Death of an Escort by Nathan Pennington

an extreme rate, and
I must have been a sight, but no one was around to see it.
    Water was useless to get pepper spray off.
The stuff can only be removed with petroleum based products, paint
thinner, or acetone. I was heading for my car because I kept a
small can of gas in the trunk for emergencies.
    Never did I imagine that would include
washing my face in the stuff, but life is stranger than fiction
they say.
    I remembered that I'd parked several cars
over from the door to the lunchroom, and I was in the second row of
cars.
    Still, using one hand to guide me, I made my
way out to the parking lot and beyond the first row of cars.
    I grunted as I walked into the back of a
truck in the second row. Now I had to make my way to the right. How
many cars over was I? Three, four, six? I didn't really
remember.
    Would I be able to recognize my car by the
feeling? Did I know what my car felt like? I doubted it.
    But without any other choice, I began making
my way toward the area where I had parked.
    I counted out three cars. The third car was
parked with the front out. I could feel the grill, and I knew that
wasn't mine. I had parked pulling in.
    The next car had giant fins. It must have
been a car from the Fifties or Sixties when they made cars like
that. It wasn't mine.
    The next car felt right. Then I had the idea
to feel for the name of the car. I felt, and I found it. I traced
the letters with my hand. It was Toyota. So was mine.
    I trailed my hand across to the other side
feeling for the model name. My hand traced the letters again.
C-O-R-O-L-L-A. My car was a Corolla.
    I got my keys out of my pocket and fumbled
around trying to jab the key in the trunk keyhole without looking.
Not very easy.
    Finally, I got it, and the trunk popped open.
In the right corner, behind the carjack was a small metal can. It
was about half full of gasoline.
    Stuffed next to it were some oily rags. I
took them out too. I sat on the pavement next to my car and for the
first time, took my other hand off my face.
    Blindly I tried to get the gas can open. I
heard a car roll by slowly, but no one stopped to help me. The lid
loosened, and I was able to get some dabbed on a rag.
    Now I began to clean my face. It smelled
terrible, but I could feel it thinning the viscous mixture and
lessening the amount on my face.
    I kept cleaning. Finally, I got my face
cleaned off. Gingerly, I opened an eye. The fumes from the gas
stung it, and it watered more. Using a dry rag, I scrubbed my
face.
    Now I was able to open my eyes, but I smelled
like a gas station, and I was quite flammable too.
    I decided the best thing would be to wash
here before anything else. So, I locked my trunk and re-entered the
lunch room.
    There was a kitchen-styled sink against the
short wall. It was the same wall that had the vending machines
against it.
    Here I took paper towel and water, and I
washed. Ten minutes later I was back at my car, and I caught a look
at myself in the rear view mirror. My eyes looked pure red. Way
beyond bloodshot.
    But at least, I had the gunk off me, and I
could see again. I looked at my watch. It was almost three in the
afternoon. Carlie would be off work soon, but the little kid sister
might be home from school.
    Perhaps she'd spill the beans about her older
sister. Carlie, like the other suspects, was hiding something.
    It may be nothing more than her lesbian
urges, but I had a feeling it was more than that.
    I left CarTech and headed to the home of
Carlie and her younger sister.
    After arriving, I went up the stairs and
knocked on the door to their unit. After a bit, the door opened up
slightly. It was held by a chain that wouldn't let it open all the
way.
    "Carlie?" The early-teen girl looked out.
    "No. It's me again," I said.
    She looked up at me. "What's with you? Have
you been drinking?"
    "No," I said. "I had a reaction to something
that got in my eyes. Can we talk about your sister for a
moment?"
    "Is she okay?"
    "I think so," I said. "I saw her earlier