Undermind: Nine Stories by Edward M Wolfe Page A

turning as
necessary to avoid the path of cars and the roving security guard.
Reaching a main boulevard, he recalled where he’d once seen a
payphone; possibly one of the few remaining in the city. He headed
up the street, hoping the phone would still be in place at the
mom-and-pop gas station not too far from the hospital.
    After jogging for a quarter of a mile, he could
see the station sitting on the corner in the dark. It was out of
business, but the payphone was still there. Now he just had to hope
that it worked and that the handset hadn’t been yanked off or
broken. He was in luck – sort of. The handset was attached and
there was a dial tone. The only problem was he’d never held
anything more disgusting, and the thought of putting it against his
head almost made him gag.
    He inserted two quarters, dialed his brother’s
number, and held the phone an inch from his left ear, praying that
his brother would pick up despite seeing an unknown number appear
on his cell phone. It rang four times and Dave was sure his plan
was going to die before it got started.
    “Hello?” he heard his brother ask
suspiciously.
    “Danny! It’s me, Dave. I need you to meet me at
the closed down gas station north of the general hospital. It’s
urgent, and I need you to bring the thing you showed me in your
back yard last year.”
    “Fuck. On my way. 5 minutes.”
    The line went dead and Dave smiled. He and his
brother disagreed on a lot of things, but no matter what, they were
always there for each other when it really mattered. He was glad
that Danny didn’t even ask a single question. He was simply on his
way. Just like that.
    Four minutes later, Dave saw his brother’s SUV
pull into the dark gas station and after a brief hesitation, came
gliding up to him by the front doors. Dave ran around to the
passenger side, hopped in and said, “That was fast! Head north, and
don’t get pulled over. I have very little time.”
    On the way there, he explained what his plan
was, and how he knew it was weak, but he hoped it might convince
Ron that he was messing with the wrong family. Danny agreed that
the plan was weak but was willing to go along with it, especially
after hearing everything that had happened to his brother’s family.
He was even willing to do more than he was being asked, but Dave
wouldn’t allow him to take such a risk, even though Danny’s offer
would solve the Ron problem permanently.
    A block before they reached Ron’s house, Danny
stopped the vehicle so he and Dave could trade places. Dave had
objected to this change in his plan, but his brother insisted on
being the one to actually commit the crime. He’d been in jail
before and he could survive it again. He also didn’t have a wife
and child waiting for him and depending on him to remain free and
come home.
    Dave’s heart was beating like crazy as they
slowly approached the house. His hands were sweating and slippery
on the steering wheel. He almost couldn’t believe they were doing
this. It was so out of character for him. Since Danny was willing
to do the worst part of the job, maybe he should call this off and
let him do it alone, later. Why risk both of them going to jail?
No. He couldn’t do that. This was his problem. It was enough that
Danny was helping. He wasn’t going to push the whole thing off on
his brother.
    He re-focused his attention on the houses they
were slowly passing on the dark street. He saw the big white truck
in the driveway and said, “There!” Danny didn’t hear the next thing
he said, which was, “Wait! Not that one!” The sound of the shots
drowned out his voice as Danny fired at the upper part of the large
front window.
    Even with the gun held outside the SUV, Dave
thought he was going to be deaf for the rest of his life. When
Danny stopped firing at the wrong house, Dave yelled, “Fuck! Fuck!
Fuck!
    “There’s no going back now, brother,” Danny
said.
    “That was the wrong fucking house. It was
supposed to be this