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Justifiable Homicide

By Gerald Darnell

Something woke her, an unfamiliar noise. It sounded like the slamming of a door, and it sounded very close. But, that couldn’t be right, her bedroom had sliding doors, and this wasn’t a noise she’d ever heard in her home. Struggling to open her eyes at the alarm of the noise, she quickly closed them again – they hurt! The light, the bright light, sent daggers into her head, and she took a deep breath with the relief that returned with darkness. Where was this light coming from? It was sunlight, bright sunlight; almost like she was sitting on a beach without sunglasses. Lying still, and searching her mind, she tried to recall the most recent events in her life – it wasn’t working. Her head hurt, her body hurt, she was dying of thirst, her mouth tasted like an old dirty sock and she needed to pee. All of these, along with the glaring light were making thinking impossible. Rolling over, she slowly brought her head up and managed to open sore, bloodshot eyes. She was staring at a rumpled pillow covered by a flowered pillowcase, and flanked by a matching bedspread. This wasn’t something she remembered and not something she’d ever seen before - at least she didn’t think so. Somehow managing to get eyes fully open, she turned back over and surveyed her surroundings; nothing looked familiar. She was on a bed, a large bed, and evidently in a motel/hotel room - based upon the furniture her eyes could focus on. Sitting on the edge of the bed and putting her feet on the floor, she glanced around the room searching for a door – there were two. One was in the corner of the room and partially open, it must be a bathroom. Using the bed and furniture for support, she stumbled into the small bathroom and leaned against the sink. That’s when she realized she was fully dressed, except for shoes – which was odd. Sitting on the commode, things slowly began to come back to her cloudy mind. She had been at the Country Club drinking with her husband, Roger. They argued and she left, taking the car and leaving him to find his own way home. Mad at Roger, and not ready to end the evening, she stopped at the VFW to have another drink and visit with friends. The place was crowded, and she recalled sitting at the bar – visiting with John, C.P., Travis and some other people. But then what? What happened then? She didn’t recall driving home and she didn’t remember seeing Roger again. She couldn’t remember anything past sitting at the VFW and visiting with friends. And, where was she now? This definitely wasn’t home!