The Lone Wolf

     With one long final drag I had finished burning the filter on my fifth cigarette. Four other butt's just like it lay dead in a pool of their own ashes. I put my latest victim to rest with its brethren.

      Frank's Diner was having a pretty slow morning. The waitress never left me alone for more than five minutes. If only she'd left the whole coffee pot at my table, I wouldn't have disgusted her with my chain smokers breath. I told her to refill my cup every time she walked by, regardless if I'd only taken a few sips since her last visit. She didn't take the hint I didn't need a bottomless cup of black coffee, she just kept pouring.

      Within one hour I had gotten up to piss four times from all the Joe. Every time I came back out of the bathroom one to three more customers had arrived for breakfast. After leaving the John for the fifth time I recognized a familiar face at my table.

     "You always come here when you have those bad nights of yours, Jack."

     It was my neighbor, Melody Anne. Your classic blonde. Tall, pale, big blue eyes like the Atlantic, and the most beautiful golden locks. Her voice made humming birds in my head sing. Her name couldn't be more fitting. I lit two smokes and passed one to Mel.

     "How were you certain this was MY table before you decided to invite yourself to sit down?" My coarse voice inquired, I didn't even remove the Marlboro from my lips.

     "An ashtray filled to the brim with smokes burned to the end of history, black coffee, no breakfast... I didn't even have to ask OL' Frank if he'd seen you this morning."

     Her attention to detail always astonished me. She knew almost every little quirk I had.

     "Where were you last night, Jack? We were supposed to have a picnic under the moon light together, remember? You didn't have another relapse, did you?" Mel asked with a worried look in her eyes, I could tell she was up all night waiting for me.

     Poor kid, we were always making dates I'd break. Two weeks ago I OD'ed on coke in front of her doorstep before I was supposed to take her out to a fancy Italian restaurant. We ended up sharing a cafeteria meal in the emergency room after I had my stomach pumped. There's a monster inside me that keeps us from being together. She wants a Sunday morning type of romance, I can't give her my love past Saturday evening.

     "Sorry darlin', I had work early yesterday morning. When I finally got home I crashed on the couch and slept through our date." My lies aren't as good as they used to be. She saw right through me.

     "Remind me why I still try and make this work. Why do I sit across from a broken shell of a man with cuts and bruises all over and listen to his story about sleeping through our date only to find him the next morning wallowing in his dinky self pity hangout he visits every time he's coming down off of hard drugs? What makes you think I'm buying the s**t you're selling, Jack?"

     Her beauty really showed when she was fired up. I didn't purposely set out to make her angry with me, but a part of me was glad she was. I have never been more aroused than the times she looked at me with animosity.

     "Melody Anne, you're always buying the s**t I'm selling. I'm surprised you weren't over stocked a long time ago. You must love me a hell of a lot to keep putting up with me and all of my s**t. That's why you always come back and give me another chance, that's why you came here this morning looking for me. It may sound like bullshit to you, but rest assured, I'm not on the hard stuff anymore." I was being sincere, I'd kicked the smack after my last visit to the E.R.

     "Then tell me what happened to you last night.", Mel said. "Forget about missing our date. Just explain to me how you got all those cuts and bruises."

     I could tell she really cared about me, no matter how many times I let her down. I still couldn't tell her the truth, though. Even if she believed me, she wouldn't want anything to do with me after she found out the kinda beast I really am.

     "Some punks jumped me in an alley on my way home from work. I blacked out and woke up in a dumpster, a******s stole my watch and wallet. After spending hours dealing with the pigs filing paperwork I was too tired and embarrassed to take you out. I snuck through my fire escape window fearing you'd be watching the hallway waiting for me. After crashing for a few hours, I woke up early and came here." Like always, she bought my s**t and ate it up with a spoon.

     I took a sip of coffee and noticed my cup was almost empty. It dawned on me the waitress hadn't been by since Mel got here. The diner had become so busy she must've let me enjoy my cup at a reasonable pace while taking care of the other customers. I let out a sharp, ear piercing, whistle to grab her attention and pointed to my mug. She rolled her eye's playfully and quickly made her way over to give me a refill.

     Mel ordered hot tea, despite knowing Frank's had the shittiest excuse for Earl Grey around. You could tell me it's hot sewage and I'd believe you. Mel hated coffee though, except when she was running her tongue over the stains on my teeth.

     When her steaming cup of s**t water arrived she asked me for another cigarette to help dull the taste. I lit two.

     "Jack, why didn't you just come out and tell me you were attacked? You didn't need to lie to me..."

     "I didn't think you'd believe me."

     "Well... you didn't exactly fool me with that over sleeping story."

     Sometimes I'd throw Mel an obviously bullshit tale she could call me out on. It always made my second lie sound more convincing.

     "I wasn't tryin' to fool you, I just wanted you to get off my case." I spit out harshly. "It wasn't any of your god damn business where I was in the first place."

     "F**k you, Jack! F**k. You."

     Mel's loud mouth made everyone in the diner quickly twist their fat necks around to stare.

     OL' Frank came out of the kitchen and gave me a glare that let me know he'd personally throw our asses out in the street if she couldn't keep it down.

     I apologized for the commotion and lit my last two cigs.

     We sat there avoiding eye contact for ten minutes in what most people call an awkward silence. I enjoyed ten whopping minutes of peace without Mel drilling me.

     It was noon now. I was ready to leave. I took my last sip of coffee and got up to piss. Mel had that look of revulsion in her eyes, God damn it was hot.

     I could sense she was preparing to leave me. Hopefully for good this time. I'm a ticking time bomb with a monster inside I never want to subject her to. Every time I change into that abomination innocent people get ripped to shreds before my own eyes. Some people put up a surprisingly good fight while their stomachs are being torn open. I've been shot, stabbed, and hit over the head with various blunt objects. The beast is never affected, But I always wake up naked in public looking like I've played a game of chicken with an oncoming train. Mel wasn't safe around me, so I did everything I could to drive her away.

     When I returned from the pisser she had vanished. I expected some long angry break up speech with lots of tears, but the only thing at my booth were two empty mugs and an ashtray full of Marlboro corpses, my least innocent victims.

     I told the waitress to put the bill on my tab, she told me to look at the receipt anyway to make sure everything was correct. I rolled my eyes and obliged.

     Everything was already paid for. Mel took care of it before she took off. She even left a pretty decent tip to make up for the little commotion she caused.

     I raised an eyebrow in confusion at the waitress, she waved her hand motioning for me to flip the receipt over. A small note was written on the back.

     "Dear Jack, I just can't do this anymore. I love you dearly, but I deserve respect you won't give. Good luck, and good bye."

     If it's respect she wanted, I'm glad she took the first step to get some for herself.

     I crumpled the little piece of paper and tossed it in the garbage. Before leaving I asked the waitress if I could bum a smoke.

     "Sure thing, Hun."

     "Thanks, Darlin'."

     I stuck the cigarette between my lips and left Frank's Diner striking a match as I walked down the sidewalk of Main Street. Flick. Poof. Puff, puff, puff.

     Melody was gone. Safe and away from me. The notes the hummingbirds sang had turned sour. I kept walking and puffing away trying to forget her tune, hoping one day these sticks will kill me and rid the world of my curse.

     My name is Jack Mason, I'm a lone wolf.

Reviews

[Alexis_McLeod]

Great story! I was instantly drawn in. You've the noire down pat. Wouldn't mind reading this if it got expanded into a novel.