I pulled up to the address I'd been given. I gently push the shifter into neutral and wipe some condensation from the window of my old Honda. Peering through the small clearing on the window I size up the house.
It looked like it had been expensive but not maintained in years, maybe decades, giving it a forbidden quality. There are no lights on inside, only a dimly illuminated walkway up to the porch. I nervously reach into the pocked of my hoodie, feeling the familiar cool glass and plastic of my phone. I slide it from my pocket, the screen illuminates automatically as I hold it up.
"Go to 3217 Corella St. ask the man staying there for 'The Yellow Package' then head to Woodrow Park. I'll send further details once you arrive. Do not look inside the package." I'd accepted a new gig on a sugar daddy site. He'd offered me $750 per completed assignment, but that he wouldn't need to meet me or expect anything physical. I figured it would be something like sending him some lewd pictures, maybe wrap myself in cellophane or choke myself on camera a bit, maybe squishing my feet in jello or something, typical fetish stuff. Instead I'd first gotten a text to walk through Woodrow Park. Not naked or in heels or even a tight dress, just walk through the park in sweats in the middle of the night. Obviously I brought a knife and taser, as I had tonight.
The few stairs leading up to the porch were dimly lit, each creaking as I shifted my weight onto it. My eyes scanned back and forth as the old wood flexed beneath me.
I'd gotten the text earlier today. Simple instructions to pickup a package and head again to Woodrow Park. I was in the middle of some particularly stimulating reading when I'd gotten the text. I pulled on a simple getup, sweats, a green tank-top, and a zip up hoodie with my former college's logo on the back. I'd tied my hair up in a quick pony tail as I'd struggled to get my car to turn over. The tank was low, but I was pretty sure I had enough gas to get to the location, then to the park. Once I had my pay I could fill up the tank and save some for the rent payment I was behind on.
I knocked once, before I could even bring my knuckles down a second time the door swung open just enough for an eye to look out through the crack.
"Yea? What do you want?" a gruff mans voice sounded out through the crack. There was a soft yellow light coming from behind the man, obscuring his facial features, but he was clearly at least 6 foot, maybe a little taller. I look up into his one exposed eye, before immediately dropping my gaze to the floor.
"I'm- uhh" I pause in my panic, I'd read the text a thousand times already but the moment the door opened every word slipped out of my mind. I fumble for my phone again raising it up and reading the text from the illuminated screen. "I'm here for the Yellow Package."
The man immediately closes the door before opening it again.
"Right this way ma'am" He says already walking away down the warmly lit hall. I quickly step inside, following the large man. I quickly follow him down the hall. He stops in a small common room, taking up a position standing beside a small coffee table with three identical packages on it. "If you don't mind me saying so, you're quite a bit older than the girls he usually sends."
I don't detect a hind of malice or venom in his voice, a simple observation. I don't respond to that. I'm 32 and am often mistaken for a college student or a recent grad. I stand up a little straighter and look impatiently at the three small packages on the coffee table.
"Am I here for you to look at, or do you have a package for me?" I ask, audible annoyance in my voice.
"Of course ma'am, please forgive me." He says quietly. He's dressed in a black polo shirt and khakis, with brown boots. A pair of sunglasses are visible in his breast pocket. Strange getup to be wearing in an old house like this. "Please select the Yellow package." He speaks directly and without hesitation.
I look at the packages. Each looks like a simple box wrapped in light-brown parchment paper. As I look closer though, I notice that there's a simple stamp on each. One is a smiley face, one is a tree, and one is a small teardrop. Each stamp is inked in a sort of pale grey ink.
"They're all the same color." The words escape my lips before I can even think about them. "I mean- which am I supposed to take? Which one is Yellow?"
"I'm sorry ma'am, I can't actually tell you." The man shifts, clearly a little uncomfortable. He adjusts his belt and scratches the back of his neck.
"Well, I don't know which one is which," I say quietly but with confidence, "I'm certainly not going to pick one at random." I look closely at the stamps again. Before the man can respond. I reach forward, place a hand on each side of the parchment paper box and lifting it quickly from the table and pulling it up to rest against my hip.
"Ok, I chose."
"Thank you ma'am." the man says in response, "please exit the building the way you came in," he pauses for a moment,"and I apologize for the comment on your age, you're lovely and-"
Before he can finish I turn and utter a quick thanks.
----------------------------
I feel the engine start to sputter and spit. I pull over to the side of the road and put the car into park.
"Fuck." I mutter under my breath. I'm so close, less than a mile and it's all downhill. I look over to the small box sitting in the passenger seat. The small smiley face looking back at me. A gentle rain begins to tap against the roof and windshield. I exhale deeply.
"Well I guess I'll get in my steps today." I sigh as I open the car door. I step out into the dark and sprinkling rain.
By the time I reached the front gate of the park my zip up hoodie was beginning to chill me. The rain wasn't falling hard, but it was steady and building on the soft fibers of my hoodie. The moment I stepped into the park, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and heard the familiar ping of a new text. I shift the package to one hand, pinning it against my hip as I fish in my pocket for my phone.
"Good girl, just a little further now"
-Jackson
Three periods in a bubble show he's typing more.
"Proceed straight up the path from the entrance. Once you reach the end of the path, you'll see some woods. Keep walking straight and you'll come to a shallow pit. Place the box in the pit and you're done."
-Jackson