Unneeded — Gordon Brewer

Another Twisted Short Tale

You can discover more of Gordon Brewer’s work at his website.

A young man stood behind the counter, staring at the whirling gusts of snow that swept across the nearly deserted Main Street. The weather warnings made him wonder at the necessity of keeping the place open. Still, he needed the hours since living still cost money. Dressed in a fashionable business suit, nearly an exact copy of the one on a nearby mannequin, Glenn pondered his life.

On days like this, foot traffic was non-existent. He could only adjust the shelves of expensive clothing and rearrange the ties to match the shirts on display for so long. After that, it became the tedium of staring out at the dreadful weather. He sighed to himself as he pulled out his phone for the hundredth time that afternoon.

I never started out seeking a soulless career as a salesman in a men’s fashion store!

The funnel-like wind brought in flakes of heavy snow as the narrow window lobby of the store opened to the ring of a bell. Glenn glanced over to see a huddled, coat-heavy pedestrian come into the lobby way, pausing, shaking and stamping his feet to knock off the snow. The man looked out the front door and Glenn suspected the person was just trying to get warm before heading out to the street again.

As he waited for the day’s first customer, Glenn noticed the few hardy souls wandering the sidewalks. The potential clients seldom bothered to investigate the big window showing several mannequins along with displays of the latest pants, shirts, and shoes. Smartly, they had their hands in their pockets and their eyes on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Glenn had no company, either. The owner of the store was supposed to help him change out the insultingly dated Santa presentation in the other window today. As expected, the owner just stayed at home to let Glenn suffer the day of few sales and the long commute to his apartment.

Finally, fed up with looking at the winter wonderland outside, Glenn turned and walked back to his counter. He picked up his phone again, flipped through some screens, but nothing struck him as interesting. He went over to one display behind the counter and sorted the ties. Then he felt the stare of someone looking at him.

When Glenn turned to the doorway, his eyes widened suddenly. The man standing there stared at him with surprise and recognition in his expression. It was a man Glenn never had seen before. Not like he could forget some guy dressed entirely in black, from boots to pants to a leather trench coat. On top of his head, he had a strange black hat with a distinctive broad-brimmed, round-topped top. The fact that the man’s attire looked somewhat like an old-fashioned preacher if you took away the trench coat.

Strangely, there was no snow on his hat or coat, which puzzled Glenn momentarily. However, he immediately forgot about it as he felt a chill from the expression of recognition from the guy. The stranger’s face carried an extraordinary pastiness, a sick-room pallor better suited to nursing homes.

Definitely a stranger!

“Glenn Hickman, right?” The stranger smiled with his unnerving grin.

“Ah — yea, I’m Glenn — .”

“Glenn Hickman,” the man repeated. “Just the face I remember.”

Glenn could say the same thing. He had quite a face from the long, even nose, high, almost sacred cheekbones with almost no eyebrows to his nearly black irises. The stranger looked older than Glenn, but he knew he could never have forgotten this face.

The man came over while pulling off a black glove.

“I never expected to see you in Virginia, Glenn!” He offered a handshake, which the clerk reluctantly took.

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” he mumbled out while noticing the man’s chilly hand.

Glenn desperately searched his memory for some clue to the man’s identity. He decided that his odd visitor had him confused with another Glenn Hickman and was about to suggest a coincidence. However, the stranger immediately engaged him.

“How is your family, Glenn? I heard your mom was in the hospital.” The man asked with a sympathetic frown.

“All right, thank you,” he replied hesitantly. “Mom’s operation — ”

“Yes, I heard about that. She’s doing better. Out of the rehabilitation, I take it?”

“Yes.” Who, wait — how — did he?

“And your dad?” the stranger’s amused grin returned.

“Still on the cooperative board?”

How do I know him?

“Yes,” Glenn’s chuckle came out automatically. “No one dares suggest retirement with him. Thinks he’s indestruc…”

“Did you ever get Amber to quit calling you ‘Bucky’?”

Glenn blinked with the expression of a statue. It was impossible. No one but close friends and his family knew of his secret, embarrassing nickname. Two big front teeth made his life miserable as a kid before orthodontics corrected the issue.

The strange man chuckled again. His black eyes fastened on Glenn. The movement of the man’s unusually long white fingers as they spread wide on the top of the counter caught Glenn’s eye.

“How long have you been in Virginia, Glenn?”

“About a year and a half,” Glenn replied with a forced customer service grin. His attention remained on the man’s fingers, which danced on the glass top of the counter.

“Are you living in here?” The clerk finally got out a question.

“Oh, no, no. Just passing through! Caught the sign, then looked in to see you. What a coincidence! It’s too bad I have to leave tomorrow, in fact. Busy, busy on the road, but back home soon enough!”

“Oh,” Glenn nodded vaguely. “Back to…?”

“You know — the same old place! Oh, yes, lovely store here! I’m glad to see you’ve got a pleasant job, Glenn,” the man said, tilting his gaze along the wall.

“Say — what time do you get through here?” The question hung like a threat.

“Oh, about five,” Glenn said awkwardly. “But with the weath…”

“That’s great. We can catch up! I’ll buy the drinks.”

Damn, he’s persistent!

Glenn pushed.

“I’m sorry, Mr. — ah — but the truth is, I can’t remem…”

“Come on, we’ll catch up on old times,” the stranger stated with a hint of disappointment suddenly showing on his face. “Are you too busy for that in this kind of weather?”

“Well, not exactly,” Glenn kept trying to edge in his reluctance.

“Still, the weather means most places are closed.”

“Nonsense, my finding you here in the middle of Virginia is fate, I tell you. There’s a place over by my hotel. Let’s catch up — get drinks and look at some of the fine women. It won’t take long. You can leave anytime. Or just bring your friends along!”

“Well, that’s very nice of you, sir, but I don’t have any — well, my friends are with family,” he quickly lied.

“Alright, let’s do this. I’ll come back when you close the shop. Customers won’t be keeping you late, will they?”

“No, I’m sure they won’t,” he sighed.

“All right — let’s make it five!” Glenn said in a thoroughly defeated tone as the man chuckled.

The stranger gave him a familiar wave as he quickly exited the shop.

For the rest of the boring day, Glenn desperately tried to remember the man who knew so much about him. Finally, he calmed himself by watching a few videos on the Internet from his smartphone. However, most of his thoughts came kept going back to the strange man in black. As expected, no customers came in, but he consoled himself that he got minimum wage for the hours.

By closing time, Glenn worked to close out the register, which took no time and slid the cash drawer into a safe under the counter. As he went to the door, he looked out, but no one was waiting for him. A slight grin came to his face. Well, since he’s not around, I can go home.

Sorry, stranger, but you weren’t here when I left!

He stepped out onto the still unshoveled sidewalk. The snow stopped a few hours before and only a few cars traveled on the main street. As Glenn went back over his meeting with the man in black, the absurdity of the conversation came back with its dreamlike inconsistency. The man obviously knew him and knew him well. He realized he should have spoken up in the beginning. How hard is it to tell someone you don’t know them? The strange man wasn’t a friend or a customer.

Glenn got to the end of the corner when he heard a honk from behind him. As he turned, a taxi slid to a stop, nearly hitting the curb. The man took a step back, out of concern the vehicle was going to plow him under for a moment. When he looked inside, he saw the man in the back seat waving for Glenn to join with him. The same pasty face plastered with a grin he recognized from the morning.

Crap!

After doing one last push to get out of the ride to the club, Glenn got inside the warm cab a moment later. The cabby nodded, then turned the cab away from the curb and took off. As he grabbed the door handle, he gulped as the cabbie turn a 180 in the street without a care.

“Last fare of the night,” the big man with an unlit cigar in his mouth announced. “I want to get home before the roads get too bad.”

As they rode to the club, Glenn tried to engage in some conversation to catch or determine the man’s identity if he could. The silence came when Glenn ran out of things to say. Finally, he commented on the homeless people who huddled next to an alleyway they drove by.

“Yes, it’s unfortunate people don’t live their lives to the maximum,” the man in black said with an air of resignation. “To live like that with no hope or dreams. They’re empty with almost unneeded souls.”

“You’re right! You took the words right out of my mouth. Stuck in empty lives filled with shallowness,” Genn agreed.

“But isn’t that a bit like your life, Glenn? I mean, weren’t you going to go around the world with your camera? The photos you showed off in school gave you a life goal to strive for. That’s why I was so surprised to see you here.”

His new friend’s question made him look over. He wanted to pop off a snappy retort, but the guy was correct.

“Sometimes your life doesn’t work out the way you want it,” he replied while looking out the window.

“Yes, it’s an unfortunate saying I’ve heard a lot over the years,” a stiff smile came to the strange man’s lips. “There’s a difference between taking charge or letting circumstances rule you.”

“Don’t you know it!” Glenn replies. “Maybe someday.”

The 630 Club was a surprise. Glenn expected some different from the bluish haze of a mirrored lounge, which appeared too busy given a winter storm which just finished outside. His measured glimpses focused on a few of the pretty girls in the dim light. While Glenn seldom gathered the courage to talk with such beauties, he still didn’t mind coming to a club to watch the interplay. At least he could daydream he had the money, looks, and charm to capture their interests. He was making a mental note of the location of the place when his nameless host, a smiling shadow in the blue fringe of the bar’s light, caught his attention.

“There’s a spot.”

The two of them worked their way between crowded tables to a small table in the dining area of the lounge. After sliding into the red-colored booth, both men looked over the room. The bar itself encompassed a blond-wood horseshoe counter with a fifty’s vibe with chrome pedestals and red covered stool tops. They turned to the sudden shadow of the waitress.

“Let’s take out some of the sting from that chilly wind,” the pale man said.

“Fine,” Glenn stated before he asked.

“Are you having one?”

“Why, yes,” the man stated, clasping his long fingers together. “Miss, two vipers.”

That’ll take out the sting alright! Glenn silently agreed.

As they talked, a few guardedly inquiring comments failed to elicit the man’s identity. He lived, or had lived, in Joplin. The pale stranger spoke quietly of home, with the names of friends that Glenn knew well. The names of the streets were correct, along with the location of some buildings he remembered. That was all Glenn could get out of the guy while they waited for their drinks.

The drinks came and Glenn turned gratefully to his glass.

Well, he’s got the tab, he thought.

The drink on an empty stomach thawed his wind-reddened face and limbs. As Glenn reassessed the stranger. He knew something was wrong with the man across the table, something more than his melancholy aspect. The man carried an emptiness which Glenn guess came from disappointment or, perhaps, by tragedy. At certain times, Glenn would catch at certain phrases or accents in the man’s speech that stirred familiar echoes in the halls of his memory. Still, he remained uneasy about the man’s persistent stare. Somehow, the subject of Glenn’s failed plans came back into the discussion.

“Well, you’re buying the drinks, so I don’t mind some of your sarcasm. Still, I’m not a bum, even if my lot in life isn’t the best.” Glenn frowned at the smirk across from him.

“Of course not,” the man agreed. “I certainly didn’t say you’re a bum. The dreams you hold are yours alone, buried deep inside your soul. You went through life trying to achieve something that’s just out of sight. But you’d agree that if you didn’t have such dreams, life might be easier.”

Glenn ran his finger around the rim of his second glass at the thought.

“You’re correct, in a way. Dreams can hold you back if you don’t have the talent,” he nodded. “Sometimes, you just have to give up when you see others out there who make it and you’re still grinding along. Hell, even the parents complain about why I didn’t do this or that. Like it’s my fault how life turned out.”

When he got to his fourth viper, Glenn suspected he was drunk. He ordered some more table snacks since the liquor was going down so easily. The man wasn’t upset by the realization — rather, surprised and pleased. It had been a while since he could speak freely with someone about his lot. He looked over at the strange man across from him and his concern suddenly spilled out.

“You know, I have an uneasy feeling we’ve never met before,” Glenn mumbled.

He tapped his head.

“Maybe I just can’t place you. Were you in the drama club?”

The question brought a smirk to the stranger’s face.

“I can’t say I was in such a club. However, I’ve been told I look too much like an actor from a horror film.”

Glenn nodded in agreement with the statement. Before he realized it, they finished their drinks. He thought about leaving the table to say hello to a blond he spotted, but then he heard his new friend order another pair of drinks.

Well, maybe I don’t know this guy, but I’ll still enjoy himself.

“Say, Blackie, just who the hell are you? What’s with the midnight suit? You should let me show you nice suits and stylish stuff in the shop.”

“That way you can pick up one of those girls over there!” Glenn pointed, then shook his head. “Well, you’ll need a couple of day in the tanning booth first!”

He snorted, holding in a laugh.

“Sorry Glenn, fashion is not my strongest capability. My activities don’t require a lot of sunlight!”

“So, you’re a vampire,” he chuckled at the man’s reassuring expression. The laughter continued until it turned into a violent fit of coughing, which left him clutching his half-spilled drink.

“U — um, sorry,” he mumbled without looking up.

“No apologies needed.”

Glenn reached for the napkin under his tumbler. He dabbed his eyes and mouth. Glenn opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted.

“No, I’m not a vampire. Blood is rather hideous for me. You should not worry about the clothing you wear. After all, after death, you’ll not need such things any longer,” the man told him in a pleased voice. “Still, I’m amused at your fun this evening, Glenn. You’re starting to understand.”

He raised his glass.

“Yeah, no worries tonight!” Glenn agreed, before draining his glass.