Blood Diamonds

                Chesterville is a small Midwestern town with a big, bloody secret. It was once the bustling downtown of a farming community. That is, until Lewiston began booming. For whatever reason, people and business had decided to settle there. It grew so much that the previously neighboring town had spread almost to the city limits of Chesterville. The former city was now little more than just another suburb, but managed to maintain the small-town feel that it always had. Along with the abandoned diner where the horrific events that tarnished Chesterville’s reputation had occurred.

                Percy and Byron had been best friends since they started walking. After high school, neither could afford to go to college, so they took jobs on a local farm. The two young men hated it.

                Percy was frustrated that he couldn’t afford to marry his high school sweetheart and settle down with her to start their family. Byron was bored. He had already bedded nearly every single woman in town (and about half of the married ones). He was ready for a change of “scenery” and somewhere to go on a date other than the farmer’s hay loft. They decided to head to Lewiston. Rumor had it that it was the place to go for opportunity. And money.

                Lewiston, at that time, was expanding rapidly. It was replacing the country charm with the hustle and bustle of the big cities. Percy promised Mary that in a few months, they would have more than enough to support themselves and their future children. Byron didn’t really have anyone to say good bye to, save his elderly grandmother in the old folks’ home. Even she wouldn’t miss him, since she was lucky to remember her own name most days. The two boys loaded some clothes and sleeping bags into the bed of the old rusty blue Silverado. Percy gave Mary one last long kiss as Byron banged on the door of the truck.

                “Let’s get a move on!”

                “Alright, alright,” Percy replied, barely able to pull himself away from the scarlet lips of the green eyed brunette. “I’m coming.” He looked deep into her eyes as he stepped into the truck.

                “I’ll miss you, my love,” the beautiful girl whispered.

                “I’ll call you every night. And we’ll be better off soon.”

                “Smoochy smooch! Sorry darlin’, we gotta go!” Byron yelled across his buddy seated in the passenger seat. “I’ll bring him back. Don’t chu worry none!” And he pulled away, leaving her to watch them disappear in a cloud of beige dust.

                People. Cars. Construction equipment. There was so much going on here. Roads being paved. Buildings going up. Shoppers, street vendors, beggars. Stores, office buildings, restaurants, night clubs. It was sensory overload for the two young men. They had only seen such sights in movies.

                The boys found a small motel to stay in. They had just enough money to pay for two weeks’ lodging and a few groceries. They decided to go out for pizza and start looking for work first thing in the morning. As they walked the block away to the pizza shop, Percy couldn’t help but notice the rings in the window of the jewelry store. He paused, staring at the half carat single stone band that would look exquisite on the hand of his beloved Mary.

                “You’re poor. We’ll come get it in a few weeks,” his buddy said when he noticed him pining for the ring. “But I’ll get that tonight.”

                Percy looked up to notice a long-legged blonde walking in their direction. Byron’s charm worked at home. Here, he was shot down faster than a novice pilot in a dog fight with the Red Baron. It wasn’t pretty.

                Due to the boys’ lack of experience, all they managed to secure were jobs as construction laborers. It was work, but barely paid enough to survive. The two spent their nights the same way- wishing for a ring and getting shot down. Percy was getting to the point he needed to get back to Mary, ring or no.

                “I’ve got it! The answer to our problems!” Byron exclaimed as he excitedly rushed in to the tiny motel room with yet another pizza for dinner. “I got these from one of the pizza guys,” he explained as he sat the pie on the table and lifted his shirt. Tucked into his waist band were two .38 snub nose revolvers.

                “You’re crazy!” Percy exclaimed. “How does that solve anything?!”

                “I gotta go, but I ain’t leaving you here alone. We go get that ring for your girl, a little money, and go home heroes! No one’s gotta know we failed!”

                “Stop talkin’ that nonsense!”

                “Grab your shit. We’re goin’. That’s that.”

                After a heated discussion, and some persuasion, the two decide that they need to have something to show for the four months they spent in Lewiston. They headed out, bandanas around their necks and guns in hand. The heist went relatively smoothly, as they hit the day after the shop had received a shipment of stones for their new pieces. They were gone before police responded. And headed home to Chesterville.

                “I told ya,” Byron smiled smugly as the two sat down in a corner booth of the diner they used to meet up at every Friday night.

                “I can’t believe I let you talk me into it.”

                “Yeah, but now you can start your family. I can go wherever and find some new ladies.”

                Just as Percy was about to respond, they heard it. Sirens. Someone had gotten a description of the old Chevy and the directions it had headed after the robbery. The two panicked. As they got near, Byron yelled out “Back there!” The jumped up and headed toward the kitchen. At the back door, they stopped.

                “They’ll never suspect me, give me the gems,” urged Percy. As he took them, he told Byron when and where they would meet back up. He swallowed the jewels, so they wouldn’t be found if he was stopped. As they were about to go out the back, he paused. “Hey, Byron…”

                “Yeah?”

                Percy lifted the pistol and shot his friend through the heart. Then ducked out the back. He was never found, and Mary disappeared that same night, presumably with him.

                That old diner still sits abandoned. After the incident, the owner couldn’t keep it. He was too distraught. It changed hands a few times, but always failed. The employees always heard whispers.

                “I want my cut,” and “Where are my jewels,” were the most common things they heard. Along with “You were my friend.” Knives never stayed put, purses would be dumped, and there was always the feeling of someone watching. The last owner shut it down and left town the morning he found his cook dead. The older gentleman stayed late to clean and take inventory. When the owner came in the next morning, his employee had been disemboweled, and his innards were strewn about as if someone had been looking for something hidden inside…