Listen

listen

“we’re gonna have to
revamp the
place.”

“what does that mean?” I ask.

“we gotta cut
you off. let you go.”

“fine, I never liked
this place anyway.”

a lie.

“take care, alright buddy? and listen,
it’s not you, we
just gotta do it. budget
cutbacks, you know.”

I walked out, onto
the sidewalk, nowhere to go. I headed
towards the nearest bar, finding
a half full pack of smokes
on the
way. hah, my lucky day.

I entered the
bar,
sat down on a stool, and
ordered a shot of whiskey.
I had
s*******n dollars in
my wallet. enough to get a buzz, but
not drunk. my hopes were low.

I found a fellow bar patron, sitting
at the other end of the
bar, drinking
what a appeared to be
vodka.

“what’re drinking there, pal?”
I asked.

“gin and tonic.”

“I see, any chance you might be
able to spot
me a few
drinks?
I’ll get ya back, I swear.”

I had no intention of
getting him back.

“sure thing. and don’t
worry about it. you look like
you’ve had a rough
time of it, so it’s on
me.”

“mighty kind of you,” I
returned, “ anything I can
do to repay you?”

“naw, just enjoy your drinks. that’s
reward enough.”

I ordered a double whiskey and
a beer on the side,
not one to refuse the
help
of others.

after eight more of the same, I
must have
passed out, cuz
that’s the last I remembered.

when I woke, the man
who bought me the drinks was
laying next to me, and my
ass felt like someone had shot a gun
into it. I shook
him, waking him up.

“fuckin’ a man, you motherfucker!
you ****d me!”

“listen,” he said, “ you asked for it. you
said you wanted to try it.”

“no way, I ain’t no queer. you
****d me.”

“fuck you,” he screamed, and
before I knew it, he
pulled out a gun
and popped a cap
in my head.

when I woke, I was
surrounded by fire. I could
hear the sound of
people laughing
and my entire body
hurt like nothing I’ve ever
felt.

a man dressed in black
robes strode up and grabbed
me by the head. he dragged
me about fifty feet,
into a bubbling pool of
molten lava.

“feel now, your destiny!” was all
he said.

he threw me in, and I’ve been
there ever since, burning
and screaming, “listen, don’t accept
that crazy old man’s drinks!”