"The Kansas City Affair" by Sebastian

1. The Kansas City Affair:

2.

3. Television Blaring Loud

4. "Earlier today, a woman was found dead in her apartment...investigators are looking into various leads...police are still looking for the suspect...in other news..."

5. April Reese lies in her bed and watches the 10 o clock news. Her eyes cold and blank, her body pale and frail like a decaying vessel waiting for a lost soul. A cool breeze floats and spreads its wings of fresh air. It makes her body swell in an attempt to sustain warmth.

6. Snowy static flows from the television set and she absent-mindedly pays attention. Her thoughts are floating elsewhere, searching in the stars for answers...

7.

8. It happened six months ago. April was in the kitchen washing dishes. The water was smooth that day and flowed easily like the spring sun that filled life with it's metaphors that made everything seem pedantic. Meanwhile, in the living room of a small apartment, Gregory Dawson reclined in his fancy brown chair and lazily watched the tube. It looked like another lazy boring Sunday for this young couple; they’ve been together for awhile now.

9. The television blaring in the background and the water running with it. Gregory laughing at his sitcoms. Barely out of college and they were still paying off their debts, Gregory had the day off from the Lonely Hearts Hospital. He was tired and came home as if he owned the place, he felt he deserved the rest after all that late night pages and low pay.

10. She simply accepted the fact that at times there was a cold spot next to her bed. Her body lay at night worried about the stress, but she felt she understood his soul. His soul was next to her body—or at least she dreamed it was.

11. April found it very odd and surreal that all this was here—existing. She often wondered to herself if the dirt she was scrubbing off dinner plates was really coming off or was it merely an illusion to keep her submissive and succumb herself to her future sexist role of a young housewife.

12. "Did you go to the grocery store today, honey?" April called out from the kitchen.

13. Gregory mumbled a confused reply while still not taking his eyes off the sitcom screen.

14. April stops her old fashioned dish washing, turns off the water and walks into the room. Her hand is at her hip, dripping wet and she says to him, "Greg, how many times do I have to tell you to do things I ask you for? You're always so busy watching this *****."

15. Greg finally stops paying attention to the blur of the screen, "Fine, I'll go to the grocery store…It's not like we're married or it’s a life or death situation, geesh."

16. "Well, we practically are wouldn’t you think so after living under the same roof for two years."

17. "Fine, fine, I'm putting some shoes on."

18. He was out the door in no time at all and meanwhile she simply returned to her menial task and labored over her thoughts wondering.

19. "I just hope things get better before the summer." She said to herself out loud to thin air.

20. The television then offered her an answer.

21. "...things are certainly getting better these days for the spring and we can only hope the forecast for rain doesn't come because the spring weather can only get better and...."

22. She heard the weatherman talk for the 11 o clock news and she laughed. She smiled and laughed herself to wholesome tears. The phone then rang all of sudden as if unexpectedly turning the tables and made everything more than simply foreboding.

23. "Hello, Greg?...I told you earlier today what to bring....yeah, and don't forget the ketchup...alright, I'll talk to you later tonight, Hun."

24. She smiled and thought no matter how horrible Gregory could be she still loved all his flaws because it was what made her love him the most. In all honesty, his flaws would be the thing she would miss the most.

25.

26. It would be two hours later; however when everything would be different and the mood would be longing. April was sitting in his brown chair making her self comfortable for another long and lazy evening, home with her future husband whom she was expecting home at any moment.

27. The phone rang, she answered it and it was as if time stood still and she would later look back at that moment as being her last truly peaceful and honest feeling in the world. That is until he said those words in the middle of the conversation.

28. "Oh, hi, Greg I was just thinking about you... you have got the ketchup and everything else...you do?...what? What do you mean you have to tell me something?"

29. He was calling from a cellular phone in the supermarket and she could hear the background noise of a typical grocery store, filled with cash register sounds, announcements, and shopper’s voices. Then there was the long pause.

30. "...you decided to do what? What about everything you were getting? When did you decide this? Greg, you can't do this to me, to us. We had a future. Please, you can't go...Greg? Greg? Are you there?"

31. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe he would just hang up like that. Her mouth was agape. She thought he was different, after all that time of being with him she expected it to last. Everyone did. She slumped to the floor next to the phone and thought long and hard before finally being able to cry herself to sleep on the empty floor, listening to I Love Lucy now playing in the background.

32.

33.

34. The Strawberry Blonde One

35. A woman dying in her bed...out takes from what seemed like another life....

36.

37. "No, please, stop! You're hurting me..." she struggled for breath, but her screams were muffled by an atrocious hand covered in musk.

38. "Please, stop. I don't want you here anymore!" she fought his punches with rebellious claws.

39. "I don’t give a ***** if you say no. You know you wanted it, why’d you open the door for me, sweetheart? ..."

40. She spat at his face and moaned from agony. His ape hands groped around at her flesh. Darkness overcame her as she passed out from resistance. She was now just another conquest, another trophy, just more meat for his thriving hunger. It was a cold night and the window was open, bringing in the scent of April showers into the bedroom...

41.

42. "...Police are warning women to keep indoors...a rape suspect has...been identified...are urged not to go out alone...this is WMBS your news station...and now for a commercial break..."

43.

44. April jogs her memory backwards again to something better. It was only a month ago, not too long after Gregory left her home alone when he broke up with her over a phone call from a supermarket.

45. "I love being myself, Margaret. I am just glad I am finally able to get over him. I know I like to say that I like stupid things but this just isn't one of them." April took a sip of her coffee in the open late Coffee Bar. It was 3am and both Margaret and April had been up shopping for Hello Kitty and vintage things.

46. Margaret, the strawberry blonde one, sat opposite April and looked out the window briefly.

47. "It looks like it's going to rain soon." she says as she puts her coffee down and watches the steam rise from her warm mug.

48. "Ah!" April leans back in her chair. "I just love chocolate. This past month with you, Margaret has really helped me overcome my fear of letting go. I just almost couldn't stand being without him. I’m glad you’re here for me"

49. "April, sweetie," Margaret began, "Are you sure you're over him? I don't think you are really over him if you keep going on and on like this. It seems more like you want to make yourself believe it. Trust me; just one night with someone new will help set you straight.” She places her warm hand over April; it was a sign of mutual understanding. “It's what I've been telling you, for your own good.”

50. "I don't know, Margaret. I just don't know." She looked down into her cup of warm coffee as if searching for the answers. The silence of the coffee shop, full of insomniac writers, musicians/slackers, and bedtime rebels made the moment more precious than it really was. Suddenly, April looked up with a perky face and said very dreamily, "I like the Eiffel Tower."

51. Margaret looked a little confused and then with a realization and smile on her lips then replied, "I like glamour."

52. "I like kissing in the rain."

53. "I like doll houses and things in between."

54. They laughed and finally April said with a reluctant face, "It's really late. I have to get going."

55. "Ditto."

56. So they parted their ways and April was left walking to her apartment all alone.

57. The next morning, he came back. He rang the bell and knocked on her door to wake her up. It was still early when he arrived and it had been a long night of reminiscing for her.

58. She got up out of bed wearing only some care bear underpants and an old band shirt from her high school days. Her hair was a mess and she was worried her morning visitor would see it but she woke up too tired to care.

59. Upon opening the door, April was surprised. It was none other than the infamous Gregory Dawson himself, he wore a face that spelled out despair and forgiveness and in his hands he held he held it out to her in a bottle of ketchup.

60. Fully awake now, April asked in an almost angry tone, "What the ***** is this, Greg? Do you think just because you bring a bottle of ketchup everything is going to be better?"

61. Gregory looked at the floor and mumbled a "No, it doesn't…"

62. "Greg, what do you have to say for yourself other than you can't speak up right now."He was silent again looking down, gripping at the redness of the bottle.

63. "I love you, April." He looked up at her and said this. "I wanted to make up for everything; so I figured this would be a place to start."

64. For a moment, April almost forgave him—but only for a moment. She couldn't go back to her comforts. She slammed the door in his face. The bottle of ketchup was left on the floor and he left.

65. Edward Howards

66. Sprawling at the crossroads of the culture district, a man and a woman walked the streets holding hands under the mid western sun. It had been a few days since the ketchup incident and April had recently met a man named Edward Howards. She met him at the supermarket in the dairy section. He asked her a question about milk, but it was an obvious pick up line.

67.

68. "Uhm, excuse me, miss? Could you tell me where to find a non-fat, soy protein gallon of chocolate milk?" April turned towards the man who spoke those words. He was slightly older than her with jet black curls covering his face and a rough chiseled face. He looked belonged to the cover of some Hollywood fashion magazine. She looked at the milk jug his question was pertaining to but obviously he knew already.

69. She then realized his intentions, smiled peevishly and replied, "Well, first, I would recommend before you ask a question like that you should actually not show that you obviously know the answer."

70. She rolled her eyes and then continued," Second of all, ask me directly and I'll consider it." She watched him now with curious girl eyes and leaned on her cart watching the bright fluorescent lighting of the supermarket glaze him over with a look of astonishment. Edward was both pleased and surprised. He ventured out another pick up line.

71. "Well, I guess I will have to take you up on that offer won't I? I’m Edward Howards and who am I asking directly, Miss.?

72. "Reese. April Reese."

73. He looked at her a little curiously and asked in a joking manner, "Are you by any chance related to the product of the same name?" He asked.

74.

75. ...and so that is how it all began more or less. They began dating almost immediately afterward. It was really because of her desperate need to have someone else to help push her to get over Greg. It was a vain attempt, everything was so rushed, but in her mind it just seemed so perfect. It was like a dream from a scene in the end of a cowboy movie, where a man would sometimes ride off into the sunset with the rescued dame.

76. One morning as they walked the long road together and finally came to an old coffee house they had a talk.

77. April sighed and recited to herself, " I really love coffee, I'm so glad you know. I'm April and I kill wild beasts."

78. Ed looked at her through the rising steam of his cooling mug and smiled. He loved random women.

79. "You know what I like about you, Ed dear?"

80. "Heh, what's that?" he asked as he took another sip and glanced out the glass window briefly and noticed two young kids kissing next to them. Public displays of affection sometime really annoyed him, especially when he was on a date.

81. "It’s that you’re so good to me…maybe I am a little too hopeful and optimistic about you though. Rationally, I should be wary of such handsome man like you, but I would hate for you to disappoint me." She made a sweet pouty face and it looked almost like she was faking it, but he smiled nonetheless and replied. "April, I would never do that. It seems to me like you were too good for that ***** you told me about anyway. You have me now."

82. He held her icy hands in his to reassure her. She looked up and there was a gleam in her eye, almost like a sense of hope when she looked into his eyes. She really did want to have kids someday. She wondered now, looking at him if they should. She knew it was a rash thing to ask but she had to just out of curiosity.

83. "Ed, Hun, I think it would be nice to settle down and have children, don't you think that would be a good idea? Not that I'm asking you or anything. Don't you just think it'd be a sensible idea? "

84. Ed kept glancing unintentionally at the couple still making out in the middle of the sidewalk. Pedestrians had to walk around them. He banged on the window to get their attention. They looked at him giggling and ran off.

85. "*****, high school kids."

86. "Honey, I asked you a question."

87. "Huh? Oh, well I think it would be a nice idea to settle down and get our own place together."

88. "OH YOU!" she got up over the table and hugged him. He reacted perplexed.

89.

90. For a few weeks afterwards, he began to spend the night at her apartment just a few nights at her place to see what it was like to wake up to a beautiful girl every morning to please him.

91. After about two months later which was the middle of June, they had grown very comfortable to each other. They bought candles together, danced to techno, made out in the rain and took pictures at cosmopolitan events.

92. They liked to stay up late from 12 to 3 a.m. downtown and in the park.

93. The more April thought about it though during their make out nights, she realized how he was always very aggressive into wanting to get into her pants. She felt she still wasn't completely over Greg to move onto that stage of dating yet, she lie on her side looking longingly out the window and almost felt that she missed her blonde haired Greg. With Edward Howards it was different; they hadn’t even had sex yet. This wasn’t the first time he had spent the night, she simply enjoyed the company of a warm body next to hers when previously it had always been absent. She felt he understood that when she first said no and was content with that.

94. She didn't want to become one of those girls who gives it away or uses it as an anti-depressant against pain. She almost grew increasingly afraid to turn him on, because the more she teased him the more aggressive he became.

95. They were in bed one night, having the usual pillow talk. The television set was on in the background and he had just finished brushing his teeth. He was pretty used to sleeping in her bed, he turned off the light.

96. "Honey, come to bed please."

97. She liked to have the television on for background noise.

98. He came to bed very tired from work, smelling clean, and some ideas on his mind. He snuggled up close to April and pushed his hip into her behind. She felt his presence and pushed him away.

99. "What's the matter, April? We have been dating for a month or so now at least. Can I not get at least something?" He pushed forward and persisted.

100. "No, not now Edward..."

101. She said it so playfully at the time.

102. The faint voice from the television was among the sounds heard as she screamed, "Last night, the Kansas City serial rapist struck again...police found the body of a local woman...more updates ahead on your 10 o clock news program...."

103. The Agony of Not Knowing

104. In lonely corners, the lucky ones were found. This was the tenth one this week. Another victim. He had been fortunate enough to spot this one. Gregory Dawson, still distraught over his breakup, wondered who the sick ***** was going around playing Jack the Ripper. He was walking out of the Lucky Laundromat, on Fourth Street, passing by the alley he heard that woman’s screams. Dawson then entered the role of a citizen hero as his emergency instincts sprung fire and his self-defense confidence enraptured him to action.

105. “Hey, you *****! Get off her!”

106. His legs acted and sprinted towards the scene, catching a glimpse of the perpetrator. His arm was ready and blew-up a punch into the man’s face, hitting him right on the nose.

107. The woman was alright, he did the right thing. He gave his report to the police and looked after the distraught girl. Dawson couldn’t bear to witness her tortured self beat itself up over what happened. He had to keep reassuring this woman, that it wasn’t her fault, it wasn’t her fault. He'd seen women like her at the ER. He had been spending more time there, escaping his past. It wasn't ever pleasant.

108. He hesitated to leave that woman back there, but he walked her home and made sure she was safe. He declined her offer have dinner. She called a friend. He had read the papers, and he wondered about April. Last week he saw her walking down the street, from a distance. He looked away, she didn’t notice him, and she was with an unfamiliar man. Seeing them both, he had a bad feeling. He was afraid to confront her, he assured himself, pessimistically that she didn’t want to see him; she didn’t think of him much. He regretted acting like a lazy ***** to her feelings.

109. He just couldn’t stand the stress of the situation he was in; his residency was tough, tougher with her in the picture.

110. A flash burst into his head, he was standing in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror, looking into his own eyes when it dawned on him why that man in the alley was so familiar….but, “no,” he though to himself, “it couldn’t be, April would know if some guy was dangerous...” He splashed water on his face; he washed away that thought, that intention. “Wouldn't be nice to intrude on her. She looks happy.” He didn’t like second guessing himself, especially when it came to deciding life or death.

111.

112. A Crying Shame

113. Sirens wail through April's ears like a blazing brush fire. Vaguely, she feels her body being lifted onto a stretcher. The soft murmurs of the paramedics drill their voices into her splitting head. They use their paper gauze and bandage her up the best they can while they whisk her away to a red colored ambulance with red and blue flickering lights.

114. The neighbors gather round their front suburban lawns near the 3 story apartment building at 3 o clock in the morning. A soft blue moon hangs overhead against the twilight sky, surrounding them outside.

115. "It's a crying shame," says one man wearing his slippers and holding a barking dog.

116. "...is that the Reese woman from the 3rd floor?"

117. "Yeah, I heard she was pregnant too...it's very sad."

118. "I pray to God that her baby lives. It would be a sin, I tell you if it didn't!" says an old woman wearing a pink robe from next door.

119. The headlines for the local The Kansas City Star paper read "Local Rapist Captured"

120.

121. "Breaking news today...I repeat, the Kansas City Rapist has been captured..

122. It was right after she was left in bed ashamed that she realized he was nothing more than a careless flesh-hungry jerk. She was nothing more than a prop on a stage to be used up with an act in some over-rehearsed play. She fell asleep in a fetal position feeling more alone than when she left that boy named Greg and guilty for trusting her own instincts for so-called love.

123.

124. He never called her in the days coming after and she didn't say anything to anyone. She became withdrawn and kept to herself. She reflected on the event often and dreamed in nightmares and hot flashes of sweat soaking her sheets. She was afraid of every man that looked at her and doubtful of those that spoke anything kind to her. He had made her very afraid, she no longer trusted any man. “Trust no man” is something she heard in a movie once. She was angry at herself for being such a fool and falling for a man like that.

125. It was only 2 weeks later that she finally forced herself to have a talk with Margaret about it.

126. "Maggie, I need to tell you something." she said as she invited Margaret. The day before they had planned for some lunch together at April's apartment. The sun-washed carpet shone as the heat shot through her window and the ceiling fan was on. It was the beginning of June and hot as hell outside.

127. Margaret stepped into the house and sat at the cheap blue dining table that was under the ceiling fan. It whirred as they spoke. "What's wrong, April? You sounded upset."

128. April was already seated and poured some tea into two cups, one for her the other for Margaret.

129. "I have something to tell you; it is very important." She sipped her tea and held the cup shakily but steadily. Her eyes darted around the warm room and the ceiling fan did nothing to help. Her apartment had a cheap A/C as big and fancy as it was.

130. "I haven't had my period."

131. Margaret stared into April's eyes searching for what to say and what it all meant. April's eyes were discolored, distanced and pale. "What does it mean?" she asked sincerely, she hadn't touched her tea yet.

132. "It means I'm ***** pregnant!" she held her arms out exasperated and pleading almost for God to make her pregnancy go away, give away her so called miracle. She pushed forward some used pregnancy tests that answered for themselves.

133. "Who's the daddy?"

134. "It's Edward's. He doesn't know. What am I going to do, Maggie?" She looked down and held her face in her hands. April looked up with pleading glittering eyes that swelled with tears.

135. "The only thing is, Mags, is that I can't. I just can't tell him."

136. "Why not? He's the father. You could at least try to get something out of him. I don't why you're so upset."

137. She shook her head, "No, no, no! I can't. He violated me, Margaret, he-he forced himself on me. I haven't told anyone except you, right now. I told you we just broke up, but he just left me there all bruised and banged up. There was no breaking up. I don't feel like you're taking me very seriously though. I’m telling you ***** like this you can't be more serious about this, than maybe I shouldn’t have told you this crap. You’re just so casual about this. *****!" She held back confident tears as she said this.

138. "B- but, I do, April. You don't think I would the most? Let me tell you something, I wouldn't ever back down on you. We are mature adults here and I just want to be calm for you. If it seems like I'm being casual about this; I'm just shocked, very shocked." she cried also silently and held her hand.

139. She was left deciding on again and off again what to do.

140. Ruined Lives

141. Time passed on by, long and hard like the sweltering heat that bellowed around the usually mild weather of Kansas City. April was already at the end of her third month of pregnancy and by then it was apparent inside her mind what her crucial choice would be. The fate of an unnamed child was unknown to most of her peers, friends, relatives and acquaintances. Her stomach had begun to bulge with the remarkable signs of childbirth. It was awkward that some motherly friends had already guessed about it though, all those incessant smiles and the throwing of congratulations. All the signs were there, her morning sickness, bloated ankles, and worse of all resorting to loose fitting clothes.

142. It was all very upsetting to her because she could not bear to part her guilt to the general public. She had to stay inside to avoid the embarrassment, to avoid the questions. Not just about her situation, but her appearance of guilt. Her chest, she felt had been marked with a terrible burden. She had already made her decision and she couldn’t back out now.

143. It was an inevitable thing that eventually, by the rule of six degrees of separation and little game of telephone, word finally reached Mister Edward Howards. He lived in the same neighborhood of course. It was a hot boiling August morning when he found out.

144. Some friend of a friend was mentioning some humorous and philosophical anecdote about her friend expecting a new child. Edward just so happened to be having breakfast at the table nearby where the telephone call was being made at the local diner. A woman was on her cellular, calling direct to Biloxi, Mississippi. She was in her early thirties, apparently speaking to an old casual friend by the tone of her voice. Edward caught only bits and pieces.

145. "Oh...went to a baby shower...I know, I could not believe it either! ....you probably met her at that New Year's Party a couple years back...OMG! Yes! ....horrible date...he is the father...I know, everyone I know is getting pregnant too, it’s like some kind of fashion statement! ...it must be that time of the season...some girl in my building is pregnant also....I don't know, Amanda maybe? No... Reese is her last name, I remember because I asked her if she was related to chocolate..."

146. Edward pretended to absent mindedly thumb through his paper and scooted in closer to hear the irrelevant conversation all of a sudden become relevant. He didn't hear much else afterwards; however, the conversation ended three minutes later after going off topic several hundred times. She then made another phone call and sang off conversations at a hundred miles a minute. Edward's mind wandered off into the deep abyss of his paranoid mind. He flashes back abruptly to that moment in which he inflicted pain.

147. Her face, that frightening and haunting face he can't get out of his mind. Her muffled screams when he finally managed to die her down with an extension cord. The bruises were everywhere. To him he will always remember it as being beautiful and horrible. He didn't understand why hearing about her made him feel guilty; he was supposed to be cunning and heartless. It was funny, because once he met her he never had the heart to kill her. Maybe it was her reply that impressed him, piqued his interest. Back when he met her at the supermarket, he never expected much. But somehow she was different. Now, he regrets having let her beauty rot with his seed.

148. All of a sudden it hits him. The implications of the conversation he had with her once. "...I think it would be nice to settle down and have children..." Goosebumps and fear trickled through his veins as he recalled that sentence. His mind races through several million possibilities of ways she would approach him out of the blue and force him to pay child support, or worse get him to marry her. He never thought to keep her quiet for good. He got sloppy that one time in the alley and with her. Some loose ends had to be tied up, he thought to himself. He smiled slyly as he sipped his orange juice and thumbed through The Kansas City Star. He then knew what he had to do as he read the headlines again of another body found lying in a ditch. It related something about the Kansas City Rapist.

149. The woman from the table next to him suddenly became noticeable since her voice was shrill and obnoxious, talking nonstop. Annoyed, he suddenly banged on the table and said, "Can't you ***** shut up, woman? I'm trying to have breakfast here!" He then abruptly took his leave as he left his cash on the table, folded his newspaper, and walked out the door.

150.

151. She was lying on a chair thinking about everything, like her decision for why she waited so long, and what it would be like to give up a child. She was bathed in the sunlight of her apartment. A sick feeling was churning in her stomach, her bile was at the back of her throat and her conscious was weighted. She had not slept much lately, her eyes were heavy and though the burn of the sienna sky made her drowsy she could not help but stick to her incessant insomnia. It was the late hours of the evening and her house clothes were subtlety tight fitting on her growing body.

152. There was an empty cup of coffee next to her. She couldn't allow herself to sleep; it was just frightening to imagine the nightmares she would have. It sent chills up her spine remembering the worst things in her. She blankly stared out the dull orange sky. Lately, she had been even more withdrawn to herself. She just could not bear all the positive reception she had over her "upcoming bundle of joy." It was not fair to fake a smile and lie to them all about who the father was or what the sex of the baby was or the fact she hadn't even talked to a doctor yet. She had sought for no help at all.

153. It went on and on and on, days of blissful silence.

154. She was about to serve herself more cold coffee when there was a knock on the door. Strolling to the door, she found herself slightly lightheaded and with blurred vision. It would explain why she acted so sudden when she saw a familiar figure through the oval shaped peephole.

155. He wore tattered clothes and looked like a suspicious figure. He was almost wholly unfamiliar to the dazed and confused April, especially considering the bandage on his nose. A forgotten alarm clock that was set erroneously, sounded and briefly frightened the nervous presence of Edward.

156. A sort of pop rock chorus echoed from April's room with a heavy bass line beat.

157. "Edward is that you?"

158. "Yeah, it's me honey."

159. She could hardly recognize him under the disguise of recent facial growth and a hard and sullen face that showed signs of heavy hallucinogenic use of intravenous things.

160. "...every night she just can't stop..." crooned the decadent lyrics from a hard voice in a black box blinking red.

161. Edward didn't like that she forgot him and the ensuing events that occurred were violent and graphic. He burst through the door.

162. He beat her and and she lay naked and tied while he admired her beautiful body one last time before he took her to the knife found in the alley. She was stabbed seventeen times before he left and the paramedics arrived. The music ended with an abrupt dissonant chord and the last words spoken were falsettoed, "...please, please,..." He forgot to close the door. He was too loud.

163.

164. "...The Kansas City Rapist was arrested following the discovery of the body of April Reese. Reese was rushed to the hospital before being pronounced dead. She was twenty-three years old. Officials say that she was in her third month of pregnancy...in other news..."

165.

166. A young resident, by the name of Gregory Dawson at the local hospital was on hand in the emergency room when she finally was denied the will to live by God. 2:03A.M. was the time of death. If only he knew, if only he knew to act upon instinct!

167.

168. Edward Howards was put on trial three months later following the national news coverage of the story. The death of Baby was what sparked controversy. Public opinion wanted him dead.

169. "Death to the accused, the scum, the human menace." was the outcry across the nation.

170.

171.

172.