Categories > Original > Drama > Lola
I woke up feeling cold and aching, like I had just fallen down Mount Everest. I slowly sat up in the hotel bed, my head pounding. I wasn't sure why I felt this way, I hadn't been drinking or doing drugs. I felt a little better when I went to the bathroom and vomitted.
I peered through the blinds of the window, a cloudy day awaited me outside these closed doors. I had to get home, I had to figure this all out. But first things first. I turned on the TV, to see if last night was on the news. It was only a matter of seconds before the late breaking news came on.
"A woman's body was found late last night outside of her condo. Police are trying to sort out the type of death, suicide or homicide. Her house was unlocked, and nothing of large value were stolen. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen a stranger leaving the building with what looked to be a laptop and some notebooks. The witnesses were not able to get the liscense plate numbers."
I sank down on the edge of the bed, all of the nights events crashing into me. I wanted to turn the TV off, but I was devoid of movement and words, only befuddled thoughts. I listened to why the authorities thought it was a suicide, then a homicide.
A middle aged man, the police spokesman, gave his statment, "We believe it could be a suicide, for the scrap of paper found on the deceased. It looks to be a note or poem of some sort. Our specialists have also found that by the angle and force of the fall, she was not pushed or thrown. By what we can see, it looks like she simply stepped off of the ledge to her death."
The media was in a frenzy, asking questions left and right, but we waved them off and continued with his report.
"We think it could have been homicide, or at least an assisted suicide, due to the eyewitness claims of a man not from around here, snooping around the building. The possibility of a murder is minimal, no one would lead a victim to a roof top, and have them fall to their death, in a populated area. It doesn't make sense."
I listened intently, reasoning with the spokesmans logic and evidence, hoping that the end result would be what it really was, a suicide.
"As for the theft of a laptop and notebooks, we find this extremely odd. Why take such small things of little importance, when there was a large screen television, a fax machine, scanner, stereo system, as well as some antiques of great value? If this was a homicide with a burglary, there would be no point in leading someone upstairs to the roof, pushing them off, then going back downstairs to steal a couple trifle items. Because of this, we know it was a one man operation."
I swallowed hard, they were good. They knew it was only one person, me. I hated myself for all of this, being a witness to another death, stealing sentimental documents and papers.
What if they caught me? What if I spend my life in prison?
The spokesman continued, "One man could not move and lift all the expensive large equipment by themselves, down two flights of stares, past curious neighbors. So we are sure it was only one assailant. Sadly, the police department does not have enough evidence to rule outa suspect, although fingerprints were found in the apartment, and on the doorknob of the door leading to the roof. There are no signs of a struggle, nor did any of the neighbors hear any commotion. This leads the police to believe-"
I tuned out the rest, now nervous and afraid because of my prints found. I had no priors, no criminal record, but they still had a key part of identifying me. I couldn't take it anymore, I got up and switched off the TV. I gathered my things, and went to leave, but paused when I felt the cold weight of the pistol in my coat pocket. What to do with it?
When I got to my car, I popped the trunk, and quickly concealed the gun. I wrapped it in an old rag I had used for wiping clean the oil dipstick, and hid that down in the spare tire well. I was paranoid, looking over my shoulder constantly, I felt that everyone was suspicious. I got in the car and began to drive back to home, two hours away.
I picked up my phone, calling Gwen. Her voicemail came on, damn it! I hung up and tried my mother, same thing! In desperation, I called Echo, the last person I wanted to talk to.
She answered it bitterly.
"Echo? Listen, I need your help with someting! I can't talk to anyone else at the moment, I've tried Gwen and ma, and I can't get-"
She cut me off, "Hold the fuck up, why are you calling me? What am I, your last resort? Last time I checked, you fucked me and left me! You ran back to your little cunt of a girlfriend didn't you?! Well fuck you Tyler, I'm done being the dumping ground for everyman in my life! I'm moving on, I'm cleaning up, I'm going to Cleveland!"
It was a smart move for her, to get out of this quagmire of emotions and false loves. I wanted to congratulate her, but there was no time.
"Look, if you hate me, fine! I deserve it, but I've gotten into something. It's something I can't do alone-"
Once again she cut me off, "No Tyler, this time you're on your own. I've been on my own for a very long time now, and I've learned that I can't depend on anyone but myself. I don't need you, and I don't need your bullshit issues! I'm already on my way to Cleveland, so fuck you!"
She hung up. Her quest to a better life involved abandoning everything and everyone else. I wanted to stop her, to talk it out with her, but there was honestly no point in it. I had to do something!
I called Gwen, one last time. I grit my teeth and whimpered softly, as the phone rang and rang. C'mon Gwen, pick up the God damned phone!
"H-hello?" a tired voice answered finally.
"Gwen?! Oh God Gwen, thank you for finally answering! I need your help!" I stammered into the phone.
"Huh? What? What are you talking about Tyler? I don't understand, slow down.."
Annoyed, I sighed impatiently and started over, "Look, I've done a thing that I wish I hadn't done. I need your help because there is no one else to turn to. I'm coming back home from PA."
"PA?!" I winced at the sound of her shriek of shock and surprise, "What are you doing there?! I thought you said you were at your mother's house?! Did you lie to me?!"
I hated this part, the part where I come undone in front of the woman who loves me. This is the part where I admit to fucking her over, and then wanting a helping hand out of it.
"Listen okay?! I know I lied, and I know I fucked up here okay?! But I don't have time to explain it right now! Just meet me-"
"No! Why should I even talk to you ever again?! You lied to me, and you lied to me last night! Did you lie to me when you told me you loved me?!" her voice was shaken with emotion.
"No, I meant that! I really did! But there's more pressing matters-."
"Shutup Tyler! I don't care! Whenever it's about me, you pretend to listen and care! But when it's about you, you expect the world to stop and help you out! Well fuck you Tyler, I'm not doing that this time!" she cried, her voice shrill and angry.
"Please, Gwen. Don't leave me, please. I've got no one else, my mother-"
"Your mother?! Didn't you get the voicemail?! The constant phone calls?!" she said, cutting me off.
"What?! Wh-what are you talking about?!" I uttered, not sure what was being said.
"Tyler, late last night, your mother had a heart attack. She passed away, I thought you knew, and you were at the morgue to ID the body! And you were in PA?! Doing what exactly?!"
I felt cold all of a sudden, a ringing in my ears. The cold turned to a hot stinging heat down my neck and shoulders. The road became blurry, Gwen's voice dropped to a dim murmur. My foot slammed hard on the acceleration, red lining my car. My fingers choked the steering wheel, knuckles white and angry.
I heard Gwen say, "Tyler, what are you doing?!" but I couldn't concentrate.
"Dead" rang in my ears over and over. I tried not to swerve, I think I wanted to get home as soon as possible, only an hour drive left. I don't know why, but I wanted to be there in ten seconds flat, as I pushed my car to the limit. My hands ached and felt cold, as I continued to grip the steering wheel in a death vise. My vision remained blurry, as I put my shoulder to the wheel.
Gwen's voice still churned in my ear, "Tyler!" being screamed over and over in my ear.
She could hear the revving engine, my heavy breathing, as I lost it. I hoped to God, a semi would careen into me, killing me.
"Tyler, calm down! You need to calm down!" Gwen screamed through the phone, now discarded to the passenger seat.
"Listen to me! This isn't what your mother wants! This isn't what any of us want! You need to regain control of yourself! Calm down!"
I ignored her, clenching my jaw taught, anticipating a head on collision any moment. I passed cars, whizzing by at top speed. Some cars honked at me, I was surprised not a single highway patrolman was present.
"Tyler, I love you. Don't do this.."
I suddenly snapped out of it, all that I had felt was gone in an instant. It was replaced with fear, shock, disbelief, and grief. I eased off of the pedal, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I slowed down to a safe speed, and pulled over to the side of the road. I let my forehead rest heavily against the steering wheel, and began to sob.
"Oh..Tyler.." I heard Gwen say, trying to comfort me from miles away over a hunk of microchips and plastic.
I pounded the steering wheel repeatedly with an angry hand, hating myself even more. Was Lola that important to me?! I felt like I had wasted everything and everyone on one small speck of a person on this globe. My mother, my only unconditional love, my sanctuary. The last good thing of me, dead.
"Tyler, I'm sorry, I really am. But you need to get home now, you need to drive safe and sane okay?! I want you to come home, and we can talk this over, and make..plans...for..-"
"I know." I said bluntly, interrupting her.
I heard her exhale heavily, "Where are you now? How far?"
I looked around, seeing a road sign with the distance of my homestate, "Give me about fourty five minutes, I'll be at your door."
"Okay," she said softly, "Tyler?"
I didn't lift my head, I let it hang in silent shame, "Yeah?"
"I know you didn't kill her.."
I leaned back in my seat, covering my face with my hands, "Who are you talking about?"
She laughed, "Come one Tyler, it's all over the news here. Lola Chloe is dead, they're saying it was a suicide. They've ruled out homicide because the elements to that are too construed and don't match. Don't worry, though, this will all boil over in a couple weeks...Tyler? Tyler?"
I heard her voice, and it startled me from my thoughts, "Yeah, I got it. I'll call you as soon as I can."
She was confused, but I silenced her, "Look, I gotta go right now, I have to talk to someone real quick okay?"
"Who?" she asked.
I sighed as I rolled down my window to the man standing next to it, "The police."
I peered through the blinds of the window, a cloudy day awaited me outside these closed doors. I had to get home, I had to figure this all out. But first things first. I turned on the TV, to see if last night was on the news. It was only a matter of seconds before the late breaking news came on.
"A woman's body was found late last night outside of her condo. Police are trying to sort out the type of death, suicide or homicide. Her house was unlocked, and nothing of large value were stolen. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen a stranger leaving the building with what looked to be a laptop and some notebooks. The witnesses were not able to get the liscense plate numbers."
I sank down on the edge of the bed, all of the nights events crashing into me. I wanted to turn the TV off, but I was devoid of movement and words, only befuddled thoughts. I listened to why the authorities thought it was a suicide, then a homicide.
A middle aged man, the police spokesman, gave his statment, "We believe it could be a suicide, for the scrap of paper found on the deceased. It looks to be a note or poem of some sort. Our specialists have also found that by the angle and force of the fall, she was not pushed or thrown. By what we can see, it looks like she simply stepped off of the ledge to her death."
The media was in a frenzy, asking questions left and right, but we waved them off and continued with his report.
"We think it could have been homicide, or at least an assisted suicide, due to the eyewitness claims of a man not from around here, snooping around the building. The possibility of a murder is minimal, no one would lead a victim to a roof top, and have them fall to their death, in a populated area. It doesn't make sense."
I listened intently, reasoning with the spokesmans logic and evidence, hoping that the end result would be what it really was, a suicide.
"As for the theft of a laptop and notebooks, we find this extremely odd. Why take such small things of little importance, when there was a large screen television, a fax machine, scanner, stereo system, as well as some antiques of great value? If this was a homicide with a burglary, there would be no point in leading someone upstairs to the roof, pushing them off, then going back downstairs to steal a couple trifle items. Because of this, we know it was a one man operation."
I swallowed hard, they were good. They knew it was only one person, me. I hated myself for all of this, being a witness to another death, stealing sentimental documents and papers.
What if they caught me? What if I spend my life in prison?
The spokesman continued, "One man could not move and lift all the expensive large equipment by themselves, down two flights of stares, past curious neighbors. So we are sure it was only one assailant. Sadly, the police department does not have enough evidence to rule outa suspect, although fingerprints were found in the apartment, and on the doorknob of the door leading to the roof. There are no signs of a struggle, nor did any of the neighbors hear any commotion. This leads the police to believe-"
I tuned out the rest, now nervous and afraid because of my prints found. I had no priors, no criminal record, but they still had a key part of identifying me. I couldn't take it anymore, I got up and switched off the TV. I gathered my things, and went to leave, but paused when I felt the cold weight of the pistol in my coat pocket. What to do with it?
When I got to my car, I popped the trunk, and quickly concealed the gun. I wrapped it in an old rag I had used for wiping clean the oil dipstick, and hid that down in the spare tire well. I was paranoid, looking over my shoulder constantly, I felt that everyone was suspicious. I got in the car and began to drive back to home, two hours away.
I picked up my phone, calling Gwen. Her voicemail came on, damn it! I hung up and tried my mother, same thing! In desperation, I called Echo, the last person I wanted to talk to.
She answered it bitterly.
"Echo? Listen, I need your help with someting! I can't talk to anyone else at the moment, I've tried Gwen and ma, and I can't get-"
She cut me off, "Hold the fuck up, why are you calling me? What am I, your last resort? Last time I checked, you fucked me and left me! You ran back to your little cunt of a girlfriend didn't you?! Well fuck you Tyler, I'm done being the dumping ground for everyman in my life! I'm moving on, I'm cleaning up, I'm going to Cleveland!"
It was a smart move for her, to get out of this quagmire of emotions and false loves. I wanted to congratulate her, but there was no time.
"Look, if you hate me, fine! I deserve it, but I've gotten into something. It's something I can't do alone-"
Once again she cut me off, "No Tyler, this time you're on your own. I've been on my own for a very long time now, and I've learned that I can't depend on anyone but myself. I don't need you, and I don't need your bullshit issues! I'm already on my way to Cleveland, so fuck you!"
She hung up. Her quest to a better life involved abandoning everything and everyone else. I wanted to stop her, to talk it out with her, but there was honestly no point in it. I had to do something!
I called Gwen, one last time. I grit my teeth and whimpered softly, as the phone rang and rang. C'mon Gwen, pick up the God damned phone!
"H-hello?" a tired voice answered finally.
"Gwen?! Oh God Gwen, thank you for finally answering! I need your help!" I stammered into the phone.
"Huh? What? What are you talking about Tyler? I don't understand, slow down.."
Annoyed, I sighed impatiently and started over, "Look, I've done a thing that I wish I hadn't done. I need your help because there is no one else to turn to. I'm coming back home from PA."
"PA?!" I winced at the sound of her shriek of shock and surprise, "What are you doing there?! I thought you said you were at your mother's house?! Did you lie to me?!"
I hated this part, the part where I come undone in front of the woman who loves me. This is the part where I admit to fucking her over, and then wanting a helping hand out of it.
"Listen okay?! I know I lied, and I know I fucked up here okay?! But I don't have time to explain it right now! Just meet me-"
"No! Why should I even talk to you ever again?! You lied to me, and you lied to me last night! Did you lie to me when you told me you loved me?!" her voice was shaken with emotion.
"No, I meant that! I really did! But there's more pressing matters-."
"Shutup Tyler! I don't care! Whenever it's about me, you pretend to listen and care! But when it's about you, you expect the world to stop and help you out! Well fuck you Tyler, I'm not doing that this time!" she cried, her voice shrill and angry.
"Please, Gwen. Don't leave me, please. I've got no one else, my mother-"
"Your mother?! Didn't you get the voicemail?! The constant phone calls?!" she said, cutting me off.
"What?! Wh-what are you talking about?!" I uttered, not sure what was being said.
"Tyler, late last night, your mother had a heart attack. She passed away, I thought you knew, and you were at the morgue to ID the body! And you were in PA?! Doing what exactly?!"
I felt cold all of a sudden, a ringing in my ears. The cold turned to a hot stinging heat down my neck and shoulders. The road became blurry, Gwen's voice dropped to a dim murmur. My foot slammed hard on the acceleration, red lining my car. My fingers choked the steering wheel, knuckles white and angry.
I heard Gwen say, "Tyler, what are you doing?!" but I couldn't concentrate.
"Dead" rang in my ears over and over. I tried not to swerve, I think I wanted to get home as soon as possible, only an hour drive left. I don't know why, but I wanted to be there in ten seconds flat, as I pushed my car to the limit. My hands ached and felt cold, as I continued to grip the steering wheel in a death vise. My vision remained blurry, as I put my shoulder to the wheel.
Gwen's voice still churned in my ear, "Tyler!" being screamed over and over in my ear.
She could hear the revving engine, my heavy breathing, as I lost it. I hoped to God, a semi would careen into me, killing me.
"Tyler, calm down! You need to calm down!" Gwen screamed through the phone, now discarded to the passenger seat.
"Listen to me! This isn't what your mother wants! This isn't what any of us want! You need to regain control of yourself! Calm down!"
I ignored her, clenching my jaw taught, anticipating a head on collision any moment. I passed cars, whizzing by at top speed. Some cars honked at me, I was surprised not a single highway patrolman was present.
"Tyler, I love you. Don't do this.."
I suddenly snapped out of it, all that I had felt was gone in an instant. It was replaced with fear, shock, disbelief, and grief. I eased off of the pedal, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I slowed down to a safe speed, and pulled over to the side of the road. I let my forehead rest heavily against the steering wheel, and began to sob.
"Oh..Tyler.." I heard Gwen say, trying to comfort me from miles away over a hunk of microchips and plastic.
I pounded the steering wheel repeatedly with an angry hand, hating myself even more. Was Lola that important to me?! I felt like I had wasted everything and everyone on one small speck of a person on this globe. My mother, my only unconditional love, my sanctuary. The last good thing of me, dead.
"Tyler, I'm sorry, I really am. But you need to get home now, you need to drive safe and sane okay?! I want you to come home, and we can talk this over, and make..plans...for..-"
"I know." I said bluntly, interrupting her.
I heard her exhale heavily, "Where are you now? How far?"
I looked around, seeing a road sign with the distance of my homestate, "Give me about fourty five minutes, I'll be at your door."
"Okay," she said softly, "Tyler?"
I didn't lift my head, I let it hang in silent shame, "Yeah?"
"I know you didn't kill her.."
I leaned back in my seat, covering my face with my hands, "Who are you talking about?"
She laughed, "Come one Tyler, it's all over the news here. Lola Chloe is dead, they're saying it was a suicide. They've ruled out homicide because the elements to that are too construed and don't match. Don't worry, though, this will all boil over in a couple weeks...Tyler? Tyler?"
I heard her voice, and it startled me from my thoughts, "Yeah, I got it. I'll call you as soon as I can."
She was confused, but I silenced her, "Look, I gotta go right now, I have to talk to someone real quick okay?"
"Who?" she asked.
I sighed as I rolled down my window to the man standing next to it, "The police."
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