Ghosts
Today’s prompt is “Ghosts”. I decided to continue the story from a previous prompt. The first two short paragraphs are from an earlier post. New material clocks in at about 265 words.
The Decision Continued
“You gonna drink that today?”
He fixed on the bartender’s rheumy eyes, waited a beat or two, and then shrugged. The bartender shrugged, turned away to wipe down the bar yet again. The shot glass shimmered as the light shifted from left to right: a truck passed by outside, reflecting the late morning sun.
He opened the manila folder and slid out the contents: papers, photographs, a smaller envelope. Setting aside the smaller envelope, he looked first at the photographs. A handsome man, well-dressed, well-coifed, stared out from the top picture. Obviously a professional photograph, probably for corporate use. The others showed the same man in public, photographed without his knowledge. At the park. At the store. Leaving the office. The papers were typed, single-spaced, organized under headings that provided an outline of the man’s habits, movements, and, most importantly, the reasons why his death had been ordered.
“He deserves to die.”
Setting aside the papers, he looked up. A woman sat on the stool next to him. She was young, too thin. Her hairline was distorted from where her skull had been cracked by violence. Baseball bat? Gulf club? Her eyes had probably been blue in life. Now they were pale yellow.
“He’ll do this again,” the woman said, pointing to her wound. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“I know.”
“You say something?” the bartender asked.
The man shook his head. “Not really. Yeah, I’m going to drink this.”
He took the shot of whisky in hand and tossed it back. The liquid burned at first, but then faded into warm hints of spice and vanilla. He looked at the dead woman and nodded while sliding the papers and pictures back into the manila folder. The smaller envelope went in last, after he thumbed through the bills inside.
How much was a human life worth? Five grand, and even that seemed too precious in the particular case.
