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Jett
I have loved Amaya since the first time I saw her. Not the kind of love you’re probably thinking about, though. I didn’t have hearts in my eyes or jelly for knees. My love for her went far and above the usual. It was no secret back then that I liked to “play the field”, but as soon as I met Amaya, all of that changed. That’s how I knew we were meant to be together.
I met Amaya after work one night when a work buddy (Darius) and I went to the bar across the street from our office for a few drinks. Amaya was tending the bar and of course Darius went right to her. Darius was fearless in that way when it came to women, even though he had been married for over ten years. But as soon as Darius started running one pick-up line after another, Amaya shot him down.
But when Amaya saw me, her face immediately softened. Her grey eyes even seemed to sparkle a little when she asked me what I wanted to drink. As she slid my Guinness over to me, she smiled. Before I left, Amaya gave me her phone number and we had our first date the following night. I saw her every single day after that until our wedding day six months later. Like I said before, I loved her from the moment I first saw her. Who knew she would end up changing my life for the worse?
Things were going great with Amaya and I for the first year or so. We fell into a routine of church on Sundays, date nights on Fridays and pancakes on Saturday morning at the local diner. Although we were both settled in Albany, NY, Amaya’s family lived in Hartford, CT and my family was scattered across the southeast. So we made a plan to visit her mother for Thanksgiving and my family on Christmas.
We packed the car with presents for Amaya’s mother and set off for Hartford. The trip should have only taken a few hours, but we still decided to stop for snacks.
I pulled off the highway to a roadside gas station. Amaya got out when I did and went to the pump to swipe her debit card. “You’re paying?” I joked. “Yes!” she said as she laughed.
“I won’t argue with that!” I said as I walked into the store. I gathered our usual road trip snacks (Slim Jims, cashews and sweet tea) and went to the counter to pay.
“That’ll be $65.17,” the cashier said.
“Excuse me? For beef jerky, nuts, and tea?” I asked.
“And gas. You pumped $55.00 before you came in here, remember?”
I shook my head. “No, my WIFE paid for the gas BEFORE she pumped it.”
“That’s funny, because I saw YOU pumping the gas.”
I laughed nervously. Was this guy playing a joke on me?
“My wife paid with our debit card. Now please stop playing around and let me pay for my snacks so we can get on the road.”
The cashier leaned over and looked out the window to my car. He squinted his eyes as he looked back at me.
"Look, man, I don't know if you've been drinking, but when you pulled up here there was no one else in your car. There’s no one in the car now, either."
I looked out and sure enough, my car was empty. My stomach immediately twisted with anxiety, but I ignored it. "She probably just went to the restroom. Didn’t you see her come in while I was in the back getting our tea? She was wearing a pair of those furry boots and a Red Sox baseball cap."
The cashier shook his head. “I definitely would have noticed a Red Sox cap in Yankees country.” I walked to the back of the store and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Amaya!" I said as I knocked. "Maya? Honey, let me know you’re in there."
No one answered. I shook the locked doorknob and called for her again.
The clerk held up a block of wood with a single key hanging from it. It jingled as he shook it. LADIES RESTROOM was scrawled on the side of it with a black marker.
"You need a key to access the restroom. And guess who holds that key? That’s right! Me. No one has asked for the key, sir.” The cashier slammed the key onto the counter and continued. “Tell you what. Why don’t you go ahead and keep the gas you pumped. The food, too. My treat. It looks like you've already had one hell of a morning and it's not even ten yet," he said with a chuckle.
"I don’t need any handouts from you,” I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out three twenty-dollar bills. “I don’t know what kind of a scam you’re running here, but I know my wife paid for our gas. This should cover it."
I grabbed the snacks and tea from the counter and walked back to our car. I expected to see Amaya lying back in the seat, but she wasn’t. In fact, she wasn’t in the car at all.
Even more disturbing was the fact that her purse was also gone from the front seat, as were her blanket and jacket.
I looked up and saw the cashier watching me from the window. I wanted to flip him off but instead I got into my car and dialed Amaya’s cell number. After two rings, a male voice answered.
“Yup?” the voice said.
“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong number.” I looked at the phone as I ended the call. The number was saved under the name “Amaya”, but her photo was gone from the entry.
When I dialed the number a second time and the same raspy voice answered, I hung up. What was going on?
I scrolled through my contacts for the number to Amaya’s mother, but it wasn’t there. Nor were the numbers for Amaya’s brother or sister. I decided to try to call my brother. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey JetPlane! What’s up?”
“Please don’t think I’m crazy. But I can’t find Amaya. We stopped to get gas...and…”
“Who is Amaya?” my brother asked. “Wait. Don’t tell me, let me guess: she must be your latest conquest on that seedy dating site.”
“What? Have you been drinking? Amaya is my wife, you idiot! Don’t play with me!”
My brother was silent. “Okay, JetPlane. You sound serious. Are you serious? Did you get married last night?”
The line was silent as my stomach sank. Why was my brother playing games with me?
“Jett, you okay man? Because you sound…”
“Sound what?” I fumed.
“I don’t know. Off. Maybe even high or something. You been smoking?”
“What? I’ve been clean and sober for almost a year! I gotta go. I’m really starting to get worried now. I’ll call you when I find her.”
As I ended the call, I looked into the backseat for Amaya’s duffel bag. It wasn’t there. When I walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk, the gifts for her mother were also gone.
I pulled out my phone again and began to dial 9-1-1, but as soon as I dialed the “9”, my phone lit up with a text message from an unknown number....
Part 2
Amaya
What did Jett expect me to do when I saw that bank statement? One million dollars sat in his savings account while he saw me struggling day after day. How dare he lie to me like this, especially after we found out about my dad’s heart surgery expenses. I am not about to let my daddy die because he has to take the cheaper route. Jett has the money to pay for the surgery, and soon, I’ll have it too.
So when my cousin’s boyfriend Malik offered to help me get the money from Jett, of course I said yes! I think he’s cheating on me anyway with that girl that works with him. She has a name like a stripper (Cinnamon? Sugar?) and she looks like one, too, except she wears tailored suits and those red bottom shoes everyone keeps raving about.
But Malik almost ruined everything when he was late picking me up from the gas station. Thank God he got there before Jett came back out of the store.
So now we’re just sitting here in Malik’s broke-down Corolla, eating fried chicken out of a paper bag. He said his mama made it for him. What a joke!
But I’m just gonna keep cool until I Jett delivers the money, then Malik said he’d drop me at a rest stop and I can be on my way home. That is, if I decide to go home.
Jett
A text message that said: ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN IT RINGS appeared on my cell phone. A few seconds later, the phone rang.
“Hello?” I said as I answered my phone, almost whispering.
“Is this Jett?” the voice said on the other end of the line.
“Who is this?” I asked. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had heard it before.
“That doesn’t matter right now. I have something you want. Actually, someone you want. And you have something I need.”
“WHO IS THIS?” I screamed as the woman at the next gas pump looked at me and frowned.
“Look. We don’t have a lot of time, sir. Your wife...well...she’s not the easiest woman to be around, that’s for sure. But I’m sure you know all about that,” the voice said as he laughed. “So I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to put up with having her with me. But if you move quickly, she’ll be back in your arms by the end of the night.”
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“I want $500,000,” the voice said without hesitating.
“WHAT? Man you must be on drugs! I don’t have that kind of money!”
“Oh, but you do,” the voice said. “In fact, you have close to a million sitting in your account at Hickson Bank.”
“How do you know that? Who is this?”
“I want the money in unmarked bills. Put it in a backpack and put it behind the dumpster beside the store. Do you see the dumpster?”
I squinted my eyes and said yes.
“I know your bank is in Albany, so I’ll give you a few hours to get up there and back. Just don’t call the cops, man. I mean it. Or your wife will be scattered in pieces all over this city.”
The call ended. How was I supposed to withdraw that much money without drawing suspicion?
The cashier stepped outside and began to walk over to my car.
“Is everything okay, sir? I just called an ambulance for you. You seem very confused! And you’re soaking wet! Are you okay?”
I stood up and faced him. “I am NOT confused!”
Just then, a police car and an ambulance pulled into the parking lot. The police officer slowly walked over to me.
“Sir, is there a problem here? We received a call of a disturbance at this gas station. The cashier said you’ve been ranting and raving about your wife being missing? Yet he said you came here alone.”
I glared at the cashier. He looked away.
“He’s right, I did come here alone. It’s been a crazy day and I just want to get back home, if you don’t mind.”
The police officer stepped closer to me. “Have you been drinking, sir?”
I laughed nervously. “No! I most certainly have NOT been drinking!” I laughed again.
“Are you sure?” the cashier asked. “Because you seemed certain that you came here with your wife, but I clearly saw you drive up with no one else in the car.”
“Can I see your license and registration, please?” the police officer said.
I hesitated before reaching into my car to retrieve my registration.
“You wait right here while I check on a couple of things,” the police officer said as he walked back to his cruiser.
As I leaned against my car, my stomach began to ache with nervousness. What was happening to me? Had I really lost Amaya? Or my mind?
Amaya
“So, what did he say?” I asked Malik as he ended the call with Jett.
“He’s gonna pay up!” he said. “He must really love you, Amaya.”
“Of course he does,” I said as I re-applied my lipgloss. “Who wouldn’t love me? I mean, look at me! I’m every man’s dream!”
“And nightmare,” my cousin said as she stretched in the back seat.
“Oh you finally awake?” Malik asked my cousin.
“Yeah, yeah. Who can sleep with all this evil plotting going on?”
I laughed. My cousin always thinks the worst of me.
“So what’s the time frame? Is he going to our bank now?” I asked Malik.
“He said he was,” Malik said. “But who knows? He sounded kind of shaky.”
“Wouldn’t you?” I asked him. “His beautiful wife is missing! I would be outraged!” I said as I laughed. My cousin did, too.
“Well all we can do now is wait. You want this last piece of chicken?” Malik asked me.
I shook my head. I couldn’t figure out if it was the cold chicken that had my stomach upset or the thought of what I was doing to Jett. Only time would tell.
Part 3 coming soon!
I have loved Amaya since the first time I saw her. Not the kind of love you’re probably thinking about, though. I didn’t have hearts in my eyes or jelly for knees. My love for her went far and above the usual. It was no secret back then that I liked to “play the field”, but as soon as I met Amaya, all of that changed. That’s how I knew we were meant to be together.
I met Amaya after work one night when a work buddy (Darius) and I went to the bar across the street from our office for a few drinks. Amaya was tending the bar and of course Darius went right to her. Darius was fearless in that way when it came to women, even though he had been married for over ten years. But as soon as Darius started running one pick-up line after another, Amaya shot him down.
But when Amaya saw me, her face immediately softened. Her grey eyes even seemed to sparkle a little when she asked me what I wanted to drink. As she slid my Guinness over to me, she smiled. Before I left, Amaya gave me her phone number and we had our first date the following night. I saw her every single day after that until our wedding day six months later. Like I said before, I loved her from the moment I first saw her. Who knew she would end up changing my life for the worse?
Things were going great with Amaya and I for the first year or so. We fell into a routine of church on Sundays, date nights on Fridays and pancakes on Saturday morning at the local diner. Although we were both settled in Albany, NY, Amaya’s family lived in Hartford, CT and my family was scattered across the southeast. So we made a plan to visit her mother for Thanksgiving and my family on Christmas.
We packed the car with presents for Amaya’s mother and set off for Hartford. The trip should have only taken a few hours, but we still decided to stop for snacks.
I pulled off the highway to a roadside gas station. Amaya got out when I did and went to the pump to swipe her debit card. “You’re paying?” I joked. “Yes!” she said as she laughed.
“I won’t argue with that!” I said as I walked into the store. I gathered our usual road trip snacks (Slim Jims, cashews and sweet tea) and went to the counter to pay.
“That’ll be $65.17,” the cashier said.
“Excuse me? For beef jerky, nuts, and tea?” I asked.
“And gas. You pumped $55.00 before you came in here, remember?”
I shook my head. “No, my WIFE paid for the gas BEFORE she pumped it.”
“That’s funny, because I saw YOU pumping the gas.”
I laughed nervously. Was this guy playing a joke on me?
“My wife paid with our debit card. Now please stop playing around and let me pay for my snacks so we can get on the road.”
The cashier leaned over and looked out the window to my car. He squinted his eyes as he looked back at me.
"Look, man, I don't know if you've been drinking, but when you pulled up here there was no one else in your car. There’s no one in the car now, either."
I looked out and sure enough, my car was empty. My stomach immediately twisted with anxiety, but I ignored it. "She probably just went to the restroom. Didn’t you see her come in while I was in the back getting our tea? She was wearing a pair of those furry boots and a Red Sox baseball cap."
The cashier shook his head. “I definitely would have noticed a Red Sox cap in Yankees country.” I walked to the back of the store and knocked on the bathroom door.
"Amaya!" I said as I knocked. "Maya? Honey, let me know you’re in there."
No one answered. I shook the locked doorknob and called for her again.
The clerk held up a block of wood with a single key hanging from it. It jingled as he shook it. LADIES RESTROOM was scrawled on the side of it with a black marker.
"You need a key to access the restroom. And guess who holds that key? That’s right! Me. No one has asked for the key, sir.” The cashier slammed the key onto the counter and continued. “Tell you what. Why don’t you go ahead and keep the gas you pumped. The food, too. My treat. It looks like you've already had one hell of a morning and it's not even ten yet," he said with a chuckle.
"I don’t need any handouts from you,” I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out three twenty-dollar bills. “I don’t know what kind of a scam you’re running here, but I know my wife paid for our gas. This should cover it."
I grabbed the snacks and tea from the counter and walked back to our car. I expected to see Amaya lying back in the seat, but she wasn’t. In fact, she wasn’t in the car at all.
Even more disturbing was the fact that her purse was also gone from the front seat, as were her blanket and jacket.
I looked up and saw the cashier watching me from the window. I wanted to flip him off but instead I got into my car and dialed Amaya’s cell number. After two rings, a male voice answered.
“Yup?” the voice said.
“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong number.” I looked at the phone as I ended the call. The number was saved under the name “Amaya”, but her photo was gone from the entry.
When I dialed the number a second time and the same raspy voice answered, I hung up. What was going on?
I scrolled through my contacts for the number to Amaya’s mother, but it wasn’t there. Nor were the numbers for Amaya’s brother or sister. I decided to try to call my brother. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey JetPlane! What’s up?”
“Please don’t think I’m crazy. But I can’t find Amaya. We stopped to get gas...and…”
“Who is Amaya?” my brother asked. “Wait. Don’t tell me, let me guess: she must be your latest conquest on that seedy dating site.”
“What? Have you been drinking? Amaya is my wife, you idiot! Don’t play with me!”
My brother was silent. “Okay, JetPlane. You sound serious. Are you serious? Did you get married last night?”
The line was silent as my stomach sank. Why was my brother playing games with me?
“Jett, you okay man? Because you sound…”
“Sound what?” I fumed.
“I don’t know. Off. Maybe even high or something. You been smoking?”
“What? I’ve been clean and sober for almost a year! I gotta go. I’m really starting to get worried now. I’ll call you when I find her.”
As I ended the call, I looked into the backseat for Amaya’s duffel bag. It wasn’t there. When I walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk, the gifts for her mother were also gone.
I pulled out my phone again and began to dial 9-1-1, but as soon as I dialed the “9”, my phone lit up with a text message from an unknown number....
Part 2
Amaya
What did Jett expect me to do when I saw that bank statement? One million dollars sat in his savings account while he saw me struggling day after day. How dare he lie to me like this, especially after we found out about my dad’s heart surgery expenses. I am not about to let my daddy die because he has to take the cheaper route. Jett has the money to pay for the surgery, and soon, I’ll have it too.
So when my cousin’s boyfriend Malik offered to help me get the money from Jett, of course I said yes! I think he’s cheating on me anyway with that girl that works with him. She has a name like a stripper (Cinnamon? Sugar?) and she looks like one, too, except she wears tailored suits and those red bottom shoes everyone keeps raving about.
But Malik almost ruined everything when he was late picking me up from the gas station. Thank God he got there before Jett came back out of the store.
So now we’re just sitting here in Malik’s broke-down Corolla, eating fried chicken out of a paper bag. He said his mama made it for him. What a joke!
But I’m just gonna keep cool until I Jett delivers the money, then Malik said he’d drop me at a rest stop and I can be on my way home. That is, if I decide to go home.
Jett
A text message that said: ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN IT RINGS appeared on my cell phone. A few seconds later, the phone rang.
“Hello?” I said as I answered my phone, almost whispering.
“Is this Jett?” the voice said on the other end of the line.
“Who is this?” I asked. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had heard it before.
“That doesn’t matter right now. I have something you want. Actually, someone you want. And you have something I need.”
“WHO IS THIS?” I screamed as the woman at the next gas pump looked at me and frowned.
“Look. We don’t have a lot of time, sir. Your wife...well...she’s not the easiest woman to be around, that’s for sure. But I’m sure you know all about that,” the voice said as he laughed. “So I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to put up with having her with me. But if you move quickly, she’ll be back in your arms by the end of the night.”
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“I want $500,000,” the voice said without hesitating.
“WHAT? Man you must be on drugs! I don’t have that kind of money!”
“Oh, but you do,” the voice said. “In fact, you have close to a million sitting in your account at Hickson Bank.”
“How do you know that? Who is this?”
“I want the money in unmarked bills. Put it in a backpack and put it behind the dumpster beside the store. Do you see the dumpster?”
I squinted my eyes and said yes.
“I know your bank is in Albany, so I’ll give you a few hours to get up there and back. Just don’t call the cops, man. I mean it. Or your wife will be scattered in pieces all over this city.”
The call ended. How was I supposed to withdraw that much money without drawing suspicion?
The cashier stepped outside and began to walk over to my car.
“Is everything okay, sir? I just called an ambulance for you. You seem very confused! And you’re soaking wet! Are you okay?”
I stood up and faced him. “I am NOT confused!”
Just then, a police car and an ambulance pulled into the parking lot. The police officer slowly walked over to me.
“Sir, is there a problem here? We received a call of a disturbance at this gas station. The cashier said you’ve been ranting and raving about your wife being missing? Yet he said you came here alone.”
I glared at the cashier. He looked away.
“He’s right, I did come here alone. It’s been a crazy day and I just want to get back home, if you don’t mind.”
The police officer stepped closer to me. “Have you been drinking, sir?”
I laughed nervously. “No! I most certainly have NOT been drinking!” I laughed again.
“Are you sure?” the cashier asked. “Because you seemed certain that you came here with your wife, but I clearly saw you drive up with no one else in the car.”
“Can I see your license and registration, please?” the police officer said.
I hesitated before reaching into my car to retrieve my registration.
“You wait right here while I check on a couple of things,” the police officer said as he walked back to his cruiser.
As I leaned against my car, my stomach began to ache with nervousness. What was happening to me? Had I really lost Amaya? Or my mind?
Amaya
“So, what did he say?” I asked Malik as he ended the call with Jett.
“He’s gonna pay up!” he said. “He must really love you, Amaya.”
“Of course he does,” I said as I re-applied my lipgloss. “Who wouldn’t love me? I mean, look at me! I’m every man’s dream!”
“And nightmare,” my cousin said as she stretched in the back seat.
“Oh you finally awake?” Malik asked my cousin.
“Yeah, yeah. Who can sleep with all this evil plotting going on?”
I laughed. My cousin always thinks the worst of me.
“So what’s the time frame? Is he going to our bank now?” I asked Malik.
“He said he was,” Malik said. “But who knows? He sounded kind of shaky.”
“Wouldn’t you?” I asked him. “His beautiful wife is missing! I would be outraged!” I said as I laughed. My cousin did, too.
“Well all we can do now is wait. You want this last piece of chicken?” Malik asked me.
I shook my head. I couldn’t figure out if it was the cold chicken that had my stomach upset or the thought of what I was doing to Jett. Only time would tell.
Part 3 coming soon!