"Babe," Simone said from the deck over the lake. She deserved to live like a queen, I was glad the lawsuit had made it a reality. "I'm so bored today." She went on.
These days she was just pampered. I made changes to our life now that we had tons of money. I hadn't had to work or go back to school, and she was by my side almost every minute these days. Our new financial freedom making it impossible to worry about our future now. Life was just too good.
"I was going to ask you to out on the lake with me today." I responded
"For?" she asked.
"I don't want to ruin any surprises, but today is supposed to be special." I responded.
It was the fourth of July. My Grandfather had passed away a long time ago today. Through all these years I was never able to honor him the way I always imagined I could. This year was going to be different. Today I was going to make him smile from wherever he was.
"Ya? Should I get dressed?" she asked me
Being from the old laid-back manor in which she grew up in, clothes only seemed to bother her these days. The most I could catch her in was a bathing suit and a light see through robe. She loved the air around her body and seeing how it affected her made me enjoy watching her move so much more. Her thick thighs, and feminine gate were enough to capture my attention even fully robed. In attire like this it was hard to keep my mind off her. I don't think either one of us minded very much at this point.
"Actually, it's a casual thing so just the two of us." I said.
She looked at me curiously.
"Oh ya? Exciting!" she replied, smiling with that twinkle in her eyes that told me I had said the right thing, or made the right move.
"Go ahead and relax a bit more," I said, turning towards the outside gate with my keys now in hand. "I still have to pick up a few things. You hungry?"
"Mmmm yes I am." She said, hand touching her belly in thought. This was the look she made when her brain was trying to "taste" the food. She was beautiful.
"Chinese?" I asked
"Eggrolls!" she exclaimed in delight, hugging me before settling back down on the deck. I liked to stare at her sometimes. Not in any weird ways, but with the idea of holding her image in my brain forever. She was my rock.
The drive down to the fireworks stand was uneventful. I blasted my music to keep myself from getting sleepy and had a Newport on the way down. Trying to cut back hadn't entered my thought since I had become a multi-millionaire. I knew where I was going but had my GPS on just in case traffic was jammed anywhere going back towards the edge of the city.
The stand itself was full of life, people bustling around the white tented area with carts, kids, and sticks that go boom. I didn't waste much time though, as I saw a huge box on my way in, with a five-hundred-dollar price tag on it.
In the old days I would have never even thought about buying something so ridiculous. Today, I bought two. With a chuckle to myself on the way out, I asked them to load my new Gadgets into the trunk. I began the drive home, blasting my music again. This time though before the second song began to play, I caught the back end of a quick interview with a new artist. He was ecstatic to tell the world about his new song, "Take the Money." I liked to keep up with the times, so I turned the station up a bit more, humming along and tapping my thumbs against the steering wheel.
" Honey Honey! Aww, take the money!" the lyrics ran out in the afternoon. It got me thinking about my settlement again, and my days before becoming a modern-day tycoon. Who would have thought I would be the one to do it?
"Definitely not me" I said to myself with a laugh, allowing the song in the back of my thoughts to keep me lifted. Life was so good being rich. I could buy anything now, without a care in the world.
That's when the high-pitched squeal scared me out of my skin. Enough for time to slow and show me the car that hadn't been there a moment before. I heard a huge bang, that accompanied the car smashing into the right side of mine. I was only two minutes from home, there was no way the sounds didn't carry all the way home. I heard shattering glass and could feel small prickles stab into my skin as my car was pushed towards the left at an awkward, and out of control angle. I could hear multiple tires screeching for a moment before it all stopped.
The smoke made it hard to see, like thick smelly fog, in and around me inside my car. I reached for the driver's seat belt buckle, barely getting my bearings. I heard a car door slam near bye, and figured help was on the way. By the time I released the clasp to my seat belt, footsteps could be heard scraping the glass right outside my door. I heard it being pried open and was reaching out for whoever it was to help me to my feet.
As I extended my left arm, somebody with a very powerful grip grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me the rest of the way out of the vehicle. I was tossed to the ground, my head striking a rock on the way down. I could feel blood pouring by the left side of my ear. That old wound had re opened.
I didn't have time to think, as whoever was holding me began to drag me somewhere, to where I heard the earth below me change sounds. I was just too groggy to struggle. He dragged me down what I figured was a small hill. He had to be a big man, as I wasn't anybody you could carry with ease. I heard him cough so I tried to stammer out.
"What's going on?" I asked, apparently to nobody.
He stopped moving and put the rest of my body on the ground. I heard a large inhale, and the felt a huge ball of liquid hit the right side of my cheek. He had spit on me. He didn't say a word, but picked my wrist back up, and started dragging me again.
"What are you doing?" a high-pitched stream I knew I should recognize. I whoever had me stopped again. I felt my arms being thrown to the grown again, and I could sense my assailant's irritation. I opened my eyes in time to see small pretty toes running up with dirt all over them. They had on slippers with fur, which somehow reminded me of Simone. It never dawned on me as the shot that rang out in the night, that those beautiful feet could belong to her. I never saw it coming, until I saw her bloody, lifeless eyes hit the ground in front me. The shock of which was too much to bear, or even try to interpret.
"You had it coming too." I heard a thick voice say through my sudden agony. My life, my world, my rock lay shattered in front of me. I heard another shot, even felt it rip into the right side of my chest. I just didn't care…My love…My Rock…