Pinky

 

We rode along in silence for the first twenty minutes.  I ran a dozen different scenarios through my mind to verify what Lou had told me.

"What?" Ryan asked harshly, glancing in my direction.

"What?" I returned.

"You got something to say?" he asked brusquely.

"Tell me about your tattoo," I ventured, surprised to hear myself ask.

"Shut the f**k up," he said, with a smile.

"Come on.  Something about it scared the s**t out of those guys yesterday.  Tell me why," I prompted.

"I'm not telling you that.  Ask me something else," he said, refusing to look at me.

"Then tell me about your old partner," I insisted.

Silence held us.  If it weren't for the truck picking up speed I would have thought he hadn't heard me at all.

"I didn't need a partner, preferred not to have one but Carl wouldn't have any part of it.  One day this guy shows up, Delsin Honaw... a Native American...  Hopi, I think. 

"This guy stood six foot, three...  Two hundred, forty five pounds, shoulders this wide," he said gesturing the width of the cab.  "He had arms as thick as your leg, hands as big as a steering wheel... a scar down his left cheek that made your blood run cold.  You could see by the look in his face, this wasn't a guy you could screw with, you know?

"He did everything I told him, went where I went, did as I did, sat right there everyday for a month without a single word, not one.

"Then, after he had earned his name.  I gave him a chance to pick any nick name he wanted.  As big as he was, a monster of a man, I thought he would pick something like T-bone, or chain saw, killer, crusher, a name as big as he was... at least that's what I thought," he explained.

To my surprise his voice shifted, almost cracking as he wiped his eyes, swallowing hard.

"What did he pick?" I asked softly not wanting him to know I saw his eyes begin to well with tears.

"Pinky," he gulped.

"Beg your pardon?" I asked unsure if I had heard him correctly.

"Pinky.  I hadn't noticed it before but he wore one of those little pink ribbon things in support of breast cancer.  His mom and his sister had it so he wore the damn thing all the time... so Pinky it was.  Can you imagine?"

I glanced at him briefly, his cheeks now wet with tears.  I tried desperately not to look at him for fear I would do the same.

The truck fell silent again.  I had no idea what I should say or do.

Reviews

[Marie]

It took me a long time to find you again, but I finally did. I hope to see more stories from you.


























































































I guess a guy 6;3" can choose any name he wants to.

I'm glad I found you again' it's been a long time since I saw any of you work.

[Lea Walker]

That was quite the plot twist. I like it.

[Tegon Maus]

Thank you Lea

[Craig2591]

I like it. A snippet of a much larger story that keeps me guessing. You can either expand it into book or leave it as it is. Personally, I like stories that leave you hanging. I know a lot of people don't.

I am wondering what happened to his partner, though.

I saw this in the Crime Writers contest.