"All the World's a Stage," Part II: "The Mistake"

It is early in the morning, approximately seven o’clock. There is a man walking stiffly on the sidewalk through this East L.A. neighborhood. He has a cigarette in his mouth and a mean look on his face. He turns into the parking lot, one hand in his pocket and the other in his blazer. He strides a path toward a laundromat where he halts just at the front entrance. After taking a brief look around the establishment, he makes eye contact with a man in the back drying clothes in a washing machine. The man dressed in a dark grey suit with a bold red tie, standing casually with both hands in his pocket but an anxious look on his face as he seems to speak to the drying machine to hurry itself up.

“You!” The first man screams from the front entrance, “Lavernius!” He yells out to the man in the back who is named Lavernius, “I have a message from Epoetah!”

Lavernius takes an immediate and terrified glance at the man who called out for him. In the blink of an eye, the man unholsters a revolver and fires all six rounds across the building toward Lavernius, striking him twice and horrifying the small crowd of patrons who are washing their clothes. People begin to duck for cover, scream their lungs out, while the man confirms that Lavernius is dead. Two clear dark red holes can be seen against his white button up shirt and dark grey blazer. The man then urgently turns around to flee, and people soon begin to run out of the establishment as nearby onlookers from other stores and shops in the center search around in curiosity and panic.

Then suddenly, another man who is parked in a parking spot just across from the laundromat exits his car in an emergency. He is wearing dark sunglasses and a black suit with a similar bold red tie. He pulls a rifle from the front passenger seat, and fires rapidly and irrationally toward the laundromat, unloading an entire magazine and not hitting his intended target. The man who just killed another is able to dodge every round that hurdles toward him and makes an escape to the sidewalk on the nearby street. The man with the rifle, instead of chasing, runs straight inside the laundromat to find the dead Lavernius propped against a running drying machine.

The man who killed Lavernius, that is Aaron, his last name unknown, his history unknown, and his affiliation unclear. He runs away from the scene of the murder he just committed, and he speaks to himself as he climbs a wall into a random person’s backyard to confuse the path he’s creating.

“There is no fucking way I survived that.” He initially laments to himself, but then bursts out laughing realizing what he just survived. He jumps through a gate of the backyard he infiltrated, and ends up in a quiet suburban neighborhood.

Aaron then eyes the nearest car and makes his way toward it. Double checking his surroundings, Aaron then grabs a screwdriver from his blazer’s interior pocket and manages to manipulate the car’s lock. Giving it a hotwire, he cautiously drives away with the car without managing to trigger its alarm.

After driving for a few minutes down the street, he sees in the distance a cop car blocking off the exit of the neighborhood. Aaron then thinks fast, he calmly parks his car at the nearest house, and he pretends like he is going to enter his own home. He knocks on the door politely and waits, trying to look innocent, for someone to respond.

A young woman then opens the door, “Yes, may I help you?” She says with concern and even some defensive sass.

“Ah yes, may I use your telephone,” Aaron fabricates a false scenario, “I’m terribly sorry for any inconvenience, however my car refuses to start.” He points to the car he parked in front of the house, “I would greatly appreciate it if I could make a call.”

The woman looks with skepticism, her name is Beatrice, she’s a lonely housewife who spends the days confined inside while her neglectful husband works a depressing job. Despite any worry she may have, she allows Aaron to enter the house.

“Thank you.” Aaron states politely as he carefully enters.

As soon as Beatrice shuts and locks the door, Aaron immediately unholsters his revolver from behind his blazer and points it at Beatrice. She gives a quick gasp while Aaron aggressively pulls her away from the door and pushes her toward the living room.

“Don’t scream!” Aaron affirms quickly., “There are about a half a dozen pigs out there that are looking for me because I shot one of their own! You will listen to every command I give and failure to do so will result in your demise.” Aaron is bluffing, he knows his gun is empty after killing Lavernius, but he speaks with dominance to fool Beatrice into thinking he is serious, “If anyone knocks on your door, you answer and you do not let them in and you do not give them hints that there is anything suspicious here!” Aaron mandates Beatrice and she gives him a nervous nod as confirmation.

“What do I say if someone knocks?” Beatrice asks with a great vocal tremble.

“If they ask about what you’ve seen or heard, just say you heard some gunshots that you think were coming from the liquor store. You also say you haven’t seen anyone around here that looked suspicious.” Aaron instructs her more calmly.

Beatrice then nods with fear, she confirms her understanding and Aaron has to give her one final threat, “If you act the slightest bit nervous or suspicious, I will not hesitate to kill you and whoever is at the door.” He speaks significantly more mildly than his initial scare, but soon he raises his voice once more, “You got it?!” He shouts and Beatrice quickly nods in confirmation again. Aaron waves his gun for Beatrice to take a seat in a nearby chair and Aaron carefully backs up toward the front window. He lifts a blind and leans his head to peak outside. He then sighs and turns around, “Me and you might have a long day.”