Teeth of the City

Just like heaven, Danni

Tommy signaled the bus driver to stop then walked slowly up the center aisle of the still moving vehicle.  The view out the windows was nothing more than what you would call a wasteland. Garbage and debris floated in the breeze as building after building went by looking as if it had been abandoned ages ago .Boarded up windows and collapsed roofs made the streets look like a movie set for filming a post apocalyptic thriller. Only this wasn't a movie set, this was real life and Tommy was headed straight for it. Looking out the window it looked almost as if this section of the city was even colder and darker than the rest of town although the meteorologists didn't report any such phenomenon on the evening news. Tommy reached the front of the bus and waited for the driver to open the folding doors. The driver looked up at Tommy with a confused look on his face.

"You sure you wanna get out here buddy?" the driver asked Tommy as the doors slid open and the frigid night air rushed in.

Tommy was seemingly lost in a daydream and didn't even realize he was being spoken to. The driver shook his head. Another night, another freak, he thought to himself.

"This don't look like your type of neighborhood buddy." the driver tried.

"What?" asked Tommy, suddenly snapping out of his reverie." Oh, yeah, right, I'm just visiting a friend is all" Tommy answered.

"Hmm....... got friends in low places, huh buddy?" The driver shook his head again. "You know, if you're out here lookin to buy drugs let me just give you a little advice. It ain't worth it, man. Gettin high, I mean, ain't worth gettin killed for. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah,I know what you mean" Tommy said with a forced smile on his face. "It's not drugs though, honestly. I'm not into that shit.Thanks for stoppin."

Tommy placed a few coins in the money bin, a small bullet proof glass container with a slot for patrons of the bus to pay their fare. It was far too dangerous for the driver to carry money. He would have been robbed daily.

"Good luck buddy." the driver called as Tommy stepped down the two steps out of the bus and into the cold, hard world outside. The driver made a mental note to check the papers in the morning to see if there were any reports of a tall, thin man with shoulder length hair murdered near his route. Tommy gave the driver a wave as he stepped up the curb and started down the first block of his three block walk to the west of the bus stop. He paused to watch the bus disappear out of sight and knew he was now alone in the city. Even though the bus was no safe haven at least it was better than being out here. At least there was a layer of glass and steel between him and the vultures who roamed the streets. Tommy put his hands in his coat pockets and kept his head down looking only at the ground immediately in front of his feet. Walking at a brisk pace Tommy walked straight through puddles of filth without even noticing and ignored pieces of rubbish that blew up from the dark street and stuck to his side with the wind. He badly wanted to have a smoke but  was afraid that as soon as he lit up a hundred people would appear out of nowhere to ask if they couldn't "bum a cigarette". No cars passed save for the occasional taxi and even they were rare in this part of town. It was almost eerie how quiet it was this night. A city shouldn't be quiet. A city should never be quiet. It was unnerving and Tommy would have started regretting this dangerous trek into the teeth of the city if he was simply making this trip to get his favorite slice of pizza or to try out a new museum that had recently had a ribbon cutting ceremony. Hell, even if he had made this trip to see a good friend as he had told the bus driver he most likely would have turned back. He wasn't making this trip for any of those reasons, however. He was doing it for the same reason men have been taking risks  since the beginning of time. The same reason men fought in bars and tried to outdo each other in sports and arm wrestling and drinking contests. He was doing it or the same reason men would go to the ends of the earth or climb mountains if needed.The same reason men leaped overboard in rough seas. He was doing it for the woman he loved.