The Discordant Opposition Journal Issue 8 - File 7
revolution
by infinitymatrix, aka verdict
Jesus Christ, Jake thought to himself.
He stepped out of the door of the bar into the crisp night air, the frost biting at his cheeks. He looked up and pulled his collar up over his neck. There was a small glint in his eye as he grinned and started walking. There had just been a slight rain... so the air now smelled like liquid shit.
"This fucking pollution shits me sometimes." he said aloud. It drew a few stares, he just shook his head, looked at his feet and continued on. The puddles of grey water lapped at his heels. At a corner he stopped and turned on his heel. He lifted his hand and hailed a cab. One of the yellow vehicles quickly swerved to stop in front of him.
He opened the door and ducked in.
"Where to?" the cabbie said in a monotone grumble.
"Fucked if I know. Anywhere but here."
"Right. I'll take you to a place I know."
The cab lurched into motion as it started merging with the traffic.
He closed his eyes.
Flashes.
A girl's face. A woman's face.
He screamed and grabbed his head, kicked the back of the seat.
"Holy shit, mister!"
The cabbie grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the right. The car jarred as the front right wheel went over the curb. Jake grabbed his wallet and pulled out a twenty, stumbling over the curve. He crumpled up the bill and tossed it into the car. Slammed the door shut. He fell to his knees, blinking rapidly. His back spasmed, he bit his lip. Limp. All limp now. It was over. He looked up, saw a voluminous flashing neon light. The street was abandoned. He picked his wallet up off the ground and brushed some debris off of it. He put it in his back pocket. He stood up and looked around. Under the neon sign he saw a black door. He decided he had nothing else to lose, so he walked into it. He was overrun with the potent odor of alcohol and tobacco. He coughed violently for a few seconds then regained his stature. This caused everyone in the bar to look at him. "Everyone" consisted of an very large white man, a small, skinny black man, and the bartender, which looked like a mix between Mick Jagger and Donald Trump. He continued walking towards the bar. The bartender finally spoke. He had a strong Australian accent.
"Ehm, mate? You gonna have something?"
"Huh?" He looked up with a questioning look on his face. "Oh yeah, I'll have something. Hmmm... make it a scotch, no rocks."
The bartender nodded, and turned around, reaching for the bottle of scotch. The bartender grabbed the bottle and snatched a small glass off one of the shelves. The bartender spun around and poured some of the scotch into the glass. He put the glass on the counter. Jake picked it up. He looked into the glass, swirled the fine around. He took a swig.
Sat down, hung his head, nursed the glass.
A creak behind Jake made him turn his head toward the door.
A old man stepped in from the cold, and shook off the rain.
Says everyone, "Hey Sam" simultaneously.
"The usual, Sam?" said the bartender.
"Sure," says Sam, "the usual."
The bartender promptly grabbed three bottles and a glass. He put the glass on the table in front of Sam, and poured a little bit of each bottle into the glass. Jake turned away from him and took a sip from his scotch.
"Something wrong, kid?" intoned Sam.
Sam tapped Jake on the shoulder. Jake spun around on his seat.
"What you want, old man?" he snapped at him as he turned around.
"So negative," Sam said, shaking his head. "Something troubling you?"
"Yeah."
"What's that?"
"None of your fucking business."
"Right. You probably need to relieve some tension."
"Really."
"Yeah. Nowadays, all you kids are mad at everything. You just need to relieve some stress, relax." Sam swirled his drink around then took a gulp.
"Oh yeah? Well, how do you suppose I do that?" said Jake, sarcastically.
"I'll tell you a way," Sam nodded. "You see that staircase right there? Go up it." He nodded in the direction of the pool table. "You go up those stairs, first door to the left. Go in there. There's a girl named Eliza. I think you know what to do with her." Sam smiled, nodded, then turned away and started smiling and sipping from his glass again.
"Right." Jake said. "What the hell." Jake put down his drink and stood up, headed for the stairs. He went up the flight of stairs and walked into the room.
Eliza was sitting on the bed in some black, lacy lingerie.
"You Eliza?" Jake asked.
"Sure am," Eliza said turning around. "You need something?"
"Sam told me to come up here. Said something about relieving tensions."
"I see now." Eliza said "I can do that for you."
Eliza stood up. She reached behind her back, pulled at the knot that held her lingerie. Her gown slid off, revealing her body. She had olive skin, a dancers body, beautifully curved. She smiled and started walking towards Jake.
"Oh yes," Eliza said. "I can relieve all your stress."
She took off Jake's jacket, then tore off his shirt. She kneeled down and unzipped his pants, took them off. Then pulled Jake's boxers around his ankles. Jake stepped out of them. Jake then grabbed Eliza and they fell onto the bed. Eliza started to caress Jake's chest. Jake suddenly pulled away.
"No Eliza. I can't do this. Not with what I've been through."
"Whatever you want."
Eliza reached over to the ground and picked up a black leather purse. She extracted a pack of cigarettes. She pulled two ciggs out, and a lighter. She lit both, gave one to Jake. He took it and inhaled deeply.
He got dressed and went back downstairs. He walked across the bar and took a seat at the bar. Sam swivelled around to face him.
"How was it?" said Sam.
"Good." Jake said, eyeing a gun on the counter. He took another drag on the cigg. He closed his eyes.
Flashes.
A woman's face.
Jake winced in pain, he opened his eyes.
"Fuck. I can't take this anymore." Jake mumbled.
"Yeah, the experience." Sam said.
"Yeah," said Jake, "the experience. The revolution. You can't stop it."
Jake then laid his hand on the gun, picked it up and examined it.
"Tell Eliza thanks." Jake said as he lifted the gun, put the barrel in his mouth, and pulled the trigger.
::im
'99
