The Online Profile of a Serial Killer

Posted on September 16, 2022

It's been more than a month since I've written a single word on this blog, or on paper, or in anywhere for that matter.

I woke up to Marie lying beside me, rubbing my arm. A mahogany dresser guarded the foot of the bed. In the dresser mirror, that was visible over our toes, I saw the reflection of a crucifix made of dried palm leaves nailed to the drywall above our heads.

I lit a cigarette and used an empty coffee mug for an ashtray.

"My friend asked about us," she said, calmly. "She asked what... what we are. I didn't know what to tell her."

I took a drag. I exhaled a tower of smoke that reached the ceiling and flattened out like a grey pancake. "Tell her that we're boyfriend girlfriend."

"Okay," she said. I wasn't looking at her, but I could tell she was smiling.

"What do you think about living together?" I said.

She looked shocked. "No."

"Why not?"

"I... I don't want you to ask me because that's what you think I want to hear. I want you to really want to live with me."

I dabbed my cigarette butt against the inner wall of the coffee mug.

"Marie," I said, and suddenly I felt as if I was running down a long diving board above a pool, and as the next words left my mouth, it felt like I jumped. "I've never wanted anything more in my whole life," I said, and then I launched, one toe away from flight, letting gravity take over.

She blinked. "Here?"

"No," I shook my head. "My place is all paid for. I don't want you to pay for anything. I know it's further from your work, but you'll be better off."

"I can't let you do that," she said.

"I want to," I held her hand.

"But your roommate..."

"I'll have to tell Will first. Give him a month or two to find a new place." I reached over and around her and grabbed my pants from the floor. I pulled out my set of keys from my pocket. On the coiled ring were two keys to the building doors, two keys to my apartment door, and a small single key for my mail box. I slid one of the building keys and one of the door keys off the coiled ring and handed them to Marie in a grand gesture. "These were my spares. Now they're yours," I said.

She took the keys and fell deep in thought. Then a smile crept onto her lips, slowly and gradually. She grasped the keys with both hands and pressed her fists up against her chest. "Okay," she nodded her head. "But only when you're ready."

We kissed, and the excitement of living with her amplified my senses. I smelled her natural scent, I heard ringing in my ears, I felt her arm loop around me, dragging her body tight against mine, and I let our hope for the future take control over my thoughts.