Unknown
by Jesse Sherwood
Who is this?
You know who it is.
Um, no I don’t.
Think.
Look, I’m not in the mood to play games.
Think back to last Tuesday.
Is this Sharon?
You know this isn’t Sharon.
Okay, I’m blocking this number.
Remember Tuesday? At the mall?
Not really. I work there. I’m there all the time.
I know.
WHO IS THIS?
Guess.
How am I supposed to guess when you won’t tell me anything?!
Come on, Darryl…think…
You want me to remember last Tuesday?
Yes. At the mall.
Oh! Are you that girl who came in and bought that killer dress?
Try again.
I didn’t give my number to anyone at the mall.
No. You didn’t.
How’d you get this number then?
Come on. This has to be someone messing with me.
You could say that.
I don’t have time for this.
I don’t either.
What’s that supposed to mean???
I think you know what it means.
No, I don’t!
What’s this about? Can you please tell me?
It’s about you.
What about me???
Who you are.
What?
Who are you, Darryl?
I’m me. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!
I’m me too.
Okay, I’m done. You’re getting blocked.
Go ahead and try.
See? I’m still getting through.
How’d you do that? I just blocked you.
Think about last Tuesday, Darryl.
WHAT ABOUT TUESDAY?!
What happened?
Nothing.
Really Darryl?
Nothing happened!
Yes it did.
What happened at your job, Darryl?
How did you know about that??
What happened, Darryl?
I got fired.
And why did that happen?
I’m not telling you.
Do you think I don’t know?
I lost it, okay? Are you happy?
Lost it how?
I freaked out on a customer.
He was being rude to me.
What did you do to him?
I don’t want to say.
I don’t have to tell you anything anyway! Who are you?
What did you do to the customer, Darryl?
I hit him.
Is that all?
Yeah, that’s all!
What’s with the 20 questions?
Why am I even talking to you?! I’m blocking you!!
You did that already, remember?
What is going on?
WHY CAN’T I BLOCK YOU?!
What did you do to the customer, Darryl?
Nothing. Who is this?
You know who it is.
No I don’t!!
What did you do to the customer after your boss fired you, Darryl?
After you left the store?
NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
But it is my business, Darryl.
I followed the customer outside.
Then what did you do?
I hit him again.
With what, Darryl?
I can’t say it.
Why are you doing this?!?
It was something you shouldn’t hit a person with, wasn’t it Darryl?
Yeah. It was a hammer.
And they didn’t get up this time, did they?
No.
And they didn’t talk back anymore, did they?
STOP!!!!
And no one saw you, did they?
That’s it? That’s what this is about?! You saw me do it?!
No, Darryl. That would have been impossible.
What do you mean?
It’s hard to observe something when you’re the one doing it.
What? What’s going on?
Is your phone on, Darryl?
Of course, duh. I’m on it with you!!
Are you?
What!?! You’re crazy.
What the hell are you talking about?!
Darryl looks down at his hands.
His phone is nowhere to be seen.
All he can see are his two clenched fists.
I’m you, Darryl.
I’m your conscience.
But you’ve known that all along, haven’t you?
And you know what you need to do now.
Darryl starts sobbing uncontrollably until he can barely breathe.
After the sobs start to subside, he picks up his phone and dials 911.
911, what is your emergency?
I need to confess to a murder…
Darryl was a minor, so he only had to serve ten years for the murder he committed.
When he was released from prison, he made sure his temper never got out of control.
And “Unknown” never contacted Darryl on his phone again.
App