Word Count: 361
If you look carefully, you can see the tip of his cigarette glow when he inhales. Probably got a live-in girlfriend. Same thing as a wife these days. It lights his face just enough to show that I got the right man.
The cigarettes will kill him eventually. Maybe I can just let him die slowly from that. Say that I watched while he smoked outside his own door. No, I just have to do it myself. Then I’ll be cool with the gang.
Just this one guy, I think. Just this one. It’s always the new member that gets this job. It’s proof you’re going to be loyal. And this gang has plenty of members. Unless it’s a revenge thing that calls for immediate action. Then Skull takes care of it. Skull’s got quite a few bodies under his belt.
The cigarette falls to the ground. I’ve got to go for it now.
“Hey dude,” I say.
He looks startled, as if his girlfriend just caught him smoking. I wonder if she knows or just won’t let him smoke up the walls and the drapes.
“Got a light?” I ask.
“Sure,” he mumbles and pulls a Bic from his hip pocket. He hands it to me and I light up and pretend to inhale.
“Thanks. Nice night,” I say.
“Yeah,” he says. Not a talker, this guy. Which is good because I’m not here to be friends. He turns to go up the steps to the building and I stab the knife through the thin shirt, up through the ribs to his heart. It goes in surprisingly easy and slides out the same way.
I wonder, as he gasps, his breathing heaves and then stops, if I’m supposed to take something for proof. But I think word will get around soon enough. He lies still in the edge of the light from the front porch. I back up, turn, and walk quickly away.
I get in my car and am surprised that my breathing is calm and quiet but I want to stop somewhere for coffee before going home. I thought it’d be different. I thought it’d be hard.
