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THE OTHER HALF

  James Fink

  Copyright 2009 James Fink

  Published by

  James Fink

  [email protected]

  The Other Half

  Benjamin’s cat disappeared and reappeared often. She was skittish in a charming kind of way, and Benjamin liked this part about her. He thought that cats should be at least part wild and part tame. She slept on his pillow every night, so he didn’t mind that she was gone most of the day. After she had showed up on his doorstep one morning, he named her Annie for no particular reason. She kept coming back for the sardines he set down for her, and eventually she went inside his ground-floor apartment.

  Doug, Benjamin’s roommate, didn’t like her much because she had a habit of rolling on her back and showing all twenty claws at once if he went near her.

  “She’s bad news,” Doug said. “If you ever brought a girl back here, you’d have to worry about Annie.”

  But Benjamin didn’t mind Annie’s aggressive behavior. More often than not, she would let him rub her belly while she was rolled over. If Doug came close, though, her claws would start to come out and he would have to stop.

  “I think there’s actually two cats,” Doug said. “The nice one you claim to have seen, and the one with those little knives who would tear a hole in your skull.”

  Benjamin had a few healing scratches on his hands, but he didn’t mind. He took her to the vet and got her licensed and spayed—and got her a nail trim—shortly after he decided to adopt her.

  One morning, Doug was rushing around, trying to get ready for his job at a warehouse downtown. He grabbed a cold soda from the refrigerator and accidentally bumped Benjamin while he was opening a can of tuna for Annie. The lid sliced down Benjamin’s thumb about three inches before crashing to the floor.

  “Hey, sorry, man,” Doug said as the blood dripped down to where the lid to the tuna was.

  Benjamin didn’t feel the pain at first, but when it hit, it hit him hard. He rarely lost his cool, but as he put his hand under running water, he told Doug where he could shove it.

  “Really sorry, man, “ Doug said. “But I gotta book. If I’m late one more time, Morrison’s gonna dock my pay.”

  “Just go,” Benjamin said. His head began hurting right behind his eyes, probably left over from last night’s drinking. He wondered about tetanus from the tuna can lid.

  After Doug left, Annie padded in cautiously, then headed straight for the tuna lid on the floor and began lapping up the tuna juices mixed with the blood.

  Benjamin had been telling people that he was “between jobs” at the moment, which was a little more true than he let on. His last job wasn’t bad, as a grocery store clerk trainee, but he really didn’t have the patience for it. All those people with all that money buying all that food. As a bagger, he thought about the food that went into those bags, and how tempting it was to just pocket something here and there. Gum. Candy. A small potato maybe. It would be so easy, they never paid any attention to him.

  He discovered the cut was not as bad as he thought, was just shallow slice. He put two band-aids side-by-side on his thumb.

  “This’ll be attractive for tonight,” he said to Annie, who was now eating the tuna. Doug had another night of club-hopping planned and he insisted that Benjamin accompany him. Benjamin stared at his thumb and the bandages. He usually felt out of place at the clubs and bars that Doug took him to, and this would just make things worse. Maybe the cut would heal by that evening.

  Doug was what might be described as a “player.” He had a natural charisma with women, and it helped that he was good-looking. It made Benjamin feel even more like he didn’t belong there once Doug hooked up with someone, which usually didn’t take long.

  The darkness of the evening came much faster than Benjamin anticipated, which meant that Doug would be pushing him to get ready soon.

  “Come on, Ben,” Doug said. “We have to leave now before the place fills up and we get stuck in a queue. It’s too cold tonight.”

  Benjamin was too busy worrying about his thumb to really listen to him. He mumbled a response.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Doug said, and threw Benjamin’s jacket at him. It hit Benjamin in the face, and he checked himself int he mirror to make sure this hair was still OK. Then he sighed when he realized that there wasn’t much of a hairline to mess up anyway.

  At that moment, Annie appeared again and brushed herself against Benjamin’s leg. She purred as if she was offering words of encouragement until Doug appeared, when she started hissing.

  “I don’t know what you see in that cat,” Doug said. He practically pushed Benjamin out the door, leaving Annie to skulk around in the darkness by herself.

  Benjamin felt the coldness of the winter temperatures through his bones as they approached the new club. Doug smiled when he saw the array of blue and red lights dancing into the skies in between the night stars. A huge neon sign also projected the opening of Bar Essence welcoming everyone to its opening night. Benjamin cringed when the lights flickered in his eyes. Loud music was bursting through the walls, and already a decent crowd formed, moving through the entrance.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Doug said aloud while he studied the female contingent before him.

  Doug moved forward toward the entrance but realized Benjamin wasn’t with him. A sudden anxiety filled Benjamin’s body, and he didn’t want to go any farther.

  “Don’t worry, buddy. Come on, I promise you’ll have fun. I’ll even buy the drinks. You won’t even know that you’re morose boy, OK?” Doug winked.

  Benjamin took a deep breath and followed Doug inside. The place was almost at full capacity but Doug managed to squeeze them in at the bar. As promised, Doug ordered them a few beers, but Benjamin could barely lift his elbows to take a sip. He started to say something, but the place was too loud, and Doug was too busy trying to scan the room for girls.

  “Do you see the two girls there?” Doug said to Benjamin.

  Benjamin looked straight at them. He looked away crisply when one of the girls smiled at him. “You want me to...?”

  “Yeah, man,” Doug said. “Why do you think we’re here?”

  Benjamin took another look at them. “She’s wearing red,” Benjamin said. “How am I supposed to talk to a girl in red?”

  “You’re just stalling. Talk about the weather for all I care. I’m telling you: I’m buying the drinks, I pay most of the rent, and I’m trying to be your friend here. You need fun right now. Besides, you know the rules. You have to be my wingman.”

  “So you’re telling me that I don’t have a choice,” Benjamin answered.

  “Why the hell did we come here if you were just going to be morose boy? Come on, meeting girls isn’t supposed to be like pulling teeth.”

  “Lead the way then,” Benjamin nervously said.

  Although Doug had introduced himself to both girls, it was clear that he preferred the brunette in the black dress. The girl in red seemed to sense this and gave Benjamin a smirk of a greeting.

  Benjamin was always impressed with how his friend could have girls eating out of the palm of his hand in just a few moments. He felt his nervousness throughout his body especially in his hands as they started to moisten. He offered a soft handshake to his companion in order to break the ice.

  “Hi.” He paused waiting for her to offer her own hand, “I’m Benjamin but my friends call me Ben.”

  The girl reluctantly shook back, “Hi Benjamin, I’m Jane.”

  “Nice to meet you Jane,” Benjamin said, a little too harshly. He was trying to overcome his natural tendency to be defensive.

  Jane was pretty, but it was clear that she favored Doug. As she watched her brunet
te friend and Doug hit it off amazingly well, it became harder for her to maintain her smile. She realized that she would probably have to settle for Benjamin. All this he saw in her face. He just had to figure out what else he could say to make that more acceptable for her.

  “Nice place, isn’t it?” Benjamin finally said after what was an awkward eternity of silence.

  “It’s great.” She smiled while picking up gently the beat of the next song by tapping her right foot, “I heard there used to be another great club here, but it closed. I can’t figure out why, though, because this one always seems to be packed.”

  Benjamin knew the reason the previous club had closed. He felt newly confident that he could carry the conversation.

  “I heard some vicious lawyer with a chip on his shoulder closed the place down. Cleaned out the owner too. I think he choked on some chicken in the restaurant and sued. But I heard a rumor that he actually set the whole thing up. Sometimes I wonder if life wouldn’t be better without lawyers.”

  Jane said nothing after Benjamin’s explanation. They became silent again. Benjamin hoped that his remark about lawyers would draw laughter or sympathy but none was offered. His mind was racing to see how he could break the silence once again.

  “So, what do you do for a living?” he asked.

  “I’m a lawyer,” She blurted out coldly.

  Benjamin watched her, waiting for a smile. He was certain she was