The day began like any other. I slid into the diner booth and nodded to Josie for the usual before heading to work. Four eggs, four slices of toast, four pieces of bacon really hit the spot. And coffee, of course…Can’t forget that.
I wish I could forget what I heard.
I wish I had sat at the bar. But no, I preferred booths. At the bar, your back was to the door. Anyone could walk in on you and make your life hell. In a booth, you had a fighting chance. Plus, you could get cozy with company. Not that I ever sat with anyone, but maybe some small part of me hoped that one day I would.
As the seconds crawl by, that seems less and less likely. Let me back up.
I was tearing into my breakfast. On a dreary day like this morning, with fuming gray clouds packed in overhead, it was all the more delicious. The damp street and cool breeze threatened more rain in the hours to come. Yeah. Breakfast was shaping up to be the best part of the day.
A cold breeze cut in with the jingle of the door bell. I shivered and took a strong gulp of my coffee, barely registering the shapes settling into the booth behind me. I think maybe a part of me knew even then that something was wrong. Like a world weary ostrich, I buried my face into my breakfast.
“We got them,” a rough voice said. “The Creeps came through.”
“Oh good.” This voice was lighter, like silk in my ears. “I suppose we will have to thank Laura for that.” A pause. “What about the others?”
“Well one is a complete bust. Who’d have thought he’d bungle the whole thing?”
“We’ll have to start all over. Years of work, wasted.”
“Fortunately,” Mr. Gruff went on, “the other bit is an easy fix. Just have to nip a little bud.”
“Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” Mr. Silk disagreed. “There was a succession.”
“Fuck!”
“Yes. And we can’t afford to wait, either. The other groups are getting started soon. If we don’t finish our part….”
“They might get around to using us.” Gruff finished the thought.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not become a blood sacrifice or mind puppet.”
“Find someone to offer the deal.”
“Alright, I’ll do that. What about the kid?”
“I’ll take care of that….”
I choked on my coffee. These guys were talking about some seriously fucked up shit. Were they going to kill a kid? I had to stop them. But what could I do? Threaten them here in the diner? Call the cops? I couldn’t prove anything. I sat stiff in my seat, staring at the last of my breakfast. I agonized over it for a bit, but then I realized…
--No. It was okay. I wasn’t helpless. I could just sit quietly in my seat, wait for them to leave, watch them through the windows. I could give their descriptions to the cops, and then–
“hmmmm,” Silk pondered. “I think it’s time to go.”
Yes! I thought. I heard them get up, and the jingle of the bell as they left.
I sipped slowly on my coffee, trying to slow down my heart. Just a moment more…
“Hey, friend.”
I froze.
The man from the booth. The sweet one.
“How would you like a job?”
I didn’t meet his eyes. “I…. I have a job.”
I looked out the window. There was the other man, staring through the glass at me. He looked like someone had carved down a mountain and covered it in hair.
The sweet man slid into the seat across from me. Thin, far too well dressed, far too smug.
“Don’t mind him. Focus on me.”
I looked back and forth between them.
“Focus. On. Me.”
The way he said it clogged my veins. I choked and shuddered and yet somehow felt more alive than I ever had been. Try as I might, I could not help but look at him. Gentle fingers guiding my face? Sugar packing my arteries? Manacles tightening down on me?
“I need you to do something for me. Just a small thing.”
“No.”
“It’s my deal.” He nodded out the window. “Or his.”
The guy out the window just stared.
“N-no.” I said. Hopefully I looked braver than I felt.
“Okay!” He clasped his hands together. Nothing we can do about that, eh?” He stood up.
He left, and as he met the man outside they had a brief exchange and then wandered off in different directions. I stared out the window for I don’t know how long, trying to make sure they were gone. The last of my food went cold.
“Coffee?”
“Gah!” I jumped.
The waitress leaned back a bit.” You okay?”
“Y-yeah. More coffee please.” I pushed my cup over.
The clouds had broken up outside and the sun began to shine down. The day got brighter and brighter, and this might ordinarily put a smile on my face as I headed to work, but not today. I kept checking around, but did not find either of the men as I walked to my car. Nor did I spot them as I drove to work. I went in, did my shift, thoughts of them plaguing me all the while.
Just another boring, ordinary day.
I tried to talk myself out of my funk. It was just a one off. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing. Overactive imagination of a loser in a dead end job. Nothing better to do than make up fantasies about being some hero and saving a kid.
Or, maybe they were just two assholes playing a prank. Go into a diner, see who they can spook with fucked up conversations. Very funny. Surely they wouldn’t be stupid enough to talk about committing crimes in public. They’d have to know someone would hear. No way they were serious.
I told myself those things as I clocked out, as I drove home, as I walked into my apartment and shrugged off the day.
But now….
Mr. Gruff is outside my window. Standing under a streetlamp Looking up directly at me.
I live on the third floor. The light is almost blinding. I can’t see his eyes… I can’t see his face at all in the heavy shadows cast by the light… but I’d recognize that silhouette anywhere. I can feel him staring at me.
There’s a knock on my door.
“Hello in there!” that silky voice again. Sing-songy. “Laaaaaast Chance!”
I… I can feel myself twitching and jerking. My body wants to open the door. To let them in. I can’t help myself.
My… my feet are moving on their own… It’s all I can do to even type this out. Each lurching step drawing me to certain doom. I don’t know what they want from me… but it can’t be good….
Please, anyone, if you read this—
Haha. just kidding. honestly, Everything’s okay. Look People, if you’re in need of a cool gig, I know soMe pEople. and they are….always… hiring….