Janitor Jim

Janitor Jim




         Yesterday as I was walking down the hallway at school I came upon a door that I had never seen before. I reached out to try and open the door only to find it locked. As I took out a small bobby pin from my pocket, I looked up and down the hallway to see if there was anyone watching.
I inserted it into the keyhole and began to turn it clockwise. After several minutes of fiddling with the lock I hear a satisfying ‘click’ as all the tumblers unlocked and the door handle jerked. I slowly opened the door, to find the top of a set of stairs leading into darkness. I stepped through the door and gently closed it behind me, allowing the darkness to envelope me.
         Looking down, I saw a small window at the bottom of the stairs, allowing a small ray of light to illuminate a door. I placed my hand upon the railing to steady myself as I carefully made my way to the bottom of the stairs.
         As I began my descent I heard an odd noise, a kind of shuffling coming from underneath the stairs. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the knife that I had made at home. I unfolded the six inch blade and held it by my chest. As I continued my descent, I could hear the shuffling grow louder and louder, until it was directly beside me.
         At the bottom of the stairs I found a door directly to the left. I turned the handle expecting this door to be locked as well, but I was surprised to find that it turned gently and I opened the door just enough for me to see the inside of the room. It was dimly lit, with only a small lamp sitting on top of a desk in the far right corner of the room. In front of the desk was a chair and in the chair sat a pile of boxes labeled, “Lucky’s Ammo.”
         I waited several minutes for the source of the shuffling to reveal itself, but it had gone silent. I swung the door open and made my way to the desk and picked up one of the boxes out of the chair. It was heavy and as I brought it up to the light.
         “44. Magnum, 150 rounds.”  I mumbled as I read the box.
         I looked on the desk and found a small silver key. I felt along the drawers and that ran down one side of the desk and opened the first one I came to, only to find it empty. Then I opened the second drawer and without looking, heard the distinct rattle of a gun’s chamber against its barrel.
         I reached down and immediately felt cold steel. I wrapped my fingers around the handle of a pistol and pulled it out of the drawer. It was a massive 44. Magnum pistol, over a foot in length, its revolving cylinder had six chambers for six rounds. I opened the box of ammo and took out six rounds and placed them into the chambers. I flipped the cylinder closed and spun it. It clicked a few times before coming to a stop. Suddenly I heard a groan emanated from behind me.
         I turned to see Jim, one of the janitors, crawl out from under a desk, his face covered in blood. I rushed over and knelt beside Jim as he rolled onto his back.
         He looked up at me and said, “There’s a kid that comes down here every day around twelve o’clock…” Jim paused as I looked around for a clock. The one I found read, eleven fifty seven. I looked back to Jim, to find his eyes glazed over, his heart still, and a smile on his face.
         Suddenly I heard the door above me open and footsteps descending the stairs. I quickly hid in between two filing cabinets as the door swung open.
         As I watched from my hiding spot a tall, Caucasian, kid walked into the room. As he stepped into the light of the lamp, I recognized him as a junior named Zach. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He then moved the chair, reached under the desk, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He proceeded to light a one of the cigarettes and started to inhale. Suddenly he froze as I saw his gaze focus on the open drawer. He immediately threw his cigarette on the ground and pulled out a switchblade from his left pocket.
         Zach turned around only to find himself staring down the barrel of the 44. magnum in my hand. Even in the low light I could see his face beginning to pale. I pulled the hammer back and took two steps away from him.
         “Let’s not be hasty, man.” He said dropping his knife and holding his hands up. I found myself unable to say anything to Zach.
         Zach took a step closer to me, “Come on man, I didn’t do nothing to you.” I remained silent.
         He smiled and let his arms fall to his side. He began to reach his hand out for the gun and said, “I knew you were too much of a…”
         That was all he was able to get out as my finger squeezed the trigger and a loud blast rang out.
         I watched in awe as Zach’s left eye imploded and the back of his head burst open and his blood and brains splattered, with a wet thud, on the desk and wall behind him. He fell to the floor, dead. I looked down to see Zach’s only eye staring back at me in a dead gaze, a puddle of blood pooled around his head.
         I held the gun up before my eyes and wondered, How would this day have been if I had left the door alone. I then heard sirens outside the school as I placed the gun on the floor and began to ascend the stairs. I opened the door at the top of the stairs and stepped into the hallway as hundreds of student crowded past each other to get out of the school.I turned around and closed the door and took the key, from the desk, out of my pocket.
         A smile appeared on my face as I locked the door and slid the key under it. I remembered how only a few hours earlier that it was I who drove a knife into Zach’s father.  Our very own janitor, Jim…