Thin Walls

I. I Quit

The rancid smell of hot breath in my ear was the trigger, I reacted accordingly. He looked so sure of himself as I cocked back, aiming for that grimy, crooked smile, I saw red and so did he. A small smile crept across my face as I watched crimson droplets pattern the linoleum floors. His crooked nose dripped like a faucet staining his pretentious starched white shirt, embellished with a garish neon thread that screamed manager. I smirked, I couldn't help it, seeing his ugly face crumple, tears brimming and threatening to fall, this was sweet retribution. It was my third shift at a dive bar downtown and the third time he had palmed my ass citing a sorry excuse of tight spaces. I shoved him to the floor, grabbed my coat and walked out with my middle finger raised high.

The fridgid night air cut like a knife as I shimmied into my coat. A full moon illuminated the dark city streets as I proudly marched home. It was silent, the thumping of my boots against the pavement echoed loudly in the city streets. I groaned, the high wearing off as reality of unemployment set in, I kicked out at the nearest object with full force.

"Fuck!"

Groaning in pain as my big toe crashed against it, I hopped for a few paces, my breath rushing out in puffs of icy smoke. I leaned over placing my head heavily against the brick wall of the building, eyes closed. It could not possibly get any worse than this, as a frustrated tear slipped from my eye, I wiped at it angrily, turning to regard the sky. The moon was bright and full, the only beautiful thing in this ugly city.

A high-pitched howl of an engine broke the silence, I cringed. I moved to cup my hands over my ears to drown out the noise when something grabbed ahold of my arm.

"Back off!" I yelled, pushing away with my elbow. I hate being touched. A balding heavyset guy, he was doubled over, gasping and stammering. He reached out towards me as I walked backwards, putting some space between us.

"Don't touch me!" My fists balled up as I scanned the street. Where the hell was everyone? He lifted his head, his gaze hazy, unfocused, he was sweating despite the frigid November air, something was wrong. For a moment we just stared at each other, breathing heavily.

"Hey, you good?" I asked hesitantly.

I really just wanted to get as far away from him as possible but he looked like hell. He doubled over again, groaning, and reaching for me, I took two steps back. Panicked, I reached for my phone to call 911, only to find it was dead. Of course, it was, I hadn't brought my charger with me to work. He collapsed, falling face-first on the ground with a thud. My heart hammered against my chest, I don't do well with medical emergencies, I don't even know CPR, what the hell do I do? I glanced around to see if anyone else was on the street, but it was completely empty. I looked up the street, estimating that I was about a two minute sprint away from my apartment, I could run there and call for help.

In the moments it took me to weigh my options, the man had stood and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"God, man, you almost gave me a heart attack there." I blew out in an aggravated huff.

"You okay?"

His eyes locked on me. Something was off. I took a slight step backwards as he made to grab at me again, but it wasn't for help this time. He was trying to grab me. I took a running skip backward to avoid his touch.

"Alright bro, glad to see you're feeling better. I'm gonna just.. go." I continued to walking backward steadily, picking up the pace a bit. He followed, staggering, having to hold to the wall with every other step but his pace was increasing. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Once I felt I had created a big enough gap between him and me, I turned and ran towards the apartment. A block down the street, I spared a glance behind me to see he was right on my heels, running now. Panicked adrenaline shot through my system, sweat beading up on my forehead and I sprinted, pushing my legs as hard as I could. I was now two blocks away from the apartment when I could no longer hear his heavy breathing I risked another look over my shoulder. He was still in hot pursuit, but a good block behind me. The street was then washed in blue and white lights as a police cruiser flew down the street, sirens off but the lights blinded me, I blinked furiously, willing my vision to return.

In a panic, I turned once more to see if the man was still following, but what I saw had me turn on my heel. He was still running, but now towards the police cruiser. I squinted, blinking rapidly as I saw him fade from my view. I shook my head in disbelief and started walking backwards for a few feet, just in case he decided to turn back around. He didn't.