What I didn’t know

The seat next to mine was occupied by a man, ‘Jeffrey Epstien’ if I remember correctly, I was shown his picture only hours earlier. The man looked almost identical to the picture fed to me however, his wrinkles looked deeper and his eye bags bigger, like they carried shame a picture could never capture, which I suppose they did. 

“Is that your seat sweetheart?”  he looked up at me with a smile, his voice sounding nothing out of the ordinary. This scared me more than it was meant to, or maybe I was right to be scared. People like him could be people I saw everyday and I wouldn’t have a clue. That was horrifying in its right.

I nodded not trusting myself right now, wary I would give everything away if I spoke. He stood up allowing me to pass through and settle in. As he sat back down in his own seat, I felt a slight reduction in air, like I was trapped, he on the other hand hardly looked bothered, if only he knew what was waiting for him on the other side, he'd probably be feeling as panicked as i was then.

I could hardly hear the voices on the loudspeakers, talking about seatbelts and safety routines, my mind occupied by other things.

I resolved not to speak to him as the plane rose and the buildings started to look like a lego set. What do you even say to someone like that? I thought about how I could have been the next victim if we were not on our way to the end of his ways. 

The silence tortured me, especially how he would glance at me every few minutes, like he was eager to be my friend. I tried to imagine how this would have gone if i wasn't contacted by the police a few hours ago. I would have probably smiled back, started a conversation perhaps. My teacher once told me I had a ‘bedroom voice’. I was 12 and didn’t have a clue what he was talking about then. Maybe a compliment of that sort would have been thrown my way and I would have ignored it. I shivered disgust filling my entire being.

“You cold?” I whipped my head around to face him, it was the first time he had spoken since the flight had taken off. “U-um no.” I gave him a nervous smile, waving my hands like a scared chicken, I was only one of the two. 

“It’ll be no bother to lend you my jacket” he gave me a toothy smile “i'm not cold at all” 

“Im fine” my voice sounded firmer. More myself. 

“What business do you have in New york” the mundane appearance of the question shocked me in itself. I had not given thought to the fact that he acts like a sane person on the outside.

“Holiday you” i thought of my resolve, but i decided to abandon it, resolve change and as we were nearing our destination in the air seemed less dense allowing for curiosity to seep in.

“Work related, in a fashion you could say”

“What work” I knew I was prodding but...

“To be honest it’s not the usual business” his fat fingers inched over the armrest, and all my relief was gone in that instant.

“Do you really want to know??” his voice got creepy.

I let out a nervous laugh that sounded more like a hiccup if anything.

“I'm just joking, it's for a freelance deal I'm closing.”

I gave him a nod and turned back to the clouds, grateful that his hand had retreated.

Did he usually play with his food like this, poking and prodding till he was ready to eat?

I pushed away those thoughts and let us sit in silence with his occasional glance routine.

Soon enough, we had landed, the wheels came to a stop and people started to leave and against my better judgment I turned to him to ask him the questions that had been bugging me since the flight took off.

“W-was I going to be your next victim, did you ever feel guilt or shame?'' I asked. My voice was weak and somewhat foriengn.

“FBI! You are under arrest on suspicion of sexual abuse and trafficking of multiple underaged girls Anything you do or say may be used against you."

Officers stormed past me putting the man still confused and at loss of words in handcuffs. I let out a huge sigh then, but up till now I still wonder how my questions might have been answered.