Frank’s Mood
By: Everything Cj
Tags: Short Story, Short Fiction, Short Read, Read, Fiction

Frank’s Mood

Frank’s Mood

Frank was not happy with his rental car. He had to take a Chevy Malibu. It was the same model and model of the Midwest Supply that was made for him at every airport, but according to the working agent, a Mitsubishi Mirage was ordered instead. Frank told the agent he liked Malibu and he gladly paid the difference, but the agent told him he couldn’t split the bill.

However, he can cancel the Mirage and use his credit card to book Malibu, but it takes 15 minutes to process everything. Frank glanced at the crowd behind him. It was long, and he didn’t want to smell. He thanked the agent and took the keys. The agent told him to have a great day.

It was not difficult to find a mirage. It took only half of the parking lot. Frank always got Malibu because he got mixed up and took you there. The mirage seemed to rise to a steep ceiling. He unlocked the door, went inside, and put the bracket on the passenger seat. The interior is bare — the locks and windows are handmade, there is no radio and upholstered furniture.

It didn’t seem like Frank needed massage chairs and a panoramic sunroof, but Mirage didn’t even come with air conditioning. It was November, so it was not necessary, but still. He turned on the fire, and the engine had to try to turn before it came to life. He shook his head and hoped it was a one-time event.

As Frank was leaving the rental area, he searched for the passenger plane he had boarded. He learned from experience that it would be the same as returning to Chicago that afternoon, and the plane always reassured him. Like anyone born and raised in the anonymity of a large metropolis, he was wary of small towns. Bent Creek may have been Iowa’s second largest city, but Frank was a bodyguard wherever people treated you well for no reason.

It didn’t seem like Frank needed massage chairs and a panoramic sunroof, but Mirage didn’t even come with air conditioning. It was November, so it was not necessary, but still.

He did not stop there, because he could not hold an ice cream party. He was there to do the work he had been doing for 22 years and he would come home in time for dinner at his sushi restaurant, where he was well treated because he was well advised. Then his vacation may begin.

Frank ran hundreds of times in the same direction as before — Airport Street. 580 business turns to the east, three miles to the north, from 5A to Olinda Avenue, turn left, cross eight blocks, turn right on 18th Street and go to the back room of L&L Liquors and take the first one. Bent Creek was the last of four cities on Frank’s weekly route, and it consisted of two stops.

The first city had three stops, the other two had five stops, and he had to memorize the directions of each. Frank is not allowed to use GPS, map applications or other tracking objects. He had a personal smartphone, but left it at home. Instead, he carried a torch offered by Midwest Supply over the phone, which he only connected to call Chicago again.

Each week, he received four new SIM cards, and when he returned to the airport in each city on his route, he split the day’s card in two and threw it in the toilet before going through security.

580 cycles became the center of Bent Creek. Its architecture is surrounded by colorful skyscrapers for the garden, which was built during the heyday of the 90s. The tallest building was built in the last century as the headquarters of a regional bank levied on locals.

Starting with the ’88 bust, the sign at the top changed from savings and loans in Chippeva to the Bank of America. Such a change was inevitable. Frank knew it, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

The road to Olinda Avenue was approaching, so he turned the turn signal and started walking along the road, but then the oven was cut right in front of him. Frank released the brakes hard, the van missed him with his mustache, and he breathed a sigh of relief while on a cruise on the exit ramp.

Mirage didn’t have a chance to win the fight with the six-ton ​​truck, but even worse, the crash could mean an unscheduled call to Chicago, and Frank didn’t like the unscheduled call.

Starting with the ’88 bust, the sign at the top changed from savings and loans in Chippeva to the Bank of America.

He also didn’t like to worry. Something moved in the trunk during the brakes, so he tied up everything that was empty. Frank ran the engine, carried the trunk, and gave the area once before going outside.

Rows of old Victorian homes lined both sides of the service road under the elevated highway. Some of the houses are tiled and none of them are preserved. It may have been a beautiful boulevard a few years ago, with some civilian planners taking a six-lane detour along it, so people in the suburbs could fall 15 minutes off their routes. Frank didn’t stop there either.

He just wanted to make sure he didn’t jump. Whether small or small, they each had rough parts. He went out and walked to the back of the Mirage and lifted the trunk lid, only to close it again when he saw what was inside. He checked twice to make sure no one was around and got back in the car.

Frank took several deep breaths in and out to correct himself. There was no need to ask if what he had seen before was really new. He knew what it was. The real question is, what was he doing there? Was this an installation? And if so, why? Frank took a few more breaths. He began to panic, and when people panicked, he made mistakes.

Experience told him that first of all he had to find a safe place and register with Midwest Supply. He walked five miles on the odometer, turning several times to avoid being tracked until he entered the church’s fried chicken and reached the back with no other vehicles behind him. He took a few more deep breaths.

When he was hired more than 20 years ago, Frank was told three things — do your job, do it right, and then you will have everything.

“Do your job” was quite simple. Frank collected money from local guys at every stop on the route, called numbers to Chicago, and distributed deposits to several local banks in each city. From the first day he was told everything he had done so far.

He would never go up, but Midwest Supply would never ask him to do anything else. These two issues were very obvious to him for very practical reasons, and the company never gave him a reason to ask a question.

“Do what is right” means not doing foolish things. At all stops along the route, Frank had to count the money and call the numbers in front of the local guys. Thus, its number may correspond to deposits in local banks — and they correspond. The company didn’t twist, and Frank knew that someone who thought differently was deceiving himself.

“Do what is right” means not doing foolish things. At all stops along the route, Frank had to count the money and call the numbers in front of the local guys.

After 22 years at work, “You will be taken care of”, which took him. Frank’s numbers were never turned off, he always did what he said and never said anything. In turn, he was paid well, worked only four days a week, and even took a month off a year. But more importantly, Frank knew that if something went wrong and sometimes it happened, the company could be trusted. Every time.

He turned on the phone and dialed. The other end was raised after three rings. They always climbed after three rings.

“Delivery to the Midwest”.

Frank followed the coded scenario he was instructed to do in the event of an emergency.

“Hello, this is Frank Kuvas in dealing with customers. There is something wrong with the engine. Then I could use a tug. “

“Thank you for coming in” On the other hand, his voice was pleasant and dry, somewhat embarrassed by the recording. “We appreciate the superior. Are you ok?”

“It’s amazing. At some point, someone will be with you. “

After the canned music on the piano, the click began. The music was familiar, and Frank realized it was the same song he had sung while the cable company was waiting for him. While waiting, he recalled that he had had to make several such calls over the past 22 years. There were three. One day he saw the body under the sheet rolled away from his stops.

One day, one of the local guys stabbed another with a screwdriver in the back of the earl. One day, Frank was robbed with a gun on his way to the bank. Each time, he called her as soon as he could. Soon someone returns to the line and tells him where to take Mirage. Then someone else takes him to the airport to get to Chicago on the first flight.

The company does not want it anywhere in the situation, and they will notify it when it is safe to restore its direction. No one would ever tell Frank what had happened, and he would never ask, because that’s how it all worked. In the meantime, he just had to be cool.

“Francis. Hailey is here from the staff. Are you doing well? He asked.

“I’m fine thank you.”

“It’s very good. Just to stop — when you have a problem with the engine, it shuts off, so you can drag. “

“How are you now?”

“I’ve found a safe place to park, and I’m waiting for help.”

“Well done. Therefore, we think that you should miss both meetings scheduled for today. “

“That’s right.”

“And we re-booked you on another flight.”

“Thank you for doing this”

“Do not worry. He will leave tomorrow just like today. “

Frank wasn’t sure he heard right. — Did you say tomorrow?

“Yes. We will send your two meetings until Friday. We have warned your customers that they know about the change. We have also booked you a room from the Quality Inn Hotel on Jefferson Street for 580 cycles. Do you need instructions? He asked.

“But what about”

Frank was sure he got the script right, and even heard Haley bring it back to him, but he had to say it again. “The engine. He was taken out. I need to be towed. ”

“Yes, it is. We think you should manage the situation yourself. “

Frank Mirage felt as if all the air had been sucked out. He tried to form a word, but nothing came out of his mouth.

“Are you there, Francis?”

“Yes. Yes. I mean, do you want me to deal with this? »

“It simply came to our notice then. We’ve discussed it here, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. We think you can solve it yourself. “

“But -”

“Yes, Francis?”

“It’s amazing. Call us as soon as things are back to normal. ”

“Hooray!”

The line died, and Frank threw the torch into the passenger seat. He took a few deep breaths, but they did not help. He got another pair, but it still didn’t go well.

“Mother!”

He stepped back to punch the dashboard, but took another breath and slowly pulled his fist out. The car smelled of old fried chicken and the windows were foggy, so he picked up the AC button and remembered that it wasn’t. Frank squeezed the window down, started the Mirage, and knew where the best place in Bent Creek could be was to dump the corpse.

*****

An hour later he was sitting on the bed in the motel room. Next to him was an open map of Bent Creek he had taken from the foyer and Quiznos turkey meat on the way there. Frank glanced out the window. He left the curtains open to see the Mirage, which he placed in the parking lot outside his room. At the time, he didn’t care about the unit — if he had, he would be in jail now — but he still wanted to keep an eye on his luggage.

Frank scanned the map and found a good location — Bent Creek Forest Reserve, a southeastern part of the famous waterway.

The body was on its way to the riverbank where it could be dumped, and I hope the current would carry it to Mississippi. The reserve was also outside the city limits, so the local police did not guard it, but it was surrounded by units, so it had to wait until dark. He didn’t want to meet dog walkers after dinner or a fool who thought it was a good idea to run alone in the woods at night.

Frank folded the card, put the pillows on the headboard, and sat down to wait. He turned on the TV, but it was just after noon, so his choice was a talk show, a trial, or a reality show. He turned it off and tried not to think about things that reminded him of the time he was kidnapped.

The gunmen were wearing masks, but he immediately recognized them as two local men from a pickup truck they had made 10 minutes earlier. Both have always been low in the chain and it was clear that they would never go up, which made them think — it’s like all the intensified times and the past; All the money and juice should have belonged to them, but it did not happen.

After thinking about it for a while, these two yoo decided that there was only one way to get what they deserved, and when they started to make a decision, they couldn’t get it back. Frank kept his cool during the arrest. He gave her the money, pretended not to know who they were, and called her safely. When he resumed the route the following week, he found the two guys missing. Puff, that’s right.

Don’t think.

Frank goes back to the show where the famous chef went to a failed restaurant and shouted at his owners before he became a show business. He could not understand why someone would insult him. Did you really need free advertising to get this bastard insult? He wished her to return to Chicago and have dinner at his local sushi restaurant.

Takahachi did not need any help. He would come back every night because Mr. Takahachi knew how to treat his customers, but Frank was also able to tell the staff that he was happy that their boss respected them. His usual waiter, Akiko, always knew what he wanted — sashimi suite with brown rice, salad and a cool Kurosawa saka.

When the salad was over, Akiko shook the cup when her sashimi arrived. If he spilled soy sauce on the table, it was with a towel. As his luck dwindled, he overtook him. When the check arrived, Frank always presented it well. Each Christmas, he added an extra 100 bucks and even put it on the card, as Akiko was an example of efficiency, compassion and kindness.

But did Mr. Takahashi tell him to go behind the bar and start cutting the fish? No, he didn’t, because he did his job, he did it right, and there’s no reason to interact with him.

Frank turned off the TV. He was allowed to bring books on his route, and he usually ran twice a week. For 22 years he collected the library. Recently, he has become involved in one-word topics, in which the author puts an everyday object under a microscope to show his daily history. His current book is called The Flush, but after reading and re-reading that Thomas Craiper did not invent the modern toilet, Frank closed it and hid it in his bag.

He tried to start his own book, Qwerty, but he too quickly gave up. He turned on the TV again and tried to find the Discovery channel. Maybe it would be a success, and it would be a MythBusters marathon, they wanted to see how getting rid of a dead body with an episode was as easy as the movies seemed — but it didn’t work out. He turned off the TV and looked up at the ceiling.

Frank glanced at the crack in the curtain. Cursed body. When he opened the trunk, he was facing her, so he did not know if it was a man or a woman. He could not remember how she was dressed. But he could not remember any blood and there was no stench, so he could not die for long. But why was he there?

Maybe it’s a coincidence. Probably, the employee of the rental agency was looking for a place to sleep on the bench, so they climbed into the trunk, fell into the trap and crouched down. Frank shook his head. This was no accident. He knew who he was working for, and he never told himself otherwise.

The body in the trunk depended on something or someone connected to it in any way. It was not a device, but it was not revenge. Frank was convinced that he had not deceived anyone. He never messed with the guys on his route, but he was never friendly.

He was like a FedEx guy or a meter reader. So he had to be linked to someone higher up, someone in Chicago. Then, like a prolonged round of applause, he remembered Haley telling him on the phone.

We think you should manage the situation yourself.

About a year ago, Frank and his former boss, Mike, had a weekly meeting. They have always met at Diverssey and Elston’s Golden Nugget Pancake House. As he did every Friday, Mike gave Frank a Manila envelope with four new SIM cards, four plane tickets, and half of Frank’s salary from Midwest Supply with all the correct IRS transfers and half cash.

Mike had some news that day. He retired early. The company was optimized, and they offered him a package, so he thought it was a good time to continue. Don’t worry — he said to Frank as he touched the envelope — the time will come when you will have to wait.

The two shook hands, patted each other on the back and said they would keep in touch. On the way home, Frank checked the envelope and realized that he would never see Mike again.

Midwest Supply called later in the day and said Frank’s salary would now be credited to his account and part of the cash would be credited to an offshore account they had set up for them. The company told him he would not be contacted again. They rented him a U-Post-It mailbox in Lincoln Square, and sent him new SIM cards and plane tickets to FedEx every Friday.

As far as Frank knew, the change was inevitable and it didn’t take long to get used to the new setup, but he still missed Mike. They were never close. Frank knew that his old boss had a wife and four children in Wilmett, but he never met them, and directed Mike Frank to the Lakewie condom, which he bought a few years ago, but he never stopped.

The two had never met anyone but Golden Nugget, and Frank didn’t even know Mike’s last name. But every week his old boss forced him to check things out. Is everything all right? he asked. Of course, Frank would tell him. Do you have anything you need? No, everything is fine.

There was someone who told Mike Frank that he had done his job and that he had done it right and that he would be taken care of. For 22 years, Frank followed these simple guidelines and the company stood by the end of the deal.

We think you should manage the situation yourself.

Frank couldn’t stop thinking, and he knew he was close to crossing a dangerous line like the two yoyos that caught him. But come on! He worked for the company for twenty-two years, but never once. He was never counted. He was never arrested. Mike even joked that Frank needed to create an employee club of the month.

He hired her because she was young, clean and unwritten, unrelated, and Frank never got promoted or demanded anything higher than her salary because the company wanted her to be clean. If he is caught, it will protect everyone.

He could not name anyone from above, so nothing could be used as leverage. Frank may have to spend some time, and when he left, the company couldn’t hire him, but Mike assured him that he would leave with a generous bonus as a thank you.

Now everything was out the window. Frank became a tool to help with the death penalty after trying to commit another serious crime. He is no longer clean and I am sure he will not avoid anything, never think of a bonus. He can throw everything and run, but he can’t go far. The company tracked his offshore bank account and all his credit cards. It didn’t matter if he could name them or not. One day he was there, and the next day he was not. Puff, that’s right.

*****

On a normal working day, Frank had to return to Chicago for dinner. He usually ate at home, watched a movie, or read a book before going to bed. He had no close friends, and his large family moved out of the city. He met, but nothing stuck. This is the only but convenient procedure he has decided on for several years. As it passed through Bent Creek after dark, he said he would miss it, get home, and finish the job to get back to normal.

He will soon go to the forest reserve. Although there was no other traffic at one point in the night, Frank turned the turn signal and double-checked all lanes before easing on the highway. He went through the sections marked on the map. At the entrance to the reserve, Frank checked the cars in front and behind him, but no, so he turned home.

Fifty yards below, the road is surrounded by forest. Frank saw the cracks of the branches among the trees that had lost all their leaves so far. The moon was full, so he killed the headlights and walked one lane. It ended with gravel struggling under the wheels near the water, so Frank stopped the Mirage as the sounds could be heard in the cold, especially when the trees were bare.

He made a slow, two-point turn, killed the engine, and turned off the dome light to keep it from burning when he opened the door. Frank opened the trunk, went outside, and left the door open, as people remembered the loud banging on the car door at night. He held his breath and listened to any other car or the creaking of the leaves on the leaves, but his voice was only a slight click of the tree branches when the wind blew.

She trembled. He was not wearing an overcoat, but he was wearing gloves and was warned to throw it away with all his other clothes when he returned to Chicago. He stopped at a gas station on his way to protect the forest and decided to buy work gloves and a cheap windbreaker, but the gas stations had security cameras.

Frank opened the back door and pulled the flat bed of the motel out of the chair. His plan was to wrap his body like a blanket so that clothes or skin would not come in contact with him. He didn’t bother to paint the sheet because he didn’t see the blood.

Later he put it back on the bed, the servant took it off, it was washed, bleached, and mixed with all the other cloths. On the way back to the motel, Frank planned to park in the car wash, thinking it was not important for the owners to install security cameras and vacuum the trunk.

All his precautions were a bit. He knew it. He also knew that they could be meaningless. If the company wants to catch him, he will catch him. All he had to do was slide his name to the right person, send it to the right people, and he would be in jail. Still, his efforts made him feel like he was in control of the moment, and that’s what he had right now.

Frank lifted the trunk lid, half-hoping the body was gone, but it didn’t. It was a man. Although her hair is blonde and curly, her body is a bit like a joke.

It’s even bigger and may not fit in Mirage’s luggage. In the moonlight he seemed to be able to sleep, and Frank wondered if he could even breathe, but as he wrapped the sheet around the body’s wooden cooler, there was no question that he was holding the corpse, and he was about to jerk.

Don’t think.

Frank took a deep breath and let it out. He slides his arm under his body and turns his bent knee upwards. The arms are folded inwards, and everything fits neatly into the curved part of the elbow. He was amazed at how easy it felt.

He expected the weight of death to add a few pounds to the body, but then he did not consider the idea to be nonsense. At the edge of the river, he is relieved to see that it looks like a small river. The current was fast and dark, absorbing the reflection of the moon above.

Frank noticed a chain of aluminum boats overturned in the winter, wondering how to remove the body to get it out without entering it. Frank lay down on the ground and walked toward the boats. A steel cable was passed through all their handles, twisted at both ends and locked to the ring in the cement block.

He expected the weight of death to add a few pounds to the body, but then he did not consider the idea to be nonsense.

He broke the lock, but he was caught. Then he got out of the boat, pulled out the handles, and found some to give. He ran back to the Mirage and put the carpet back in the trunk, praying that the rental company would not try to save on tools.

They did not exist. He unscrewed the key on the side of the wheel and ran to the boat, where he hid the bar behind the handle and swung it back and forth, feeling that each time the rivets gave a little more until one end was released. . He turned the boat over and dragged it to the shore. Then he took the body, put it in the boat, and removed the sheet.

Frank saw the guy’s face for the first time. Fortunately, his eyes were closed. It is white and has small features that match its frame. There were no moles or scars or birthmarks, which were considered to be its distinctive features. Frank also didn’t notice any bruises, cuts, or scars that would give him an idea of ​​how he was killed. He was a normal guy, and Frank didn’t know what to think.

Then don’t worry.

The guy was wearing an undressed polo shirt, so Frank put it back inside. He didn’t press too hard, because he knew from MythBusters that dead bodies could sag as a result of the decaying gases, and I’m sure he could. She picked up rocks from the beach and carefully stuffed them into the guy’s shirt and up under the jeans cuffs to weigh the body.

He then pushed the oar to the edge of the water and pulled the drain plug from the back of the bottom. He let the boat run in the middle of the current, let it flow, and slowly spun as it flowed.

Frank felt a soft emotion around his heart. He tried to deny it. The feeling of work was there, panic and thinking about things.

But then he took a deep breath and held it for a moment to the boat, and then the body sank under Bent Creek. She even said goodbye to the guy in silence. Frank picked up the motel sheet and shook it well before returning to the car. For the first time that day, he felt right.

*****

After a surprisingly deep sleep, Frank turned on the TV. The highlight of all the local morning shows was the high school’s change of band name from Mohawks to Mustangs in honor of Native Americans.

Frank put the burner on the bedside table and took the top sheet off the floor. He had not slept under her last night. That was wrong.

Each speech began with a half-finished demonstration by the Mongols protesting. Then came a voice from an Mesquaki tribal elder who said the change was long before the Mohawks even said they were not native to Iowa.

“Delivery to the Midwest”.

“It’s Frank Kuvass and customer relations. Haley is waiting for my call. “

- Wait a minute, please.

There was still canned music on the piano. Less than a minute later, another click began.

“Francis”.

Haley.

“Good morning. Do I believe that the situation has improved? »

“There it is.”

“It’s great to hear that, and thank you so much for managing it. Your art has not gone unnoticed. I hope you can do both of today’s meetings? ».

“Hooray!”

Frank put the burner on the bedside table and took the top sheet off the floor. He had not slept under her last night. That was wrong. He spread the sheet on the bed and checked the marks. Several pairs of shoes appeared at the bottom of the place where the guy’s sneakers were loose, but they were not visible, so he repaired the bed and then damaged the blankets. After the shower, Frank left the motel room for a final manage check to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.

His pickups went well, and no one said he was a day late. He then made his contributions without incident. Another day at work. Frank drove back to the airport and couldn’t smile when he saw a jet plane waiting on the asphalt. He set up the Mirage, went into the bathroom of the terminal, split the SIM card in two and flushed it down the toilet. At the rental desk, he handed over the keys to the former agent the day before.

“Thanks a lot!” Agent Frank shines. “I hope you enjoyed the mirage.”

“It worked.”

“You have a great flight!”

After his plane took off, Frank agreed to consider what would happen next. He was, of course, in charge of the situation, and according to Hailey, his product did not go unnoticed. He thought he knew what it meant, but he didn’t like it.

He might have had to push his body under one of the boats and throw his legs out, so he would be found by a dog walker the next day. Hailey may scold him for disappointing him, but then he may allow him to do what he is hired to do. Mike Frank was adopted 22 years ago. He knew he could always be trusted to do his job and do it right, so his old boss would take care of him, even now

What everyone at Hailey and Midwest Supply didn’t know — a year ago Mike Frank put something extra in his last Manila envelope — was a picture of him, but a new passport with someone’s name on it. He was waiting in a wall safe that Frank had set up behind the bookshelves in his living room, where he also kept the cash he had saved for the past twenty years.

He would not leave immediately. They would be watching him. It may take weeks, months, or even years, but if Frank had anything he knew in the last 22 years, it would be patience. He didn’t come out like the two yogi who tried to catch him, and he was sure he wouldn’t wrap up in hell like a poor juicer halfway to Mississippi. One day Frank will be there, and the next day he will be gone. Puff, that’s right. But it would be on its terms.

He pulled his chair bag from under the chair. A few hours later, he returns home, where he is treated to an additional Kurosawa in Takahachi, and Akiko finds an additional 20 on his tip. He took out his book, opened it where he had stopped, and did not look up until his plane landed at O’Hara.

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