Well, I've never had the urge to write Uber before, but I heard a song on the radio the other day and this just sort of happened. It's kind of strange, (g) but ...
Disclaimers: This is alt, so that means two women in love, nothing graphic as this is really, really short, but if you don't like that, please skip this story.
There are also some thoughts on suicide, so if that sort of thing bothers you, please skip this story.
Saturday Night Special
4/99
As the darkness of another night crept over the city, a lithe, dark haired woman prowled thestreets in the poorest section of town. Garbed in black, she padded down the silent streets,reminding all who saw her of a jungle cat. All the shadows fled before her and she walked alone,for none dared even to meet her icy gaze.
Reaching her destination, she paused for a moment in a dark, dingy doorway. Thoughts jumbled in her mind as she reflected on the decision she'd made that left her standing here at this moment in time. But with heart aching surety, she knew there really were no other options. The darkness in her life was overwhelming and all her efforts to turn her life around only sent her into a deepening spiral of evil and despair.
Her brother, the last surviving member of her family, had died in a free-for-all with Federal
authorities during their last misadventure. When she was captured in the raid, she'd thought for
sure that society would finally make her pay for her crimes and put an end to the darkness that
ruled her life. But a technical glitch halfway through the trial had thrown her out onto the streets
again, where the darkness was waiting with claws extended.
Shaking her head to drive the memories away, she took a deep breath of the foul air and slid
through the door into the pawn shop. She'd know the broker for years, for the right amount of
money he'd do her one last favor.
She stalked down dark, dusty aisles filled with piles of junk and brushed dark hair back from her
face as she approached the counter. A fat, grungy looking man popped out from behind a ragged
curtain and peered through the dim light in her direction. A flash of fear briefly crossed his face
as he recognized her but then, remembering better days, his face lit up with an oily grin and he
approached her.
"An' what kin I do fer you today," he smirked, rubbing his hands together with glee.
She stared at him for a long moment, the icy blue eyes in her expressionless mask of a face
sending shivers through him. Then, without saying a word, she tossed an envelope onto the
cracked and stained counter. His beady eyes nervously scanned the surrounding gloom. He'd
heard the stories and seen the newspaper articles that followed her trial. In the end, his greed won
out and he snatched the envelope up and disappeared back through the curtain.
She shook her head in disgust. Some things never changed.
But aren't you glad they don't, she whispered to herself. After all, if he wasn't so greedy, you
wouldn't find it so easy to get what you want...need...to put an end to this. An end to the anger
and the pain, the hunger for revenge that started all this in the first place. And that gun, and a
single bullet, will end it all for good. Will end your darkness.
She jumped, startled, as the bells on the door jangled and a slender blonde woman in worn jeans
and a ragged sweatshirt entered the shop. She gave her a once over and then dismissed her,
turning back to watch the curtain.
Oh, dear, the small blonde sighed, spying a tall, dark haired woman standing at the counter in
front of her. The woman glanced briefly at her, revealing elegant cheekbones, tangled black hair
and a glimmer of blue eyes that filled her with a strange sense of deja vu. Then she turned her
attention back to the counter and the curtain-covered doorway beyond it.
Glancing briefly down at the shimmer of gold on her hand, the blonde slipped back into the
shadows, blinking back tears as she waited for her turn. At this time of night, she'd hoped to be
the only customer so she could get this over with quickly, before her resolve faltered.
A few more minutes passed in tense silence before the proprietor reappeared from behind the
dingy curtain. He glanced briefly at the blonde woman waiting in the shadows and then laid a
cloth draped object on the counter.
"Here ya go, the best I've got," he said, as she flicked the cloth back, examining the pistol. He
waved a small box of ammunition at her. "How much a' this do ya want?"
"One," she rasped. His eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline, but he silently complied. He wasn't
going to argue with her. She took a moment to load the pistol and then slid it into her pocket and
headed for the door as the small blonde woman hesitantly approached the counter.
She paused just short of the door as the broken tone of the small woman's voice stirred a strange
feeling in her guts. She wasn't close enough to understand their conversation but the sneering,
condescending tone of the broker as he answered the woman and a tiny metallic clink on the
counter told her all she needed to know.
The woman was trying to hock some jewelry, probably a wedding ring, and the broker was being
his usual nasty self. Even though he knew better than to try his tricks on her, she was quite
familiar with them. He would give the woman some small pittance for the ring, claiming that was
all it was really worth. Then he would turn around and sell it for way more than he'd paid for it.
As the blonde spoke again, her voice breaking from the effort to hold back sobs, the dark haired
woman turned, hand in her pocket, and peered back at the counter. At the sight of tears
glimmering on pale cheeks, her anger stirred...and surfaced.
Even as her instincts screamed at her to not get involved in a stranger's problems, her body
turned itself around and approached the counter again. The blonde turned and faced her, eyes
widening in fright at her expression. For a moment she lost herself in glistening green eyes.
Then she wrenched her gaze away and turned a snarling visage on the broker.
"Don't even think about cheating her," she hissed between her teeth as his eyes locked on the
tightly clenched arm that disappeared into her pocket. His face turned pasty as she leaned over
the counter, icy blue eyes narrowing as she gestured at the battered cash register. "Pay her what
it's really worth."
The smaller woman stared in wild-eyed confusion as the man not only paid her what the ring was
worth but emptied out the contents of the cash drawer into her hands. She tried to stammer a
protest, but he insisted, his motions growing jerkier and more panicked by the moment as his
eyes never left the dark figure leaning casually against the counter. As she stared at the pile of
cash and opened her mouth to protest again, a long finger pressed itself against her lips, silencing
her. Dazed, she looked up into deep blue eyes as the dark haired woman spoke to her for the first
time.
"Let's go," she said, turning toward the door without a backward glance at the man cowering
against the wall. The blonde gulped and stuffed the money into her purse and followed the dark
haired woman out into the darkness.
She stumbled after the woman for almost a block before her mind unfroze enough to wonder
where they were going and why she was following a complete stranger. Several horrible
scenarios flashed through her mind and she opened her mouth to protest or to at least announce
her intention to leave, and she promptly stumbled again on the cracked and broken concrete. This
time the toe of her worn sneaker wedged itself into the broken concrete and she was unable to
catch her balance. She flinched as she started to fall, knowing with her luck she'd either break
something or roll down the embankment into the river. Then strong arms reached out of the
darkness and caught her, setting her upright again.
"Careful, there," the dark haired woman said in a voice that sent strange shivers down her spine.
"You don't want to fall in the river." Long, black-clad arms gently supported her as she regained
her equilibrium. "There's a bus stop just over the bridge that'll get you wherever you need to go,"
she added, sliding her hands down the blonde's arms and starting to step back from her.
"Please, don't let go," the smaller woman whispered, clutching at the departing arms as her fear
of the surrounding shadows and the cold, emptiness of her life overwhelmed her.
The dark haired woman made gentle soothing sounds and allowed her to cling to a calloused,
long-fingered hand as they walked out onto the bridge toward the bus stop.
"Why?" she found the strength to ask the taller woman as they stopped for a moment to look out
over the river. A shadowed face turned to meet hers and the woman answered her as they gazed
into each other's eyes.
"I don't know," she said, a strange expression on her face. Then she turned away and gazed back
out over the water. After a moment she spoke again, so softly the smaller woman almost didn't
hear her over the sounds of the river. "Ever been to Texas?"
The blonde smiled to herself for a moment, and then tugged on the hand she still held, pulling
her taller companion around to face her again before answering. "I think I'd love it there," she
whispered.
Her dark companion reached out hesitantly and cupped her cheek as their eyes met again. For a
long moment blue stared into green, but then eyes fluttered closed as the smaller woman slid her
hands through midnight hair and pulled her tall companion down for a kiss.
At that gentle touch, the dark haired woman felt something deep in the darkness of her soul come
alive again as a strange new warmth wrapped itself around her heart. She slid one arm free as the
kiss deepened and fumbled in her pocket for the pistol. Without breaking away, she pulled it out
and flung it over the railing, out into the darkness below.
"There's a pawn shop in the city, use to deal in everything,
But you can't buy a pistol there, and you can't hock your wedding ring."*
The End
*Apologies to Conway Twitty for stealing the plot (sort of <g>) and the last two lines from his
song of the same title.