Read Online Cookie Cutter Man by Elias Anderson - Free Book Online
Authors: Elias Anderson
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had
frequented the bar since he was 19 and paid an old woman at the D.M.V. 50 bucks
to make him a little older. People didn’t go there to socialize or dance or
cruise for one-night stands. People went there to get away from those other
kinds of places. They went there to drink, to be alone, to get some peace and
quiet. The owner and bartender was an old junkyard dog of a man named Harry,
with a face that could’ve been drawn by Frank Miller. He kept the music and the
lights low and wasn’t much for conversation. As far as he was concerned, people
could drink quietly or get the hell out.
The door opened and Tommy shuffled in, his dirty gray
overcoat hanging on his ex-junky’s frame like the broken wings of a vampire
bat. He stopped at the bar and got a pint before joining Daniel in the corner.
“How are ya, Dan?”
“I’m OK.”
“Echo?”
“She’s good.”
“So I heard you been laying low, huh?”
“From who?”
“That dildo customer of yours, with the really bitchy girl
living with him.”
“Gene?”
“Yeah, Gene,” Tommy said, taking a sip of his beer.
“You don’t mind me sending him your way, do you?” Daniel
asked.
Tommy shook his head and smiled his cold smile. “Nope. He’s
a born sucker. I been charging him twice what he paid you.”
Daniel had to laugh a little at that. “Fuckin’ crook.”
“So what’s up?” Tommy asked. “You’re off the powder, you
give up your best customers, I don’t hear from you in a month? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Bullshit,” Tommy said. “I known you a long time, Dan, and
this is first time I ever saw you packing heat.”
“Heat? What are you talking about?”
“On your ankle. You don’t think I know a back-up piece when
I see one?”
He should have known better than to play dumb about guns
with Tommy. “Look, I just need a favor. If Echo asks, I was with you, OK?”
“When?”
“Whenever. Any time she asks you about, I was with you.”
Tommy leaned back in the booth and stared at Daniel long and
hard with his unsettling yellow eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that, Tom. I’m serious. You owe me
and you know it. That fucking guy that was looking for you? Didn’t I tell you
about that? Get you out of some shit?”
Tommy nodded, slowly, resigning himself.
“You didn’t tell me what you were into then, and I didn’t
ask, right?” Daniel said.
“Right, OK, fine. You were with me. You stepping out on her,
that it? Got somebody’s husband after you?”
“No, and fuck you very much for asking.”
“So why the gun?” Tommy asked. “Why the alibi?”
“I ...” Daniel looked down into the dark mysteries held
within his lager. 10 years he’d been friends with Tommy now, longer than
anybody. Daniel considered him to be the only real family he had, other than
Echo. He sure didn’t count his piece of shit father. Only Tommy and Echo, and
here he was lying to both of them, not playing it straight with either one when
he knew that was all they’d ever done with him. And bringing up old favors and
who owed who? That wasn’t like him at all. He didn’t look out for his friend so
he could rub the debt in his face; he helped him because he could, because
Tommy was the only friend he had.
“I ... I burned a couple people, and it’s catching up with
me,” Daniel said, hating himself a little more with each false word he spoke,
wondering if the peculiar x-ray vision Tom had for bullshit was cutting through
his story, short as it was. “I gotta see if I can make things right, you know?”
“Shit, is that all?” Tommy asked. “You need money or
something?”
Daniel shook his head. “No, just time is all. I need a
little time. So can you do this for me?”
“You sure this is all you need?”
“Positive.”
“OK,” Tommy said. “Consider it done.”
When Daniel finally returned home it was just getting dark.
He opened the front door and before he could even get all the way through it,
Echo
frequented the bar since he was 19 and paid an old woman at the D.M.V. 50 bucks
to make him a little older. People didn’t go there to socialize or dance or
cruise for one-night stands. People went there to get away from those other
kinds of places. They went there to drink, to be alone, to get some peace and
quiet. The owner and bartender was an old junkyard dog of a man named Harry,
with a face that could’ve been drawn by Frank Miller. He kept the music and the
lights low and wasn’t much for conversation. As far as he was concerned, people
could drink quietly or get the hell out.
The door opened and Tommy shuffled in, his dirty gray
overcoat hanging on his ex-junky’s frame like the broken wings of a vampire
bat. He stopped at the bar and got a pint before joining Daniel in the corner.
“How are ya, Dan?”
“I’m OK.”
“Echo?”
“She’s good.”
“So I heard you been laying low, huh?”
“From who?”
“That dildo customer of yours, with the really bitchy girl
living with him.”
“Gene?”
“Yeah, Gene,” Tommy said, taking a sip of his beer.
“You don’t mind me sending him your way, do you?” Daniel
asked.
Tommy shook his head and smiled his cold smile. “Nope. He’s
a born sucker. I been charging him twice what he paid you.”
Daniel had to laugh a little at that. “Fuckin’ crook.”
“So what’s up?” Tommy asked. “You’re off the powder, you
give up your best customers, I don’t hear from you in a month? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Bullshit,” Tommy said. “I known you a long time, Dan, and
this is first time I ever saw you packing heat.”
“Heat? What are you talking about?”
“On your ankle. You don’t think I know a back-up piece when
I see one?”
He should have known better than to play dumb about guns
with Tommy. “Look, I just need a favor. If Echo asks, I was with you, OK?”
“When?”
“Whenever. Any time she asks you about, I was with you.”
Tommy leaned back in the booth and stared at Daniel long and
hard with his unsettling yellow eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that, Tom. I’m serious. You owe me
and you know it. That fucking guy that was looking for you? Didn’t I tell you
about that? Get you out of some shit?”
Tommy nodded, slowly, resigning himself.
“You didn’t tell me what you were into then, and I didn’t
ask, right?” Daniel said.
“Right, OK, fine. You were with me. You stepping out on her,
that it? Got somebody’s husband after you?”
“No, and fuck you very much for asking.”
“So why the gun?” Tommy asked. “Why the alibi?”
“I ...” Daniel looked down into the dark mysteries held
within his lager. 10 years he’d been friends with Tommy now, longer than
anybody. Daniel considered him to be the only real family he had, other than
Echo. He sure didn’t count his piece of shit father. Only Tommy and Echo, and
here he was lying to both of them, not playing it straight with either one when
he knew that was all they’d ever done with him. And bringing up old favors and
who owed who? That wasn’t like him at all. He didn’t look out for his friend so
he could rub the debt in his face; he helped him because he could, because
Tommy was the only friend he had.
“I ... I burned a couple people, and it’s catching up with
me,” Daniel said, hating himself a little more with each false word he spoke,
wondering if the peculiar x-ray vision Tom had for bullshit was cutting through
his story, short as it was. “I gotta see if I can make things right, you know?”
“Shit, is that all?” Tommy asked. “You need money or
something?”
Daniel shook his head. “No, just time is all. I need a
little time. So can you do this for me?”
“You sure this is all you need?”
“Positive.”
“OK,” Tommy said. “Consider it done.”
When Daniel finally returned home it was just getting dark.
He opened the front door and before he could even get all the way through it,
Echo
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