Berengaria's Best: The Ultimate Short Story Collection

15 Grand

Cedric watched, unmoved, as the skinny guy in the leather jacket shifted quickly from leg to leg in front of him, his arms wildly flapping in frustration.

"C'mon man, let me in!" he whined. "I gotta see her again. C'mon, man, have a heart."

The pinks and purples of the neon sign overhead advertising the Cadillac Lounge shone off the guy's dark face, making him look not just wired, but like he had a burning fever eating him from the inside out. A couple passing by on the sidewalk looked him up and down, then adverted their eyes as they hurried on.

Cedric continued to watch the guy publicly dance out his emotions on the sidewalk. He was sympathetic, Lord knows he was, but he still wasn't about to move aside.

"You know you ain't comin' in here, so don't yank my chain. Turn yourself around and get gone."

"I just got to see her one more time, man. Just one more! I'll just sit in the audience, real quiet. Won't make any problems, honest, man. Boy scout's honor and all." He pulled a crumpled twenty out of his pocket and waved it in the air. "I got the cover right here."

"I'm not gonna say this again. You ain't comin' in here, now jus-."

"She in there, man?" The guy hopped up on his toes, trying to peek over Cedric and into the depths of the lounge.

Cedric moved to block the guy's view with his massive shoulder, but that didn't stop the pathetic hopping. "Zara in there? She already there? I gotta see her, man, just for a second! I'll be good."

"Is there a problem here?"

Cedric recognized the sound of his boss' voice and groaned silently to himself. Run, you stupid fucker. You about to tangle with the world's most jealous man. Aloud he said, "No, sir. This guy was just leaving."

Cedric felt a tap on his shoulder, and he reluctantly moved aside in the small entryway to the lounge to allow Sullivan past.

"Don't I know you?" Sullivan, in his perfect white suit, toothpick jutting out from one corner of his mouth, stepped through the doorway, forcing the guy to take a few steps back onto the sidewalk. "Ritchie, wasn't it?"

Cedric pushed up the door so that the few patrons already in the lounge wouldn't have to witness what was about to happen, but left a two-inch crack open so he could watch. He was the security man, and he did his work conscientiously. Jobs didn't come delivered with the morning paper, not in this city.

"Yeah, yeah, man, I'm Zara's boyfriend. This idiot here won't let me in to see her, man!" An accusing finger was thrust in Cedric's direction. "You should fire his ass."

"Interesting," said Cedric's boss, as if commenting on the weather. Although he couldn't see it, Cedric knew that the toothpick had stopped its movements and come to rest between Sullivan's clenched teeth. "Because, as far as I know, Zara's single. Always has been."

"No, no. She's with me, we're --"

Sullivan reached out and took the guy in a head-lock, dragging him backwards towards the curb. All Cedric could see was the guy's eyes -- bulging-open and reflecting neon white with surprise -- before he was spun into the gutter between two parked cars, his stomach becoming the target of Sullivan's steel-toed shoes.

"Za-ra is not your girl-friend. Hear me, shithead? Za-ra is not your girl-friend."

Cedric winced as his boss punctuated every syllable with a kick, over and over and over again.

Leaving the guy on the asphalt clutching his stomach and gagging, Sullivan came back towards the lounge, nodding politely and wishing some passers-by a good evening. Cedric opened the door for him.