Written by Aaron LaLux
His publications on Amazon
Really,
it was the way he fell that caught my eye,
as if the years of strain,
from the weight on his shoulders,
that lead to his legs giving out,
was meticulously planned,
a sort of intentional accident,
either way I came to his aid,
prepared to be of assistance,
I rushed to his side,
kneeling where his gently trembling body lay,
“Sir, sir!”
“Are you okay?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Can I help you?”
As if questions can actually solve problems.
Sometimes someone in need,
doesn’t need questions,
they just need,
someone to be there unquestioningly.
The old man said nothing,
he just shifted his distant gaze,
from looking across the concrete,
where his head lay horizontally,
to looking distantly at me,
with the sort of innocent wisdom,
and fearful calm,
of a helpless giant who knows his day has come,
as the aged lines etched in his skin,
altered their patterns slightly,
with each rise fall of his face,
for a few seconds neither of us spoke,
we existed in suspended animation,
held hostage by moment,
me a young man in his prime ascending,
him an old man in his last days descending,
his hand reached out from below he’s belly,
under the side from which he lay on,
I reached out with mine and grabbed it,
there is nothing more human than holding hands,
sometimes,
we don’t need a compliment,
or a drink or a joke,
or a million dollars or anything at all,
sometimes,
we just need to know,
that someone is there,
to acknowledge our existence,
sometimes,
we just need,
a mutual moment,
of being,
he was certainly dying,
he didn’t need to say so,
and I was unfamiliar with death,
so I wasn’t sure what I should do,
I didn’t want to leave him to call for help,
for I didn’t want him to die alone in my absence,
so I just stayed there kneeled beside him,
clutching his cooling hand in mine,
a Bellhop ran over,
dressed to the nines,
apparently we were in front of a hotel,
and luckily it was a nice enough hotel to care,
such a blessing that some can afford to be treated humanely,
such a curse that others don’t have enough to be respected,
such an irony that the more money you have the more you are heard,
such a tragedy that when it’s all said and done of this matters,
“Sir is this your father?”
“I will call for an ambulance right away.”
“Just stay there help is on the way.”
“Right away sure.”
The uncomfortable words of uncertain assurance,
do not effect the moment of me and the old man,
I wasn’t even sure the man heard the Bellhop,
I wasn’t even sure if had he would have cared,
and just as I thought it was all over,
a smartly dressed man about my age,
exited the golden gilded double doors,
of the trendy metropolitan hotel,
his dress as sharp as his demeanor,
his looks as sharp as his swagger,
he didn’t seem phased at all whatsoever,
by the scene still he came over to see what was the matter,
and then to my shock,
the smartly dressed man spoke,
“Dad, what’s up?”,
Still the old man didn’t respond,
he simply continued to die,
even though apparently,
the old man’s son had arrived,
the young man seemed to take offense to this,
as the sound of the ambulances neared,
and sort of shrugged off his father’s condition,
as if he was upset with his father that he was passing,
as if any of us have a choice,
as if we can delay Death when he knocks,
as if even the strongest man in the world,
has a chance in the ring with Death,
the ambulances arrived,
masked men in uniform began to gather around,
this startled the old man who suddenly decided to rise,
as if through some magical force that he’d found,
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”,
the old man said,
attempting to calm everyone down,
and get the ambulance to away,
the son seemed pleased by this,
and turned to me and spoke,
“He man thanks for helping my dad,
he gets like this sometimes.
Let me take you out,
as a way os saying thanks.”
It all happened rather abruptly,
but I agreed to the young man’s offer,
so I let go of the old man’s hand,
and began to walk with the younger man,
as soon as we started to walk away,
the old man fell again,
but his son seemed to just ignore it,
without any further interest in his father,
so with the old man behind us,
we walked down that city street,
and he introduced himself,
without even missing a beat,
“I’m Paradon,
but my stage name is Paragon,
I’m in the city,
because I’m on tour with Drake.”,
I’d actually heard of the young man’s name before,
and I’d met Drake before as well,
how can a world of 7 billion,
seem so small it’d fit in a shell,
oh well,
we walked for awhile and really hit it off,
we had lunch at a classy cafe,
it was getting late and he invited me to a party,
at the largest estate in the city,
I agreed and we decided to meet again,
just after the sun went down,
Paradon paid the bill I said thanks,
and he shook his head and said,
“No thank you,
thanks for taking care of my father,
I’m just so busy with tour,
and it was a relief to see some do it,
someone who genuinely cares,
someone to be there with him in his last moments,
he was always such a selfish man,
and it was good for him to finally learn how to share a moment.
PART 2:
On the walk back to the hotel,
at sunset to meet Paradon,
I walked by a jailhouse,
one as large as most of the other buildings,
I guess the bigger the city the bigger the jail,
anyways,
there seemed to be lots of sick people outside of the jail,
and one of them spat on my back as I walked by,
while another one introduced himself,
“Hey man,
I just got out and I’ve got no place to go,
I’d love to roll with you,
if that’s cool.”,
I thought why not,
he seemed clean enough,
plus everyone deserves a good time,
when they get out,
so we walked together,
another few blocks,
where we met Paradon,
outside of his luxurious hotel,
Paradon paid no attention to the new man,
and we all walked to a massive building,
with gigantic tinted glass windows,
and a huge intricately carved wooden door,
Paradon knocked,
and the door was quickly opened by a door man,
Paradon showed him the enveloped invitation,
and the door man welcomed us in,
the party was small,
for being in such a large space,
only a dozen or so people there,
but it’s quality not quantity or so they say,
anyways,
I awkwardly asked for a bathroom,
so I could wash up,
I still had spit on my back from the police station,
and I really needed to wash it off,
I was lead away from the crowed by the host,
a beautiful woman a few years older than me,
she was gracious as she was good looking,
enclosed in a flowing gown of shimmering red silk,
even the way she walked was mesmerizing,
so much so I’d forget where she was leading me,
up a flight of wide stairs,
and to a bathroom equipped with extravagant features,
“Anything else I can get for you?”,
she asked as the host that she was,
“Um, uh, no, this is really great,
I truly appreciate it,
I’m just going to take a quick shower,
and then I’ll be right back out.”,
I closed the door,
and proceeded to take,
the most amazing shower I’ve ever had,
in my entire life,
when finished,
I realized how clean I now was,
and how undesirable the dirty street clothes were,
and how I refused to put them back on,
so I took one of the thick cotton bathrobes,
that hung on the wall,
flung it on my shoulders,
and wrapped it’s belt around my waist,
it was a light ash colored bathrobe,
with gold trim along it’s seems,
I noticed initials embroidered on the chest,
and strangely enough the initials were me,
I exited the bathroom,
I must have lost track of time,
because it seemed the party had moved to a different floor,
and most of the guests had left,
only my new friend from the jail was still there,
along with the host and the host’s mom,
everyone else had left,
Paradon was gone,
a bit odd sure,
but I didn’t have time to think about it,
because several servers showed up,
and started offering me accompaniments,
“Sir,
here’s a plate to start,
and what would you like on it,
our selection this evening is exquisite and extensive!”,
there were no less than six servers,
and each had their once dish they were offering,
one had a caviar cream spread,
one had hummus,
one had olives,
one had eggs,
one had wine,
one had bread,
it was overwhelming,
but I was ready to be fed,
I accepted a bit of each dish,
and each dish was the best I’d ever had,
meanwhile,
the jailhouse man and the host disappeared,
and the only one left there with me was the mom,
so we ate and spoke and passed the time together alone,
she spoke about how here daughter,
was a really good girl that just needed a good man,
about how she’d just gotten out of a long and terrible relationship,
and how maybe I could offer me hand,
and the more she talked,
the more it felt like marrying the host was the plan,
but then again,
where was the host and the jailhouse man,
then,
no sooner had that thought arisen he appeared,
the host and the man were back,
but where had they been,
the host wandered off with her mom to talk a bit,
while I was left with the man,
“Where have you been bro?”,
I asked,
“Oh bro, I was fckn that chick!”
I was shocked,
not so much by his tone and language,
as the fact that he’d been having sex,
with a girl who’s mother was suggesting I marry,
I was upset,
“No man, come on,
are you serious?
Why would you do that,
I really like her and wanted something meaningful!”,
the man dismissed my concerns,
“Ha, you can have her,
I don’t care I’m done with her,
I just needed to get some Hella bad,
I’ve been locked up and needed that release!”
he continued,
“And man did I get that release,
that pussy nice,
plus I tapped her ass too,
so that was like ecstasy twice!”,
“What,
you put it in her butt to?
Dude,
what’s the matter with you.”,
“Yeah man whatever,
she was cool with it,
she’d never had anything in her but,
Hell she’d barely even ever had sex!”,
the whole conversation was starting to disguise me,
my stomach was turning and my world was spinning,
I felt dizzy confused sick and anxious,
I didn’t know what else to say,
I guess luckily the man broke the pause,
“Look man,
I’ve gotta get going anyways,
so I’ll leave you to it,
you should be all good,
I warmed her up for you,
she’s all yours now,
I’m out,
good luck!”,
and with that he bounced down the stairs and took off,
the host reappeared,
with an inquisitive look on her face,
still looking as beautiful,
and gracious as ever,
she asked,
“What was that all about?”
I didn’t really want to say,
“Oh nothing, just guy stuff I guess.”,
“Hmmm, okay,
well you’re the last guest left,
may I invite you to the lounge,
for tea with myself and mom?”,
“Sure that would be lovely,
thank you,
you are a most gracious host,
and I truly appreciate it.”
I followed her to the lounge,
feeling defeated and turned off,
not sure what to do now,
now that my hopes had been dashed.
PART 3:
The tea was lovely,
the companion was even better,
but as the skies outside got darker,
the mood became more sinister,
the mom brought it up first,
“Our house is haunted,
not by spirits, but by flesh and blood,
and I live here alone with my daughter,
and we can not defend ourselves.”
“Please stay,
take my daughter’s hand,
help us have a home,
and fight off the evils that pray upon us.”,
I mean how could I say no,
I’ve never been one to shy away from service,
plus I didn’t have anything else planned,
for that weekend anyways,
“Sure,
I think you are a charming lady,
and I am in love with your daughter,
so it will be an honor to be here and in service.”,
“Good,” the mom nodded,
“I’m glad to hear that,
you’re gonna need a lot of guns,
we’ve got an armory upstairs,
let’s get you loaded up.”,
the mom led me up several flights of stairs,
while the daughter stayed behind to clean up the tea,
all the guests and servants gone,
it was now just us three,
it’s strange how a house only gets bigger,
the less people there are,
and this house seemed to be growing by the moment,
stairs widening, walls raising,
the mom armed me to the teeth,
with types of guns I’d never seen,
then once I was loaded up,
I was set in the dark on the first floor to keep watch,
for the first few hours of the night,
everything seemed fine,
but then the first sound was heard,
coming from the kitchen in some cupboards,
I sat there waiting,
in that massively expansive excessively dark living room,
I had been instructed to not pursue,
but if one of those creatures appeared to kill on sight,
see I was guarding the stairs,
that led up to where the mom and daughter slept,
and apparently there was a truce,
between the family and the demons,
they were free,
to roam the streets,
and even the downstairs of the house,
but if they tried to climb the stairs,
and get inside one of the women’s rooms,
it was shoot on sight,
so I sat,
and a I waited,
and then,
it all happened at once,
the most hideous creatures one could ever imagine appeared,
quickly they lunged for my neck,
I was caught by surprise that they’d gotten that close,
without me being able to detect,
still I defended with honor,
and started to let rounds fly,
over 20 rounds fired off,
from two guns that I’d held by my side,
the commotion led the women waking up,
then coming down the stairs,
it was chaos it was mayhem,
but thankfully I was prepared,
I fought those creatures until sun rise,
and at first light they disappeared,
half of them dead half of them retreating,
back into the blackness from which they came,
and I thought I’d done well,
and that the women would be proud,
and that I’d be fully accepted,
as part of the family now,
but to my surprise,
I saw nothing but anger and disappointment in the eyes,
of the mother and in the daughter,
I saw that the passion and spark for me had died,
“Look at what a mess you’ve made!”,
the mom scorned in rage,
“What have you done you savage,
have you not any manners,
couldn’t you kill those hideous creatures,
with a bit more grace and chivalry!”,
I didn’t know how to reply,
nor did I get a chance,
because before I could utter a word,
the mom had called a private security company,
they arrived and asked me to leave,
said I was no longer welcome to stay,
so I nodded and prepared,
to accept my fate,
and as I was getting ready to walk out,
there was a knock on the door,
one of the security opened the door,
and there stood a massive great dane,
everyone was confused,
“Ma’am is this dog for you?”,
the security who’d answered the door asked,
“No, I didn’t order any dogs.”,
she said as she waived it off as a way to refuse,
the great dane looked at me loyally,
I looked right back at him,
seems that the both of us,
were in the same predicament,
and I didn’t say one more thing to anyone,
I just exited the door and whistled,
the dog ran right to my side and we took off,
in the sun rise of that city’s sky….
