April and Kent sit at dinner. There is music and romance, but they are being spied on by Adam and Robert who smoke as they stare at the couple. April doesn't see them, but Kent has his eye set on stare, and he can't help but grow uncomfortable over the audience.
"You think this is a theatre by the way others stare here;" he tells April who is halfway through drinking a flask of wine.
"What stares?" she asks as she looks around seeing nothing abnormal.
"Never-mind;" mutters Kent who leans back to show that he has unwound.
"Really, we're here together and all you can think about is other people;" mutters April as she takes out a cigarette.
"Sorry to have upset you;" tells Kent who snatches the cigarette and pushes it to the side of a plate. "Not here;" he mutters.
April shrugs and she leans on a hand while she sulks.
"You really are a dump sometimes;" she mutters as she broods.
Kent feels his mood drop to low and he glares in a tight leer before he blinks his feelings away.
"I am sorry you feel that way;" he comments as his tongue turns brittle and dry. "It's been a rough kind of day, and the way I feel right now..."
The waiter brings the two meals they have purchased. Nothing but the cheapest meat on the smallest plate is served, and April rolls her eyes.
"This night was supposed to be special;" she comments.
"It is!" enthuses Kent as he grows a rash under the collar.
"Then what's this morsel food? I need a real steak;" tells April as she sneers.
"It's food - food is food;" mutters Kent before he digs into his meal.
Two bites and he is done. April pulls a plate and finishes her meal in one bite.
"We're not the big bang;" tells Kent as he rolls his eyes. "We're still homely;"
April swallows her meat and then she finishes her drink.
"I would have brought you a whole steak;" she mutters with clip in her tone.
Kent shrugs.
"Well look at it this way - you won't put on weight;" tells Kent before he eyes April up and down.
April sneers and then she bitterly places the flask onto the table.
"Charmed!" she calls in a hot tone which the whole room hears.
Kent smiles but blushes as a few faces turn their way. He then finishes his meal and goes to pay for it.
While in cue to pay the two spectators leering approach Kent. Kent looks at them and he rolls his eyes as they semi-circle around him.
"Nice looking woman;" tells Robert with a grin. "Very nice;" he adds with a slur.
"Thanks;" mutters Kent with a stiff nod of gratitude.
"The meal was a bit small though;" tells Adam with a clip. "Are you unable to pay for a real meal?" he asks.
"Money is tight;" tells Kent with a shrug.
"Tight like water;" tells Adam.
Robert smiles and nods.
"A nice woman like that and you can make circles of dimes;" he adds.
Kent sucks in his breath and turns away as Adam plays with a clip of money.
"I can give you three hundred dollars if you and your woman go to the back and get dirty over a trashcan while we watch;" mutters Adam as Robert nods.
"What?" asks Kent as he glares at the hand which holds the money. "What are you? Who are you?" he asks.
"Wealthy bankers;" mutters Adam with a shimmer in his eyes.
Kent shakes his head. He hears a call for him to move to pay, and he approaches the desk. The clip in his pocket has one crumpled note in it, and he peels it off the clip before pushing it forward to pay for the meal. Kent feels his gut wobble, then he looks to Adam who tucks his money back into his jacket. Robert nods before breaking off to grab a drink off a table. Kent wishes he could do the same - but he can't; he has no money.
Kent walks up to Adam and he holds out his hand.
"I'll do it;" he mutters.
Adam smiles.
"Make it semi-murder and I'll give you an envelope of money;" he mutters before he takes two clips out of his pocket and waves it around.
Kent gulps. He then nods. He takes the money, and with his pockets heavy he moves to collect April who is busy counting dots on the table-cloth.
Kent leads April to the back of the restaurant where it is cold and barren. There are five trash cans sitting side by side, and one industrial trash can in the corner.
"What's here? This isn't any short-cut;" tells April as she waves a hand across the row of garbage bins. "It's dirty dump place;' she mutters before she turns to Kent who has his fists rolled up.
April looks at his fists and then at his face which is drawn and serious.
"What are you? Who are you?" she asks before two men emerge from the door to smoke on the stairs.
April shivers. She isn't sure who they are but they look like they know something. April glares the two figures up and down. She can see them now, the two fellows standing around like visitors glaring at the room like they own it. She had seen them before, but she hadn't want to call them queer - just people who like to stand rather then sit for their meal.
"What is this?" asks April as she feels a snake crawl under her skin. "My skin is getting nervous;" she adds.
Kent smiles an ice cold smile. He then takes out a knife and points it at April.
"What do you want?" she asks as she narrows her eyes. "Money? I have none!"
"You coat;" tells Kent as he flicks fingers her way.
April sneers. She wants to scream out no, but she doesn't dare. The knife pointed at her is a death trip and she doesn't want to experience it at all. So April takes off the coat and she hands it to Kent who throws it onto the ground.
"Hey, that's real fur!" yells April as her white coat is dunked in sewerage water.
"Now the dress;" tells Kent as he wags the knife in front of her.
"You want my dress too?" asks April as she fingers the sequins on the dress.
"Yes!" tells Kent as he grows red inside of his brain.
April looks at the fellows on the stairs. She then looks to Kent who is red with stress. April then looks at the fellows on the stairs again and this time they are passing cigarettes as they leer.
"i don't want to take it off;" she mutters as she raises her brows.
Kent lunges and cuts a strap and it falls limp.
"You cut me!" gasps April as she touches her pale skin where the red dribbled down over it like a tear.
Kent tackles April and he stabs her under the ribs. April feels it and she screams as she tries to punch Kent, but a head-butt crashes against her nose and makes her mind spin and April drops her rage to play limp victim.
Kent kisses her and touches her in places she wouldn't have let him if they had been in her apartment. They have only been dating a few weeks and she doesn't like him any more then she likes his lack of money. April falls onto a trash bag - her strength is giving up on her. Her back is wet from sour juice popping out of the bag and onto her skin, but still Kent crawls over her to show her he is caught in a motion that he won't let go of. April peers over his shoulder at the two fellows on the staircase. She wants to wave, to leer, to shoot at them; but she can only stare as her mind drifts off her shoulders. She can see them, both of the, their faces are young, their stature is erect. They are someone and she knows it as she drifts off from her own level to float with the mist that is forming over her eyes.
"Who are you?" she thinks as Kent's hot breath pants over her shoulder.
April wipes a tear from her eye, and then she leans back. A shard of glass slips out from the garbage bag and cuts her cheek. April shivers, then she begs for someone to help her as she lays there helpless.
Kent pokes his chin on the glass and he recoils. He looks at the shard of glass and then at April's cheek who has blood dribbling over it. Kent recoils - the sight of blood makes his face pale, and he flinches before he panics. Kent gets up and races away right after he has put himself together. He runs with money in pocket as April lays still.
April looks at the fellows who stare at her from the stair. They talk to each other and laugh. April's heart sink that she is a joke. She wants to call to them but she can't move, she can't talk; her body is in pain and there is a deep cut rushing out blood. She is helpless, she is limp, she has been hurt and she can't move not even to make her lips whisper. So April waits and it doesn't take long for the two fellows to approach her.
They bend over her to take a closer look. April wants to tell them her name, but she keeps still as they poke at her side with a stick that has been found. They talk about her wound like it is a newspaper article. April feels a turn, she feels sick, and she pants a little. The two fellows stare at her face and they know there is something wrong.
"Can you call for an ambulance;" mutters April as her tongue turns swollen and her throat turns dry.
Robert looks to Adam who shrugs. Adam wants to mutter yes, but he stands to smoke instead. April looks at him smoke, and then she looks to Robert who shakes his head as turns her cheek. The glass cuts his hand, and he stands up to kick at the shard. The shard shatters and splinters of glass falls over Aprils bare shoulder. April feels a chill over the dusting but then she glares at the two fellows once more and she grows faint of heart as they tell each other they should leave.
April wants to scream as they leave her alone. She feels miserable being so faint and hardly able to move. April sulks and she stays where she is as she waits for a hero; but none comes. Night passes on and April feels her body growing colder and colder until she drops down dead with the turn of her head.
Adam, Robert, Aprl, kent
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