Alleyman
A Short Story By Darren Kasenkow
Published by Cyberfenix Publications at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Cyberfenix Publications
Dearest Reader,
"Alleyman" was originally published as part of anthology over ten years ago, and now thanks to the internet and Smashwords, I have the opportunity to gently wake it from a timeless slumber, to watch as it rubs its eyes and gaze at the new unknown. If it wasn't for you, the reader, there would be no waking.
I was hunched down where I would normally be hunched down at night, down an alley off of the mall, at the back of some shops I've never been in that offer just a touch of shelter. It was drizzling, not quite raining, but I could care less either way. There were remnants of people here and there that would wander past the end of the lane, but no one would turn their gaze towards me. Actually, no one would turn their gaze towards us.
I was in the company of a little kid, couldn't have been more than eleven. He was annoying, but still a step up from my night lit shadow. Just. He'd been sitting in the alley when I got there, smoking a cigarette with long hair pinned against his face, water droplets sliding down his cheek. I should have told him to disappear there and then, only I noticed a full pack beneath his raised legs that left his knees to rub the bottom of his chin. That of course deserved courtesy. I whispered not a word as I sat beside him. Now he was staring at me as though I were a special in a butcher shop window.
"Wanna smoke?"
"You're too young to smoke."
"Wanna smoke?"
What was I supposed to do? What would you have done? I grabbed a smoke off the little brat. There was something so degrading about the whole situation it was beginning to make me sick. It tasted good though. The rain didn't seem to matter as the smoke passed through my mouth, drifting off into the darkness.
"What's ya name kid?"
"Kid."
"Fair enough. Why aren't you at home in bed? An alley's no place for a kid."
"Here's as good a place as any. Why aren't you at home?"
I drew on my cigarette. What was I supposed to say to that? That I had no home to go to? That right now I was home? That he shouldn't be asking fucking questions? I just stared at him a little while. He had two or three jumpers on, a pair of tracksuit pants that looked far from functional, and a pair of oversize boots. Like a small clown, kind of. I threw my finished cigarette into the rain. I really didn't need any company tonight.
"You warm enough?"I don't know why I asked him that. He looked me up and down before answering.
"Warm enough." There was a small smile on his face. "I need you to do me a favour."
"I beg your pardon little man?"
"I need you to do me a favour."
"And what might that be?"
"I need to sleep, which means I need you to tell me a story. A good story, a fantastic story, so I can sleep."
"You're not going to get any sleep in this rain. Go home kid."
"I can't unless you tell me a story. And I'll bet five cigarettes you will."
That struck a nerve. Five cigarettes. I mean, make no mistake, I could have just taken them from him, the whole damn pack, but there was something not right about that. Like it would be something that God could hold against me. I didn't need that. Five cigarettes, for telling some little kid a story to kill his home sickness, to make him forget about the beatings or rapings or whatever the fuck he was running from.
"A story you say, a good story?"
"Yep. And I don't want something I've heard before."
"I don't know what you've heard before kid. What do you want, a horror story? A love story? I got no idea what floats your boat."
"Just tell me a story, please, so I can sleep tonight."
I didn't like the sound of his voice, didn't like what was happening. The pressure was coming back, right behind my eyes. I had never seen this kid before, hadn't talked to anyone in weeks. But his voice, he spoke as though he knew me from somewhere. Impossible. Along with the pressure the thoughts were stirring.
"Come to think of it, I know probably the greatest mystical tale ever told. Only it's also the greatest secret ever kept, and I can't just go around telling anyone."
"Tell me."
"It's not as simple as that. I have to be sure you want to hear it, want to live it."It was beginning to seem as though the alley was closing in on us, like sleep taking over rational thought. The sounds of life were now slithering murmurs along the pavement.
"You can trust me. I'm only a kid."
"That doesn't mean much to me. Gimme another cigarette."I sent smoke filled patterns back into the rain. "How about if I offered you the chance to actually go on a mystical adventure, I mean really live one, experience one. Would you want to go?" He looked up through the rain to the sky, an ink filled blanket with not a single star, and then turned back to me. Cold, stale and skeletal.
"Where would I be going?"
"To a magical place. To a place of mystery, a mystical mystery you could never even dream about."
"And how would I get there?"
I couldn't help but smile. He was on the edge and didn't even know it. I couldn't have stopped now even if I wanted to. Which I didn't. He wanted mystical and so did I. He wanted sleep and I could give it to him.
"I have the key."
"Let me see it."
"Eagerness will ruin the spell. It's not as simple as just showing you."I looked around, checking for any unwanted guests, and moved a little closer to the kid. "I have to be absolutely certain that you won't be scared."I expected him to look a little nervous, but his eyes stared at me wide. Mesmerised. The hurricane had reached my stomach, the lightening my temples.
"I won't be scared." His voice was quiet, almost a whisper. The rain was becoming heavier. Were they tears of God I had wished for so many times or tears of the damned?
I whispered into his ear. "Do you believe in angels, with crystal eyes and wings of gold?"
His eyes were closed, head tilted toward the night sky. "Yes." Not even whisper this time, just barely a breath.
"And would you swim in warm oceans of glitter, filled with dazzling mermaids and dolphins that could speak just like you? Where the beaches would be giant cities made of sand and glass, and the only doorways are so high in the Heavens that you have to float up to enter, carried by the wings of timid dragons? And would you walk the golden pavement that guides you through the mountains, where the devils are caged and hang swinging from the trees, trapped forever? If I offered you the chance would you go?"
A sharp crack of thunder shook the alley walls, and I knew it was open. There was the familiar sting of razor blades slicing the nerves of my spine.
"Give me a cigarette."His eyes flew open at my ask, still staring at the sky, and slowly moved to the pavement beneath his legs.
"You don't really have the key, do you?"
"Give me a cigarette."It was frustrating to light it in the rain.
"I'd give anything to walk along that path you talk about, with the things in the cages so they can't hurt me anymore. And to swim in the glitter. Please, show me the key, show me how to get there."
I took my time with the cigarette, following the smoke as it swirled its way to nowhere. My spine was splintered, nerve fibres flapping in the rain. Thunder shook the walls once more. It was time to give him the key.
"When you get there, and should you go for a swim, you'll probably meet a dolphin who wears a strange looking hat made from barbed wire. When you see him, smile, and tell him the Alley Man sends his regards."
The sound of his skull splintering against the wall was muffled nicely by the rain, a hidden melody in some detuned symphony. The bullet hole appeared strange thanks to the blood washing away instead of pooling across his face. At least his eyes were closed. I hate it when they just stare and stare.
I looked into the packet. There would be enough cigarettes to last the night, to warm the lungs. This alley though, it would no longer do for the night. I would have to sleep somewhere else. Never mind, God will provide, as I do for him. When the seven bolts of lightening weave an electric web to pull the kid's body from the alley, I know I am closer to being free. And maybe, perhaps maybe, I'll be a bit warmer than now. The mall, as always, is now completely empty. Empty that is, except for the outlines of the dead trees which you can just make out in the darkness.