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smackenzieBut the bullet that killed Martin Toro was fired from the same gun that killed Augustin Decker, a Ruger semi-automatic pistol that had been reported missing after a home burglary four years ago in Murfreesboro, TN. However the authorities wouldn't learn this for a few more days.
Preliminary reports on Augustin's death would rule it a random act of violence, maybe gang-related, maybe mistaken identity, who knew. There hadn't been a sudden uptick in gun violence in that neighborhood, and in fact the number of homicides was down compared to the year before. The witness - a woman coming out of a convenience store near the bus stop - didn't recognize anything about the gunman and couldn't say whether or not he was part of a gang or just some random junior psychopath walking the streets of Roxbury. The best information she could give was that he was alone, and she was sure he was a he.
"He was about this tall," she told the cops who took her statement, holding her hand a couple of inches above her head. She wasn't a tall woman. "Maybe taller. I couldn't see his face."
"Can you make a guess as to his age?" asked one of the cops.
"Young? Nineteen? Twenties? I don't know, I'm sorry. He just walked right up and shot that man."
The cops got someone to escort her home, because she was clearly shaken by what she'd seen. They canvassed the neighborhood but found nothing. They wrote up their report. They explained what had happened as gently as they could to Augustin's wife and daughters. The shooting rated a brief mention on the evening news, but quickly dropped off the news radar.
But someone, somewhere, was keeping notes.
"I hate parking around here," Rose Marie bitched, cruising past the Asgard for the fourth time in her attempt to find a parking space on the street.
"There's a garage right behind it," Ana said.
"...Oh."
"You parked there last time. You forgot, didn't you."
"Shut up." Rose Marie turned off Mass Ave and drove around a corner to the parking garage. "I had one of those days." Although at least no clients had gotten into any arguments with any of the financial analysts, or anyone else. And the office's usual UPS guy had been replaced by a very hot newbie, who was not only hot but seemed really nice. Rose Marie hoped he was a permanent replacement and not just a UPS temp. She liked the regular UPS guy well enough, but she'd never say no to good-looking delivery man in brown.
The Asgard wasn't as full as the last time the girls had gone to karaoke, but a couple of Ana's friends had already commandeered a table and were intently studying the book of songs. One of them was a girl named Natalie who Rose Marie had met before, and the other was Rush, the one who apparently wanted to meet her. He had short brown hair and was wearing a Gaslight Anthem t-shirt and Rose Marie had to admit that he was pretty cute. But she wondered what he'd heard that made him want to meet her.
"Ana told me you're from Colorado," he said, after Ana had made introductions. "Do you ski?"
"Badly," she answered. "I'm not a big sports person. The rest of my family thinks I'm crazy."
"You are crazy," Ana said, leaning over Rose Marie's shoulder to look at the karaoke book. "We should do 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light,'" she said to Rush.
"Someone did!" Natalie told her. "You missed them, they were terrible."
"Is there a rule that says you can't sing the same song as someone else on the same night?"
"There should be."
"We should still do it. I'll go sign us up." She got up to do just that.
"What are you going to sing?" Rush asked Rose Marie.
"Nothing yet," she said. "I don't know."
"Are you a soprano? Alto?"
"I don't know. I'm here under duress. I don't sing in public."
"The Asgard's not public," Natalie said, grinning. "It's not the Hatch Shell."
"Yeah, but there are people listening."
"That's the whole point!"
Ana came back with two beers - Guinness for her (the Asgard was an Irish pub, after all) and Sam Adams for Rose Marie - and informed the table that they were ony three songs back and Rose Marie and Natalie better think of something to sing. Natalie's boyfriend showed up about half an hour later with one of his roommates and talked Natalie into doing Madonna's "Crazy for You", which was shortly followed by the roommate doing a terrible version of AC/DC's "Back in Black". Rose Marie finally let Ana convince her to get behind the mike, but only if they could sing together, so they ended up hamming it up to Journey's "Oh Sherrie". The rest of the table applauded after they sat back down.
"Thank you, thank you," Ana said. "We're here all week."
"You would be, too," Natalie's boyfriend said. Rose Marie hadn't gotten his name.
"A little karaoke is never a bad thing."
"Whereas a lot of karaoke is a dangerous thing. Next thing you know, people think they can carry a tune." He looked pointedly at his roommate, who protested that you don't sing to AC/DC, you rock to AC/DC. Natalie pointed out that he wasn't rocking either.
"I know!" Rush said excitedly, jumping up and running over to the bar, where the signups were.
"What?" Ana asked him when he got back. He whispered in her ear. She giggled. "Does it count if it's karaoke?"
"Yes."
"Does what count?" Rose Marie asked. "What are you singing?"
"He's gonna rick-roll the bar," Natalie said. Rush looked pleased with himself. "Karaoke doesn't count."
But only one person tried to boo Rush off the stage (so to speak) and the rest of the bar seemed to really enjoy his channeling of Rick Astley, so Ana declared that yes, a karaoke rick-roll did indeed count.
"It's kind of played out, though," Rose Marie said in the car on the way home. "Internet memes don't have that long a lifespan."
"It made him happy." Ana shrugged. "Isn't he cute? Did you like him? You looked like you were having fun."
"Yeah, I was. He is kinda cute."
"If he asked you out, would you go?"
"Oh my god, this whole thing was a setup." Rose Marie tried to glare at her roommate but she didn't really want to take her eyes off the road. She didn't love driving around Cambridge and Somerville at night. She didn't really love driving anywhere at night, actually.
"Kind of," Ana admitted. "He did want to meet you."
"And?"
"And I don't know. He'll probably call me tomorrow or email me or something. I'll check his Facebook."
"Because that's an accurate gauge of how someone feels."
"Well, he could change his status."
"To what? 'I like my friend's roommate' isn't an option." But Rose Marie had to admit, she did like Rush well enough to go out with him if he asked her. And he was cute. And she hadn't been on a date in a while. "Now watch, I'll never hear from him."
"Oh, don't worry. Rush is a talker. If he likes you, you'll know. Better yet, I'll know."
"Do I thank you, or what?"
"You can thank me now." Rose Marie risked a glance sideways and Ana looked smug. "Or you can thank me after he takes you somewhere nice."
"I'll wait."
"So the next time we do karaoke, you'll come with, right?"
"I guess."
"Right?"
"Right, right, ok, I'll go with you." Now it was Rose Marie's turn to grin. "At least you didn't take any embarrassing pictures of me."
"That's what you think."
words: 1256
total words: 5594
Preliminary reports on Augustin's death would rule it a random act of violence, maybe gang-related, maybe mistaken identity, who knew. There hadn't been a sudden uptick in gun violence in that neighborhood, and in fact the number of homicides was down compared to the year before. The witness - a woman coming out of a convenience store near the bus stop - didn't recognize anything about the gunman and couldn't say whether or not he was part of a gang or just some random junior psychopath walking the streets of Roxbury. The best information she could give was that he was alone, and she was sure he was a he.
"He was about this tall," she told the cops who took her statement, holding her hand a couple of inches above her head. She wasn't a tall woman. "Maybe taller. I couldn't see his face."
"Can you make a guess as to his age?" asked one of the cops.
"Young? Nineteen? Twenties? I don't know, I'm sorry. He just walked right up and shot that man."
The cops got someone to escort her home, because she was clearly shaken by what she'd seen. They canvassed the neighborhood but found nothing. They wrote up their report. They explained what had happened as gently as they could to Augustin's wife and daughters. The shooting rated a brief mention on the evening news, but quickly dropped off the news radar.
But someone, somewhere, was keeping notes.
* * * *
"I hate parking around here," Rose Marie bitched, cruising past the Asgard for the fourth time in her attempt to find a parking space on the street.
"There's a garage right behind it," Ana said.
"...Oh."
"You parked there last time. You forgot, didn't you."
"Shut up." Rose Marie turned off Mass Ave and drove around a corner to the parking garage. "I had one of those days." Although at least no clients had gotten into any arguments with any of the financial analysts, or anyone else. And the office's usual UPS guy had been replaced by a very hot newbie, who was not only hot but seemed really nice. Rose Marie hoped he was a permanent replacement and not just a UPS temp. She liked the regular UPS guy well enough, but she'd never say no to good-looking delivery man in brown.
The Asgard wasn't as full as the last time the girls had gone to karaoke, but a couple of Ana's friends had already commandeered a table and were intently studying the book of songs. One of them was a girl named Natalie who Rose Marie had met before, and the other was Rush, the one who apparently wanted to meet her. He had short brown hair and was wearing a Gaslight Anthem t-shirt and Rose Marie had to admit that he was pretty cute. But she wondered what he'd heard that made him want to meet her.
"Ana told me you're from Colorado," he said, after Ana had made introductions. "Do you ski?"
"Badly," she answered. "I'm not a big sports person. The rest of my family thinks I'm crazy."
"You are crazy," Ana said, leaning over Rose Marie's shoulder to look at the karaoke book. "We should do 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light,'" she said to Rush.
"Someone did!" Natalie told her. "You missed them, they were terrible."
"Is there a rule that says you can't sing the same song as someone else on the same night?"
"There should be."
"We should still do it. I'll go sign us up." She got up to do just that.
"What are you going to sing?" Rush asked Rose Marie.
"Nothing yet," she said. "I don't know."
"Are you a soprano? Alto?"
"I don't know. I'm here under duress. I don't sing in public."
"The Asgard's not public," Natalie said, grinning. "It's not the Hatch Shell."
"Yeah, but there are people listening."
"That's the whole point!"
Ana came back with two beers - Guinness for her (the Asgard was an Irish pub, after all) and Sam Adams for Rose Marie - and informed the table that they were ony three songs back and Rose Marie and Natalie better think of something to sing. Natalie's boyfriend showed up about half an hour later with one of his roommates and talked Natalie into doing Madonna's "Crazy for You", which was shortly followed by the roommate doing a terrible version of AC/DC's "Back in Black". Rose Marie finally let Ana convince her to get behind the mike, but only if they could sing together, so they ended up hamming it up to Journey's "Oh Sherrie". The rest of the table applauded after they sat back down.
"Thank you, thank you," Ana said. "We're here all week."
"You would be, too," Natalie's boyfriend said. Rose Marie hadn't gotten his name.
"A little karaoke is never a bad thing."
"Whereas a lot of karaoke is a dangerous thing. Next thing you know, people think they can carry a tune." He looked pointedly at his roommate, who protested that you don't sing to AC/DC, you rock to AC/DC. Natalie pointed out that he wasn't rocking either.
"I know!" Rush said excitedly, jumping up and running over to the bar, where the signups were.
"What?" Ana asked him when he got back. He whispered in her ear. She giggled. "Does it count if it's karaoke?"
"Yes."
"Does what count?" Rose Marie asked. "What are you singing?"
"He's gonna rick-roll the bar," Natalie said. Rush looked pleased with himself. "Karaoke doesn't count."
But only one person tried to boo Rush off the stage (so to speak) and the rest of the bar seemed to really enjoy his channeling of Rick Astley, so Ana declared that yes, a karaoke rick-roll did indeed count.
"It's kind of played out, though," Rose Marie said in the car on the way home. "Internet memes don't have that long a lifespan."
"It made him happy." Ana shrugged. "Isn't he cute? Did you like him? You looked like you were having fun."
"Yeah, I was. He is kinda cute."
"If he asked you out, would you go?"
"Oh my god, this whole thing was a setup." Rose Marie tried to glare at her roommate but she didn't really want to take her eyes off the road. She didn't love driving around Cambridge and Somerville at night. She didn't really love driving anywhere at night, actually.
"Kind of," Ana admitted. "He did want to meet you."
"And?"
"And I don't know. He'll probably call me tomorrow or email me or something. I'll check his Facebook."
"Because that's an accurate gauge of how someone feels."
"Well, he could change his status."
"To what? 'I like my friend's roommate' isn't an option." But Rose Marie had to admit, she did like Rush well enough to go out with him if he asked her. And he was cute. And she hadn't been on a date in a while. "Now watch, I'll never hear from him."
"Oh, don't worry. Rush is a talker. If he likes you, you'll know. Better yet, I'll know."
"Do I thank you, or what?"
"You can thank me now." Rose Marie risked a glance sideways and Ana looked smug. "Or you can thank me after he takes you somewhere nice."
"I'll wait."
"So the next time we do karaoke, you'll come with, right?"
"I guess."
"Right?"
"Right, right, ok, I'll go with you." Now it was Rose Marie's turn to grin. "At least you didn't take any embarrassing pictures of me."
"That's what you think."
words: 1256
total words: 5594
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-04 06:47 pm (UTC)