Ryan Ruiz - The Black Cadillac

“Well, it’s very pretty,” he said as the car drove down the road.

The man turned the volume up on his radio. The song “Every Time You Go Away” by Paul Young was playing through the speakers. The little girl continued to smile as the passenger window rolled up.

Sam Jennings was never seen alive again after that moment. That was five years ago.

The snow was lightly beginning to fall outside in the town of Tippwood, Ohio. Winter was coming to an end, and spring was right around the corner. The snow would fall one last time before spring. It was a normal morning for Cody Roberts, just like any other. The night had flown by rather quickly, and it was time to get ready for school. Cody’s mother had just come into his room to see if he was awake and getting dressed. The boy rolled out of his red metal bunk bed and looked around the room.

The room was like any other pre-teenaged boys’ room. There were sports posters on the wall of baseball players. A mini basketball hoop was attached to the door and there were clothes on the closet floor. His wooden desk was to the right of the window with an alarm clock radio and lamp on it. As much as he tried to keep his room clean, Cody just couldn’t the majority of the time.

“I’m going, I’m going, Mom. I’ll be downstairs in a minute,” said Cody.

“Okay, just making sure. It’s cold outside today, so dress warm,” his mother told him.

As Cody was putting on his sweater, he looked out the window and saw medium-sized snowflakes hitting the ground. He quickly ripped off his sweater and put on a long-sleeved shirt before placing the sweater back on. The boy grabbed some jeans from his dresser and put them on. He then put on a pair of tube socks and went into the bathroom next to his room to wash his face.

Finally ready, Cody hurried down the stairs and went straight to the heater vent on the floor of the living room.

It was 6:58 in the morning, and his mother set a hot cup of tea on the coffee table just a few feet away from where Cody was lying. He loved his tea in the morning because his mama had always told him that she made it with a special ingredient and three teaspoons of sugar. Plus, it kept him warm.

“How do you always make my tea so perfect, Mom?” he softly asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Because I put extra love in it,” she replied without hesitation.

The boy smiled and gently took a sip, being careful not to burn his tongue. He loved his mama and continued to smile at her even though he was still tired.

Her name was Georgiana Roberts, and she was a petite lady at just under five feet tall. She was a single mom supporting two kids and did an exceptional job raising them. Most of the time, she was exhausted from always working.

Still lying down next to the warm heater, Cody looked at the cuckoo clock on the living room wall, and though he didn’t want to, he gathered himself off the floor and walked into the kitchen. His book bag was on the kitchen table, with last night’s homework lying on top so he wouldn’t forget it. He placed his difficult math assignment in a folder and into his black book bag on top of his Trapper Keeper. He then went to the fridge, grabbed his brown-bag lunch, and dropped it in his book bag. His mother made him lunch every day for school. After drinking half of his tea, Cody rushed back upstairs to the bathroom to brush his teeth and put deodorant on.

The time was now 7:08, and Cody wanted to get to school a little early to meet up with his best friend, Zach.

His mom once again warned him about the weather, “It is very cold out there, so please bundle up.”

His mom proceeded to hand him a winter hat, insulated gloves, and a scarf knitted by his grandmother out of the downstairs closet. With his birthday only a few months away, the soon-to-be thirteen-year-old boy had already thrown on his heavy blue winter jacket and shoes. He looked like a little kid all bundled up in winter apparel.

His sister, Olive, was lying down on the couch, watching cartoons.

“Bye, Ol, have a good day at school. Love you,” shouted Cody.

“Bye, Code, love you too,” Olive replied with a big yawn, and it was obvious she was still sleepy. People close to the boy always called him Code and everyone called his little sister Ol for short.

His sister didn’t have to go to school till later, and the babysitter always took her to the bus stop.

As he headed out the door, his mom told him she loved him and that she would be home a little late tonight because it was month end at her work. Cody’s mom worked for a law firm in town, and the end of the month was always a busy time. Even though it was only March 19, Cody’s mother still had a lot of work to do in the last couple weeks of the month.

“Okay, Mom, see you later. Love you,” he replied.

“I love you too, sweetie!” she exclaimed again.

Walking out the front door heavily saturated in warm clothes, Cody hurried down the driveway and started walking east toward the school. His middle school was roughly six blocks away once he reached the end of his street. It took Cody usually fifteen minutes to walk to school.

While walking down his street, the wind had started to pick up and was making it a little tough for Cody to walk as fast as he wanted to. It was chilly like his mother had warned, and the cold air froze his face, turning it red.

Trying to stay occupied, Cody started humming in his head the song “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys as he strutted along. The song had been stuck in his head ever since it came out a couple of years ago. Cody imagined he was in the warm climate that the song was about. The winter wind started whistling. Cody always found himself humming when he was alone. It was a comforting thing for the twelve-year-old.

Because he left so early, there were no other kids walking on his street, so it was a very quiet walk. His street was long and full of uneven, broken-up sidewalk.

There was an open field on the other side of his street. The City of Tippwood tried to make it a park, but the funds never came through in the last levy. It was just an open field that people walked their dogs in. However, no one was walking their dogs today.

Many of the houses were all completely different with distances of about eight feet apart. Cody had always liked his street because of how unique it was. For the most part, his neighborhood was pretty friendly. The neighbors to the left of his house were elderly and always needed yard work done. Cody always volunteered to help them. The elderly couple always insisted Cody take some money for his efforts.

With the end of his street just a few more minutes away, Cody began to mutter to himself, “Man, is it cold out here.”

He took his fingers out of the top of his gloves and cupped them together inside the gloves. His grandfather, who was an old war veteran, taught him that trick to keep his hands warm. While adjusting his bag with his hands still cupped, Cody slipped on the slick concrete and fell to the ground.

Just then, a small rumbling seemed to come from behind him down his street. It sounded like a big car or truck. Cody picked himself up off the ground and continued walking, hoping that no one had seen him fall. The rumbling was getting louder, so he turned to look. He noticed a pitch-black vehicle with blackened-out windows pull up to the side of his street right next to him.

The car moved ever so slowly as Cody watched from the corner of his eye. Slightly frightened, Cody stopped walking and froze then looked at the car. It was shiny and black, with windows as dark as night. The vehicle had chrome scattered on the front and the back of it. Cody had no clue what the car was doing.