The Hidden Diary of Ophelia Ridley

17

8 July 1988

Dear Diary,

I just needed a break before I continued with the story. It's a lot to remember, Susan's last words to us, losing all of our money, our hope of a better life.

"If you take one more step, I'll kill everyone in here."

Slowly, Edith and I turned around. We saw a very tall and beefy man holding a gun towards Susan. She immediately fell on her knees in tears, begging incoherently for her life.

"Oh my God." Edith said. I could not speak but felt my legs start to shake.

"You two!" The man barked at us, and Edith and I grasped each others arms. "Get over here."

When a man points a gun at you, you do what he says.

"Empty your pockets." He told us and out fingers fumbled while pulling out the 600 cash. He snatched it all out of our hands.

He told us to get down on the ground and Edith started to cry.

"Please don't hurt us!" I said over and over again. "Please don't hurt us."

Between her sobs, Susan spoke up saying "They dont know anything. They're innocent. Take me, but leave them alone. Please, Mike"

Edith and I were half standing, half kneeling, clinging to each other as Mike listened to Susan. "Fine." He said. "Get in the freezer."

While not entirely thrilled about being frozen, but preferring it to an execution, Edith and I quickly ran to the walk in freezer, as instructed.

We saw Mike grab Susan by her hair and lift her body off the ground.

"Help me." She cried to us, but I don't know what she reckoned we could do.

Mike didn't even look at us as he shut the freezer door, locking us inside.

In the days since, I always remember Susan's face, the way her eyes locked onto mine and the way her mouth formed those last words. She was going to die, she knew it.

Edith and I were found a couple hours later hugging each other to stay warm, our tears frozen on our face. Marvin had noticed the back door of the shop was open and came inside to check. It was our misfortune to be the ones to tell him what had happened to his sister.

The police were instantly called, along with our parents. While Edith and I were in the freezer, we didnt doubt that we would be found but we knew we couldn't tell the truth about what had happened.

We formulated the lie that Susan had told us to meet her there to collect our paychecks. We didnt tell anyone that we were robbed of 600 pounds. So when the police came with blankets and questions and all we could do was cry, they assumed it was because we were locked in the freezer.

Little did they know, we were crying about our lost future. We had a way out of the town, and we blew it.

-O