Saturday 10 November 2012

Chapter Three:Somebody's Eyes

"Hey Billy, can I use your light?"

Billy shrugged and handed over his flip-lid Zippo. Lionel, holding the blue flame to the cigarette hanging from his mouth, squinted and then raised his eyes.  They were hard and dark, with heavy lids and a kind of noir know-it-all gleam in them.

They stood against the wall of the washed out electrolysis studio, hands in their pockets.  A couple of cars drove by, dim blurs in the twilight.

"So have you seen Campbell lately?" Bill asked.

"Nah.  He's off in India with his dad."

"Huh. And he thought of me when you called him."

"He gave me your number, sure did."

Billy rubbed his hands together and stuffed them in the sleeves of his black and grey striped hoodie.  "So what did you need?"

Lionel kicked a rusted nail across the sidewalk.  "A place to stay for a few days.  I'm passing through on my way to Hawkstone.  I wouldn't be trouble."

A couple more cars rumbled by, a city bus loosening its breaks and winding its way around the corner.  Billy watched the cigarette smoke mingle with the air. "I gotta admit, Leo, I'm not in the best situation at the moment."

"What, you squatting?  I don't mind, just a roof over -"

"It's not that. I'm staying with -"

"Parents.  I get it."

"No, it's my sister."

"And she wouldn't be cool with some random guy coming to stay?  Weird.  You couldn't say I was a friend from boarding school or something?"

"Well..."

"No, no, I get it."  Lionel took a deep drag on the cigarette, "What's she like?"

"My sister?" Billy pulled a cigarette from behind his ear, "She's a writer."

"Oh really.  Been published?"

"Loads.  She's really good too." Billy flipped his lighter shut and drew in smoke.  "Ever heard of Gilda?  That's her."

"No kidding."

Billy smiled with pride.  "She's the best there is."

Lionel nodded, stubbing his cigarette out on the wall.  "You know anyone else I could call?"

Billy scrawled out a few numbers on the back of an expired lottery ticket.  "Try them, they're all in the city."

"Thanks, Billy."  Lionel took the paper and sighed.  "I owe you one."

They parted ways, Lionel headed up the street towards Main, Billy cutting through the grocery store parking lot and disappearing over a fence.  Lionel took the paper out of his pocket along with a black aluminum lighter and burnt the numbers into ash.  He brushed his hand on his coat and kept walking.