The word Nani saved my life

Saalik Jackson

 

         The word Nani saved my life 

There was an unusual amount of silence at 10 am on a Thursday.

Usually the train station was more occupied. However for some strange reason it wasn’t. It seemed to not have any importance so I didn’t think much of it .

I went into my pocket to reach for my wallet only to discover that both my money and metro card was missing. At this point I didn’t have any time to go back home . At that moment I remember what a friend once told me “look both ways before you hop the turnstile”. So I did just that without hesitation. I then casually walked towards a seat and waited for my train. It still seemed strange that no one at all was in this train station. I looked up at the screen and it said my train would arrive in 40 minutes. “GREAT” I sarcastically thought to myself.

Then suddenly I got a report notification on my phone. “Man stabbed to death in Flatbush”. I thought to myself “yea it’s tragic but this kind of thing happens”. I continued to use my phone . I opened Facebook and then began to scroll through it. Then I felt my jaw drop in horror. There was a post with an image attached to it. It said “masked serial killer uncaught, stay away from Flatbush ave, please lock your doors and avoid the subway. At that moment a great panic disseminated throughout my body. Still, complete silence remained in the train station. I tried to relax. I placed my hand in my pocket and reached for my earbuds. I plugged them into my phone only to find out that they stopped working. I started to rationalize. I thought to myself  “Ok yea there’s a manic running loose but what are the odds that…”. Suddenly I heard the turnstile make that noise when someone swipes. Now you would think it was just a regular law abiding citizen considering the fact that he swiped. “ wow even serial killers have morals, you’ll kill someone but won’t dare evade train fare” I thought. I didn’t turn to look but I was ready to face him. I was mentally preparing to strike him and then run. But to my surprise, it turned out to be just a regular guy. His hair was kempt and appeared to be very neat. He wore a white dress shirt along with grey pants and a tie to match. He also wore shiny dress shoes that looked brand new . He happened to be carrying a black briefcase. He kept checking his watch, “he must be late for work” I thought.  I felt relaxed now as opposed to how I felt minutes prior. He came and sat down next to me. Nearly 10 minutes of complete silence go by. He remarked out loud “this train is taking forever”. “Yea I know” I said in response. He said “hey how long have you been sitting here anyway”. “ I don’t even know, that screen has said 40 minutes for like 20 minutes. I think it’s broken” I told him . He started to talk to me to pass the time. He started asking me questions. He asked me how I felt about Donald Trump. I found that incredibly bizarre. “Ummm I’m not really into politics but I think he’s crazy and I feel like he is unqualified to be president” I said. His piercing gaze then permeated my soul. He said “ Ok that’s interesting. I asked him why did  he ask me that question. He then told me he loved to hear what people thought about Trump. He said that he found it entertaining. He then asked me if I liked math. I looked at him and said “ MATH? I absolutely despise math. Algebraic equations are literally the most useless thing in life”. He then Looked at me again with that same gaze from before. His eyes then widened. He seemed surprised. “ wow really? That’s crazy, I love math” he said to me. “I can’t imagine why” I told him. He then said “ Oh it’s just something I’ve always loved. He then proceeded to ask me another question, but this time he clenched his briefcase. “Oh speaking of things I’ve always loved, do you watch anime?” He asked. “YES I LOVE ANIME” I exclaimed. Still clenching his briefcase, he asked “ what’s that word that the Japanese says? I can’t remember what it is”.  “It’s Nani” I told him. We then both laughed about it. Then abruptly I heard “5 train to eastchester Dyer ave approaching station.” I asked him if he was getting on. He said “ nah I’ll wait for the 4”. “Oh ok well have a nice day” I told him. Later that night when I got home and turned on the tv. The news was on. I hardly ever watch it but I was too lazy to change the channel. Then my eyes locked on to the screen. The news anchor proclaimed “ local serial killer caught earlier today at 5 pm. He murdered at least 3 more victims before his arrest.” I wasn’t very surprised. Well not until his face was shown. That was the same exact man that I had spoken to earlier in the train station. They then started to describe his methods. He likes to spend exactly 10 minutes observing his victims before starting his process. This is why he always carries a watch. He would then ask his victims 3 questions. Essentially if he didn’t like all three answers that he was given he would kill and disfigure his victims. Found on him was a pocket knife and just a briefcase. Inside the briefcase was a much larger knife along with a protective mask. Both were stained with blood. I watched the news report in horror. Without a doubt, the word Nani had saved my life.