NOIR

   There I was, sitting in the lounge. Just a night like any other, only it wasn't. He was fifteen minutes late. When people run late to these kinds of things that usually means bad news. There it was again, the shake in my hand. I asked the waitress for another drink. Twenty minutes now. Same seat as usual. Far left corner of the room. I liked it over there because there were less people. Most guys are so love-drunk they never make it past the first dance stage. I had a girl I'd never met before.
   She had the face of a godess. Her hair was piercing blond, almost white. She seemed nice enough, almost too nice. We made small talk; weather, economy, sports, movies. I asked her what she was doing in a place like this. She asked me the same thing right back. I chuckled. But she finally gave way. She told me she and her boyfriend had a baby together, but he hit the road. She hadn't seen him in months. I was able to figure out the rest. She was a single parent living in this hell-hole of a town, how else was she gonna' get money? And with looks like hers, the job couldn't have been too hard to get.
   I asked her what she really wanted out of life. I mean, she couldn't have wanted to be doing *this* until the day she died. She said, "I only want one thing out of life. Lots of people want money, and fame, but me, I just want one thing, that's all. I want to b-" Then I got a tap on the shoulder. There he was, thirty minutes late. He reeked of alcohol, even for being in a place like this. I told her I'd be right back. She nodded, and gave a smile. We took our meeting to the alley out the back door. The less eyes the better. I could immediately tell something wasn't right. It was in his face. "I'm sorry" he said. "My boss, my family... Please forgive me." Then a loud ringing and a flash. My eyes closed instinctively.
   I opened them and I was lying on the pavement now. I could feel the warm blood pooling beneath me. He had already left. I wasn't sure how long I'd been out. Hours, minutes? Then I heard gunshots from inside the lounge. Three, maybe four. I was able to pull myself up by the dumpster next to me. I opened the door to a heavy smell of fresh gunpowder. There were loud screams and shouting everywhere. People were running amok. Like cattle in a pen. My shirt was soaked now, I ripped off a piece of it and tied it around my torso. I grabbed one of the girls and asked her where he went. "He went out the front door and drove off, he's long gone." I asked her if anyone got hurt. She pointed to the bar, where there was a tall, heavy-set man lying deceased on the ground. Then she pointed to the far left corner of the room. I already knew before I turned my head. There was the blond hair. Lying motionless on the blood-stained carpet. I couldn't move. Was it the gunshot that caused me to sit there, not doing anything but stare at her dead body? Was it lust? Was it what she was going to say to me? "I want to" the next word started with a b, I'm sure of it. I limped out the back door, and walked without looking back.