Saturday, September 5, 2015

billy and al


by nick nelson

illustrated by palomine studios





billy!

billy jones!

billy turned around.

it was al rogers!

that lying bastard al rogers!

billy kept his emotions in check.

how are you al, billy inquired smoothly .

pretty good billy, pretty good, al answered agreeably.

it’s been a real long time, billy said pointedly.

a long time since you stabbed me in the back.

come on, don’t be that way, al laughed good-naturedly, don’t forget -

don’t forget what?, billy replied, his cold blue eyes narrowing to slits.

don’t forget the way you fucked my girl friend, said al, most amiably.

yes, i thought i fucked her pretty good, said billy with a knowing wink.

you think you own the world, don’t you billy, al responded a bit more heatedly.

aw come on al, don’t think everything so goddamned seriously, you know the score, billy chuckled.

but inwardly billy was seething because who was this fucking asshole who couldn’t take a friendly joke.

but al was even angrier because he had always been jealous of billy’s good looks and conspicuous wealth.

and now here the son of a bitch was rubbing his nose in his inferiority and helplessness and poverty.

something exploded in al’s brain and he resolved to destroy billy and the whole rotten system that produced his ilk.

on his side billy just wanted to get away from al and proceed on his merry way to the tennis club.

it was great seeing you again al, billy announced with an unmistakable air of finality as he turned swiftly on his heel.

al could only seethe in mortified outrage as he watched his adversary saunter away with the supremely disdainful air of an eternal conqueror.

oh what kind of world is this, al thought with burning mortification, and how much longer can things go on in this intolerable fashion?

if billy had known what he was going on in al’s mind he might have been mildly amused or again he might not.

in any case it is not known if al and billy ever met again or if al’s bitter resolve ever led to any kind of action.

***