He Loved Her Too Much

“Don’t you just love the weekends we spend together? I almost feel ashamed of myself having to work during the week. I feel like I’m neglecting you. You understand, don’t you, Anne? Of course you do. You are always understanding about things like this. That is one of the reasons I love you as much as I do.

“At least you won’t have to worry any longer. We’ll never be apart again. You have my word.

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, really I am. I never meant for this to happen, but for just an instant, I went crazy-jealous. I love you so much, that I didn’t know any other way to prove my love for you.

“Now you know, don’t you?

“What happened in the past can stay in the past. We are together and that is the important thing.

“Hey, I’m fixing your favorite dinner tonight; veal with a nice wine sauce. Buttered noodles, steamed mushrooms and onions, and a small salad. You’ve always loved it before. I thought tonight wouldn’t be any different.

“Tell you what, Anne, I would love it if you would put on that white dress again. The one you wore the first time we met. You were a knockout in that thing, and you still are.

“If you like, I can help you slip into it. That way, after dinner and a few drinks, I could help you out of it like I did the first night we were together. Am I ever the bold one, eh, Anne? Can you remember that first night? I do and I’ll never forget it.

“You were the greatest. All the other women at the club that night couldn’t hold a candle to you. When I walked over to your table, and asked you to dance, you smiled at me and said yes. My insides did back flips. On the floor, we moved to the music as if we had been dancing together all of our lives. It was, well, sensual you know, like we were making love while everyone watched. Okay, maybe that sound a little kinky. But damn, you were good that night, Anne.

“Who would have thought you would go home with me that night. Even when I asked you, I figured with all the other guys there, that you would turn me down. You didn’t. You made me feel like a real man that first night. Special. I even remember you said I was the best you ever had.

“There was a time I was really concerned about us. Remember when Charles came into the picture? I know you do.

“I was more hurt than mad. Catching both of you making out in our bed, but you said it was the alcohol Charles gave you. Well, I took care of Charles, and you promised me you would never do anything like that again, and I believed you.

“Then later on came Brian. You sneaked around behind my back almost a year before I found out. You knew I would find out, didn’t you? Sure you did. That’s why you did it, to see how I’d react.

“You found out just how far I would go, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU!

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. But none of what you did matters any longer. Charles is gone. Brian is gone. Now, it’s just you and I, the way it’s supposed to be.

“Anne, baby, dinner is ready. After we eat, we’ll go into the bedroom and we’ll make each other happy, just like that first night we were together.

“I’m already happy because you’re here for me and me alone. You’ll be happy because now you know how much I love you, and how serious I really am.

“”Anne, let me help you to the table. After dinner, I will sweep you into my arms and carry you to bed … just like our first night.”

__________

“Damn, baby, you were great as always. Anne, you have no idea what you do for me. When I touch you, kiss you, when I’m inside you; there are no words to describe how I feel. It’s like I’m on top of the world and in control just like the first time. You set my world on fire.

“A few people might think you have no emotions, that you are cold-blooded, but if they only knew the truth, their minds would change quickly enough.

“Anne, I’d love to make it with you again but you know I have an important job I have to get back to tomorrow and I need to have my wits intact and my mind clear. We both know the kind of work I do is very important. Monday’s are always brutal and I need to get some sleep. We’ll make love again tomorrow. That’s a promise. There won’t be a day that goes by if I’m able, where I don’t make it with you.

“Come on, it’s time you rested as well. After work tomnorrow, I’ll be back and we’ll have our time together just as we have these last several nights. I promise.

“You know that, don’t you? Sure you do.”

Jesse walked to the dresser in the bedroom, reached for a needle and three vials of formaldehyde. Drawing the clear liquid up through the syringe, he walked over to Anne, who lay naked in waiting on the bed, and Jesse bared her right arm to the needle’s edge and plunged the liquid into already tight flesh.

Her eyes, once a crystal blue, now sat deeply rooted against her skull, just two orbs of unstaring black voids. Her hair, half-fallen out and the rest lay in disarray across the pillows; her flesh, taut, gray-black to purple, was split open in several places from earlier swelling, and was rigid against dead muscle tissue, lay unware, uncaring, unfeeling of the tiny puncture wound.

The only other physical disfigurement is the open wound in her chest from a bullet Jesse gave her after he found her in bed with some guy named Larry.

Larry saw the anger, rage, and pain in Jesse’s face, but not the total fear in Anne’s. Larry didn’t want a fight and started to leave, but Jesse shot him as well. Larry’s buried in the backyard with Charles and Brian.

Jesse didn’t want to kill her. It was the only way he could figure out how to keep her from running around on him. He couldn’t leave his job to check on her twenty times a day, so a bullet was the only alternative,

After all, he loved her.

Once the needle was removed, he extracted more of the solution and injected it into her neck, and then her stomach. He followed that with two more; one in the back right thigh and the last one into the center of her spine.

There was a bath already drawn. Jesse picked her up, dropped her gently into the bath water, and began washing as much of the physical stench from her as he could. When finished, he sprayed her entire body with cologne.

Picking her up again, he walked her back into the soft glow of the bedroom’s light.

Breathing rapidly, an excited sweat broke over Jesse’s brow. He carried her to her own bed; a homemade casket Jesse designed just for her and lowered her into it, then bent down and kissed her cold purple black lips, and then closed the lid.

“Sleep, my love. You need your rest, Anne. You know how tired you get after making love.”

__________

The following morning before Jesse left the house, he double-checked his appearance in the mirror, satisfied everything looked good. Being one of Boston’s finest, meant looking sharp and professional at all times.

Before he left to make sure the city streets were safe to walk, he leaned over and kissed Anne’s cold lips once more.

“I’ll see you tonight, baby. I love you.

“Yo know that, don’t you? Sure you do.”