Soul Hostage Read Online Free PDF Page A

He seemed to lose himself in the visions of his past.  His lip curled somewhat into the hint of a smile, and he nodded a little without realizing it. The question from Joey yanked him out of his happy place.
    “So what the hell happened?  I mean, you ain’t no businessman now.”
    Louis Stoaffer looked a Joey but was silent for a few seconds as if contemplating the question.  The only sound he made was the clicking of the mint rolling around in his mouth.
    “No, I would have to agree with you.  I ain’t no businessman now.”  He chuckled without humor.  “But as to what happened…”  The old man paused as if trying to sort out the answer in his head.
    Before he could continue, the sound of a siren distracted us all.  We all looked around to locate the direction of the sound.  Within seconds, two white and green Butte County police cars appeared in front of us and sped by. 
    “Looks like there must be some trouble in town.”  Stoaffer commented with something close to giddiness. 
    “Let’s just hope that our friends have the good sense to do as they were told.”  I commented flatly. 
    Joey added, “Guess we’ll know soon enough. Right now we jus’ need tuh get outta here.”  Then looking at Stoaffer, he said, “So as you were sayin’…” 
    “Yes, you wanted to know how I went from being a successful, wealthy businessman to … to ... uh … to the person you see before you.”
    I found myself very interested in what Stoaffer had to say and straining my ears to catch every word.  A glance into mirror showed that my interest was shared by Joey.
    “I suppose it should come as no surprise that a woman played a key role in my tumble.”
    A chuckle from Joey distracted Louis Stoaffer for a moment.  The old man smiled at him before continuing.  “Yes, it’s certainly not a new story.  All the way back to the Garden of Eden, right?” He looked to Joey for a sign of agreement, which he got in a nod.  “However, this woman’s name wasn’t Eve, and she definitely wasn’t offering apples.”
    Even in the rearview mirror, Stoaffer’s hesitancy to call up the deep, painful memories was obvious. He squeezed his eyes tightly closed for a few moments.  When he reopened them, the strange old guy was smiling the same weird, sort of glowing smile that I had seen in the grocery store. His smile seemed to pull everything into it.  It was like his smile was the only thing that mattered. I could not avoid gazing at the old man’s smile.
    I am not sure exactly how long I stared into the smile on Louis Stoaffer’s face.
    “Hey!  Watch the road!” Joey’s voice brought me back behind the steering wheel of the old light blue Lincoln Continental with white interior and suicide doors which had drifted into the gravel on the shoulder of the road.
    I quickly put us back on the road while being careful not to let my eyes float back to the rearview mirror.
    “The woman of whom I speak is named Theresa.” He paused for a few seconds as if saying the name had used all of his energy.  He continued in a quiet  voice, “We were married for four years. Not every minute was wonderful, but most of them were.”  In an even quieter voice, “At least, that is what I thought.”
    Despite my uneasiness about Louis Stoaffer, I again found myself hanging on each word and did not like waiting as he took a long pause.
    Finally, he took a deep breath and continued with renewed energy,  “All I can is that the woman was a lying bitch!”
    Joey showed his support by exclaiming, “Fuck the bitch, Lou!”
    Stoaffer turned to him with a slightly-twisted grin curling his lips.  “Thank you for your support, my friend. As I was saying, I was under the false impression our state of holy matrimony was in fine shape. My business was doing quite well, which allowed us to enjoy a very comfortable life.”  He paused again as his mind ran through memories of good times. 
    Looking into the rearview mirror, I was again