Her friends knew her as Hungry Ami because, well, she ate a lot. She had to, she said, because she needed the energy.
Ami was a creature of the night. All through the day she seemed to hibernate, but when the night fell her senses came rushing back to life. It was as if her idle time was just the calm before the storm.
She was very beautiful. She had straight long black hair. She wore fake colorful eyelashes that gently highlighted her almond eyes. She was thin but not tall. No matter how much she ate and drank she seemed incapable of gaining weight. More than one person declared that she was a femme fatale of sorts, and that she actually was in a way, since someone killed himself after being rejected repeatedly by her.
She followed a few simple rules in life. She'd never fall in love. She'd only go to bed with people, men or women she didn't care, she deemed worthy. And she'd always stay on alert as if her life depended on it.
I have met her many times at a local dive I used to go to way back when I lived in that city in the east, and the truth is I liked her, but somehow I didn't fall for her. As one friend said, a wink and a smile was all she needed to put you under her spell, but she only offered me the latter. The truth is that more than anything I was curious about her. What she did and how she did it were like fuel to my imagination. I really want to get to know her well, I thought for a long long time, but I didn't seem to get the chance. She was always surrounded by other people. And sometimes she'd up and leave with them at the end of the night, going nobody knew where.
I did notice one thing about her though, that no one else seemingly did. Even in a company of, let's say, five or ten men, she'd always choose the bad guy. I kept wondering why, but of course I'd never ask. Perhaps having a one night stand with a total stranger, and a tough one at that, that the very next day would probably leave the city for their next destination, was perhaps what appealed to her. But what about the women? When it came to them why did she always pick the gentlest, the voiceless, the ones that seemed to be almost scared?
The mystery that she was occupied my restless mind for a long time, and every now and then I would ask her friends questions, but I'd never receive any answers. They would smile at me, shrug, dismiss me with a wave of their hands, but never ever whisper a single word of what I wanted to hear. What I have heard though, one drunken night from one of them, came more as a warning rather as a revelation. Don't fall for her, the woman said, for if you do, it will be your doom. My doom?
It was a warm smog filled night during the first months of the pandemic. The tourists had left town in a rush, and the foreigners that remained were residents that chose to stay locked up in their homes. I belonged to the latter category, but nonetheless I was determined to keep going out until a lockdown was imposed. And that I did.
We were sitting, each at their own corner, enjoying our ice cold beers when the barman approached me and said that I could join Ami if I wanted to. I raised my head to look at her. She winked at me and started laughing. I laughed too for a moment or two and then got up and headed her way. The barman left us at our own vices.
“I hear you've been asking about me,” she said. “So, what do
you want to know?”
“Everything,” I replied, surprising myself.
“That's a big ask.”
“I know. I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me.”
“It's okay. Everybody seems to want that too, so I am used
to it by now.”
“What can you tell me?”
“Do you believe in justice?”
“In justice, yes. In the justice system, no.”
“I'm afraid if I tell you everything, you won't be able to
handle it. Do you really want me to do that?”.
“Try me,” I said. There was no way I was backing down now.
“Very well. Close your eyes and give me your hand. It's better to show than tell.”
And showed she did. And I saw a man hitting his wife and abusing his child; someone almost beating to death a girlfriend; a man posting revenge porn on the web; a policeman killing a teenage girl for no apparent reason. And I saw... And I saw... And I realized. They were all familiar faces, men that went home with her, never to be seen again. And I saw the victims of other men, scared girls that grew to be scared adults, and who were only able to love and be loved by other women. I saw them smiling, laughing, coming back to light, after an eternity in the dark, thanks to her.
“Who are you? What are you?” I whispered to her in my head.
“I'm a soul eater and a life giver,” she replied, and I felt her letting go of my hand.
When I opened my eyes I found myself all alone in my room, sitting in an armchair, beer in hand. Was it just a dream? When I went to the bathroom to wash my face I discovered, in mild shock, traces of a lipstick kiss on my cheek. I touched the spot with my left hand and smiled to myself.
About the Author:
Lakis Fourouklas is an author from Cyprus that had 13 books
published both there and in Greece. They include novels, novellas, short
stories and children's books. In 2025 a children's story and a crime novella
will be published in Greece.
No comments:
Post a Comment