Kristine Joy, Writer

Dedicated to my husband, Eric, for taking me to Death Valley National Park, where I had sights to see and time to read good books, which in turn, inspire me to write.

Joy lounged poolside, with a book in hand, sporting a bright red bikini while her kids, 12 year old Andrew and 10 year Summer, splashed nearby. Being a family from the Midwest, their excitement to be swimming outside in late November caused water to spray down onto Joy.

Luckily, the pool was spring-fed with a year round consistent temperature between 82 and 85 degrees. The warm water on her sun kissed body felt good and drew her mind from her mystery novel to the innocence of her children.

Joy wasn’t your typical Mom, but most of what made her atypical was beneath the surface. One oddity was obvious though and that was her inner child willingness to Jump Right In amongst kids at play. She put her book down, and called out, “Who wants to play Marco Polo?” as she cannonballed into the pool.

For the next half an hour, and whether Joy’s eyes were opened or closed, depending on whether she was being sought or the seeker, Joy felt like there were eyes on her. Honestly, she had felt this way the entire week as her family went to and from The Oasis at Death Valley resort traversing as tourists around Death Valley National Park.

In fact, on Tuesday, as her husband Drew and she navigated the kids up the Golden Canyon, Joy found herself repeatedly looking over her shoulder. She swore there was a man keeping just enough distance between them to not be seen. She even stared at a shadow peaking out from a cornered canyon wall for long enough to garner a side-eye and urge forward from her crew.

But, she told herself that it was merely a bit of panic; the panic itself perhaps a necessary evil stemming from her past. And, this was their last day of vacation. She’d be en route home tomorrow and once again, back to the normalcy of a nuclear family life.

Drew returned from his solo hike shortly after Joy had corralled the kids back to their cottage for mid morning showers. Once everyone was cleaned up for the day, the Fearsome Foursome, as they called themselves, piled into their rented Army Green Jeep Renegade and set off for their last stop in the park, Badwater Basin Salt Flats.

The kids ran ahead on the broken puzzle piece appearing terrain. Joy saw her son break off a piece of salt and put it in his mouth before spatting it back out. She and Drew, hand in hand, chuckled.

Moments later, Joy felt a strong palm on her shoulder and spun around to face the space invader. Her husband was also caught off guard to the point of immediately being on guard. The man said, “You’re Kim Karson. I know it.”

“Who?” Joy managed to sputter. Drew already had a fist clenched at eye level, “What the hell dude? She’s not and if you lay a finger on her one more time….”

“Sorry. Sorry. My bad. Her eyes were green and yours…aren’t,” said the stranger, who had clearly spent time in a weight room and who kept staring at Joy until it was Joy who pushed away.

Joy and Drew collected themselves, decided to keep their kids closer by, and each kept one eye on the crazed man who had confronted them. They were content with the fact that he had stayed put on a bench near the parking lot while they took a family picture that would be the feature photo for their holiday card.

And all the time, Joy wondered if having ran into Wes in the lowest point on the continent was a metaphor for the place that she had stumbled upon in her life.

Back in their cottage, after having eaten dinner at the Last Kind Words Saloon, the family spent time packing in hopes for a less rushed morning. Joy stewed, but knew what she had to do.

They tucked their kids into bed; Andrew on the pull-out couch and Summer in the second bedroom. After their 6th day of all day activity, they were both fast asleep.

Drew shut the door to their own room and put his arms around Joy. “Are you still weirded out by that guy?” he asked. She nodded in the negative and lied, “I haven’t given him a second thought actually. I think it was a simple mistake.”

He smiled at her in the way he always did when he wanted a nightcap. She wasn’t in the mood to sleep with her husband, but had included it in the devised plan because she needed him out cold and a playdate was a surefire way to make that happen.

She pulled his shirt up and over his head while they kissed. Just as she reached to unsnap his jeans, he grabbed her glutes, picked her up and lowered her onto the bed. He undressed himself the rest of the way and stood over her. She was glad for having skipped the foreplay. I have time to kill but not here.

A few minutes later, Joy laid at Drew’s side with her arm over his chest. And a few minutes after that, she could tell that he was asleep based on both his heartbeat and breathing pattern. Upon first snore, she slid out of the wingspan of his right arm, scooted across the bed and put her feet on the plank flooring.

In the bathroom, she found the contacts that made her eyes sea green as Gary used to call them and popped the lenses in. Might as well bring Kim to the party. In the kitchen, she took the keys to their rental car and then eased the front door of the cottage shut behind her.

The night sky was pitch black with stars abound. Joy turned right out of the resort and headed towards Zabriskie Point, wondering if that was where she’d strike. But, as she neared the turn off, there wasn’t another vehicle in sight. She second guessed herself but only for a second.

Thereafter, she made another right, heading towards Dante’s View. This end point added an hour to her drive, 30 minutes each way, but she didn’t have an alternative. All was calm as she padded down the rolling blacktop.

On alert, she had turned the radio off, and only now, thought to roll a window down. Immediately, she heard another vehicle in tow. Smart, he never turned his headlights on. She smiled because she had been right that he’d follow; he had been the puppy type with Trina also. And she knew that he knew her voice and she had spoken it. Her hunch that he would still be watching her, and follow her, would soon put an end to a loose end.

The road became treacherous as they neared Dante’s View, weaving back and forth at a Tour de France bitch of an incline. The pitch black surrounding them didn’t help. She slowed so as not to cause her own death. He slowed in order to keep his same distance (but merely delaying his death in Joy’s View).

Joy parked and stepped down from the Jeep. She walked towards the overlook, where there was signage describing the view in each direction. She prepared herself for the face-off, for what she would say or not say, before doing what needed to be done. She tried to recall what this place had looked like in the daytime in order to help her collect her bearings.

The site, named after the 14th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri, was magnificent to her even in the bleak of night. Joy actually knew of Dante’s work because she aspired herself to be a poet. She drummed up a line, while waiting for Wes, that she hoped would make the late Dante proud:

I was exactly where I heard a noise
   Of tires creeping upward as they tread
   To a confrontation with an underlying sound of alarm

Wes’s black truck pulled into a parking spot. She laughed at the fact that he still had his headlights turned off, as if she didn’t know he was there. Idiot.

He approached. With each step, Joy could sense his angst. She assessed her own cool as a cucumber, been here, done this before demeanor and spoke first.

Joy: Seems you’ve been working out, Wes. Did your new physique win Trina back?

Wes: She’s with Trevor. I was the best man at their wedding.

Joy: Oh, fun. It mustn’t bother Trevor that her true love is his dead brother.

Wes: Did you kill him? I just want the truth, Kim, and then you can return to your pretend happy homemaker life.

Joy: Call me Joy. It ironically rhymes with Helen of Troy.

Joy told Wes everything to the point that it felt like the therapy session that she could never have. How she had lured Gary out into the woods, the bear trap, the ropes and how she learned to tie sailor’s knots, his confessions, the ax and the methodical order in which she executed.

It was nice to enlighten someone else to her true self. And had she had any guilt over who she was, she supposed this would have served as the shedding of it.

Wes stood in shell shock. Joy could tell that he didn’t quite believe the woman he knew as Kim would have been capable of the “story” she’d just told him. All the better. That means he won’t run but I shouldn’t give him the time to decide his fate anyway.

Joy dug her runner legs into the packed mudstone and jolted towards him with all of her might. With his right hand, he threw a jab at her face and caught her cheekbone, but her force was enough to knock him backwards.

Wes: Bitch!

Joy: Name-calling isn’t going to help your case, but two can play that game. Maybe Trina would have picked you if you weren’t an absolute mess Wes!

She lunged at him again and this sent him over the ledge, his body cascading, appendages flailing, downward towards the packed clay. His body hit hard enough to lurch back up upon contact. Joy stared down at her latest artwork in awe of the envisioned chalkline against the geological canvas.

She sat down on the side of the cliff, facing the valley. The sound of gurgled blood echoed from below, but didn’t travel far enough for someone atop the peak to hear it. She closed her eyes and found a meditative state. She stayed there until a hint of sunrise stirred her to return.

The landscape remained quiet, but her drive back was loud because she blasted Queen through the Jeep’s speakers. She even sang at the top of her lungs when her favorite Queen song played:

“Another one bites the dust, and another one gone, and another one gone…”

The cottage hadn’t made a peep in her absence. She crawled back into bed and managed an hour of sleep before Drew awoke her with a cup of coffee.

Drew: Oh, jeesh. What happened to your face honey?

Joy: I couldn’t sleep. You know me. I drove to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and ran before the sun came up. I think I may have pulled a calf muscle actually.

Drew: That doesn’t explain your black eye.

Joy: Oh yeah, I actually fell in the parking lot before I even started. It was pretty dark.

Drew: I didn’t know you were gone. I wish you hand’t done that, especially after yesterday. Who knows what people are capable of these days?

Joy: I appreciate that you worry, but I can take care of myself, handsome.

Drew: If you say so. I’m just glad you’re here with me now, and still the perfectly perfect girl that I married. We need to get the kids up and hit the road. It’s a long drive.

The family sped East. The first stop would be Vegas, where Joy and Drew planned to renew their vows.

Just as they were exiting Death Valley National Park via CA-190, a slew of emergency vehicles, all with lights and sirens blaring, flew by in the opposing direction.

Drew: That creep probably killed someone.

Summer: What creep, Dad?

Joy: No one. You don’t have to worry about him. We’re safe from bad guys sweetie.

Joy thought to herself; it would kill them to know the truth.

And that’s when Drew asked the fatal question,

“Wait, are your eyes green?”