Phantom Voice

Matthew Corsair frowned as he watched the cops surround the bank. They pulled their guns and were pointing them straight at the door. This was the first time he had ever messed up while doing a job. He checked his pockets to make sure all of his tools were in place and then pulled the woolen mask off of his face.

It started when he was fourteen years old. He had just recently moved into the small town of Laplace, Louisiana. His parents had been kind enough back in Georgia to ask him if he wanted to move to New Orleans. Since he was never in the same school for more than two years at a time due to his father always finding new and better jobs, he had answered with an emphatic “no.” The next morning, a yellow Ryder truck was parked outside of his house already being loaded.

Since his move to Laplace, not New Orleans, Matthew hadn’t made many friends. He was a shy person. Instead, he would walk through the woods next to his parents’ house and right across the four-lane was Wal-Mart. He’d walk in and start looking around the place. He loved to look at the board games even though his parents never played them with him. His other reason for going was to look at girls. He had just reached puberty, and his hormones were kicking in.

One day Matthew was over in the men’s department standing by a display of belts. He was looking towards them, but actually his eyes were focused across the aisle at a cute brunette about his age. He watched her for a little while, then started making his way to the board games.

As he turned corners through the aisles looking at items that caught his attention along the way, he noticed that the same two people kept showing up on the aisles with him. This went on for half an hour. He realized he was being followed. He decided to try and lose them but every time he turned the corner, there they were, acting like shoppers.

He had enough, so he headed to the front of the store and right out the front door. He still had that odd feeling of being watched, so he turned around. Standing behind him were the man and woman who had been following him.

“What do you want from me?” he asked.

The man said, “We don’t want anything from you. We were just told to watch you and make sure you didn’t steal anything.”

Matthew couldn’t believe what he just heard. Never in his life had Matthew even thought about stealing. He had been mostly a happy child and although his parents caused him some grief, they did manage to raise him to know right from wrong.

“Why? I’ve been coming here for a long time and no one has ever followed me before.”

The woman said, “Because you were standing by the belt rack for a long time and fidgeting.” (more…)