A drifter picks up a hitchhiker. They cruise along the highway. The car radio is turned down low. The drifter hums. The hitchhiker is feeling uncomfortable as he fidgets for something to do. He looks at his watch several times before he speaks.
"Hey, thanks for the ride. I'm Jim. Whats your name?"
"Its immaterial." Replies the drifter, keeping his eyes fixed on the road.
"I'm a salesman." Jim continues." What do you do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Jim looks down at his watch again.
"Are you late for something?"
"No. Im just looking. Hey, would you mind turning off that radio, I have an awful headache."
The men travel in silence for the next five minutes.
The drifter speaks. "Have you ever killed someone?"
Jim raisies his voice "What kind of question is that? "
The drifter continues. "If you had to kill someone how would you do it?"
"I couldn't. I..."
The drifter cuts him off. "I said if you had to."
Jim hesitates. "Emm... I'd probably shoot them. Bang Bang." He mimics the actions of a crazed gunman as he chuckles.
"Everyone does that."
"Stab them to death, you know like in Psycho."
"Bull."
"Throw them off a speeding train. That good enough for you?"
"No. And you watch too many movies."
"Hey, I could kick the shit out of them." Jim adds.
"Boring."
Jim chuckles. He's almost enjoying the conversation now. "Okay, I have a good one. If someone had really pissed me off, I'd strap them down to the floor and pour hot motor oil down their throat. Ha.. good eh?"
"You're pathetic." The drifter sneers.
Jim snaps back. "Okay, Mr. good for nothing smart ass, how would you kill someone?"
"You really want to know?"
The journey is interrupted. The car stops.
An hour later, the drifter reaches a filling station. He steps out the car, yawns, stretches and looks up at the night sky. Then he turns and notices a young woman, looking bored, waiting for the next customer to show. As he walks through the door, he receives her with a mocking smile. She smiles back. Then he slides his tongue over his fat lips. The desire is too strong to fight.
When the car stopped, my heart picked up.Am I sadistic for wanting to know how the driver did it? I'm mean, I really don't , but I kinda do since everything Jim mentioned (which is what a normal person thinks of) was considered boring.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that worked for me is the lack of detail about the drifter except when he licks his 'fat lips' when deciding to pick up the girl. Eekk! Dark stuff, Marilyn. Love this!
Thank you. I didn't want to give too much away with this. :)
ReplyDeleteHope all is well with you
Very creepy. The questions went from teasing to sinister-nice build up.
ReplyDeleteThank you :-)
ReplyDelete