Angst’s Pen*

I. The Acquaintance

n. one’s slight knowledge of or friendship with someone

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“I’m too old for her,” Danny said as she saw her walk past the bar and asked for another glass of frozen mango daiquiri, maybe her favorite.

“Her name is Tanya,” I told him. Danny has never dated a girl for 12 years now. After her wife met a freak accident inside their own bedroom. Jane was a lovely lady. Prettier than a sunrise. But one morning, Danny just found her dead on her velvet chair in front of her ebony armoire. Her hair tangled on the dryer and her mouth plunged open. And Danny woke up with the smell of burnt tire and plastic. And dried blood.

We were in Island Breeze Bar, the only one in town where they serve the coldest beers and the prettiest girls. It was past 2AM now and my wife’s waiting for me to come home in her awful red lingerie. I hated how she tries her best to sweep me off my feet with rose petals and candles and then nag me when she fails to let her unbutton my jeans. Love has gone with the wind, maybe. But Danny, I know he needs someone to turn him on once in a while. I know Danny very well.

I was the yin, he was the yang. We went to the same high school, the same college, and even the same office. We’re both engineers by degree. But Laura took my life away from me when she let me father her son, Blade. She was a prostitute and she hooked with me when I was damn drunk after breaking up with my first serious girlfriend, Noreen. The milk was spilled, I loved Laura out of pity and now even the pity is gone. But I pity Danny now.

“I have lots of dreams for my future. I just want to know who I’m gonna spen’ it with,” I remember how Danny bravely uttered these lines as if saying it in a tape recorder. “What do you think would happen to me, Rob? Would I make a good husband? A great father? Or would I end up being hooked by a preggy prostitute, waiting for the stupid rich drunkard to come by and tell him after three months that she’s gonna have your baby?”

“Hey watch your mouth or I’ll shu—-” I stopped. Something passed by us. As far as I know we’re the only ones who know this place. This is where we come by when the world seems to be full of shit and assholes. And here is where we can talk and think like shitpeople do.

“Hey hey hey what’s that? Who’s in there?” Danny stood up and I froze in horror.

There was a shamble in the grass just near us. We were lying on our backs, our arms served as pillows for our dreamy heads, facing the thousand blinking eyes of the universe who bleeds blue tears when a stranger suddenly ruined the momentum.

I stood on my feet and rid of the cut grass that stuck on my bottoms. Danny was few steps ahead of me and the shamble seemed to stop moving.

“Ssshhh…” Danny said cautiously. You could see in his face that he is really eager to find out who the intruder is. And that he hopes it will be a snake or a squirrel or something without small hands or a gun.

“Hee–eeel—pp,” a girl’s voice said in a helpless, shuddering grimace. Her face is a mess. Her clothes torn into pieces. Her white, flawless skin peeks in her wrecked sleeves. Thank goodness Danny didn’t see me smile.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” Danny said to the girl with concern and immediately covered her with his old denim coat he loves to tie around his waist. His sight went far to the trees, looking for a moving silhouette, or a lurking enemy with red eyes.

“Thee—yyy go–t mmm–e annn–d…” then the girl broke into tears. Danny moved her onto his side and hugged him like a little sister. My jaw dropped at Danny’s innate affection. Salute.

I was looking at this and did not notice that Danny was speaking to me. The girl has blonde hair and her eyes had the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen. I just came to life when Danny hit me in the face.

“What the?!?” I shouted at Danny who is now looking at me with wonder. The girl also looked at me with a face that is about to laugh.

“Let’s take her to the police… no, I’ll bring her to your pad. Don’t let anyone know that we have a girl with us.” Danny instructed like someone who has experienced the same thing couple of times over.

“From now on, you are safe.” Danny told Jane. Yes, her name was Jane. We only knew about it after she woke up from an eight-hour sleep on my bed.

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*in an attempt to write a full-blown novel, this is the first part. Let me know if you want me to continue. Thank you.