The Perfect One

“Shhh, they’ll hear you,” whispers Gina.

I never liked when Gina told me what to do. It was never fair and downright annoying. She made me feel less of myself ever since I met her. Usually I would try to ignore her, but John would tell me she was right, and I needed to be like her. She supposedly knew what was best for me. I guess she did if John says. Gina and John are the only people I talk to. We’re always together and talking about any and everything. Eventually, like usual, I followed her commands. I liked it when Gina was happy because she would be nice to me then. I’d never tell her, but I’d like to be like her.

“Follow her,” Gina whispers about a red headed lady.

Doing as I’m told we follow the young lady into the neon diner on 42nd St. The lights were bright and lit up the whole street that was dark and dreary. As we followed her I noticed how red her head was. It not a bright orangey red, but a dark one. The lady looked like a cherry if you asked me, but what do I know. Just red and shiny. Her hair swayed as she walked through the aisle of the diner. She sat on one side of the room with a brunette friend while Gina, John, and I sat on the opposite side in a booth.

“We should pick a song from the jukebox,” John says.

“Not now, were on a mission,” I tell him.

I shake my head at him. John was always so impulsive and random. Doing things to please himself and no one else. Maybe on occasions he’d do something for others, but it was usually just for Gina. She always got what she wanted. We were on a mission and needed to stay focused. In the past I might had followed him along, but this time was not the case. She could be the one, the perfect shade. We could not mess this up.

“Could I take your order?” asked the crackled voice teenaged waiter. “We would just like three Colas please,” I responded.

The teenager gave me a weird look and processed to leave our booth. What was his problem? Talk about losing a good tip.

“Are you watching her?” snaps Gina.

I turn my head to see the red headed lady sipping her Cola from a straw. She was a very pretty girl who must’ve been in her twenties. Probably was a student at a local university or something. Her dress was a blue and green plaid pattern that was complimented with her gold chain necklace. The kitty heels she wore with them also complimented her preppy look. She tapped them to the beat of Tutti Frutti by Little Richard playing from the jukebox. Her hair was full and long that reached the bottom of her back. It made her stand out because of its color. The hair reminded me of Gina’s red hair. Even to the curl in her bangs, it was just alike.

“It’s crazy how much she looks like me,” Gina whispered in my ear.

“Yeah, it is,” I said as I continued to watch her.

John took a quick look then leaned in from across the table and said, “I think she’ll be the perfect choice.”

“You sure?” I questioned to confirm.

“Positive,” confirmed Gina with a smirk.

We all nodded in agreement. As the young woman paid for her Cola, we eased out the booth to hide around the corner. She had not noticed a thing, so she continued to walk down the sidewalk. Every step she took we followed swiftly. When the sidewalk became crowded, we followed her stoplight red hair. It seemed like everything around me became dull or just faded away. She was the only thing I could focus on during the moment. We could not lose our target. Down the filthy subway steps, we went as we continued to follow her. I always felt disgusted in the subway. Between all the garbage and rats I couldn’t take it. I am such a neat freak.

“Don’t lose her,” commands Gina.

Fighting the currents of the sea of people, we caught up near her. I sped up the pace to make sure we were a step or two away from her. Taking my wallet out of my small purse, I toss it enough where it would stumble in front or hit her. Her shoe nudged the wallet which caused her to stop. The young woman looks down and picks up the wallet. She turns and greets me with a polished smile and says, “Ma’am I think you dropp-.”

I cut her off quickly by spraying her with a tiny perfume bottle of chloroform. Before she can fall to the ground, I put her head on my shoulder. To avoid attention, I put her towards my chest, so she would look like she was tired or sad. Then again it was New York and we were in the subway, there’s always something ten times unusual going on nearby.

“We got her,” John whispered with joy.

I hadn’t seen that kind of smile on John since I first met him in college when we were freshmen. Almost thought that smile would never appear again. I always adored John’s smile. His dimples were always pleasant to look at. Oh they were so charming.

“Enough, we are not free yet, darling. We have to get her home,” Gina told us.

Exiting the subway, we hail for a taxi to take us back to our apartment on the edge of Little Italy. Luckily the cab driver didn’t ask any questions. Getting inside the small apartment, we tied her to a chair from the dining table. Still a bit out of it, she kept her head down. Her shiny red hair was flopped over her head. I sat across from her in my big green leather chair. Breathing deeply and removing my cat eyed glasses, I laid my head back and closed my eyes.

“What are you doing?” asked Gina alarmed.

I slowly let out, “I-I need a break. Should I keep going or should I just stop.”

“But you can’t just stop,” John says on the other side of me, “you can’t until the perfect one is picked.”

“None in the past were match. Maybe this is a waste and it’s just not meant to be,” I put my head down and stared at the specks on the floor.

What if I was right? All the hard work I had done was a waste. What if I never find the right one? My stomach began to swirl which made me feel anxious and faint. I put both of my hands-on top of my head and kept my head down and forward. Gina comes closer to me and leans in.

“But Claire, you might be lucky tonight,” Gina says into my ear, “She has been the best one so far. You’re not ending this when you’re this close. Come on, don’t you want be like me?”

My eyes widen a bit. It was jolt or trigger that I needed to push me to my routine. I had gotten too close to let it all go. Getting up I went into the kitchen and grabbed some disposable gloves from under the sink. I washed my hands thoroughly in hot water before I put them on. In the drawer near my gloves was my usual scalping knife. It sharp, sturdy, and faithful with every head we brought home. The young girl started to raise her head slowly and scanned her surroundings. As she wiggled her body she felt the constraint of the ropes. Her face was consumed with panic.

“Don’t scream,” I told.

It was useless. She let out a relentless shriek. Could she just stuff it? All that screaming was so unnecessary. I turned on the television to Invasion of the Body Snatchers to mask her screaming. Of anything my neighbors would just thing I was just enjoying the movie.

“Shut her up!” Gina yelled.

“She’ll wake the neighbors,” John said.

I covered her mouth. Thank goodness I was wearing gloves. Her stream of tears ran down my hand.

“Shhh they don’t like it when you scream,” I said trying to calm her while I petted her head trying not to mess up her hair.

The young girl’s brows scrunched as she continued to cry even harder. Geez, she was a messy one. Grabbing her shoulders, I pull her up to look up at us in the eyes. She grew even more pale than before which made her hair look even more red.

In a commanding tone, I said, “Now listen to what my partners have to say, and this will go smoothly.”

Her face became flushed with red and she cried more. Why does she keep crying so much?

“Who, who are they? We’re the only ones in the ro- room,” she spat out.

I place my hand on my forehead and gritted my teeth. Stepping back slowly, I turn around to the window. What did she mean it just us two in the room? The red head girl must be lying to me. Gina and John are here. They are always here. Stupid girl! She’s playing with me.

“Snap out of it!” Gina snaps, “That’s what wrong with you. You never listen!”

“Yeah! Don’t you want to be like Gina, beautiful with long hair?” asks John on the other side of me, “That’s how she got me. Her beauty just stole me away from you.”

Gina smirked and giggled. John grabbed her hand and processed to kiss it. She played with his face with the same kissed hand.

“That old ugly housewife could never be half of me, John,” Gina laughs while in John’s arm, “If she could she never would had lost you.”

Tears tried to escape from my eyes. My mind took me back to the day John walked out on me and took everything. I remember myself crying and pulling of John’s navy coat as he carried two suitcases. His last yank from me cause me to fall on the ground of our front yard. My pink skirt was filthy with dirt. My makeup ruined by my tears was smeared all over my face. The worst of my memory was stained with the evil red lipstick smirk that came from Gina’s face in the black Corvette that took my husband, John, away. She laughed as if my pain was some type of comedic show. That was the day my life died and became trapped in hell. My blood began to boil until I finally shouted out.

“Yes, yes I do!” I plead.

The young woman shrieked again.

“What is wrong with you!” she exclaimed in terror.

I stared at her for a moment. Her face transformed into a new but familiar face. Then got in her disgusting face. I said to her, “You’re what’s wrong with me.”

“Huh,” she sniffed and began to shake her head, “I – I don’t understand.” “You ruined my marriage Gina!” I screamed to the top of my lungs.

The young woman looked puzzled like a deer caught in headlights. She began to cry once again. Pathetic. It angered me. Her nose started to run. Disgusting. Why was she crying when she had everything I ever worked for?

“Stop crying, Gina,” I command, “Why are you crying? You already stole my marriage and my life! You want to steal my sympathy too?”

“My name isn’t Gina,” she cried.

I was even more disgusted she look horrible. She looked so ugly when she cried.

“Enough Gina,” I said as I got up and grabbed her hair, “You took John from me and we were married for twelve years. He was my soulmate. You, two, left me with nothing but only the clothes I could carry. I was a housewife for so long. How did you all expect me to survive?”

I tilted her head, so her face was to the ceiling. The pleading grew louder.

“The worst part of it all was your first and last words to me,” I stared in the distance and said, “You, you said maybe if I had any kind of beauty or radiance like you I might could be able to keep a man one day.”

“I’m sorry she said that to you,” she cried, “but I’m not her.”

I ignored her and continued, “Today is the day, Gina.”

I began to scalp her head clean, removing all of her hair. She continued to scream and cry, but it was futile because I got what I wanted. Oh, but that crying would not stop annoying me. I gave her more chloroform and taped her mouth. I wrapped her body in trash bags and dumped her in the waste chute. There was nothing else I needed from her. Back in the apartment, I grabbed the hair and started on making my wig. Slowly I took my time place and sewing each piece. Oh, John is going to love this. He’ll be mine once again and we’ll be happy. John might be so happy he’ll want to start a family with me. I started to picture our perfect family as I continued to sew my wig.

By far it was the best one I had ever made. The last two were not the right shade or length. This one had it all. As I began to curl it my excitement grew. When I finished, I finally put on my final masterpiece. I was glowing and looked younger than ever. Oh my, John will love me again after seeing this. I stared deeply into the mirror and played with my curls. I finally looked like Gina. As I started to apply red lipstick, my thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was the police. What did they want? I smoothed out my skirt and wig and opened the door.

“Hello ma’am,” the officer said.

I cracked the door just, so my head and chest were the only things that were seen. I replied, “Hello, may I help you sir?”

“Ma’am, we wanted to know have you seen this young woman, Gwen Mitchell?”

It was the young woman.

“No sir, I don’t think I have,” I said as he stared instantly at my new wig. He must’ve liked it.

“Are you sure?” he said still staring. Now the other officer, who kept his hand on his holster, began to stare harder too.

“Yes, I am,” I assured with a slight grin.

“Well,” he paused and continued, “Sorry we bothered you, but if you do see her please call. Goodnight ma’am.”

They began to leave and looked by at me one more time. I must have been breathtaking to them. Now I know for sure I will get John back. He’ll have to love me now. Safe at last and back to brushing my wig, I smile to myself in the mirror and gave a little wink.

“You look great,” says John standing behind the mirror.

Gina crept from the other side of me. She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder.

“So much better, Claire. She was the perfect one. Now you’re close to half of me,” she whispers.

A successful night of hard work finally paid off, but what was next?