Smile

Chapter Four: Dusk

Aubrey called me frantically, begging for me to answer.
"Dale, please, I hope to God you're okay," she left another voicemail, before sitting on the street corner and crying.
An overweight man approached her, proceeding to ask, "How much?"
"Does now look like a good time?" Aubrey sarcastically replied, before letting out a slight giggle, "$50 for anything that isn't actual intercourse, full $100 for the full deal."

At this point, I had been off of the face of the Earth for about a week.
Smiler stopped coming to me once I began to let go of my past life, Donnie and I skipped town to go on a bender.
"Got your mind off that motherfucker?" Donnie asked as he clumsily hit a bong while driving his rundown van from the year 1984.
"For now, I guess," I replied, admittedly too high to give a definitive answer, "Have you ever tried so hard to escape something, just to end up accidentally running back into it?"
"Yeah," Donnie joked as he stomped on the brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian, "That happened with my ex-girlfriend."
"Shit!" I remembered, hurriedly searching for my phone, "I haven't talked to Aubrey since she kicked me out."
"You're better off without her, man," Donnie tried to convince me as he began to park the car on the side of the road, "We're fine out here, you see that sign ahead of us?"
"Yeah," I shrugged, "What does that have to do with anything?"
"That's the entrance sign to Missouri," Donnie revealed as he started up the engine again, "We're going to Dusk, gonna get your mind off of things back home."

Dusk was large, much larger than Dirtville.
Dirtville was small but dense and crowded, whereas Dusk was big and crowded at the same time.
By the time we arrived it was already 1 A.M.
"Shouldn't we get a hotel and do shit tomorrow?" I asked Donnie as we passed the Happy Day Parade, at the very entrance of Dusk.
"The night is young here in Dusk, my friend," Donnie responded as he lit a cigarette, "Maybe in Dirtville y'all would be asleep but here the city is always thriving."
I turned my head out the window, viewing the Happy Day Parade.
In the crowd were a mixture of people from all ethnicities, tall, short, skinny, fat, male, female.
Then there was one that was just off.
Too tall, too skinny, too... uncanny.
The figure turned its head towards me, to reveal that ghastly smile once again.
It was Smiler.
"Drive!" I shouted at Donnie as Smiler stared me down, "Fucking drive!"
Donnie sped up, and I watched Smiler fade away into the distance, giving me a wave as if to either say goodbye... or hello.

Mirage, a nightclub in Dusk, Missouri.
Neon lights covered the building, inside and out.
The place reeked of alcohol and weed, not to mention cheap perfume from the girls who came there to sell themselves.
"I'll have a shot of Bacardi," Donnie told the bartender as I soaked in the environment, "And my friend here will have two."
"I don't think I'll need that much," I countered, before meeting eyes with a girl across the room, "I'm already drunk enough."
"Make it three," Donnie joked, "One for him and two for that girl he's checking out so he can get laid."
"Oh come on, man," I butted, "I'm still with Aubrey."
"Let me tell you something, Dale," Donnie explained as the bartender put down a shot, "We're in Missouri now. Nothing you do here has any effect on your life back in Dirtville. To Aubrey, you're probably dead, I mean you've been off the grid for a week."
"I don't know," I caved in, before taking a shot and looking back at the girl, "Maybe."

"That was great," I muttered, out of breath.
"It was above average," the girl replied, putting her bra back on in the desolate hotel room, "Don't gas yourself up."
"What's your name again?" I asked the girl, before glancing around myself, finding a pack of cigarettes and lighting one.
"It's Katrina," the girl answered, before taking a cigarette for herself, "Katrina Maroon."
"I'm Dale," I told Katrina, before glaring out of the window, "You think we'll ever talk again?"
"Depends on how drunk I am," Katrina remarked, before taking a drag from her cigarette, "You don't talk like you're from here, where did you come from?"
"Dirtville," I explained, "Dirtville, Illinois."
"Oh, that shit hole," Katrina sarcastically stated, "I have some family there. Place is a mess."
"You're telling me," I responded, before looking her in the eyes, wanting to kiss her but knowing how wrong it was.
"Why did you come here?" Katrina asked, puffing her cigarette, "Everyone has a reason."
"I wanted to escape," I began, staring off into space, "I needed to escape."
"Dale," Katrina said as she put her hand on mine, then suddenly kissing me and getting on top of me, "Let's escape together."