Self-fulfiling prophecy is a strange thing.
In the Gutter, it's more like self-serving prophecy. And in the end, there ain't much difference. Except for the body count.
In the Gutter, it's more like self-serving prophecy. And in the end, there ain't much difference. Except for the body count.
Three Steps to Heaven by Max Booth III
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Step 1
Sally stood behind the couch, hopping on one foot as she
forced the other one into a sandal, her mascara streaking down her cheeks.
“Sometimes I think you need help. That you ain’t right in the head.”
Jack laughed, as he leaned forward, closing the footrest on
his recliner. “You think something’s wrong with my head? You need to take a
good long look in the mirror, darlin’. And while you’re at it, maybe get one of
those cocks out of your mouth.”
“Goddamn you!” She grabbed one of Jack’s work boots and
threw it in his direction. It bounced off the wall behind him. She was already
backpedaling down the hallway before he could stand up.
His beer bottle flew after her, exploding on the ground at
her feet. She screamed, hand fumbling for the doorknob behind her.
“If you wanted to play rough, baby, all you had to do was
ask.”
She managed to get the door opened, and ran out into the
night, finding God through the engine of her little Chevrolet in the driveway.
Step 2
“The truly fucked up part is, I’ve never even cheated on
him. Not once in my life.” Sally lit another cigarette and nodded at her empty
glass. “Yet he won’t believe me. He refuses to. It’s almost like he wants me to
be screwing someone else. I just don’t get it.”
Todd refilled her glass, placing the bottle back behind the
counter. “Working this bar, I encounter these types of assholes just about
every day. They aren’t happy until no one else is.”
“That’s Jack, all right.”
Todd leaned in close, elbows against the bar. “Do you want
my opinion?”
She chugged the whiskey, set the empty glass down. “You’re
going to tell me to leave him. Yeah. I know.”
“What’s holding you back?”
Sally held her hands up in front of the bartender’s face,
clenching her fists into tight balls. “Do you see these chains? The ones
tearing away at my wrists, making me bleed all over the place?”
Todd took a step back, eyebrow raised. “All I see is your
skin. There’s no chains.”
She dropped her hands and nodded at the empty glass again.
“Oh, there’s chains all right. They’re just not meant for you.”
“They’re made up in your head.”
She stabbed her cigarette in the ashtray to her side and
motioned at the glass again. “I swear, sometimes I just want to go fuck
somebody else just so he can actually have a reason to hate me. I get so tired
of these accusations. I might as well prove him right, ya know?”
“Maybe you should.”
She snorted and lowered her head. “Yeah. Sure. I really see
that happening.”
Instead of a refill, Todd placed his hand over hers. Slowly,
she raised her head, meeting his eyes with her own. “What are you doing?”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m not your husband. I’m not going
to hurt you.”
Step 3
Jack watched the little bitch enter the bar and then he
watched her walk out of it an hour later. Except she wasn’t alone. Of course
she wasn’t.
They got into Sally’s little Chevrolet and stayed parked
there. They weren’t going anywhere. They’d already arrived at their
destination.
Jack waited a few more minutes and stepped out of his own
car. He’d finally caught the little bitch in the act, and now it was time to
make her pay.
He watched them going at it for a while. He’d never seen her
so alive.
So free.
Jack tapped the barrel of his .357 against the window.
