A Memory Worth Forgetting

“Welcome to the 7HFM afternoon drive” screamed the car radio. Kewan Carter sat back in the leather seat of his car and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, while catching glances of himself in the rear view mirror. He ran his fingers through his gelled hair and gave his jade green eyes an approving wink.
“-her and her husband’s bodies were found not far from their home” said the radio. Kewan ignored the subtle voice, as he pulled the car to a halt on 56th street.

The air was thick and hot as he stepped out of the silver BMW. He adjusted his pin stripe navy suit as he allowed his eyes to travel through the area. His childhood lurked among these buildings, his playful charm still lingered in the air. A black Ford was parked opposite him; he barely noticed it as he walked into the “Dead End” bar.

A thick cloud of smoke hovered over the room and bounced off the red velvet walls. The cheap smell of cologne filtered through the chattering crowd. Kewan’s eyes followed the crowd and stopped as he spotted a formally dressed woman at the bar. Her dark hair fell on her shoulders and swayed slightly as she turned to look at him. He smiled back at her and started for the bar.
“Hey Micheal” called Kewan to the blond haired bartender with the tropical shirt. Micheal shone him a dimple smile and leaned on the mahogany bar.
“What can I get you Kewan?” asked Micheal.
“My usual and a wind for the lady” said Kewan, looking over at the dark haired beauty.

Jade Turner smiled half-heartedly at Kewan and drew Micheal’s attention.
“Actually, I’ll have a dry martini” she said. Kewan felt taken aback and faced her fully.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked. Jade ran her finger around the rim or the martini glass.
“Well…you pulled me out of a meeting…
Made me drive to the middle of nowhere…
And then you arrive late…So, yeah! I’m mad” said Jade, her dark eyes glaring at him.
“I couldn’t get out of the office. Can the lady find it in her heart to forgive me?” asked Kewan, taking a sip of his double whisky. Jade smiled and nodded. He leaned forward and kissed her.
“So, why’d you call me here anyway?” she asked. Kewan placed his hand into his pocket and twirled the engagement ring through his fingers.

Micheal shined his wine glasses, occasionally looking over his shoulder. Although he did not see anything, he could feel a pair of cold eyes piercing into the back of his head. The cold stare began to intensify as the shrill ring of the phone tore him away from his paranoia.

“I wanted to ask you something” said Kewan. Jade sipped her drink but remained silent. Kewan took a deep breath.
“I got a call here for a Mr. Carter” said Micheal. Kewan released his breath and stood up from his seat to answer the phone.
“Hello, Mr. Carter here” he said, in an up beat tone.
“Hello, Rusty” said a hoarse whisper on the other end of the line. Kewan stood still, that name, “Rusty,” it seemed so familiar to him.
“I’m sorry, this is Kewan Carter” he replied, replaying the name “Rusty” at the back of his mind.
“O’h don’t give me that business-suit-talk. We both know who you are, Rusty. Look under the bar” said the voice. “Rusty” who was Rusty? Kewan reached under the bar and pulled out a picture. It was of three boys. Kewan recognized himself standing in the middle, his mop hair covering his eyes. On the right, stood Shaaid Martin, the short cocky boy whose head was always sheltered by his blue New York cap. The last of the three boys was Ziyaad Halls; a fairly handsome rebel whose dark features only lived in his fast cars.

Kewan’s mind travelled to the past, this very same street where those three boys grew up.
“Tick, tick” said the imaginary Ziyaad, as he tossed the ball to Rusty. Rusty was Kewan. Kewan shed a small smile but slowly wiped it away as he realized he was no longer Rusty. Now, he was Kewan Carter, the successful business man.

“You remember don’t you?” said the voice. Kewan now recognized the coy speech.
“Ziyaad?” he asked.
“Yes! Now that you know, do you still remember what happened the last time we met?” asked the voice, growing a little sterner. Kewan travelled back in his mind once again, but now to the secret chambers he kept sealed for a long time.

He stood under the lime tree and flicked his cigarette ashes on to the cold ground. The silver pistol revived itself against his bare waist as he moved forward towards the warehouse. A blond woman had just entered it, but wasn’t going to stop him. He drew closer to the warehouse where Ziyaad and Shaaid hid in the shadows.
“I don’t think we should we do this” said Ziyaad. Rusty shook his head and entered the warehouse. The darkness drowned them as the eerie silence said nothing, but sensed danger. The dull light of the moon provided just enough light to spot three people in the corner of the room. Rusty reached for the pistol in his pocket and held it out at arms length.
“Let’s got out of here” said Ziyaad, watching the people in the corner. Rusty ignored his friend and placed his finger on the trigger. A flow of adrenalin pulsed through his veins. He swallowed the lump in his throat and took aim.
“ZIYAAD!” came a shrill yell form the darkness. The silence was disturbed as a tall blond woman ran into the darkness. Rusty felt the pistol shudder in his hands as the bullet left it. He could barely see as he tried to control his breathing. He watched, helplessly, as the blond woman fell to the floor.
“NO!” yelled Ziyaad, his face screamed of fear as he ran towards the girl. Rusty threw away the gun as if it was hot metal that scorched his hands. Rusty stepped forward but stopped as Shaaid tugged violently on his arm.
“We gotta get outta here” yelled Shaaid. Rusty tore himself away from the bloody scene in front of him and heard the high-pitched sound of police sirens. His last thought was to run beside Ziyaad, however, his last action was sprinting out of the warehouse after Shaaid.
“Rusty, where’s Ziyaad?” asked Shaaid. Rusty couldn’t hear anything but the beating of his own heart.
“I don’t know ho Rusty is. I’m Kewan Carter” said Rusty.

Kewan opened his eyes to the smoke clouded bar with the drowning smell of liqure on his breath.
“I’m not Rusty anymore Ziyaad, Rusty died with that girl in the warehouse” said Kewan. He heard the faint laughter of his mysterious stalker.
“Hmmm…Shaaid said the same thing. You’re more like him that you know. Going for the married life with a beautiful girl. Roshaan…she was a looker too” said Ziyaad. Kewan looked into the receiver, why had that name struck a nerve in him. Where had he heard that name before? The afternoon news report he heard on the radio replayed itself in his head.
“Roshaan Martin, the beloved lawyer, her and her husband’s bodies were found not far from their home.” Kewan began breathing fast and hard.
“You killed him…and his wife.” said Kewan, ignoring the images of Shaaid and Roshaan’s mangled bodies.
“Clever…now it’s your girl’s turn” said Ziyaad. Kewan could sense the hatred and pain in his voice as the line went dead. Kewan slammed the phone down and stared back at Jade. His heart began to race ahead of his mind. Jade stared at him with a concerned look. Kewan licked his dry lips and looked around the bar. The smoke was forming a haze in his mind as the effect of the alcohol kicked in. He balanced firmly against the walls as he walked back to the bar. His face was flushed of colour and his throat became dry as he grasped onto Jade’s arm. Jade felt his clammy hand upon her bare skin and pulled away, instinctively.
“Kewan, what’s wrong?” she asked. He pulled her away from the bar and started for the door, his eyes darting through the oblivious crowd.

The “Dead End” bar door swung open, and the cold chill of the night hit them. Kewan could feel a soothing relief as the chill of the night air hit his face. Jade pulled away, fiercely, and stared at Kewan.
“What is wrong with you?” she yelled. Kewan saw the ice of fear enter into her face. She was scared and so was he. Kewan pulled Jade into his arms and kissed her passionately. She felt his hands on the arch of her back and pulled him closer. Her lips felt hot against his as she kissed him back. A part of him felt as if this would be the last time he would kiss her again. She pulled away and ended the kiss. The colour returned to his face once again.
“C’mon, we’ve gotta get going go” he said. Both of them stepped into the silver BMW. Kewan started up the car as Jade put on her seat belt.

The car sped down the empty street of his childhood. The darkness haunted him as all he wanted to do was run. Run away from these streets, this air, these memories. More importantly, he wanted to run away Rusty.

Suddenly, something hit the car hard from behind. Kewan lurched forward and stared immediately into the rear view mirror. A black Ford was tailing them closely. Kewan felt the car lurch forward again. He hit his head hard against the steering wheel. He looked up and wiped the blood away from his forehead. He could barely see outside now. The house lights were growing less. He began to speed up as he watched Jade reach under the seat. She pulled out a black nine calibre gun from the seat.
“What are you doing?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the black Ford that continued to disappear in and out of the misty darkness.
“I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna need this” she said, loading the gun.

Kewan could see the Ford coming closer, a part of him could see Ziyaad driving it. Jade rolled down the window and pushed the gun out against the wind. Kewan caught a glimpse of her and pulled her back in. He knew that Ziyaad could possibly kill them, but he could not see Ziyaad, all he could see was his best friend.
The car began to accelerate faster. Kewan couldn’t control it any longer. He felt the car smash the “closed off are” sign on the road. He felt his body lift off the seat as he smashed his back hard against the window. His vision became blurry as he blacked out.

“It’s a shame isn’t it?” said a voice. Kewan slowly opened his eyes. A stabbing pain shot through his back. He could make out a sharp piece of glass lunged at the back of his neck. He sat up and placed his fingers on the shard of glass. He closed his eyes and pulled out the glass, the sharp edges cutting his fingers.
“I didn’t want to kill you…or your girlfriend. I didn’t want to kill Shaaid or his wife” said a voice. Kewan tried to ignore it as he placed his fingers on Jade’s neck.
“Don’t bother, she’s dead” said Ziyaad. Kewan drew his fingers away fast, and shook his head in despair. Could the woman he loved be gone? He ignored the stinging tears in his eyes. He placed his hand into his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring. The light of the night allowed it to sparkle as he placed it on her finger.
“Ah-so sad. You killed my sister, Rusty, I think I should repay the favour” said Ziyaad, as he placed the knife at Kewan’s throat. Kewan couldn’t move, whether it was the loss of Jade that kept him cemented to his seat, or the willing to pay penance for the past, Kewan knew his death was inevitable.
“Never forget, Rusty, never forget” whispered Ziyaad.
“Forget this” said Jade, as she held the gun out at Ziyaad.
Jade closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. She held the gun tightly as the silver bullet flew from it.

Kewan heard the bullet whiz past his ear as it hit Ziyaad. Kewan pulled away from the window as Ziyaad’s motionless body fell to the ground.
He spun around and embraced Jade in his arms.
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do” said Jade, “starting with this ring.” Kewan locked at the ring and then into the eyes of his soon-to-be-fiancé.
“Jade Turner, will you marry me?” he asked, holding her hand in his.
“Well…I am still wearing the ring. So, yes!” she said. Kewan kissed her as he took a glance into the mirror. However, he wasn’t staring at himself, he was staring at Rusty. Rusty winked back him, and at that moment Kewan realized Rusty did not die, Rusty had become Kewan Carter.
THE END