{"id":380,"date":"2017-07-27T17:43:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T16:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/?p=380"},"modified":"2024-10-17T16:55:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T15:55:45","slug":"flash-fiction-half-of-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/2017\/07\/27\/flash-fiction-half-of-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 minutes ago:<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cDid you make contact with the principal\u2019s office yet?\u201d Armstrong asked.
\u201cOh no,\u201d interrupted Mitchell as they climbed out of the car. \u201cKids are already out.\u201d
\u201cClasses had just finished when they finally picked up,\u201d the reply came back over the radio. \u201cStudents were already loose in the halls. Too late to try detain the boy.\u201d
\u201cShit. Could they give you a description or a more up-to-date picture of what the kid looks like now?\u201d asked Madden.
\u201cThere was no need.\u201d
\u201cHow come?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 hour twenty-five minutes ago:<\/em><\/strong>
\u201cEver seen anything like this before?\u201d Detective Armstrong said.
\u201cOnly when I worked in San Fran,\u201d the chief firefighter replied. \u201cSaw houses that looked like this after the big quake in \u201989. Broken apart like they were Lego.\u201d
\u201cMinnesota is not exactly notorious for its seismic activity,\u201d said Armstrong.
\u201cMystery solved, partner,\u201d said Mitchell, jogging up to the two men. \u201cCaterpillar parked up in the trees around back. Still got roof tiles, glass and chunks of brick in the bucket. Looks like someone took it to the house like they were cutting up a birthday cake.\u201d
\u201cAnyone inside the building?\u201d Armstrong asked the firefighter, nodding at what was left of the once palatial home.
\u201cNo, no one in. But if you\u2019re going to investigate, I\u2019d be careful. Can\u2019t tell how sound, structurally, the place is.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019ll bring our umbrellas, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 hour 16 minutes ago:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cJesus Christ,\u201d Mitchell said, as the strip lighting in the garage sparked into life. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some vandalism in my time, but this is some next level.\u201d
\u201cSacrilege is what this is,\u201d said Armstrong. \u201cThe furniture, the TV, the clothes: all that stuff can be replaced, but this is a 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302. Super rare. And this one was mint, until some asshole drove an angle grinder down the middle.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s the same M.O. throughout. Everything cut, or attempted to be cut in two.\u201d
\u201cLet\u2019s find out who the homeowners are, and where they are,\u201d said Armstrong. \u201cPoor fuckers are going to come home to a nasty surprise.\u201d
Mitchell let out a long whistle. \u201cThey\u2019ve really cheesed someone off, whoever they are. This is some cold-blooded revenge right here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

58 minutes ago:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cI\u2019m not an animal lover,\u201d said Mitchell. \u201cBut I\u2019m not an animal hater either.\u201d
\u201cThis is inhuman,\u201d said Armstrong.
The stables were situated far off to the side of the house. Two horses inside. Both dead. Both cut in half, with a chainsaw. Same way the family\u2019s two Great Danes, Scooby and Marmaduke the name tags said, had been. The chainsaw itself lay in a puddle of blood and equine evisceration on the straw-covered floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

44 minutes ago:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cDetective Armstrong, the house belongs jointly, or rather did, to one Richard and Colleen Sampson.\u201d
\u201c\u2019Did\u2019? Something happen to them?\u201d
\u201cYes,\u201d came the reply over the radio. \u201cThey divorced. Proceedings took place this week. Decision was finalized this morning, as it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

38 minutes ago:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cIt\u2019s an amicable split, apparently,\u201d said Mitchell, reading the details from his phone.
\u201cThey always say that,\u201d quipped Armstrong.
\u201cWeird. They\u2019re both independently wealthy, each got their own money, but somehow she still manages-\u201c
\u201c-to get half,\u201d finished Armstrong. \u201cOh my God. All of this. He\u2019s preparing to give her half of everything he owns. Literally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

33 minutes ago:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cRichard Sampson: suffered a nervous breakdown after the dotcom bubble burst, dealt with serious bouts of psychosis, it says here. Had some episodes, some violent outbursts,\u201d said Armstrong.
\u201cSeemed to get himself back together,\u201d quipped Mitchell, looking around the once expensively furnished vestibule and stepping across the canyon the excavator had gouged out of the tiled floor.
\u201cWith a hell of a lot of medication, it would seem,\u201d said Armstrong.
Mitchell stopped to look at the picture frames discarded on the ornate glass table, the photographs that had been inside removed and torn in two. All perfect family snaps of the perfect family. Mother, father. And son<\/em>.
\u201cI think I know where Sampson might be right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 minutes ago:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cClass photograph was taken four years ago, it says on the back, when the boy was ten,\u201d said Mitchell.
\u201cHe could look completely different now,\u201d said Armstrong.
\u201cTech boys are on it, chasing down the parents’ Facebook, Instagram, etc.,\u201d said Mitchell, speeding through two stop signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 minutes ago, continued:<\/strong><\/em>
\u201cSay that again,\u201d said Armstrong.
\u201cThe Sampson boy did not show up for school today,\u201d the voice on the radio repeated.
\u201cSo why are they<\/em> here?\u201d said Mitchell, directing Armstrong\u2019s attention to the school gates.
Most of the rich parents or their home helps were sat in their cars waiting for their precious babies to find them, but a few stood out in the sun hoping to grab the attention of their unique snowflakes. And two of them stood out in particular.
\u201cThe Sampsons. Both of them. Hand in hand.\u201d
\u201cSo genuinely\u2026 amicable<\/em>, it would seem,\u201d said Mitchell. \u201cHe sure doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s spent the day carving up everything he owns. Neither does she.\u201d
There was movement and a gasp from the assembled as all eyes, those of parents and students alike, moved upward.
A teenage boy appeared on the roof of the school and stepped out on to the edge, overlooking the entrance porch. He was filthy, his hair and skin caked in dirt, dust and what had to be blood. Tears streamed down his face as he started to laugh.
\u201cGuess we know what Son of Sampson looks like now,\u201d whispered Mitchell.
\u201cWhat\u2019s this for? Show?\u201d the boy shouted down at his parents. \u201cPutting on a united front for my benefit?\u201d
Richard Sampson said nothing. His mouth was slightly open, his eyes wide, his expression blank. He seemed not to hear Colleen’s cries as she broke free of his grasp and made for the school doors.
\u201cI\u2019m glad to see you\u2019re so fucking happy. With your little arrangement, all of your property split evenly down the middle,\u201d said the boy. \u201cWell I\u2019m not happy. Far fucking from it. But then you\u2019ve never asked me what I thought, have you? Maybe that\u2019s because, to you, I\u2019m just like the house, the cars, the horses, the dogs. A piece of property to be shared equally. So why don\u2019t I make this real simple for us all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now:<\/strong><\/em>
Blake Sampson has planned this very carefully.
He lands bare feet first, dead center on the roof of the school entrance porch, its aluminum-lined apex at such an acute angle that it acts like an upturned axe.
One bloody, lifeless half of him slides down the left side of the porch and splats down in front of Richard Sampson. He does not react.
One bloody, lifeless half tumbles awkwardly down the right, and lands like a freshly butchered side of ham at Colleen\u2019s feet. She is still screaming, only much louder than before, saying the boy\u2019s name over and over. She cannot be consoled.
Richard Sampson does not even try.
\u201cHe\u2019ll need to up his meds,\u201d says Mitchell.
\u201cYou cold bastard,\u201d says Armstrong.
Sirens are fast approaching.
\u201cI hope one of those belongs to the next shift. My one ended ten minutes ago.\u201d He turns away from the scene and ambles back toward the school gates. \u201cI really need to go home and hug my wife and kids.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3 minutes ago:\u201cDid you make contact with the principal\u2019s office yet?\u201d Armstrong asked.\u201cOh no,\u201d interrupted Mitchell as they climbed out of the car. \u201cKids are already out.\u201d\u201cClasses had just finished when they finally picked up,\u201d the reply came back over the radio. \u201cStudents were already loose in the halls. Too late to try detain the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1387,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions\/1387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grahamwho.com\/grahamwrites\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}