City Traffic Puzzle

Focus was placed upon a weighted oak door for a few short seconds, but this obstacle was soon swung open with a creak, revealing a slightly alarmed and exhausted looking Jack Barakat. Judging from the angle of the sun in the sky, it was approaching ten o’clock at night and Jack certainly didn’t look as if he was expecting a visitor. He ran his cadaverous hands through dark hair tainted with sweat from the day’s summer heat, and forced a polite smile at the uniform clad police officer standing before him.

“What can I do to help you, sir?” he enquired politely, keeping a civil tongue and nodding as he spoke. Jack was certain he’d done nothing that should have landed him in trouble, so he made the assumption that there had been a mix-up or a problem with something stupid, like where he’d parked his car.

The officer frowned, and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder, shaking his head as he did so.

“I’m here to… I’ve got some bad news, kid…” the older man began, theatrically wringing his hands, a pained expression all over his face, “And I’m sorry I have to tell you… like this…”

Jack tensed up a little, but didn’t let himself panic.

“It’s okay, Officer. You’re just doing your job. What’s the news?” he let himself ask, the words slipping blindly from his mouth. Jack stuttered and slipped over the last sentence, trying not to let his nerves get the better of him.

“That young man you’re very close friends with, Alexander Gaskarth…” the police officer continued, keeping his hand gently place on Jack’s shoulder, “He was blackmailed and threatened, and that’s why he left you. He had every intention to come back, Jack… but the people weren’t reasonable. He didn’t co-operate and they did away with him.”

“Th-th-they killed Alex?” stammered Jack wildly, his eyes wide as he took in the harsh words.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” was the monotone response, “But he’s gone.”

Those words were like the breaking of the dam, and Jack’s body crumbling and falling to the floor in a heap was like the water rushing into trample and destroy everything in its path. His hands shook so violently he could hardly hug his knees to his chest, but he managed it, rocking back and forth on the floor like a child crying through a nightmare. Although he had obscured his face with his hands, the rhythmic shaking of his torso was enough demonstration of the salty tears that were flowing freely down his cheeks, salt in his mouth making him want to vomit even more than he already did.

The policeman stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting in silence while Jack let his emotions out, simply doing his job.

Between his continued frantic, rattling sobs, Jack was muttering in a senseless manner, his words almost unintelligible within his haphazard breathing pattern and constant, never ending stream of tears. He cried now without understanding his own tears, or understanding where he was or why he had even come to exist. He simply sat against the wall, his body curled up as small as he could make it, and howled and sobbed like everything was gone.

*

The laptop screen turned to a fuzzy black display for a second, but the picture was clearly replaced by Mr. Clifton’s sneering face as he twirled a DVD disk about in his hands.

“I didn’t want you to expect your friends to come looking for you, Gaskarth,” he chuckled, barely even looking straight into the camera, “But that little movie was SUCH fun to record, especially the part where your little friend starts to cry over you. I’m going to show you again… and again… and again…”

Alex yanked the cord from his laptop and let the screen fade away, before viciously punching the wall and crashing back down onto the couch with a throbbing hand. He couldn’t even bring himself to cry.