A Small World

         Charlie Russell, a tall and skinny but well-built man was walking to pick up his daughter from Washington Elementary School. Charlie had brown eyes, dark brown hair, and a light complexion and was wearing his favorite black leather jacket zipped up all the way. In his right hand was a bag of groceries he bought for dinner that night. In the paper bag was a jar of Prego’s pasta sauce with mushrooms, a bag of noodles, and a little beef for meatballs, and a cookies n’ cream cake, his daughter Aubrey’s favorite. He took a glance at his watch, it was three o’clock sharp, and his daughter does not get out of school till three-fifteen.  He was walking down Maxwell Avenue and just as he was turning right onto Castro Way he saw a women who dropped a lot of books on the streets. She had bright red lipstick with short curly blond hair. She had a mini black skirt and fishnet stockings, with a thin black sweater with a few holes here and there.

          “Here let me help you with that, ma’m.”

          “Oh, thank you not that many nice guys are around these days.”

           Charlie laughed. “Well we still have a few around.” Charlie picked up the last few books and noticed they were all about murders. “ Nice choice of books,” Charlie said quickly handing her the books and wanting to be on his way.

            “ Yeah, my favorite, so what’s your name?” she said quickly changing the subject.

             “Charlie, Charlie Russell, and yours?” he asked to be polite.

             “Daisy, Daisy Marc. How about some coffee?” she asked with a hopeful look.

             “ Uh actually,” he said and took a glance at his watch, “I really got to go, my daughter gets out of school soon, maybe some other time if we meet again.”

             “Well that’s fine, and you have a daughter,” she said, and her smile quickly turned into a deep stare.

             “It was nice meeting you, hope to see you again,” Charlie said and walked away a little freaked out again by her deep stare and remembering her choice of books.

                                                       ~ ~ ~

              “ Yeah, whatever nice guy my ass, and you will see me again, you do have a daughter,” Daisy laughed hysterically, a soft laugh, but one that will scare anyone around.

              Daisy gathered all her books in her arms and walked up the stairs to her apartment, which was right in front of where she and Charlie had met.

                                                        ~ ~ ~

             Just on time, Charlie thought as he waited in front of the metal black gate, he still had a few minutes to spare. He looked around, there was a hot-dog stand on the corner, and a few restaurants and bakeries across the street. A woman with fishnets walked by, it reminded him of Daisy. Charlie thought about Daisy, something about her tells him to stay away from her but something is pulling him. Maybe it’s the fact that he hasn’t talked to a girl for a while. Just then the bell rang, a loud piercing sound knocking him out of his thoughts. He looked around for Aubrey. Aubrey had long brown hair and light hazel eyes, just like her mother.

            “Hey, daddy what’s in the bag?”

             “Oh there you are, nothing it’s a surprise.”

            They walked down the street, passed the restaurants, passed the bakeries, and passed the spot where Charlie met Daisy. Charlie looked around for Daisy but she was nowhere to be seen. Charlie walked down Castro Way, and turned left on Maxwell Avenue. Charlie’s car was in the auto shop for the next week. Wester was a small town where people can get around easily without a car. Charlie and Aubrey walked for about fifteen minutes to their apartment. 3764 Kendal Street, sixth floor, it was a nice place, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen, and a medium sized living room.

            “ Alright do some homework, wash up and dinner will be ready in no time.” Charlie said happily.

            “ Okay, but what’s in the bag, tell me. Please,” Aubrey pleaded.

            “ Nope it’s a surprise remember?” Charlie said quickly putting away the cake in the refrigerator.

            “ Alright, fine, I hope it’s a good one-“

             “ Oh, don’t worry you’ll love it!”

              “- what is it for anyway?” Aubrey asked curiously.
              “ I don’t know, I just felt good today, and I love you.”

               “ I love you too, daddy.”

             Aubrey placed her backpack on the living room floor, and took out her homework. She had math, and English to do, both were her favorite subjects.

                                                       ~ ~ ~

                   The next day Charlie had to walk to pick up Aubrey again because his car was still in the shop for maintenance. He was okay with it Wester was a small town. It was 2:30 PM, forty-five minutes till Aubrey gets out from school. He was very early. Because it was such a nice day, he thought maybe he’d walk around and enjoy some sun. As he was walking down the Maxwell Avenue, Daisy startled Charlie.

          “Hey you, we meet again,” Daisy said happily.

         “Oh, hello,” Charlie said shocked at how she came out of nowhere, “small town here.”

           “Yeah, isn’t it? So, how are you today?”

           “I’m good, just enjoying this nice weather, how about you?”

           “ Yeah, its pretty nice, where are you off to this afternoon?”

           “Well, just going to pick up my daughter from school.”

           “Oh, yeah your daughter.” Daisy’s face expression came to a deep stare again. “So tell me what’s her name?”

           “ Her name’s Aubrey, Aubrey Russell. ”

           “ Oh, that’s a pretty name, you still have sometime to kill, would you like to come up to my apartment for some lunch or coffee?”

           “ Umm…” Charlie thought.

           “ Yeah, I know, you shouldn’t go to a stranger’s house right? But come on, what can I possibly do to you?”

           “Well..” Charlie said convinced he looked at his watch and it was 2:35 PM , “ I guess I have sometime to spare.”

           Daisy led the way to her apartment; it was just about a block away. They walked up the stairs.

          “Wow, what floor do you live on?”

          “Just the tenth, no worries, treat this as exercise.” Daisy smiled, a crocked smile.

         As they finally reached the tenth floor, the atmosphere became cooler. Charlie looked around, and they place looked deserted, like no one lived on the tenth floor. Daisy noticed the nervous look on Charlie’s face.

         “My neighbors has been on vacation for about a month now. Sabrina and her husband went to Hawaii and Mrs.Bensly went to New York.”

         “Oh, I see.”

           Daisy looked in her black leather purse for her keys. She unlocked the door and they walked in. It was a small place, one bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom. The place was nice and tidy, everything was in order, the bookcase was full of books nicely stacked, there were vases of fake flowers in a vase, there was everything a girl would have, but there were no pictures. 

           “It’s a nice place you got here. You live alone?”

           “Yeah,” Daisy said, “ yeah I do.”

            Daisy went into the bathroom leaving Charlie in the living room. Charlie got up to look around; he stopped at the bookcase. The self were completely filled with horror books, does she actually read all these, Charlie thought. He looked at his watch it was 2:45 PM.

           “Hey Daisy, I should go soon.”

            Daisy came out from the bathroom.

            “Oh, so soon, wait, let me at least get you something to drink first,” said Daisy and went into her tiny kitchen and rummaged around her cabinets.

        “Is red wine okay? Sorry I haven’t gone to the store lately.”

       “I don’t drink that much, but maybe a little will be fine.”

        Charlie didn’t really want it but thought he’d be polite to just have a little.

        “Do you read all these books you got here?” Charlie asked.

        Daisy quickly came out with two wine glasses filled with red wine.

        “Come sit down,” Daisy said, ignoring the question.

        Charlie walked over to the couch, and took a sip of the wine. Charlie noticed a bitter taste to it, but thought it was just like that, overall he haven’t drank alcohol in a while. He took another sip, this time a bigger one. Daisy sat on the opposite side of the couch, in a single person couch.

         “So what do you like to do for fun?” Daisy asked, and taking a few sips of her wine.

         “Nothing much, just hanging out with friends and my kid.”

         “ Oh…oh yeah the kid, Aubrey, what does she look like?”

         “ She…” all of a sudden Charlie felt a rush of heat going up to his head, making it hard for him to speak.

          “She what? How does she look?” Daisy slowly got up from her seat and walked up to Charlie.

           Still Charlie could not speak. He felt heat in this head and coldness in his hands. What is wrong with me? Could it be something that was in the wine? What is happening? I can’t breathe? What is happening to me?

         “You feel it now don’t you?” Daisy let out a smile, then a hysterical laugh.

          Daisy walked over to where Charlie’s body was sitting and pulled him up, so that she could get his wallet, assuming that there would be a picture of Aubrey. She dug into his right jean pocket and found a black leather wallet, she opened the flap and there it was; a picture of Aubrey’s school picture, her long brown hair and her light hazel eyes.

            “I’m supposed to have a daughter, and a husband.” Daisy stood there in front of Charlie’s pale body, holding the wallet containing the picture of Aubrey, and laughing hysterically. “I’m supposed to have them not you!”