Bacon (Short Story)

xwalkran (54)in #writing • 7 years ago

Bacon, as he had introduced himself, was as greasy as they came. He looked like he’d been rolled off of a sausage from some greasy spoon kitchen. His hair was too slick, his nails dirty and his clothing, stained. His teeth were yellow, his nose,croooked. His shoes were beaten, his eyes watery, his gaze, shifty.

“Leonard!”, his mother yelled. “Can you get me some cigarettes??” His mouth turned downwards, his eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath and let out a slow, exasperated sigh. He put a hand to his head and slowly rubbed his forehead, massaging away a non-existent headache. He did this for a moment, and then looked up. He looked at Jimmy, and at me, and then down at his feet, shaking his head, back and forth. It was not a happy sort of motion.

And then he was up. Jimmy and I caught a wave of air from him: old cigarettes, sour alcohol and general staleness. We both shifted slightly, doing what we could (which was nothing) to avoid the smell. Mercifully, Bacon moved quickly.

“I’ll be right there”, we heard him call out, as he left the room and headed up the stairs. We could hear his boots on the concrete floor, and then up the wooden steps.

“Shit man, I don’t know if I can do this”, Jimmy said. “This guys is ..” he trailed off, and just shook his head. “This guy is something else.” Jimmy’s eyes were wide, and he was only now realizing what he’d gotten himself into. Upstairs, Bacon walked the halls. Clickclack. Clickclack. We could hear every hurried step. “Why does he run around like that? Can’t he just walk like a normal person?” Click, clack, click clack. “God this guy weirds me out.”

We heard some conversation from upstairs: muffled voices, obviously Bacon and his mother, conferring over the cigarettes.

“Why did you get involved with this guy?” I asked. Jimmy pursed his lips and cast his eyes downward. He stayed that for a few seconds, searching for the words. Just as he was about to speak, we heard Bacon again, coming down the stairs.

Clickclack, clickclack, clickclack, clickclack.

He was in the room, past us, and into his seat, a bundle of nervous energy. Click. Click. He started tapping his boot, and nodding. He looked over at Jimmy, and tapped his foot some more. Click. Click. Click. “We doing this?”

“Yy, y-yes”, Jimmy stammered.

Bacon started nodding his head faster, and a slightly manic smile creeped onto his face. A bit of drool escaped from the bottom of his mouth. “OK JIMMY, but before we do anything, you have to know one thing about me.” Jimmy looked over at me, and back at Bacon. He gulped. “What’s that, Bacon?”

Bacon stood up and pointed his hand right between Jimmy’s eyes.

His eyes bulged.

His face flushed.

And then he pulled back, at the edge of self control. “Let me see the money.” Jimmy didn’t even hesitate: his hands were in his pockets so fast I was a little embarrassed. I mean, this Bacon guy was off the charts freaky, but .. you gotta be cool, right?

Anyways, Jimmy gives him the bundle of money. Bacon takes it, sits down, and, I swear, with the methodical bearing of a career bank teller, he counts it out with a supernatural speed. Five. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. Fifty. All the way to five hundred. As soon as he reached that number, he slammed both of his hands on the table, looked up at Jimmy, smiled a smile that was just a bit too wide, and said “OK THEN.” He jerked his head at Jimmy a couple of times, and then stood up. He reached under his bed, which, for the record, was strewn with magazines, garbage, and clothing, and pulled out a small cardboard box. He carefully walked it over to Jimmy, and handed it to him. “Go ahead. LOOK.”

Jimmy’s hands shook. He pulled back the cardboard tabs and lifted out a clear, plastic holding case. And there is it was, just RIGHT there in front of us, in all its purple glory. I looked at Jimmy. He carefully opened the case and pulled out his prize. He checked the tags. Single layer. First Generation. He smiled.

Bacon could hardly contain himself. “That’s a First Generation Princess beanie baby, there boys, in perfect condition. That’s one of the rarest of the rare. You can’t just buy that off ebay, you know. Now, get out of here. And. Leave me some good feedback. On my facebook page. And Etsy. Or find me on twitter.”

#baconsbeaniebabies