by Peter Ruzzo

Created on: October 25, 2009

THE TYPIST: A TRUE CRIME STORY ( Chapters 1-2)

Chapter 1 Present Day

Michael lay in his bed after an hour of radiation therapy. The door was partially opened and he could hear the rumblings of nurses, doctors and custody staff outside his door. Two and half months of radiation therapy had left him drained. There was no end in sight to his suffering from esophageal cancer. The cancer rapidly destroyed the tissue in his esophagus and it had spread to his lungs. It was terminal and he knew it. It was a matter of time before he would pass. His chances were less than 20% survival rate for this type of cancer. If he had only sought care from the staff at the prison he would have had a better chance of preventing the spread of the disease. He had his reasons for delaying. No one could have convinced him to seek treatment.

2 years Ago

Two men traveled in a non descript black van towards Palm Desert California. One was a towering black man who stood 6' 7 and the other was a short Hispanic man 5' 4. Rodrique Van Blake was driving the van while gingerly eating a Twinkie. He was a former Marine and served in Iraq as a communications specialist. He loved Twinkies and his 325 pound frame was evidence of this. He ate at least a box of Twinkies every day.

His best friend, Gutierrez, seated next to him always ribbed him about his Twinkie habit. Van Blake always justified his Twinkie habit in ways which defied all conventional wisdom; at least the conventional wisdom of Gutierrez.

During the Iraq war Van Blake was on patrol in Sadar City with his platoon. They came upon heavy fire from the Iraqi resistance and had to retreat. They happened upon a two-story apartment building where civilians friendly to the Americans lived. An Iraqi family allowed them to seek refuge in their apartment until another platoon neutralized the threat. One of the girls, she could not have been more than 8 years old, was eating a Twinkie from a box which she carefully guarded from her jealous siblings. Van Blake looked at her and the Twinkie and smiled the widest smile the girl had ever seen. She offered him a Twinkie and Van Blake was hooked from then on. Within the next couple of weeks Van Blake was discharged and sent home. He felt that the chance meeting with the girl and the whole Twinkie thing was a sign of good luck. So he began eating Twinkies from that day forth hoping that it would lead to good luck.

That's your fourth Twinkie in 45 minutes. Uttered Gutierrez.

What do you care? Responded

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