jolie memphis

junie monroe-why?

An open door. An entrance to a gas station, 60s looking. 3:42am.

First and foremost, a little girl. In reality, she looks about 13. She throws a box of spearmint gum and a packet of strawberry BonBons on the counter. The cashier tries to flirt with her. He fails miserably. She collects her change and gives him a winning smile. There is something red between her teeth.

Outside, she sits in the light of the moon, and chews three pieces of gum at once, and flicks a lighter. I don't know where she is. And neither does she.

"Need one?" Looking up, she can see the cashier holding out a cigarette with a smirk on his face.

"I don't do that. Bad for your teeth" she says, tapping her smile.

"I won't tell your parents. C'mon. Have a smoke with me." He sits down next to her and moves the cigarette closer to her mouth. Up close, she can see the scar on his eyelid from a bloody fight he got into over a girl, the summer of 1994.

"What was her name?" She asks the question before spitting her wad of gum into a receipt.

"Whose?"

"The girl" she says bluntly, pointing to his eyelid.

There is fear in his eyes all of sudden, like he knows exactly what she means. Then, an acceptance. "Miranda." he answers.

"Yeah, Paul," She says it mockingly.

"I think you know what's about to come next."

He slumps onto the curb side, his mouth filling with blood, as a guttural groan emits from deep within his throat, an almost animal sound, and she watches. Nervous this time. Desperate.

Paul becomes eerily silent, before sitting up and brushing the dust off his shoulders. He spits the blood out onto the road, a pool of red that sinks into the concrete.

He turns to look at her.

"What?" he says, smiling.

"My question still remains. I'm sick of asking." She opens the packet of BonBons and he physically recoils.

"I think it's better if you didn't know."

"Goddamn it! That's what you say every time."

"And I do enjoy it. But you must be tired. You may benefit from finding an abandoned barn and a short leash."

She hurls a BonBon at him, and he dodges it, hissing.

"As a last precaution of course," He brushes his shoulders once again. "You know...these things that are happening... have you considered the idea that they may not be all there at all?"

"What the hell does that mean? Are you saying I've made it all up? I know I haven't Paul. You're not made up."

"Don't call me- all I'm saying is...well, what have you really done? That was evil?"

She stops chewing. "I feel it in my bones, Paul. There is blood in my teeth and dirt under my fingernails. I lie in fields and it crawls into my skin. I am dirty. It's in my bloodstream. I can taste it Paul!" She cries.

"Don't be such a drama queen, Junie Monroe."

"Oh, eat shit." She stands to leave, and he grabs her wrist.

"You'll always come back to me. You've got a meddling mind. But you should consider other options. You never did an evil thing Junie, consider that. You think you're so dirty, but where is the blood on your hands? You say you have all these thoughts. But you've never sinned a day in your life, Monroe. Maybe you're not that bad. Maybe you're just a girl."

The moon flickers for a moment and she turns to look. By the time she glances back at him, he is gone. In her hand- the packet of BonBons and in her mouth, a metallic taste of blood and the sweetness of sugar. Her teeth are bleeding. Paul is really gone this time.