The Gemini

6 - Tape

October 17, 1988

"Nik, what would you do if you found out that you had a stalker?"

"Go to the police."

"What if the police are shit?"

"Then I would get a gun and shoot the motherfucker."

Slouching down in her seat, Jody stuffed a marshmallow into her mouth and sighed in defeat.

"Why? Who's gotta..." Nikki gasped, her blue eyes went wide. "Wait, Jo, is this about that phone call yesterday?" She flapped her hands in the air. "Oh my god! That's why you been looking like shit. Someone is trying to kill you!"

Sometimes Jody hated her friend's overdramatic tendencies.

"Stop being so loud, I don't want this whole office knowing my business." She peaked out into the hallway to make sure the surroundings were clear. It was only the two of them in the break room.

"No one is trying to kill me... At least, I don't think so."

"Think? Do you know who it is? And why didn't you tell me!"

"I don't know who he is. Some weirdo." Jody poked at her bag of trail mix. "I kinda got kidnapped Friday night."

"What!"

"Would you please stop yelling?" Jody said in a rough whisper.

Nikki shook her head, her long voluminous ponytail swaying from side to side.

"Um, excuse me? My best friend got snatched and I'm just now finding out about it three days later and I ain't supposed to yell? I think not!"

Despite her words, Jody noticed that the girl's volume did go down a notch.

"It was way too late to call you." Jody reasoned with a shrug. Another marshmallow she ate.

"Okay but then there was the next day, and the next day, and yesterday."

"I didn't want to talk about it."

Nikki scoffed, stabbing her fork down into her spaghetti lunch.

"Maxine said she saw a guy come by my apartment yesterday. The way she explained him...it's not what he looked like that night, but who else could it be?"

"Alright, let's go. We're leaving early." Nikki started packing up her things. "You need heat and I know where to get it."

"Nikki, Im not going to kill this man."

"Girl, why not? You might as well before he gets you first."

Jody sat up and gathered her things too, break was nearing its end. "I'm not getting killed either."

"Why are you so sure? You act like you know him or something."

"No. I just have a feeling."

Nikki had heard it all. "Alright and when that feeling gets you six-feet-under, I'm gonna drive by the church when they carry out your casket and yell out the window, bitch, I told you so."

Jody watched as Nikki marched out of the room. "I ain't even gonna cry." She heard her mumble.

After returning her tote bag to the lockers, Jody went to the front desk with her marshmallow mix in hand. Pulling up the phone's call log she had her curious mind set.

Silently praying that no one would call and mess up her search, she scrolled through looking for a particular number to jot down.

Jody dialed and chumped on another piece of white sugar fluff while it rang.