Last Meal Together

The incessant rain continued to fall, its sound echoing from above for what seemed like hours underneath the frosty concrete bridge making it difficult for Jim and Barbara to sleep. Their cardboard surroundings twitched and turned as they moved underneath, wanting to rest in a more comfortable and tranquil state.  

They didn't succeed, as sirens from the emergency services sounded above them, and within seconds they began to open their tired eyes to witness paramedics running towards them.  

'Morning Babs,' Jim said with a cough as the people wearing shiny yellow coats ceased their running at the man sleeping a few inches away from them. Barbara drew a sharp intake of breath as she glanced forward to the scene in front of her and saw the large dark red stain that had gradually flowed into the concrete surface beside the dead man; she gasped covering her mouth in shock.  

'Oh no, Stan, you didn't.' Barbara muttered as she tried to take it all in, shaking her head in denial. Jim's arm reached around her and held on tightly. 

'Don't think too much about it, we all,' he turned to look her in the eye, 'we all have to go sometime,' Jim said wiping a tear from his own eye in honour of his friend. His voice turned to a whisper as he watched the action in front of him,  

'I can't believe you actually did it Stan old boy,' Jim's eyes glazed over as he spoke, 'I hope peace is now with you my friend.' Jim secured his reach until he and Barbara were as close as they could be.

Only days before Stan had talked about ending his life, he couldn't see any reason to carry on, and detested being so cold and scared of his defencelessness of others. He was of similar age to both Jim and Barbara, all in their late fifties, and in the four years they'd been friends they could count the number of times Stan had laughed on a single hand, he'd been desperately depressed for a long time but nobody ever thought he'd do something so final.

In Jim's tight hold she could only watch as the paramedics zipped up the black bag and hauled Stan's body onto a stretcher before taking him away. Barbara began to sob; her cries echoed off the concrete as her past flashed before her eyes.  

'Life isn't meant to be like this,' she cried out as images played themselves in her mind, images of how everyday life used to be...

Barbara had met Jim around the same time as Stan; often passing them and tossing a few coins in their direction as she walked to or from her husband's business. She was a happy wife and mother of one, and thought that life was a wonderful gift, and that anyone could make something of themselves if they worked hard enough for it.  

Months later, the business had gone bankrupt, and he'd run off with another woman after the house was taken away. Barbara had failed to find alternative employment as she struggled to look after their son, Harry, and when the bills couldn't be paid her stress levels were at an all time high. Life spiralled downward even further when Harry, the one person who meant anything to her, died of a drug overdose; he'd been at the top of his classes in college when his Dad was around but, since the money had stopped coming in, he'd fallen in with a bad crowd and had started to play around with narcotics; this had quickly developed into an addiction that he just couldn't prize himself away from.  

Jim had always been so polite, and over time he and Barbara's friendship had blossomed; and they eventually became inseparable. Barbara discovered that Jim used to be a well respected Chef, but a new restaurant nearby had purposefully contaminated some ingredients leaving him out of a job and unemployable, he had used all his savings to try and clear his name but he was just one man against a large organisation; he knew from then on that he was to become destitute.  

Leaning his head towards her and solidifying his grip, Jim tried to calm his one and only friend.  

'It'll be OK, I promise,' he shouted to be heard over her cries; he always hated to see anyone upset.