Short Story / Eve of Corruption Episode II: Salutation

Episode II: Salutation

        She looked and smiled, lips pouty and partly open, colored a bright red and her deep set doe eyes struck the fear from me and filled me with breathless wonder, piercing me with a vibrant blue.
        ”Ah.. no.. I, uh..” I looked at her distantly shocked from the previous image and stunned with the current beauty. I hadn’t truly seen her before but my imagination could not have touched upon the reality of the wonder before me. I closed my eyes for two seconds and decided that I wouldn’t be taken be her enchantments.
        I turned to the man behind me, eyes half closed. “Here ya are…” I fingered through both my pockets and found a few dimes, a couple nickels and loads of pennies. “There, is that enough?” I said as I poured the whole mess in his palm.
        ”Yessir! Much ‘preciated!” he said as he grabbed my coat, his toothless face all smiles.         “Say, listen, did you see some kid ‘round there a second ago?” I asked, pointing to the alley.
        ”Dunno ‘bout no kid… did ask some man for some coins back there. He just went off like he didn’t hear me… look mista’ I gots ta go, thanks much ‘preciated!”
        ”Yeah sure.” I whispered as he went off back into that alley.
        ”C’mon buy me a drink why wont ya… uhhh…” I heard a soft voice say. I turned to the dame behind me, my brow up in question.
        ”Your name… whats your name.” she asked.
        ”Oh, uh… Spence…” I cleared my throat and put my hand out to shake her hand and asked, “How ‘bout…”
        ”Scarlett. C’mon. I’m thirsty.” she moaned in a velvety whisper, ignoring my hand. With a glint in her eye and a grin on her lips she walked past me, flirtatiously brushing my neck and shoulder with her finger tips.
        I walked quickly behind her like a lost puppy, the slight scent of lavender mixing with the smell of the wet concrete behind her.
        ”Hey, wait… uh…lady, where were ya headed anyway?”
        ”To get a drink.”
        ”No, I meant be…”
        ”Hey Spence, be a doll and dry up a bit? Wheres ya wanna go?” she purred as she slid her hand down to mine, looking up and around as though she were looking for something, or perhaps hiding from someone. I clenched my teeth trying to appreciate the moment wondering if this was worth parading with this vamp.
        ”Look, lady, lets hit Tommy’s. Right here. Waddaya say, huh? And cut the…?” I bit my lip refraining from what I really wanted to say. “maybe we’ll, uh, cut the rug. Huh?” She looked innocently at me with those pouty fire red lips again, then smiled as she quickly laid her head on my shoulder. “Sure Spence. What eva’ you say.” she said as she snapped her head back up with a smile and bounced ahead with my hand in hers dragging me like some rag. I shook my head, shaken yet smitten.
        I opened the door for her, still not quite used to springing in so easily after the prohibition ended four years ago. I walked ahead of her and sauntered to the counter laying my elbow on the bar.         “Spence! Waddaya have?! Usual?” spoke the man behind the bar, tall, bald and big as a bear.
        ”Hey Frank lemme have a beer, house special, how ‘bout it.” I could barely hear myself over the jazz band playing off to the side.
        ”Sure thing. How ‘bout for the lady?”
        ”Oh uh, the lady’ll have… waddya’ll have doll?”
        ”Hows ‘bout a Martini, Frank.” she seemed to bat her eyelashes at Frank as she said so. Frank seemed to not notice, more enthralled in polishing his glass with the wash cloth. “Sure thing, Right up.” He said with out looking up.
        ”So, lady.” I said in an almost sarcastic manner. “Where you from exactly?”
        ”Here. There. Chicago maybe. You know, you look a lot like Dana Andrews? Anyone ever tell you?”
        ”Who?” I asked wondering who she meant by that. Didn’t ring a bell. “No, who’s she!?”
        ”You don’t know…” Her playful smile melted as she slowly looked to the window past me. “Oh, no… thats not right… not yet…” she muttered.
        ”Ok, what are you mumbling” I asked getting tired of of her quirky ruminations.
        ”Nothing, its a he, some guy I knew back east. An actor, I guess you all haven’t heard of him out here yet.” she grinned a melting grin.
        “Look, I’m gonna hit the boys room. Ill be back.” I stood up making my way to the bathroom in the back. Frank pulled up to the end of the bar, motioning his head to come over to him.
        ”Spence what ya doin’ with that skirt?” Frank winked polishing his glass.
        ”Nah, she’s just some broad. Won’t get off my coat tail. How ya been Frank?”
        ”Not too bad, Vera’s been naggin’ at me to get back with her. Say, who you been runnin’ into, huh? Got some regulars asking for ya lately. Didn’t know you had so many friends. You got into some trouble?”
        ”What, since when did friends mean trouble Frank.”
        ”Dunno but these guys don’t seem to be your type, Spence. Small guys but they reek of trouble. Their faces look all scarred up, like they’ve been fixed pretty hard. C’mon, you’ve been dealin’ with someones lady again or somethin’?”
        ”Lay off, you’ve been hangin’ around this gin mill for way too long have ya? Ya know I don’t chase no skirts since Iris been giving me the icy mitt. It was nothin’ but a drunken kiss, thats all. If I find out which fella stooled on me I’m gonna pop ‘im a couple!” I rose my fist as Frank was called off to pour someones drink.
        On my way back to my drink I saw my lady for the night just stare ahead, rigid, seemingly intent on staring her way through the bottles in front of her.
        ”Ok, level with me here. Who do you know? Why are you here with me? You that hard up for booze?” I asked as I sat back down. She turned, staring, boring holes through me as though I were invisible.
        ”No. I uh…” she looked at me again with life and a great smile. “Spence, who did you see at that alley? Huh? Some kid?”
        ”Yeah maybe. What you see?” I asked as I swallowed a gulp off the head of my drink. I looked around, the same usual dark wood of the pub, the same black creases of the beer soaked wood below me, either way I wanted to stray from that gorgeous face next to me. I felt weak next to her, and I had no gauge as to how smart she actually was. I knew if I didn’t leave now Iris would never forgive me.
        ”Hey, nice to make your acquaintance, uhh, what was the name again?”
        “Scarlett.”
        “Scarlett. I’ll see ya, seems that my ol’ lady is gonna wonder where I’m at, huh? See ya around.” I stood up and made for the door.
        ”Spence, wait. Could ya walk me home? I think your friend there made my drink a little too stiff.”she swayed and giggled as she stood and  put an arm around me. I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or angry, but either way we made for the outside.
        We walked down for maybe half a block thinking if I should just leave Iris where she left me and maybe strike something with Scarlett, no matter how dim she played at, or any one for that matter, when she stood up straight and walked next to me.
        “You are in danger Spence. You have set something in motion tonight when you saw my face.” My heart sank and a chill swept across my skin. The memory of the face I saw, the face that I had explained away as a trick of the shadows came flooding back. I kept cool and laughed as though she had said some dim joke.
        “Oh yeah whys that?”
        “Tonight I met you by circumstance. I did not intend to involve you. Who you saw was a dissident and I am tasked to apprehend him. His plan was to take that old man in the alley as a disguise. Now that he knows he will…”
        I cut her off and asked her “Are you a cop? Look I don’t want anything to do with this…” She stared off across the street and I followed her gaze. There stood four short men in dark suits standing perfectly straight as though they were in some sort of military formation.
        “Through here.” Scarlett took my hand and pulled me down a narrow side street. I was confused as to what was going on. Why would a cop run from these men when they should be running from her. I was also starting to feel a wave of nausea, and bright yellow and pink outlines seemed to pulse from everything, even through the dark. My ears seemed to burn with an intense heat that swept up and down my body, like acid flowing through my veins. The drink.
        We walked down the narrow way to a lone streetlight in the middle of the corridor. “Why we stopping here?”
        “It will soon end.” I looked at her face and her eyes were again black, but a black mist seemed to filter from them. Everything seemed to vibrate and I felt as though I were to explode through my skin. I wanted to run but I couldn’t. Her face fluttered back and forth from the horror I had seen before, to the beauty I so much favored, with a contorted expression that was a mix of determined anger and calm joy.
        The light above began to brighten with no end, the heat was burning my skin, all sounds fading with only my heartbeat screaming in this silence. I was to the point of blindness and before I shut my eyes I saw her face mouth the word “No” and look up with what seemed to be fear. I tried too look up too but all I saw was the pink of my eyelids. I looked down and covered my eyes but it was still too much.
        Everything began to fade in white and I thought before it took me, I’ll remember next time not to say hello to pretty girls, if I get a chance to make that same mistake again.  To be continued…....