God sends an angel...

In desperate times..in desperate situation...you wish..god sends an angel to help you..

  

Jimmy sat with his eyes closed, hands falling down on both sides; head leaned back on the chair, with thoughts in his head.

 

Anyone watching would have thought he was relaxing, but on a close look he looked more like a man who has just lost all hope. And that was true at that moment Jimmy had almost lost all urge to live, to go on. Well, almost. He had prepared himself for one last try and that’s why he was here.

At first he thought some noise was coming from far away, someone calling, and then he realized someone was calling him. He slowly opened his eyes, the sweetness in the voice made him turn his head. It was the waitress; she was waking him from his thoughts and asking for his order. Her voice somehow made him a little bright. He looked at the wall clock. It was still half an hour before the place would close. He glanced around; the couple sitting in the corner when he had entered was still there. “Well, a beer won’t do me any bad” Jimmy thought. He smiled at the waitress and ordered beer.

He looked out of the windows, the street was empty. This was a secluded corner of the town and just as he thought there won’t be any people coming in here on Monday night. He used to sit on the bench across the street and watch the activity. Watching people come and go in this bar was his pass time. He had never thought the last place he would visit before leaving town would be this bar.

Jimmy watched the couple, cuddling up to each other. Naturally a smile formed on his lips.

“Beer, sir”

“Oh! Thank You”

“Aren’t they sweet?”

“Yeah, some people have all the luck.”

“Yeah, do you want anything else, sir?”

“No I will tell you if I do and drop the ‘sir’”

“Ok”

Jimmy watched her go to the counter. There was a sweetness to her that kind of affected him. Jimmy watched as she talked with the bar tender. The cashier was busy checking all the bills. There was no one else in the bar as it was Monday night and other waiters were on leave. It was a small place, couldn’t afford to keep much staff anyways.

She turned her head again and started watching the couple. Jimmy turned his head too. When he turned his head again she was watching him. She smiled. Her smile made his already frustrated mind sadder. He made a weak attempt at smiling.

“Anything worrying you, mister?”

“It’s Jimmy. And no it’s alright”

“Hi Jimmy. I’m Jen. From the way you smiled I thought so.”

“Well life has not been all roses lately. But it happens to anyone. I’m not bothered. Thanks anyways”

Jimmy wanted to be left alone. He wanted her to go away. But somehow words came out of his mouth.

“So tell me about you. What’s a sweet girl like you doing here?”

“Well actually I don’t work here. The regular girl wasn’t coming today so I just filled in. Hope I am not doing too badly.”

“Then what do you do usually?”

Jimmy couldn’t believe he was actually talking to that girl. Something about her had captivated him. Maybe it was her voice or maybe those big twinkling eyes.

“Well, nothing much. Just keep myself occupied and what about you?”

“To tell you the truth, nothing for last few day. I am just a jobless, homeless young man who is spending the last piece of money on beer.” Jimmy said in a dejected voice. The sting in his voice startled her.

“Hey don’t worry. Everyone has sad days but they pass by. Even I have problems in life but look at me, am I not smiling?”

“Well I have been in such a state for a time now I have lost all hope.”

“Hey never do that. Even if you lose everything never lose hope. Look at me, I am also poor, I have also my share of problems in life. Many times I get depressed but I haven’t lost hope. Today I am her only because of that.”

Jimmy smiled. After a long time he had genuinely smiled and that surprised him. And at that instant he knew he liked her. Suddenly things didn’t look so dark anymore. Jimmy smiled again.

“Hey what’s up, why are you smiling like that?”

“Well I smiled because I think I want to believe you.”

“You know, I liked your smile. It was good to see you smiling.”

Jimmy smiled again. She was about to say something when a noise distracted them. The romantic couple was about to leave. They looked like they were in a hurry. Anyone could tell where they were heading by the look in their eyes and smiles on their faces.

“It was time. In a few minutes he would be leaving this place and leaving jen.” Jimmy thought. Somehow the thought bothered her. He thought again about his plan somehow he couldn’t see himself leaving her. Things had changed after he walked in here. Sure he knew there would be a waitress when he walked in. But falling for her was not part of the plan. Now suddenly he found thinking about what he was going to do. He looked at Jen. She was standing just a couple of feet from him cleaning the table. He looked at her sweet face, a face that had found a way to his heart in such a short time.

He was tense and that surprised him. The burden to make a decision was too much for him. He looked at the cashier and the other waiter. They were preparing to close the place. Time was running out. He had to make a choice.

Jimmy closed his eyes. Jen’s face formed in his mind almost immediately. He knew what he was going to do the moment he saw that face in his thoughts. He called Jen.

“What is it?”

“Well Jen, there is something I want to talk with you.”

“Ok, I’ll be there in a moment.” Jen went to the basin washed her hands and came back.

“Here I am”

“I don’t know how to tell you. When I walked in here tonight I didn’t actually come here to drink. I had something else in my mind. When I walked in here I was a dejected, frustrated, a generally sad person.”

“Oh cut it out now. I told you never lose hope. You know god is always watching us and testing us. He is watching what we do when we are pushed into a corner. But you know at the last minute he send an angel in one or other form to help you out. Only thing is, you should never lose hope.”

“Yes I believe you now. You know, when I came here I had planned to rob this place at the closing time” Saying that Jimmy took out a gun from under his jacket. A look of amazement passed Jen’s face. Then she looked at the counter. But the cashier and the other person were busy cleaning and had their backs towards them. She quickly grabbed the gun from his hand.

“Oh my god jimmy you look a pretty harmless guy”

“I know. I know it was not the right thing to do. But I had no choice. I was desperate for some money…any money. I decided I will make a quick grab and leave this town, try my luck elsewhere. But then I met you. And I don’t know how or why but I liked you. And I couldn’t see myself doing a crime in front of you. I really liked you Jen. So I decided to drop the plan and confess. And you were right. God sent his angel…god sent you at the last moment to save me from doing a crime and give me hope.”

Jen smiled. It was a pleasant heart warming smile. Jimmy felt better.

“Jimmy I am glad you changed your decision. But you know, I have a little confession to make too. I told you I was not regular waitress. I came here only today. Well, I came here to do the same thing you wanted to do. I thought I will grab whatever cash I can get my hands on from the counter and make a dash for it. But after coming here I knew it was not going to be easy as I thought. I was thinking what to do. And then you came in. god sent me my angel...you. You came at the last moment when I was losing hope. Thank god you came. I needed a weapon and now I have got it.”

 

The sound shocked the cashier. For a second he couldn’t place it. Then he turned around. Before he tried to move there was another sound, and an impact on his chest. He was hurled backwards by the bullet. He was dead before he hit the ground. The other waiter had started running but he couldn’t reach the backdoor. There were two successive sounds of a gun firing. The first bullet hit him in his arm, second penetrated his back crashing him to the ground. Jen made sure both were dead. Then she opened the cash counter, stashed all the money in a paper bag. She looked out of the windows. The road was deserted. She looked around the place once more and left into the night.

 

Jimmy sat with his eyes closed, hands falling down on both sides; head leaned back on the chair, with a hole in his head.

 

 

Author's Note

Any pointers or suggestions to refine the narration are most welcome

Reviews

[Madhoora]

It's one expected story. I was expecting something mushy to happen but then you just turned the table completely. That's the whole point of a short story and you achieved it. However you can make that getting the weapon part a little more clear, you know describe a bit. Otherwise it's fine.

[Pinakin]

Thank you for reading and thank you for the suggestions..It is one of the very first stories i ever wrote..I think i need to re-read it and make some changes..

[Trigorin]

Very dark and morbid, but you've told the story very well. I'd advise you to just make sure you avoid passivity - you have a good story and a good concept, but it's those niggling little errors which can distract the reader and ruin the mood. Other than that, well done.

[Pinakin]

Thank you for reading and thank you for the suggestions..It is one of the very first stories i ever wrote..I know the narration can be better in the middle part..so appreciate your comment..