He has been standing in this alley for at least 2 hours, waiting, wondering, looking. He needs to find a decent commission tonight and so far the night has been a bust. The only plus on the evening has been the cool air, it’s allowed him to wear his mask and his work clothes in some comfort. He pretends it’s the weather that is keeping his mask on, but in reality the mask is covering up his smile, he just can’t shake it. He knows he has to concentrate on the task at hand, just one slip and he is dead, and they would have won. His watch tells him it’s almost 3 AM, “It’s Saturday morning,” he thinks, “on Saturday anything is possible.”
A noise from behind him grabs his attention suddenly, he is sure he can feel someone trying to creep up behind him. He looks down at the puddle of water he put himself behind, he uses it as a makeshift mirror. He can see a shadow is behind him, he turns to met it but instead is greeted with a sudden massive pain in his chest and a gunshot deafening his ears. He notices that he is somehow on the ground and his chest seems to be on fire, also there is a noticeable amount of fresh blood in his mouth.
James squirms on the ground and tries to catch his breath but his lungs wont fill up with air fast enough. The Shadow walks into the light and reveals himself to be the very same gunman who James started his career with. The man draws nearer as James continues to squirm on the ground.
“Hello Mr. Hero.” The Gunman is sporting an eye-patch and missing a lot of teeth, James knows who it is, and realizes what is about to happen. He stands over James’ chest and points the gun down at James’ head. “Nothing to say to an old friend?”
James grits his teeth, “Sorry, no English.”
James’ left arm, that had been clutching his chest, reaches into the air to grab the gun. In the same motion James move his head away from the gun barrel and the gun rings out into the night again. James’ right arm had been palming a small knife and he is able to jam it into his attackers right-leg calf muscle. The man howls in pain, and James is able to take the gun. James pulls the knife back out of his friends calf and re-sheaths it.
As his friend is doubled over in pain, James uses this time to regain all of his facilities and pulls out some zip ties to bound the bleeding attacker. “Was it worth it?” He asks through his mask.
“Ask the bitch!” The bound man motions to the other-side of the alley James turns his head to see the same woman from his first night out.
“Oh come…” James stops himself and opens his mask at the mouth and spits out a tooth. “FUCK!” He turns his attention back to the man laying on the ground, “Do you know how much a cap is going to cost?” He spits out his blood in a drain and puts his tooth in his pocket. He then walks over to the woman who has pushed herself against a nearby trashcan and has been crying.
“Why are you still here? Why are you still with this piece of shit?” He asks while trying to pack his mouth with some gauze.
The woman looks up at James. Her dress is torn and tattered, her purse is just a bag with some rope attached. Shes cleans her eyes for a moment and gathers some breath. She looks into his eyes and in a flat voice she says, “Do you like your job?”
James pulls his mask back down, “Get the fuck out of here.” She puts her head down and runs away. James turns his attention to the night itself and spends a minute listening for any sirens. Finally he walks back to his old friend who is still bleeding and struggling to get free. James decides to kick him in the ribs to roll the man onto his back.
His friend smiles at James, “You are him. I’m honored.” He laughs, “So maybe hanging out in the same places aint such a good thing for a superhero huh?”
James looks away.
“Whatcha think ya can just rob us forever? That no one’d notice?” He leans towards James, “SO WHAT NOW HERO?”
James walks back into the shadows for a minute trying to make sense of everything that was happening. He could still hear no sirens in the air, and by now that meant none were coming. He looked over his prey and started thinking about everything. He had been so good at this for so long, what happened in the last 3 weeks that changed everything? Why was his life coming apart? Was this just the inevitable finally catching up? He walks back to the man on the ground and takes the gun from the alleyway and tosses it into the same drainage pipe he was spitting blood into. He pulls out his own gun and points it at Eye Patch.
“Started with you, ends with you.” James puts takes the safety off of the gun and searches the man’s pockets.
“Nuttin this time, you fucker.”
Sure enough James can’t find anything on the man except for a wallet containing an ID and 200 bucks in cash. Barely enough money to cover his cell phone and a tank of gas. James dropped his masked head, he read the drivers license, “You’re name is Jonathan K. Smith?” James laughed, “That’s pretty funny.” James tucks the gun back into his waist and starts to leave.
“Where ya goin HERO?” Smith screams, “My boys…”
James quick draws the gun and fires a shot into the air. “ARENT COMING. NO ONE IS COMING. THEY NEVER DO.” James puts the safety back on the gun and then back into it’s makeshift holster and again continues walking away.
“Ya think ya better than us?” Smith yells again, “I wouldda finished the job!” Smith laughs, “Oh you think since you aint kilt nobody your better dan us?”
James stops walking, he thinks to himself, “I don’t think I am better than you, I just think Im better at this job that you are.” James leaves the alley and removes his mask. He tosses all the clothes covered in blood into a dumpster and gets in his car. He drives back to his apartment, his face covered in his own dried blood. His pocket still holds Smith’s wallet. He walks to his door and before he turns the key he turns around and knocks on her door.
“Lisa, It’s me. It’s James.”
The door instantly opens. “Hello Mr. Hero.” She smiles, “Why don’t you come in.”
James smiles, “What gave it away?”
She presses up against him as he walks into her apartment and whispers in his ear, “You talk in your sleep.”