Seven Years to Nowhere

 Seven Years to Nowhere

April 1952, Beaumont, Texas

Maggie Black had spent the morning cleaning and preparing her house for the arrival of her husband, Luke, who was expected to arrive in a few days time, after spending seven long years in prison. Maggie’s boss, Tony, had generously given her a couple extra days off to prepare the house….and herself….for Luke’s homecoming. Tony was very good to her.

Late that evening, when a tired Maggie was sitting on her front porch admiring the twilight, Tony walked up her front steps with a bottle of wine and a picnic basket.

“Figured you would be pretty pooped, Sweetie. I thought that a bottle of wine would be just the thing for you.”, Tony said, grinning. He spread out a blanket on the front porch, and while he opened the white wine, Maggie took the food out of the basket. There was cold fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, and biscuits. For dessert there were frosted pecan brownies.

“Any word on when he’ll be home?”, Tony asked her, as he gnawed on a chicken leg.

“No, not really. Within the week, though.”, Maggie told him.

When they were ready for dessert, Maggie suggested, “Hey! Why don’t we take these inside and put vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce on them?”

“Sounds good to me!”, agreed Tony. He helped Maggie with clearing the remains of their picnic from her front porch before they went inside.

Once they were inside, Maggie pulled down the shades, put on some music, and poured them both two fingers of bourbon over ice. Tony pulled her into his arms, and they danced, slowly.

“Oh, Tony, what are we going to do once Luke gets here?”, Maggie asked, distraught.

Tony cupped her face in his hands. “We’ll figure something out, beautiful. Until we do, we’ll just have to see one another while you’re at work.”, he told her.

“But we will figure out a way to be together, won’t we, Tony?”, Maggie pleaded.

Tony laughed, and kissed her forehead. “Never doubt it, my Maggie.”, he promised. He kissed her again, this time on the lips. The kiss, light at first, quickly turned passionate.

Simultaneously, piece by piece while the music played, Maggie and Tony stripped off their clothes. Tony carried her to the bedroom, and tossed her on the bed, then slowly eased atop her.

“I love you, Maggie.”, Tony whispered in her ear, kissing along her jaw and down her neck. “God, you’re so hot!” He kept kissing her, and slid a hand between her thighs, opening them.

“Oh, Tony, I need you so much!”, Maggie cried in his ear.

Tony eased into her, and kept pressing forward until he was fully sheathed in her. The couple were so involved in their lovemaking that they didn’t hear the door open…….it was Luke, Maggie’s husband.

Luke stood over the bed and watched them for a short while. He cleared his throat, and said, rather calmly, “Fine way for a wife to welcome her husband home.”

Tony and Maggie both froze, terrified to inaction for a few minutes. Maggie wrapped a bedsheet around her; Tony took a blanket for the same purpose. By the time they had done this, Luke had a gun pointed at them.

“Which one of you wants to go first?”, Luke asked.

“Luke, wait…..”, Maggie pleaded.

“Wait for what, Maggie? I just finished waiting seven years for my freedom. I’m not waiting for anything else.”

“You’re the one who soiled my wife, so you’ll go first.”, Luke told Tony. With one well-placed shot, Tony’s head was displaced from his shoulders.

Maggie screamed, and threw herself on the bed, crying.

Luke grabbed her roughly, and pulled her to him, giving her a savage kiss that made her lips numb. “It’s your turn, my dear. Don’t worry; you’ll be joining your lover soon enough. But I want something else from you first. After all, you are my wife.”

“NO!!!!!!”, Maggie screamed.

Luke slapped her face hard, and pushed her back on the bed. It was a brutal rape. When he finished, Luke strangled his unfaithful wife to death. Unfortunately for Luke, neighbors had heard the commotion from Tony and Maggie’s murders, and summoned the police. Less than two hours after he had returned home from seven years in prison, Luke Black was arrested on two counts of murder. Seven years was only the beginning for him