Ryan asked, as he began nervously pacing the parking lot. The blond man’s ears turned crimson, as they always did when he was either nervous or angry. If anyone was close to changing his mind about the crime, it was going to be Ryan. Although the young, playful guy enjoyed finding new and exciting ways to pass the time, he didn’t have a solid reason or motive to go along with this one.

     Andrew punched him on the shoulder to relieve some of the tension. “We should get her. She could be there all day, for all we know.” Andrew, or as Dalvin called him, Red was the most anxious. He had been waiting all week for this one moment.

     It was however Sam who would make the final decision. Sam with his iron-will that held enough clout to convey the next step, sat on the hood of his 67’ black Ford Mustang having a smoke, he said. “We wait.” And they did.

     They were outside the Target parking lot on Hurstbourne Parkway that cloudy day, and although only ten in the morning on a weekday it was deserted. The weather was a great factor in there being no one outside. The skies were gray with drizzle. If perfect could have been described, the silvery rain from the crack of dawn was perfect. It hadn’t rained in a while, so it caught them by surprise when the weather worked to their advantage. No witnesses.

     They waited for their victim to finish her shopping.

     When Dalvin stared into the bathroom mirror that morning, he didn’t now what he saw. His features were as plain as his state of mind. There was nothing that distinctively stood out about him. He was not tall like his brother. His chocolate colored hair was a massive bird nest. He was too thin, with posture that only added to his shortcomings.

     Dalvin was going to take part in a hostage situation. It was only fair to tell the confused boy staring back at him why he was going to do it. Dalvin didn’t know where to begin. He cleared his throat a couple of times and scratched his nose. When he opened his mouth the word retribution escaped his lips. The word was one not often used by him; in fact, it was not a word his vocabulary needed. Yet, it was the word he chose to describe his reasoning.

     He really couldn’t remember what the girl had done. Ever since he was a little boy, he had a way of suppressing painful memories, now meaningless with the current state of affairs. It made no sense. He didn’t know the girl. He was quite sure the others didn’t know her either. Why were they going to keep her?

     Sam’s car was right next to hers in the parking lot. They ignored the rain that dotted their faces. It was comforting and distracting from the would-be negative thoughts. The girl was taking too long. She was giving them too much time to think the whole thing through. There was too much time to ponder and rationalize.