Story by James Lott Jr
Read by Jack Wolf
Episode Transcript
The Package by James Lott Junior. The red light feels personal,
like it knows what I'm doing, like it knows I
don't have time for its glowing judgment. I tap the
steering wheel hard, once twice. My jaw clenches so tight
I can feel the moler's press. I check the clock,
(00:25):
five thirty seven p m. I ask myself again why
I thought this would work. I glance at the map
on my phone. Thirteen minutes home. My wife, Rachel, gets
off work at five point thirty. Google says her commute
is eighteen minutes on a good day. If she didn't
stay late, she didn't stop at targeted, if she didn't
(00:46):
hit the same damn red light I'm staring at right now.
The package. It's sitting on the porch. I got the
delivery notification ten minutes ago, complete with a smug little photo.
There it is, front and center, a box with my
name and her curiosity written all over it. She always
(01:09):
checks the porch, always, even when she's not expecting anything,
just in case. She says, you never know when a
neighbor's package ends up on ours. But it's not a
neighbor's this time. It's mine and I don't want her
to see it. Five forty green light. I shoot through
the intersection like I've got a fire in the trunk,
(01:30):
and maybe I do, at least the kind that ignites
when secrets and timing mix. It's not what you think.
I'm not cheating, I'm not gambling. I didn't buy something
dom like a vintage pinball machine or a drone I'll
use once. It's a necklace, simple gold, a charm with
(01:51):
the coordinates of where we first kissed. She mentioned it
once off handedly last summer while we were cleaning out
the garage. If you ever really wanted to surprise me,
she said, you'd remember something small like that. I remembered.
I planned. I ordered it three weeks ago to get
(02:13):
here today, our anniversary, and I want to be the
one to show it to her on my terms, in
my hands, not as some half crushed Amazon box on
the front porch when she gets home. It beats me
to it. Five point forty nine. I pull onto our
street like it's a racetrack. My heart's thumping, like I'm
(02:35):
sixteen and sneaking back home after curfew. I can already
see the box right there between the welcome mat and
the planter, brown, innocent, completely exposed. I kill the engine,
don't even close the car door, and sprint full dad jog.
I grab the packet like it's a football, and I'm
diving into the end zone. And I hear the garage
(02:55):
door begin to open behind me. I freeze. She's pulling
in window down, hair back that damn knowing Smile everything okay,
she says, I is darting to the package in my hands.
I smile, awkward, busted, proud, Yeah, just saving a surprise.
(03:21):
She parks, steps out, walks up slowly like a cat,
pretending not to hunt. She leans in, eyes twinkling. Is
that why you look like you robbed your own porch?
I laugh, busted, Happy anniversary, I say, And even though
I didn't beat the clock, I still win because she
(03:44):
looks at me like she already knows what's inside. Like
the surprise isn't the gift, it's me trying so hard
to get it right,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.