clink clink
Two coins. A penny and a nickel. It's all I have and now it's his. I pause a few steps later and consider going back to add a bullet casing to the mix of change in his tin cup. After all, I've killed everyone else I've come in contact with tonight. Why stop now? Then something unbelievable happens, and I have only myself to blame. It was that pause. That damned pause. I slow down for a split-second, and it's just enough to let the world catch up – it comes running with a knife aimed for my heart.
“Thank you, son.”
I dare a slight turn back and cock my head at the strange words from the strange man.
“Excuse me?”
“Thank you,” he mutters again, patient and feeble. “And God bless you.”
The alleyway is dark and full of smoke so that I cannot see his face, but I hear his coughing. I also hear dew trickling down the brick walls on either side of me, and I hear the water under my feet as I turn my heels slowly and make my way back to him. As I draw closer to him, his face becomes clear to me in the shadows and I see his facade matches his voice – old. I stand beside his hunched body for several moments as silence passes between us.
I have no idea why I'm standing here beside him, this man with whom I have no dealings. We aren't even conversing, and I only know he is alive by the jingle of the tin cup in his quivering hand. I focus in on the jingle and soon find myself taking a seat on the puddled ground, resting my back against the brick wall. The docks are to my left, the man is on my right.
After what seemed like ages of silence, I braced myself to stand and the man suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder. His hands were shaky, but his grip was firm and I remained seated.
“Stay, my boy,” he said gently. “Rest easy, even if only for another minute. Your heart-rate is still a bit high. Don't want a young buck like you having a heart attack out here.”
“How can you tell?” I asked like a curious child, forgetting myself.
He smirked.
“I am blind! I sense things like your heartbeat and scent. But you seem like a smart lad, I should wonder you didn't figure that out yourself.”
I blushed, thankful he couldn't see it.
“Thank you, sir. You're right, I should have known better. I guess I'm just off my mark tonight. Your response-time to the sound of my gift should have given it away, although your recognition of me the moment my footsteps entered the alleyway could have done the trick as well.”
“Oh my boy,” he laughed aloud. “I heard you coming from a block away; knew you'd turn this corner before you even passed the pizza shop. But why is a handsome guy like you hanging around here all alone? Shouldn't you be on the other end of town, in a snazzy joint with a sweet gal at your side?”
I shrugged in the darkness and gazed back toward the docks. My target was there, his yacht just a few yards ahead and a turn or two away. He was probably tasting his evening glass of red wine to a vintage Basie record, classy bastard.
“That's just not the life I chose to lead.”
He sighed and patted me on the chest.
“Me neither! I chose the end of a bottle, which I gather is not what you've chosen.”
“No sir,” I answer half-attentively. Basie or the Duke. “I'd never touch the stuff.”
“And yet... we are both sitting in this alleyway, leaning against this wall, on a cold night... alone.”
I breathe in deep, embracing the wet smoke of the night. Then I push myself up the wall to stand, the weight of guns in my coat reminding me of who I am.
“I've killed everyone I've met tonight. What's your excuse?”
Books on Sale
