Fast Friends
By Andrew Romanelli
He had jammed the gun into my ribs
after I came out the Sev-Eleven.
His free hand on my shoulder,
to guide me towards an area
where the lights did not reach.
Dude was shaky, in bad shape.
The muzzle of the gun sliding
all over, pressing into my torso.
In an attempt to get a better grip,
he kept pulling the trigger,
which only resulted in a click.
So, either it was on safety or empty,
maybe even jammed.
This is when I came over on him
with my knife like a rainbow
darkening in between parked cars
where an older man
was getting a blowjob
from a younger man.
My blade landed
down on his forearm,
slashing through his flannel leave,
which was quick to absorb
what I let release out of him.
He dropped the gat,
took off towards the college.
I make eye contact
with the older man in the car,
till getting blown.
He’s seen the whole thing
but wisely decides
to live (or cum) and let be.
I pick up the dropped gun,
disassembling its emptiness
as I cross the street,
I ditch the pieces on E Naples Dr.
I make my way into the Double Down
where a girl buys me some Ass Juice,
not wanting to drink alone.
I ask are you sure?
She says her boyfriend has been gone
for at least an hour.
If he comes back,
I have her permission to kill him.
There’s blood on my hand, she wipes it off
on her tight black jeans across her thigh.
Her makeup is deliberately cheap.
In the low light I can’t quite see
what my city has done to her.
She’s got lipstick on her teeth
and one rumpled cigarette left in her pack.
“What’s the craziest thing
you ever did for money?” she asks.
Held a job.
“I drank a jar of sea monkeys!”
“Also, I slept with a guy…”
Me too.
“Really?” “How much you get?”
Two grand
“What!?” “You must be something special!”
He thought so.
“Damn now I want to know
what a two-thousand-dollar screw is like!”
“But I don’t get paid again
until the Monday after the next,
would you take an IOU?”
Buy me another ass juice.
We were becoming fast friends.
She was the kind of girl
you could ruin your life over
by saying I’m in love with you,
It’s a good thing,
as I get older,
I’m getting smarter.
I don’t say shit like that anymore.
