Escalation
© Shannon S Michaels

[11]

Okay, okay, [inaudible] I’m doing it, just… [Inaudible.]

Yeah, um, my name is Sam Harris Turner. I’m twenty-four. I’m an engineer at one of the airplane companies in town, in, uh, Savannah. And… I’m telling you what I did because… [Sigh, throat clearing.] Huh. I got caught. [Inaudible. Thump.] And I’m stupid.

[34]

It all started, um, when my niece had, uh… had her birthday party at the bowling alley. Over on Victory, the one on Victory. She’s, uh, five and she’s heavy into playing dress-up. Uh… My sister-in-law, she told me that my niece wanted to wear her Halloween costume to the party. [Inaudible.] And I, uh, I started thinking: why, um, why do we only wear costumes on Halloween? Wouldn’t it be a riot to dress up and freak people out, just out of the blue?

[103]

So, um, that’s what started it. [Inaudible.] Okay. [Inaudible.] Okay, I said yes, just let me…

I um… The first time, huh, I put on this totally not scary Peter Griffin mask I got at Target. And I just walked along the side of the road. [Inaudible.] Over on Walthour. [Inaudible.] It must have been the end of April or something. I mean, I wasn’t sweating to death or anything, so it wasn’t summer. I, um… I just walked down the street. That was it. People swerved kind of far to avoid hitting me, and I got a few honks, a few more waves, and that was pretty much it. I thought it was funny, you know? Huh.

[406]

It made me feel kind of, I don’t know, giddy, I guess you’d call it. Like the way you feel after you ring somebody’s doorbell and run around the corner laughing. [Inaudible.] I swear I never meant to hurt anyone. Ow! Okay!

[783]

I, um… I went to work the next day and I had that kind of silly feeling all day. I wanted to, you know, do it again. It was like a rush, you know? But, um, the island I live on is kind of small – I wanted more people to see me. [Inaudible.] I didn’t want to go downtown. There’s too many cops hanging around, you know, with the tourists and all that. And, I thought, if I stayed on the island, who’s gonna call the cops because they see a guy standing next to the road in a Halloween costume? I mean, come on, harmless prank, right? I wasn’t doing anything… [Inaudible.] So, I, um… I went out to the marsh off of Highway 80, you know, right before you get to the big bridge that goes to Thunderbolt.

[1,497]

This was a couple of weeks later, like the end of May, beginning of June. Can I just…? [Inaudible.] I didn’t wear the Peter Griffen mask again. [Inaudible.] I wanted to do something freakier, you know, kind of shake people up a little bit on their way over to Home Depot or whatever. So, I, um… I have this box of Halloween junk in the closet in my back bedroom, you know? And I dug through old costumes. I, um… [Inaudible.] Yeah, I picked this “Scream” mask, you know, the elongated skull with the black hood? Um… huh… After work one day, I drove over to my friend’s parents’ place – they live over in the Marshes, off of 80, and I parked my car there.

[2,342]

I walked through the, you know, the yard at the side of their condo, and waded through the marsh back there with my mask stuffed in my back pocket. No one was around, so no one asked me what I was doing or anything. I remember being a little worried about alligators, but I’ve never seen one at that time of year. I’ve lived on Wilmington Island my whole life, except for when I was in school, down at Embry Riddle. Ow! [Inaudible.] Yeah, but… No… [Inaudible.]

[4,681]

Okay. [Sigh.] Um, yeah, I didn’t see any people or gators, so I waded out, almost halfway to this little island out in the middle of the marsh, the one with the flagpole on it. Dusk was just coming on, so I knew I could still be seen by the passing traffic on the highway. And it was rush hour, so there were plenty of cars. I squatted down and put my mask on. Then, I just stood up and, you know, just stood around for a while. I knew people saw me. A few of the cars slowed down, some people pointed. I had butterflies in my stomach and I was smiling underneath the mask. After about, I don’t know, ten minutes or something, I bent down, took the mask off, and waded back to my car. I laughed all the way home. [Thump. Thud.] This is, you know, really uncomf… [Inaudible.]

[7,853]

Um… [Throat clearing.] I read the newspapers and watched the news, checked the local TV stations’ websites, every day for maybe a couple of weeks. I never saw anything about a guy standing in the marsh wearing a “Scream” mask. So, I, um, I became obsessed with the idea of doing it again. But, I wanted to make it more intense. [Inaudible.] Yeah, I think they call that “escalating” on those crime shows. I don’t know. Anyway, I wanted to get closer to the people, see the surprise in their eyes. [Inaudible.] No, it wasn’t like that. [Inaudible.] I’m not crazy. It was just fun, that’s all. [Inaudible.] Okay! I am! [Sigh.] Yeah, I, um… I couldn’t wear the same mask again, so I rummaged through the Halloween box again and found an old werewolf mask.

[9,994]

I belong to the Y and they have this outdoor trail I run on sometimes. Real nice, wooded area, lined with palm trees… Ow, hey! [Inaudible.] Christ. [Inaudible.] The trail, um, the trail has this sign at the front that says the whole thing is under video surveillance at all times, but I know this girl who works there, and she says that’s bullshit. There aren’t any video cameras anywhere near that trail. There’s a police station next door, and the trail gets kind of close to it at one point, but that’s as much surveillance as there is.
[11,238]

So, I had this great idea: I’d wear my black running gear, run down the trail to this sharp turn by the pond, step into the trees, pull on my mask, and just stand there until someone saw me. [Inaudible.] I didn’t know anything would… [Thud. Throat clearing.] I get off work at five, and the trail is pretty crowded around that time, especially in June. So, uh, I decided to wait until about eight-thirty, you know, when it was just past dark, and there were only a few hardcore stragglers left out there. Christ, do we really have to… [Inaudible. Sigh.]

[12,640]

So, I got to the Y at about eight-twenty and ran down the path, mask in my backpack. I only saw one other runner on my way to the turn by the pond. It was this kind of heavy guy I’d seen running there a few other times. He didn’t look at me when he passed, seemed engrossed in whatever was playing on his iPod. I got to that sharp turn, looked around to make sure I was alone, and I stepped off the path and behind a tree. I pulled my mask out and I, uh, put it over my head. Then, I just stood next to the tree and, you know, waited.

[13,421]

The path is a mile all the way around, so I figured I wouldn’t have to wait any more than maybe ten minutes for someone to come by. And I was right. Just about ten minutes later, the fat guy came pounding towards me. I stood very still, a million butterflies fluttering in my stomach, trying hard to stifle my laughter. The fat guy must have sensed something because, as he came around the corner, he looked right at me, right at my face. Time seemed to stand still as his eyes locked on mine and his feet tangled, sending him crashing to the black top. His iPod got crushed underneath his right hand and his mouth moved like a trout’s in the bottom of a rowboat. He rolled onto his back and put a hand on his chest, his mouth still moving with no sound coming out. [Sniff.]

[15,692]

I was a little freaked, you know, but, um… I hopped onto the path, ran around the corner, and stuffed my mask back into my backpack. There was no one else on the trail. I ran to my car and, shaking like a leaf, drove home, laughing all the way. [Inaudible.] No, I didn’t think it was funny. Well, not really. It was just… No, can’t we just talk about this? [Inaudible.] Um, I heard on the news later that night that a guy had a heart attack at the Y and that he told cops that he saw someone in a werewolf mask. I felt bad. I really did. And, no, I’m not crazy, but I also felt… exhilarated. Alive. Like a kid. [Inaudible. Thump.] I will, damn it! Ow! I’m sorry. [Inaudible.]

[20,006]

God, I don’t want to… [Inaudible. Sobbing.] Okay. [Sigh.] Okay, yeah, that wasn’t enough, so I… I pushed it even further. A couple of weeks went by and I raided the Halloween box again. [Sobbing.] Why are you doing this to me? [Inaudible.] I know, I know, but, God… [Inaudible.] This time… I, um… I went back to the Scream mask. And, I, um… I got this idea… I stopped at Parker’s one day and ran my car through the car wash, you know? And, I… I was just thinking that it was kind of a creepy kind of place, you know? [Inaudible. Sniff.] So, okay, yeah, I…

[22,344]

One night, I took the mask and drove up to the Shell station, next to McDonald’s. I parked my car by Beef O’Brady’s and walked through the trees to the entrance of the Shell car wash. I had been watching the place for about two weeks, just to see if anyone ever used the car wash at night, and I’d seen about half a dozen people use it around ten o’clock. So, I waited for this guy to gas up his pick up and drive off, then I snuck into the car wash. Wearing a dark green L.L. Bean rain suit, I walked along the wall to a spot near the exit. I put my mask on and waited behind this big blue cylindrical brush. I was there for about five minutes when this guy… this guy in a black Charger pulled up and… dropped his tokens into the money box. [Sniff. Inaudible. Thump. Thump.]

[25,403]

He… [Sobbing.] He pulled onto the rails and eased into the middle of the little garage. The door closed behind him and a bell rang, signaling the start of the wash. Water sprayed out of vertical hoses, brushes spun, soap suds flew. I had watched the whole operation a hundred times over the past few weeks, so I had the timing down. After the hot wax sprayed, I jumped up to the driver’s window. I had… I had this… this emergency glass hammer thing in my pocket. And I… I… [Sobbing.] Please…

[Inaudible. Thud.] I broke his window. [Inaudible.] I… [Inaudible.] He looked scared. Really scared. And mad. [Sobbing.] I pulled a screwdriver out of my pocket and… You know, it was like when you get a really good grip on your golf club, you know? It felt that good, like a three-hundred yard drive… I… [Sniff.] I, um, I brought it way up and then jammed it into his shoulder. [Sobbing. Thud. Inaudible.]

[25,872]

I know, God, I’m sorrreeeeee… I was, I was, I was trying for his neck, but… [Sobbing.] And, now… he’s got me here, and he put me on this freaking web cam… streaming… No… Please, someone, I know there’s twenty-five thousand of you watching, help… [Screaming.] He’s…

[27,047 Total Hits.]

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