Keep Your Enemies Close

She really doesn’t need to be alone right now."

"People get cheated on all the time Connie, but it is survivable."

"She killed Duane." He laughed.

"That’s silly, I was just at Duane’s house and he’s perfectly fine. Your girlfriend is a trip.

That’s what she told you? That she killed Duane?"

"What are you laughing at? Your friend is dead! Why would she tell me something like that if it weren’t true?"

"Perhaps to get you all upset or to play a prank on you. You’re not falling for it are you?"

"Did she look like she was pranking? I’m getting dressed." I told him snatching my hand from him. I hurried into my bedroom and pulled a pair of dark blue jeans from the closet and a neon green tee shirt. Once I pulled the shirt over my head, I realized that Tony was standing at the door. He didn’t believe any of this. His expression said exactly what was on his mind - you can’t be serious.

"I really don’t care if you believe me or not, I know my friend and she wouldn’t lie about a thing like this. She’s in denial and I’ve got to do all that I can to help her."

"How will you help her? By turning her over to the police? What kind of friend is that?"

"Look, you can either come with me or you can get out of my way, but I’m going to my friend."

"Fine. You can do what you want, but I am not going to be a part of this. When you feel like having a real relationship, you can give me a call." Tony turned and walked away. His response was so fast, that I didn’t have a chance to respond.

I grabbed my purse and hurried out the door. Tony was already gone. When I reached outside, I got into my car and for some reason, I was inclined to go to Duane’s house first.

I needed to confirm that Duane was actually dead and that this was not some hoax or sick joke.

Duane lived about twenty minutes from me. He lived on Crescent Street in East New York. I pulled in front of his house. There was nothing out of the ordinary. People were sitting on their stoops talking and laughing. Duane’s lights were on in his house. I saw someone’s shadow pass by the window. They didn’t look out. The person descended out of sight then reappeared carrying something.

I figured it was Duane. He and Rosie are trying to play a trick on me for sure and Tony is in on it. Why else would he have disappeared like that so fast. They knew that I would come here first. They are all waiting for me upstairs. I then realized that my birthday was only a couple of days away. This is probably a surprise birthday party. "Really slick Rosie." I told myself. As I ascended the steps.

When I reached out to knock on the door, it opened. I quietly entered the house wanting to surprise them instead of the other way around so I crept up the steps to the livingroom.

Duane lives in a two-family house and he has the upstairs apartment. When I reached the top of the steps, no one was there and nothing seemed unusual. The furniture was still in tact, nothing was broken or disarray. Slowly, I crept toward the rear of the house. Duane’s room was the last room all the way to the back so I bypassed the other two without opening the doors.