"A GIFT OF HAPPINESS" CHAPTER 7: THE NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 6TH
"A GIFT OF HAPPINESS" CHAPTER 7: THE NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 6TH
The death of the homeless man known as "Boxerman" marked a before and after in the history of the streets of Emerson. They said that the morning they found his corpse, a rainy morning, Boxerman was found in the back of an alley in between buildings. He was found with his eyes wide opened and his mouth wide opened. His hands, both of them were holding tightly his chest. The body had been there for a few hours.
At this point, the locals of the area started to find his and the death of other homeless people suspicious. The consensus until this point was that there was a disease plaguing the homeless but after Boxerman's death the locals started leaning toward there being a killer among their midst. The locals started to remember Boxerman's behavior prior to his death and when he started shouting as if he were a prophet:
"There's a fallen angel among us! There's a fallen angel among us!"
And reached the consensus that Boxerman was silenced by someone, most likely the culprit himself. The hot topic of the area was that there's a homeless men killer living in the neighborhood. Legends about a shadowy figure coming out of the Maple projects at night to kill homeless people started spreading around the area.
Because of the idea of there being a serial killer that targeted solely homeless people, people started becoming hostile towards the remaining homeless people that would come out. On one occasion, a homeless man named Xavier an older man was seen entering the Maple building project's courtyard. This caused the locals found there to become panicked and started throwing rocks at him, the result was that the homeless man left there running away.
The deaths stopped while the police presence was heavy but as the days passed the police presence also started to diminish. Because of this, slowly but surely, corpses started to pop up again. The locals started to believe that the killer was one of the homeless people and that he would hide inside the Maple building projects. Because of this, the ambience in the buildings was very tense. The locals were very weary of strangers at that point.
Some locals would tell anecdotes of a tall shadow walking through the streets at the late hours of the night, others would contradict those stories by saying that there were in fact three shadows instead of one. but these stories were considered as simple urban legends among the locals. Some locals even spoke of a ghost that would haunt the homeless and kill them as some sort of divine punishment.
On an occasion Leslie and I and Joan were conversing about the recent events. I found her commentary on the subject a little outlandish. Leslie genuinely believed that there was a ghost killing the homeless people.
"Ever since I was young I have believed in ghosts, ghosts are real Zoe and one of them is coming here to kill the homeless people."
"Leslie, you have to be crazy to believe in that sort of thing." I said to Leslie in response.
"Then why, whenever there's a new corpse found in the area, the corpses never show any signs of violence, and they always are found in the same way."
"You are referring to the 'official' cause of death?" Joan asked Leslie.
"Yes, how come all the corpses that were found a few weeks ago, were all declared dead for natural causes? Mostly heart attacks and some due to strokes? Obviously, they saw a ghost and were so spooked that they died of a heart attack or stroke. Or maybe the ghost caused them to die that way."
"Leslie, dead people are dead for a reason, if they could come back as ghosts and kill people then they would not really be dead." I said to Leslie. "So, the idea of a dead person coming back to kill people is kind of outlandish for you to say Leslie."
"I say that it is better to wait for the official report, I genuinely think that they are dying that way due to some kind of drug overdose type of deal." Said Joan.
"You really think that, Joan?"
"That actually makes sense, but wouldn't they know better by this point?"
"When addiction is the topic that's being introduced Zoe, logic is thrown out the window, an addicted person just wants more and that's that. Indulge first and ask questions later."
"Only that they don't get to ask questions, they straight up die for it."
"Then why are some locals saying they see a tall shadow walking through the streets towards homeless street at night?"
"People make things up all the time Les, stop believing in that stuff."
"You guys will see, when the evidence shows up."
Joan raised her eyebrow and looked at Leslie and asked her:
"How can you even sleep at night with that sort of belief Les?"
"I keep a nightlight on in my room every night just in case."
"That would not make any difference at all Les!" Both Joan and I started laughing at Leslie because of what she said.
"What do you mean? I keep the nightlight on so that when the ghost pops up, I can then run away immediately."
"You can't run away from a ghost Leslie, ghosts can pass through walls."
"I could at least see them and react to them."
"There's no use Les! If a ghost wants to kill you your dead."
Joan could tell at that point that our discussion was going to turn into an argument so she said:
"Girls, lets start getting ready, our break is almost over."
When we came out of the locker room right into the kitchen we noticed that the guys seem a little annoyed and frustrated.
"That's a lot of pies, those three orders will keep us busy for at least two hours or so." Said Phill as he grabbed a can of soda and started zipping on it.
"What's the deal with these people, this store is not going to go away, why do people be buying so many pies like this." Said Frank as he was applying tomato sauce to the dough.
"Wait is it that old hag again?" I asked in curiosity.
"If it was just her it wouldn't be a problem, we got her and two more people ordering about ten pies each."
"You mean we have to work on Thirty pies?!"
"Essentially."
I turned back to look at Joel's and Leslie's eyes and they looked back at me.
"You girls are going to have to do kitchen work today as we prepare these three orders." Said Frank.
We all let out a deep sigh, seems that we are going to have to take turns on the registers as the other two of us are going to prepare whatever customer orders come after the "big three" as we like to refer to these three orders.
"What kind of pies are they asking for?" Leslie asked.
"They are all Pepperoni pies with extra cheese, at least is not that hard." Phil said.
"Yea, is only going to be time consuming to prepare those." Frank said.
"Maybe we should ask Chris if we could close up the store for an hour or so, so that we could all help with the orders."
"I don't know if Joe and Chris would want that."
"Where's Chris?"
"Not here right now, he went on his break a while ago and hasn't come back."
"Call him then."
Frank let a deep sigh out and proceeded to call Chris, but Chris did not answer. Frank called him again but once again, Chris did not answer once again.
"How can you be sure that Chris is going to want to close the store up?" Leslie asked Phil.
"We done it before when we had large orders and there were no customers coming."
I then took out my phone and sent Chris a quick direct message:
"Yo Chris, we got three orders of 10 pies coming in, that makes it 30 pies. Can we close the store up for an hour so we can start getting ready?"
It took about five minutes until I got a message back from Chris.
"Close the store only for an hour, and as long as there is not too many customers, I'll be back in a few."
"Okay, Chris said we can close the store up for an hour."
"Okay."
After hearing this, the guys went ahead and closed the store and immediately we all started working on the orders. We decided to work on them one at the time. Mrs. Chidgey's orders we left for last because she always had a set time to pick up her orders. At this point, it was about 3:30pm so we had time, if we could knock out at least two of them in an hour, we could take care of Chidgey's while keeping the store opened.
Contrary to what you would believe, cooking up those orders was quiet fun. Since we didn't have to deal with any customers, we could all strictly focus on preparing the pies. The first two orders were going to be picked up by a delivery driver which is why we had to also focus on these two orders first. While making these pies we were also joking around and chatting.
At about 4:35pm on that day of September 6th, the first order had been complete, and it was ready to be delivered. It seemed that the people that made this order didn't live so close to the area which is why they sent someone with an SUV to pick the order up. The second order was about halfway done when the first order had been picked up.
If you are curious, the first order was exactly eleven large pepperoni pies with extra cheese. That made the first order about $330 dollars and some cents. Absolutely insane. The second was ready at about twenty minutes later it was about sixteen large pepperoni pies, this time no extra cheese. The second order came at about $400 dollars and some cents. After we finished loading the food into the car of the second driver, we opened the store back up.
The smell of cheese and dough was very strong inside the store which was good for the customers but a little sickening for us since we had to smell it for hours. The kitchen looked as if there was a massive brawl in our place. There was indeed a battle there, a war of dough and cheese sort of speak.
Since we were entering into the fall season, it was starting to get dark at about five. We called grandma Chidgey to tell her that her order was being prepared and that she could come down to pick it up at around 6:15pm. Mrs. Chidgey was very polite as always; she was our best customer. The night of September 6 had a full moon.
As the sun began with its resting routine and the moon took over the light deprived skies, winds started to blow strongly. It was a rather cold night that night as I remember. I remember that no one was out. Some police officers would drive by the area but nothing else.
Jeff actually showed up at about 5:45pm to order the usual, two large cheese slices and a beer. He was rather easy to deal with. Chris shift ended at about 5:15pm, Joe was supposed to show up to do the overnight shift, by himself but Chris did say he would show up earlier during the morning to help him out.
The events that took place on this night, the night of September 6th set a before and after in the history of the streets of Emerson.
That night was a rather "peaceful" night at least at first. Grandma Chidgey was our last customer. She came into our store with her signature push cart to pick up the food.
We helped her load the pies into her pushcart which barely fit in. That night, grandma Chidgey purchased 8 pies and some sides. Her order came to about $176 dollars. Genuinely though, I could not feel any more concerned for her. She was wasting her pension away on these large orders.
"Hey, eating so much pizza can be unhealthy, you have to be careful grandma Chidgey." I said to her before she got out.
"I know, I have a gathering with my friends today and I want to have plenty of food for them."
"Really?"
"Yes, they spend a lot of time with me, and I would feel bad if I didn't have nothing to offer them."
"Okay, despite this, make sure to reduce your consumption of high calorie foods a little, especially pizza."
Upon saying this to grandma Chidgey, she looked at me straight in the eye and smiled at me. This smile was a little different than her usual. I could tell she appreciated me watching out for her but in the back of my head, I could feel some malice behind that smile. I attributed that feeling to the high sense of suspicion that was reigning in the area at the time.
"I'm going to be fine." Grandma Chidgey said to me while smiling at me.
"Don't worry about me."
Chidgey then left the store while pushing her cart away. This was the last time I met her on person. Our boss, Joe showed up shortly after our last customer, Chidgey left. He dismissed us, Leslie, Joel and I and he stood with the boys cleaning the store.
That night we walked together, Leslie and Joel walked me towards the train station and then I parted ways with them. Joel and Leslie continued walking away into the distance, into the darkness. I had a lot of college work to do on the next few days. What I will tell you from this moment and on is based on the testimony of eyewitnesses at the time, this is how the events of the night of September 6th unfolded a night that would go down in infamy not just in the history of Emerson but of the city of Buffalo as a whole:
As Joel, Leslie and I were leaving work to our homes, detective Hanks, his assistant and two other men where "casually" strolling by Homeless Street. It turns out, Hanks and his assistant had been routinely passing by Homeless Street in order to see if there's someone suspicious. So far at that point nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Since it was getting kind of cold Hank and his companions decided to leave the area for the night. They saw the area was dark, cold and dead and considered that nothing out of the ordinary could possibly happen there, at least for that night.
As Hanks and his companions were strolling by Homeless Street, two men, two homeless men were observing them from a window of an abandoned apartment building. Hanks and his companions failed to notice them while they were there. One of these men's name was Jared. This homeless man, Jared was not one of the local homeless people, if not he had come there to "indulge" with the other homeless people whom he knew at the time. He would play an important role later. After seeing that the detectives had left the area, Jared along with his companion alerted the other homeless people about the detectives leaving.
According to Jared, some homeless people were discussing about a certain meeting taking place after 10:00pm where the disciples would show up and give them gifts. Whenever Jared would inquire about this "disciples" these men and women would not answer, this was what seemed a secret among some homeless folks.
Jared said that he didn't know about the killings at the time. One of his friends named Mark approached Jared and told him to stay away from that bunch. Upon asking Mark who were they and what they were up to, Mark told him that they are a weird bunch that have some type of religious cult going on. People that hang out with them and that group would wind up dead shortly after.
Upon hearing that, Jared felt scared. Mark told him not to worry, that he would be safe as long as he stays inside past 10:00pm. Jared and some of his friends entered an apartment in the abandoned building, the apartment was on the 6th floor. In there, Jared and his companions started indulging in their addictions. Jared then asked his companion where the crazy man is at? Referring to the homeless man that we know as "Boxerman."
Mark and the other companions told Jared that the crazy guy won't be joining them no more since he actually died not so long ago. Upon finding this out Jared asks his companions about what's exactly going on and that if the rumors of a killer being lose in the area are true or not. Jared's companions remain silent for a second as they look at each other, then they tell Jared that the truth is there's not a killer among them in the traditional way, is just that, that particular group is a little dangerous to hang around with since all those who start socializing with them wind up dead a little after.
Jared looked at Mark and asked him: "Are they a cult?"
"I don't know, are they?"
A man among them named Xavier that was among them then told Jared the non-local homeless man that the "crazy guy" was probably killed by them and their leader, the disciple guy.
"So, they are a cult then."
Mark shakes his head and places his large thick hand on his face as an act of shame.
"I guess they are, stay away from them so that you don't become next."
"Why you don't tell the police? They were literally right there?"
"Those guys are here to kick us out, we don't talk to them."
Jared explains that now that he knew that there's some sort of cult thing going on with apparently a considerable number of the local homeless people, he wanted to book it out of there. As soon as he gets up to leave, some sort of commotion starts taking place in the lower floor of the building. Upon hearing the commotion and the screaming that could not be distinguished between panic or laughing, Mark tells two of the companions to lock the door since they were about to start knocking on every door.
Outside the apartment in the dark and decrepit hallways the bunch of friends could hear the commotion getting closer and closer to their door.
"Hey! Hey! You have to get out!" As the person knocks loudly on one of the doors.
"What is going on! I was sleeping!"
"The ceremony! The ceremony is about to start!"
"Leave us alone! Get out of here with your weird cult antics”
The knocking started to get closer and closer to Jared and Mark's door. As the knocking of doors would continue to get closer and closer, people residing inside the abandoned apartments nearby started coming out of their apartments.
"Get out of here you fanatic! Stop knocking!"
"What is going on?!"
"Is that cult member guy, he says they got service tonight outside the building!"
Suddenly whoever was starting the commotion started knocking on Mark and Jared's door. Mark instructed everyone to remain quiet so that they didn't have to interact with that group. The knocking would persist for a few minutes until someone yelled at the person knocking at their door to get out of the sixth floor. Suddenly stuff started being thrown at whoever was the one knocking and soon enough running was heard from multiple directions. On the far distance, screaming and what seemed to be a scuffle and then a deep silence.
Jared was terrified at this point and started crying, the man suffered from PTSD after he was involved in a gruesome car crash in 2012 back in Florida before he became homeless.
"What's going on in here?! Why is everything so chaotic?"
"CALM DOWN!" Yelled Mark in response in order to calm down Jared.
Mark briefly looked at Xavier with a serious grim.
"Go get me the bag."
Xavier got up and started searching through the many pushcarts full of stuff that was inside the apartment. Xavier finds Marks bag and tosses it at him. Mark with a very serious expression opens up the bag and takes out some sleeping pills with his thick hands, a pack of them to be specific. Mark then passes it to Jared.
"Swallow these, these should keep you sleeping till tomorrow."
Jared took the pills from Mark and proceeded to swallow them.
"You okay now?" Asked Mark to Jared.
"Better, I still got to wait till the effect kicks in."
At about 11:30pm the companions started to notice a large group gathering outside the building. The small crowd was surrounding what appeared to be a large, squared container that wasn't there before. Close by there was a campfire in a metal barrel nearby to light up the surroundings. Nothing strange seemed to be happening with the crowd, they seemed to be just standing there, talking.
From the window Jared and his companions had a good view of what was going on below. Jared explains that from the distance he and his companions that were still looking outside could notice what appeared to be not one but three shadowy figures coming from the direction of the projects. This of course intrigued the men who were watching.
Upon closer inspection and as the shadowy figures got closer, Jared and the men started noticing a few things about these individuals. First of all, they were wearing all black, not black shirt and black trousers, no. They were all wearing two black cloaks. One small cloak covering the face and upper torso and another larger one covering everything else. This made them look like ghosts. Furthermore, the strangest thing about their outfits was their masks. They were all wearing happy face mask like the famous emoticon, but the middle and tallest figure had a straight happy face. The other two had their happy faces inverted clockwise and counterclockwise.
At this point Jared's memory becomes foggy as the effects of the medications kicked in. But he still was able to gather the strength to watch the "spectacle" for a little longer. The crowd outside upon noticing the figures approaching started to shout and cry in what it seemed like some sort of devout sadness as if they were crying and shouting out of remorse and repentance. The figures then approached the crowd and started to bless them by putting their palm of their hands on their forehead and making strange signs.
Jared turned back to Mark and Xavier and asked "What in the world is going on here?"
"They were having their service; they do this every week on different days of the week."
Jared then turned back to watching them and noticed that now the homeless people were confessing their sins openly to the crowd as the figures simply stood there quietly behind them and listening to them. The last thing Jared heard before he lost consciousness due to the medication was the shout of religious singing, as his friends were all smoking and sniffing substances. Jared fell sleep in the floor.
In what seemed like an instant to Jared, he suddenly woke up to screams and moaning of pain. As the light of the full moon shone into the small sixth floor apartment where Jared was laying on. The scream and moaning came from outside. Jared wasn't sure at this moment what time it was or how long he was out for. He with the little strength he had he poke outside the apartment window to see that the figures were no longer present in the area, as well as the crowd. Instead, he saw a few men and women laying in the street and the pavement, the container was no longer there.
Jared shouted for Mark and Xavier and the other men, but none responded. Jared noticed that the illicit substances him and his friends were consuming still were there but he's friends were not in the living room with him.
Jared at this point assumed that they all were all sleep since the main door that leads to the apartment and the hallway was still well shut and all other doors that lead to the rooms were also shut. Jared also thought that the people lying motionless in the pavement and the street, were unconscious or passed out also due to indulgence, Joe's mind at the moment wasn't in its best place.
Joe though didn't have much time to duel on the matter too much, he had taken far too many sleeping pills for the night and the drowsiness still hadn't gone away. As a result, Joe fell sleep again, this time in the decrepit and dusty couch that was in the living room.
Joe woke up at around 5:15am, the sun had not come out yet. At this point, with a little more energy he started checking the rooms inside the apartment to see if his companions were okay, but to his surprise, none of his friends as in, Mark, Xavier and the other men were there. The apartment was completely empty aside from him. Joe opened the door very easily, it turns out that the main door wasn't locked after all, it was just closed. This told Joe that he's friends did come out outside and left the door unlocked. An eerie silence dominated the surroundings and the inside of the building. Only the sound of the cold and strong breeze could be heard.
At this point, Joe already had enough, so he decided to leave to never come back again. As he descended the stairs, he also noticed a smell that he could not describe at first. At the moment, he thought it was a smell of malice or evil. Later he found out that it was a smell of decay. Upon arriving at the lobby of the building Joe was met with the worse surprise of his life.
The lobby was full of corpses, most of them with their eyes still wide open and with an expression of horror, panic, confusion and distress frozen in time in their faces. Joe fell down as panic built up inside his chest. All he could do at the moment was hold his chest tight and try to calm down his breathing. Joe understood, the cult killed them, or did they? soon he noticed that some of the same people that he was told to stay away from were also among the corpses outside in the pavement.
"Did Mark and the guys abandon me here?"
Joe decided to abandon the area before the cops arrived. As he ran down the street, he saw a familiar person lying face down in the street. Upon closer inspection, Joe noticed that it was Mark, still with his eyes open with an expression of shock in his face.
"What could have possibly happened here?!"
Joe did not stay around too much to find out, he could see red and blue lights in the distance, it was time for him to go.
What I just told you was Joe's testimony, although not all of the homeless people were involved in what took place that night, Joe is considered the only surviving witness to the incident of September 6th to testify in court. most of them actually ran away upon hearing and seeing the commotion, never to be seen in the area again. The total body count that night was around 40 to 55.
To this very day there are some questions left, such as were was the poison obtained from and who were the other two shorter individuals wearing the masks. The master mind of the massacre of September 6th and many other deaths starting from 2014 has not let lose any additional details. The night of September 6th as it is now romanticized and went down on history as one of the bloodiest nights in Buffalo.
To be Continued...
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