DOUBLE-BILL (standard:Flash, 1398 words)
Author: Danny Zil	Added: May 20 2012	Views/Reads: 3083/1935	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This guy's plannin to jump off a ledge but a kindly Cop manages to bring him down.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

leaned back against the wall, a bit more relaxed. 

“Smoke?” the Cop asked, holdin out his pack. 

“Brought my own,” I told him. 

We lit up with my Zippo an sat there smokin for a minute. 

“Here's a good one,” the Cop said eventually, “an you'll like this. When
we arrived on the scene an saw you up here, the Sergeant asked for a 
volunteer to come up an talk to you.” He grinned. “My patrol buddy, 
he's a real joker, he says to the Sarge, ‘Talk to him? You want 
somebody to go up an talk to him? Let me go up there an I'll sing to 
him!'” 

We laughed. I liked this guy. 

“So what brought you out here?” he asked. “Money? A woman? The job?” 

“The first one.” 

He nodded. “Appreciate just how you're feelin. Got big problems myself.”


“Which one?” 

“The second.” 

“Woman trouble?” 

“My wife's leavin. An she's takin the girls.” 

“How old?” 

“Five an three. They're my babes” 

“Shit, that's a tough one. How come she's leavin?” 

He glanced at me an I thought maybe I'd overstepped the mark. Then he
shrugged. “I haven't told anybody else but under the circumstances,” he 
said an glanced down meaningfully. 

“Understood,” I agreed. 

He took a drag on his cigarette before he told me. “Other women,” he
eventually admitted. 

I nodded an drew on my smoke. No big deal there. 

“Yeah, other women,” he said. “Took me a while to work out she was a
lesbian.” 

No shit! I glanced at him but didn't say anythin. 

“Then there was the forced anal sex,” he went on. 

Christ! This was gettin personal. 

“Still don't know why I let her do it to me.” 

What the fuck!? I turned and had a long look at him then but he just
smoked an shrugged. 

“I think that's when I started beatin her,” he continued. 

I glanced quickly at him again. Was his voice startin to sound a little
slurred? 

“Yeah I beat her at everythin,” he admitted. “Beat her at poker. Beat
her at tennis. Beat her at fuckin scrabble.” 

I kinda half-smiled at that then took a draw on my smoke. His voice was
definitely slurrin up. I couldn't smell any booze off him but we were 
sittin a little apart out there. 

We finished our smokes an flicked them out into the darkness. I watched
the glowin red butts fall, a little apart, before the wind whipped them 
away. We lit up again immediately. 

“Then there was the necrophilia,” he went on. 

“Jeeze!” I muttered. 

“Christ, two good-lookin stiffs! Two strippers! Two! Does that make me a
fuckin necrophiliac!?” 

I shook my head. “Not in my book, buddy,” I said. Especially not out
here on this ledge. 

I glanced at him again. He was startin to sway a little from side to
side. 

“Losin the kids was the last straw,” he slurred on. “Judge gave her
custody. Just cos she's got some land upstate an they can graze there.” 
He grinned lopsidedly. “Man, I loved them fuckin goats. Two kids each 
they had.” 

It was then that I realised this Cop was fuckin nuts. Then he proved it.


“Can't take losin everythin,” he slurred, “so I was headin for the
Brooklyn Bridge myself after tonite's shift. Took a shit load of Valium 
earlier,” he drawled. “A shit load. Feel nice an woozy now. Nice an 
woozy” 

He glanced at me. I could now see the nice an woozy look in his eyes.
What I had taken earlier as confidence had been Valium. 

“Man, them blues sure kicked in. Feel all kinda relaxed an rubbery.” He
grinned an drooled. “No point in waitin for the Bridge,” he slurred. 

Then he just rocked forwards and fell off the ledge. I watched him go
then I suddenly remembered. I was fumblin pointlessly at the double 
knot when the rope tightened an I was hauled off too. 

I tried for a last draw on my smoke but the wind whipped it outa my
hand. The sidewalk was comin up awful fast an I could see the Cop 
headin down, the rope taut between us. 

The small crowd rippled an moved back like a wave breakin. I could see
them all starin up at us. 

“Hey look – we got us a double-bill!!” some sick fuck yelled. 

Laughter from the crowd was the last thing I ever heard. 


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