I’ve always hated it when we fought.
My husband Ricky and I were fighting again. All because of the same old, stupid reasons. He’s really protective of me. I sometimes wonder, though, is he really, or is he just selfish?
Earlier, he had said that I wasn’t being careful of my body again. I’ve always tried my best to be what he wants me to be. What else could he want from me?
We’re newlyweds, but we’ve always fought over this.
“I’m trying my best, honey. Things just happen!” I told Ricky as he drove the two of us home after a party.
“It wouldn’t have happened if you were more watchful of yourself. Why did you have to talk to that guy for a long time, anyway? Fucking pervert,” he replied.
“It was an accident, okay? He didn’t mean to do that,” I said.
“Why are you on his side anyway? I bet you did it on purpose. You liked it, didn’t you?”
Anger rushed into me. I felt like I was going to explode with so much rage. “Do not ever accuse me of that, you jerk! I didn’t do it on purpose, and I never liked it! I’m not on his side. I’m on my side! What are you gonna do now, huh? Leave me? Hurt me?”
“I’m not gonna hurt you. Never. I promised you that. I –”
“Then what? You're gonna hurt him? Why didn’t you? You had the whole fucking party with you. If you’re so mad at him, why didn’t you hit him? Did you chicken out? Tell me!”
Ricky was silent. Maybe this time he got my point.
“Look, Mandy,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or accuse you. I just wanted you to get my –”
“You want me to get your point? I do. I always do. What about mine, Ricky? What about me? You never listen to me. You always just listen to yourself. Always you. You, you, you. You always get your way with me. lt’s okay. But could you please listen to me for just one time? No, you can’t. Because you’re selfish!”
Ricky was speechless. I was left speechless too. I felt sorry for the both of us. Maybe I was too offensive.
Maybe I was. He stopped the car in the middle of the road. We had to go through a dirt track in the middle of a forest to get home.
His eyes became red, like he was about to cry. He’s such a cry-baby.
He then looked me straight in the eyes. I could see that he was serious. He was furious, but he’s also sorry. I could also see that he loves me.
His eyes said everything.
Then we heard a thump coming from Ricky's side of the car. They were two men. They looked big and strange.
“Maybe they need a ride,” I said.
“No, they look like they can’t be trusted. It’s too dangerous,” Ricky replied.
“You’re so paranoid,” I said, irritated.
“Mandy, don’t open the –”
I ignored Ricky and leaned over to open his window. As soon as it was open, the man outside quickly drew out a gun and pointed it at Ricky.
“Take the girl to the backseat,” the blonde man with the gun tells his brown-haired partner. He unlocked the car doors.
The brown-haired one opened my door and pointed a gun to my face. I felt as if time suddenly stopped. Terror conquered my body. My life could have ended anytime with one click of that gun.
“Get out!” the brown-haired guy said. I realized that it was the second time he’d told me. He pulled me out forcefully.
“What are you gonna do, you fucking bastards? What do you –” Ricky never finished his sentence. The blonde guy hit his face.
“No!” I screamed, crying, looking at Ricky’s bloody face.
“Shut up, bitch!” the brown-haired guy said. He dragged me to the back of the car and pushed me into the backseat. He sat next to me as the blond positioned himself in the front seat beside my husband.
They closed the doors.
“Tie her up and tape her mouth. I don’t want screaming in the middle of my masterpiece.”
Masterpiece? What was he talking about? What did they want?
“By the way, I’m Julian Quinn, and that’s Lucas Ames, my assistant.”
“Hi,” said the malnourished man beside me.
“What do you need? Our car? Our money? Please, just take it and leave. Just don’t hurt us,” I begged. The two men laughed. They’re sick.
“You’re getting it all wrong, sweetheart. We don’t need your cheap garbage. We need you. The both of you.”
“Huh?” I said. Horror struck me harder.
“Look, you two just cooperate, okay?” Julian said.
Lucas tied my hands and feet. I tried to fight back, but he was too strong and I was too scared. He then covered my mouth with duct tape.
“If anything happens to her, I’m gonna kill you all, and I’ll kill you the way you’ll never forget!” Ricky said.
“Lucas! You dumbass! Start recording! You're missing everything, you dipshit,” Julian asked ‘nicely.’
What were they planning to do? Were they gonna record us? Record us doing what?
“Point the fucking camera to my face, Lucas,” Julian said. Lucas began recording.
“Hello, everyone. To those who don’t recognize me, I am Julian Quinn. Don’t worry, after you finish watching this movie, you’ll never forget me. This movie here is my masterpiece. I assure you that. Get ready to have the time of your worthless, meaningless lives.”
“What the fuck is this wacko saying? Don’t fuck with me!” Ricky said. He looked angry rather than scared.
“Whoa, whoa. This is a hotshot,” Julian said. “Point the camera at him! You stupid amateur. Now, where were we? Oh, these are our guests for today. Show the girl too, you moron!”
“Fuck you, faggot!” Ricky said.
“There, we have a very lively catch here. Very brave and intimidating.”
“And he really likes ‘fuck’ too,” Lucas interrupted.
“Shut up, cunt,” Julian said. “Now, now. My dears, we all are curious about your identities. So start introducing yourselves. You start, big guy, and you can introduce us to your lovely lady.”
“My name? Oh, yeah. My name is fuck your mom you fucking psycho and go back to whatever fucking hell you crawled out of, you son of a bitch!”
“Okay, I’m not kidding anymore. Tell us your name or you’ll have to deal with some consequences,” Julian warned.
“Like what? You’re gonna fuck my assho–”
Bang!
I jumped. Ricky was screaming as he held his foot. Julian shot it. My husband wailed in pain using his favorite word. I was crying, screaming and cursing behind the tape covering my mouth.
“That’s just the start. Actually, it’s nothing. Gunshot really isn’t exciting in my movies. Oh, there, there. Don’t cry.”
“Fuck! You son of a bitch!” Ricky said between tears.
“Oh, you know what? We can call this movie Fuck. But I already made a movie with that title. Maybe I’ll just call it Taxi.”
“Taxi?” Lucas asked.
“Because their car is yellow,” Julian said. He really had a shitty sense of humor.
“Yeah,” Lucas agreed, laughing. “And you look like a taxi cab driver.”
“Can you just shut the fuck up, you piece of shit? Now, sorry for the interruption, ladies and gentlemen, my sincerest apologies for the long wait. We will now start the show. Lucas, where’s my case?”
Lucas handed him a briefcase and opened it. I started to feel sick when I saw the contents. I was beginning to understand what this was all about. His case contained a pair of scissors, a small knife, pliers, a small hammer, a battery operated hand drill, a syringe, a razor, and an axe.
He was making a snuff film.
“What the fuck,” Ricky muttered.
“So are you gonna tell us your name now?” Julian asked. Ricky spat on Julian’s face. “Now that was rude. Lucas, give me a number between 20 and 40.”
“25,” Lucas answered. Julian started to count his tools. His finger stopped at the small knife.
“Maybe this will make you talk,” Julian quickly grabbed Ricky’s left ear and started to cut. Ricky struggled and bit Julian’s hand.
Julian called out in surprise. “Aah, aah, you bastard!” he scowled. “Lucas, shoot his knee!” in another second, another round was shot in the car. The next thing I saw was my poor Ricky holding his bleeding knee.
“Ah, shit!” my husband yelled. Julian punched his face. His nose then began bleeding.
“Now where were we?” Julian continued cutting Ricky’s ear. He was screaming, but he couldn’t fight back because he was weakened by the two gunshots. Every time Julian sliced my husband’s ear, I felt like he was slicing mine too.
After he finished, he showed the ear to the camera and bit into it. He threw the excess out the car as he chewed on the part he bit off.
“Will you tell us your name now?” Julian asked. Ricky was too weakened to respond. “Wait. Don’t pass out on me. Here, have some of this.” Julian brought out the syringe from the case. It was filled with adrenaline. Julian injected it into my husband.
I felt sorry for him. I felt sorry for us.
I also felt anger, terror, and confusion. I wanted to help Ricky. I wanted to fight. But I couldn’t do anything. If only I had listened to Ricky. We would have still been fighting about the guy from the party.
No. He would have forgiven me and I’d have forgiven him and we would have embraced and said how much we loved each other. And we would have gone home and made love.
But no. We were stuck here with two psychos.
I stared at Julian. He brought out the axe. “About your finger,” he said. He took Ricky’s hand and placed it on the dashboard. He then chopped off Ricky’s middle finger. “Just in case it’s a bad finger.”
The two devils sickly laughed. Ricky laughed along with them. That’s what I love about him. He could be crazy any time.
“I have another one, bitch,” Ricky said as he threw Julian a fuck you sign with his other hand. Julian was furious and used the pliers to remove the nail on his remaining middle finger. Even after his nail was removed, Ricky kept his fuck you sign on Julian.
Julian laughed heartily. “You’re making my movie better than I expected. Bravo! Magnificent! Wonderful! C’mon, Lucas, don’t miss the bad finger, you asshole. When will you ever learn? There, despite the nail-less state, our guest here kept up his bad finger out of anger. Truly amazing!”
Ricky held the part of his head where his ear used to be. He looked at me. It was kind of like a reassuring look, like he was telling me not to worry.
How could I not worry while they were doing this? Why wouldn’t they just kill us already? Why did they have to torture us first?
“Now, proceed with the scissors,” Julian said. “Lucas, my friend, you suggest what we should do.”
“Cut the tongue,” Lucas said. Ricky took out his tongue. With his tongue, he licked the blood off his bleeding middle finger.
“Bravo! Now our friend here is really cooperating for our entertainment. Before we cut your tongue, how about your introduction and some final words to your wife?”
“Sure,” Ricky answered. He gave me a familiar look. I could never explain it. It comforted me yet disturbed me at the same time. That look. The one I fell in love with.
The reason why I loved him so much and never let go. The reason I married him.
“Mandy, I know I’ve been a jerk,” he started. “I won’t make this long, but listen. I know I’m crazy and suicidal. You like that sometimes, but mostly it just pisses you off. Please take care of our son Zacky if they ever let you go, which probably won’t happen. I’m sorry, sweetie. I love you.”
I felt like heaven had fallen on me. I was so scared and mad, but reassured and prepared and in love. Sweat and tears covered my face.
I felt something moving on my feet. It was Lucas! He was secretly untying the ropes. Was he trying to save me? What was on his mind?
“Now for the names,” Julian said. Lucas returned to filming. It was weird because he also shot the parts where he was untying the ropes. The ropes on my feet were now loose. I released them.
“That’s my wife, Mandy Porter,” Ricky said, looking straight into the camera. “And I’m Ricky Porter. I’m the one who’ll send all you assholes to hell!”
After saying that, he took the half empty adrenaline shot and impaled it into Julian’s neck. He then picked up the small knife and swung it at Julian.
Julian tried to evade the attack, but he couldn’t and it stabbed his face.
Bang!
Another gunshot.
And on Ricky’s chest, a red spot emerged.
“You idiot! Why did you shoot him?” Julian said as he pulled the knife off his face.
“He was gonna kill you!” Lucas replied.
“No, I’m gonna kill you!” said Julian as he picked up the drill and turned it on. He quickly drilled it into Ricky’s right eye.
I gave out a muffled scream. I closed my eyes and began to pray.
“Record this, quick! You ruined everything!” Julian said.
I felt my hands become free. Lucas then handed me something. It was his gun.
I took off the tape covering my mouth.
Julian was drilling holes in Ricky’s head when he noticed I was aiming the gun to him. He was surprised. “Lucas, what the fuck is this?”
“Oh, you said this would be your masterpiece? Well now things have changed. It’s mine now. And in my story, the hero gets away and the bad guy gets killed.”
“What the – you fucking traitor! I’m gonna kill you!”
I pulled the trigger.
I shot him in the stomach. I felt victorious, but it wasn’t enough.
In a fit of rage, I picked up the scissors and cut his throat. His blood squirted out like piss. It drenched my hands. “Get ready to meet my husband in hell.”
I shot him twice more between the eyes point blank. His brain matter covered the window.
“What a finale!” I heard Lucas shout as I stepped out of the car.
I looked back at him and asked, “Is this gun fully loaded?”
“Yes, why?” he asked.
“A pistol has a minimum of seven clips, right?” I pointed it at him.
“W-wait! I saved you, bitch!”
“You should have saved my husband too,” I pulled the trigger and his head propelled with the bullet. I then took the camera and walked away.
It’s already dawn, and the sun is rising from where I’m headed.