48: Player Three

Sun was about to set and the activity in the neighborhood had started to wane. The noise of the children playing on the street was the only thing that had helped Aaron in getting his mind off his loss. Aaron laid on his bed fighting of the suicidal thoughts as he stared at the ceiling. He felt broken beyond repair. He had the love of his life at the palm of his hand and he had thrown her away. He was drowning in self-hatred. Everything that he saw, heard or smelled, reminded her of Sophie. He looked around to find something that belonged to her. He couldn’t find anything. He got up from the bed and combed the room. There was nothing. Even he knew that. He had helped her pack her limited belongings, himself. Aaron hoped against hope but in vain. He caught his reflection in the mirror of his dresser as he scrambled around. Aaron didn’t like the man who looked back at him. The defeated man staring at him was unrecognizable. He had never seen himself in such a state. Aaron had been in panic and in grave situations but he had never been this devastated. Even a blind man could see through him. He gave up and put his hands on the dresser. He felt tears well up in his eyes. He feared that he might lose the beautiful face, the blissful voice and the spellbinding scent of his beloved forever. His room was getting darker by the minute. A small black object lying at the corner of the dresser caught his attention. He curiously picked it up. It was Sophie’s hairband. It was a huge victory for him. He grasped in tightly and closed his eyes. He would have absorbed it and made it a part of himself if his body had somehow allowed. Aaron kissed the elastic band and tied it on his wrist with teary eyes. He sat back on his bed and tried to dwell on the blissful memories he had made with Sophie. The sorrow was just too great to fade away. The walls of his own room felt closing in on him. Everything in his room taunted and mocked him for his cowardliness. Aaron kept playing the night at the restaurant and the night at the subway station over and over in his head. He kept wondering if he could have done something different to change the outcome. Every step he imagined in those situations, only managed to put Sophie in a bigger risk. The thoughts were eating his heart away. He felt razor blades in his chest. Aaron decided to get away from the room and go out for some fresh air.

The street was deserted and looked full of trouble. Aaron was determined to step out of his house for a while even if it put him in a risk of getting mugged by some junkie. He stepped out and slowly walked to the other side of the street. The cold breeze of the night made it easier for him to think of things other than his loss. He strolled to the corner of the street and looked up in the sky. The moon was a little larger than half. It reminded him of the night he had showed Sophie her true form. Many nights he had regretted his decision but he had eventually come around to acknowledge that it had probably saved her life just the way he had intended to. The moon was the only amusing thing at the street at that hour. That made him wonder the routines of his neighbors. Big T had been at home for his day off and his wife had been at work. Tyrone had been playing with his son all day long and his wife would be back in the night. At that hour, the neighborhood should have been witnessing the returns of its residents every once in a while, but there were no cars that came home with its owners at the end of the work day. The junk of a muscle car his neighbor owned stood in his garage, day in and day out. Aaron had never seen the man drive it. He would just wash it, start it, give it a burn out and went back inside just to do it all over again the next day. Every neighbor must be doing something to afford their housing even in that street but what they actually did, just seemed to evade Aaron. He leaned on a stop sign pole and waited for the negative thoughts to end.

A black sedan slowly entered the street from the other end and caught Aaron’s attention. He eyed the car as it neared his house. It stopped there. Aaron tried to comfort himself and tried to convince himself that the car was meant for someone else. He failed to do so. The car stood directly in front of his gate. It sent shivers down his spine. He was convinced that his cover was blown. He awaited the masked men to exit the car and get into positions. Aaron readied himself to make a run for it but realized that it would be Manjeet all over again. If he left Big T and his son at the mercy of those monsters, they will certainly die a horrible death and Aaron would have live with that. He decided that he was done running. As soon as the masked men would show themselves, he would fight them. His cowardliness had caused him enough pain already. He was on his toes waiting for something to happen. The door of the car opened. Aaron crouched and started to creep near the car, taking cover behind dumpsters. He saw a silhouette of a girl step out of the car. Aaron jolted to a stop in shock. He had never seen a woman among the enforcers of his enemy. He decided to get it over with, regardless of the gender and resumed creeping closer to the vehicle. The girl kept staring at his window. He was convinced that he was the target. He stole another glance at the girl as he neared her, he recognized the familiar face. That face had been stuck in his mind like a wallpaper all day long. He lost feelings of his legs and his eyes welled up. Sophie heard a sniffle behind her and she abruptly looked back to see where the sound originated. She leapt at him as soon as she saw him. Her body harshly collided with his and they hugged each other tightly. Aaron felt her tears make their way down to his shoulder and she felt his. They both sobbed audibly. Mike Rosenberg exited the vehicle and stood beside it with a concerned look on his face. He patiently waited for them to get a hold of themselves.