Inexorable

Janelle held her newborn baby close, staring down into his beautiful blue eyes, and smiled. The twelve hours of excruciatingly painful labor already a distant memory. Only the magic of motherhood could make a woman instantly forget all the pain and anguish she suffered only a short time ago. A beautiful, healthy baby erases all wounds. Derek stood at the end of the bed, staring at his girlfriend and their newborn son. His feelings were conflicted. When she had announced the pregnancy 9 months prior, he had been angry and tried demanding that she get an abortion. He had told her he didn't want to be a father, didn't want responsibility or the financial burden.

"We're too young!" he had shouted. "You just finished high school and I have two years left in college. What were you thinking?"

"What do you mean, what was I thinking?" she'd hollered back, eyes filled with sad and angry tears. "I took my pill every day. You didn't want to wear condoms, remember? They minimize the pleasure, you said!"

"Well, obviously. you must have missed a pill or two, Janelle. You always said you couldn't wait to have kids. You did this on purpose to trap me, didn't you?"

She had run to their bedroom, sobbing and slammed the door behind her that night. Since then, they'd declared a sullen truce. Neither one wanting to dredge up the fight again, neither one wanting to end the relationship.

Janelle looked up at Derek feeling hopeful. Once he held their baby and looked into his eyes there was no way he could help but fall in love. She was sure his heart would melt and they'd get their happily ever after.

"Hold him?" she asked, her eyes begging him, pleading with him to be kind, to be loving, to be the support she needed more than anything right now. The thought of raising her son by herself terrified her. Derek came to her side and gently took the newborn and looked down into his sleepy face.

"He doesn't look like me," Derek said, quietly.

"Genetics are a crap shoot," Janelle said, her stomach beginning to knot. "He might look like one of your ancestors. Or more like me. I think he kind of looks like me."

"No, he doesn't. He doesn't look much like either of us. In fact, I think he looks suspiciously like Darryl." His voice had dropped, a sinister, low sound. Janelle's heart fluttered with fear. This wasn't the reaction she had been expecting. Derek had never been an observant man. He failed to notice numerous hairstyle and color changes, lost and regained weight, even new clothing. Never had he complimented her on a new look. He had never insulted her either, so she had always assumed he just didn't notice. Now, she wondered if it was more like he just didn't care.

Derek stood staring down at the little boy in his arms. He knew, he was absolutely sure, that this baby was not his. Red hot anger flared up within him. How dare she try to trap him with another man's baby. Cheating on him was bad enough. Cheating with his best friend even worse. He might have forgiven, even maybe forgotten, but not with the proof right here in his arms. This was unforgivable. This was pure evil.

Before she knew what was happening, he turned and bolted out the hospital room door. As he raced down the hallway, Janelle began hitting her call button, screaming for help.

"Stop him! Somebody stop him! He's going to hurt my baby!" she tried to get out of bed, but her legs were weak and she fell to the floor. A nurse arrived in time to help her back up and tried to get her to lie back in bed.

"No, I have to go after him," she sobbed. He ran off with my baby. Please."

......................................

While Janelle was getting dressed and arguing with the nurse about checking herself out of the hospital, Derek had jumped in his red Ford Focus with the baby still in his arms and sped off to his friend Darryl's house. He pounded on the door, screaming for Darryl to open up, right now!

"Derek? What's going on? Hey, is that your baby? When did Janelle have him? I can't...." Darryl's voice trailed off as he recognized the look of crazed hatred in his friend's eyes. "Dude, what's going on?"

Derek pushed Darryl causing him to back up and barely catch himself from falling. He followed him inside and slammed the front door behind him. The baby woke up and started crying.

"Shut up, you little bastard!" Derek screamed in the newborn's face. "Shut the FUCK UP!"

"Derek, calm down! What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Look at the little fucker, Darryl. Look at him real close," Derek's voice was dripping with anger. Darryl had never seen his friend like this and it was starting to scare him,

"He's adorable, man. What's his name?"

"Well, it should probably be Darryl, Junior. Don't ya think?" Derek spat. The baby's cries grew louder and more urgent. "Did you really think you guys would get away with this? That I wouldn't find out? I told that lying little bitch to get an abortion. Now you're all gonna fucking pay!" And with that final shout, Derek wound up like a baseball pitcher and threw the baby as hard as he could at the wall. The cries cut off instantly, the tiny body making a horrible squelchy thud before dropping silently to the floor.

"What have you done!" Darryl screamed, tears running down his face. "You monster!" His phone rang and he saw that it was Janelle calling. He answered and immediately hit speaker. "Janelle, call the police. Derek is here. He just killed your baby in front of me."

As Janelle's shrieks of grief filled the room, Derek swatted the phone out of Darryl's hand. "She can call the cops. But you sealed your fate when you fucked my woman behind my back. Traitor!"

As Janelle continued to wail and shriek in the background, Derek grabbed hold of his former best friend by the throat and body-slammed him to the floor. Climbing on top of his chest he pushed his fingers deeper into the young man's throat. Derek was about three inches taller and a good sixty pounds heavier than Darryl and though Darryl fought hard, he was no match for the bigger man. As his breath left his body he stared up into the cold eyes of the man he once thought of as his brother. His last conscious thought was, Fate is inexorable.



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