Queen Media Collective

“Good Morning.” said Mr. Nickel, as he greeted a few kids walking down the street as he went to his car.

That was the usual greeting Mr. Nickel gave everyone. He was beloved in the neighborhood. He was the leader of the community outreach committee, knew all the neighborhood kids and was always helpful to everyone that needed him. The way he acted was very typical of how he always was. However, ten years ago, no one knew how he would be affected after an incident occurred that would change his life forever.

Mr. Nickel wasn’t always by himself. He and his wife Allyson met in high school as she was new to town. When they saw each other walking the hallway, their eyes met and there was instant attraction.

“Hello. My name is Cary Nickel.”

As soon as he introduced himself, he knew he had her. From there, they were inseparable and after graduation, Cary decided to marry Allyson. The two didn’t want much attention and didn’t have much money at the time, so they went to the courthouse for a simple ceremony to bring them together as one.

A few years after they were married, Cary worked his way up to management at the hardware store he worked at. They moved from an apartment to a house as he rose through the ranks. Time passed and four years into their marriage, things could not have been better. They had a nice-sized house with a small yard and had moved to what they saw as a nice neighborhood. That all changed on one stormy night.

Cary could not sleep, so he got up and moved around the house. He went out to their screened-in porch in the back of their house and listened to the rain as it made a melodic beat. When Cary was a kid, he loved sitting outside listening to the songs of the rain and he was hoping this time would have the same affect. Allyson woke up to notice he wasn’t in the bed and joined him outside.

“Are you okay?”

“Couldn’t sleep. The rain, it was just calling my name like when I was a little boy. Go on back inside. I’ll be in there in a minute. The rhythm of this song is amazing.”

Allyson heard no beat at all, but she listened to Cary and went back inside. One hour passed by and then another and another and Allyson woke up to notice Cary still had not made it back inside. She went outside to notice he had fell asleep in a chair. Allyson did not want to disturb him, so she went back inside and got him a blanket so he could sleep outside while listening to the “music”.  Allyson would then head back inside, get back under the covers and go to sleep for the night.

When Cary woke up this morning, he noticed the sunshine all through the house. Allyson would usually make breakfast before he went to work but there was no biscuit smell filling up the kitchen nor was there any sign of her.

“Allyson. You sleeping in today?” said Cary as he woke up.

Cary continued to walk into the house, calling Allyson’s name without getting an answer. He finally made it to the bedroom when he saw something that would shake him to the core.

“Allyson!! No!!!!!”

There was Allyson in their bed covered in blood. She had apparently been stabbed to death. Cary was mortified as he ran to look at his wife’s body, hoping this was all a dream. Unfortunately for him, it was not all a dream at all. His wife was no longer going to be with him.

From there, Cary called the police and when they arrived, he was distraught, sitting on his front porch. Detective Frank Porter greeted him and tried to console him.

“So sorry what happened to you Mr. Nickel. We will find who did this.”

Mr. Nickel went back to crying on his front porch as the police searched around the area and looked through the house. They had found no clues from the killer. As they left, they all said something to Mr. Nickel. He was well-respected in the neighborhood and many looked up to the marriage that he and Allyson had. That, unfortunately, was to be no more.

After the murder, Mr. Nickel went to grief counseling and he eventually was able to get back to some sense of normalcy. But nonetheless, he will never be able to forget that night. The murder of his wife was never solved, as they weren’t able to find anything to lead them to the killer.

Mr. Nickel was long past the killing of his wife these days. As he continued to walk to his car, he saw the police pull up near his house and it was Detective Porter again.

“Good Afternoon Mr. Nickel. We lost one of the youth last night, DeAndre Harrison. We are asking everyone in the neighborhood about it. Did you happen to see anything last night?”

“No sir. Just was on the back porch listening to music and dozed off back there.”

“Well, we figured we would ask you what happened but hey, go about your day. If you find out anything, let us know. ”

“How is his mother?”

“Well Mr. Nickel, she isn’t doing well right now. DeAndre was starting to run around with the wrong crowd and she feels those folks he was running around with got him killed.”

“Where did you find his body?”

“It was over by the community center and he was stabbed, not shot.”

“Well, enough of me bothering you Mr. Nickel. You have a good day and when is Community Day?”

“That’s in two weeks. I have to get that speech prepared. I want to thank you all for what you are doing for me.”

“Well you earned it Mr. Nickel. You have done so much for the youth in this community and many of them look at you as a father figure.”

“Well, thank you again and have a good day.”

Mr. Nickel got in his car and the sadness he felt hearing the news of DeAndre’s death caused him to shed a tear.

“Why are you crying? You know he was no good.”

Mr. Nickel looked around, wondering where the voice he was hearing came from.

“You know DeAndre had that coming. Glad I handled that.”

Mr. Nickel kept looking around, wondering if he was next.

“Who is that?!” said Mr. Nickel, as he began to get nervous and scared.

“Look in the mirror.”