The Lion - Part 6

He just stared at me. He wasn't surprised that I knew who he was.  Then again if my world had a star he was one of them. Unlike the others whose fame came from their cruelty or connections. Him, and that guy Max were know as fair but not to be fucked with. Some of us even slept at night in empty houses in the area that they had marked as "theirs" because it was safer. The freaks and drug crazed had learned not to cross their boundary's or them. Of course we couldn't stay. Come morning it was time to migrate back to where the action was or deal with getting moved on by them. Some people said he was crazy like that was bad or something.

"So what are you doing here." He said this flatly.  I knew what he was really saying of course.

I bit back the first thing that came to mind. Besides I had already said it.  Normally I would have have smiled and told him I was just passing through.  Then he would have said "Make sure of it" or something like that. I would get up, say "See ya" and start what I knew was going to be a long walk back to where I belonged.  Instead, perhaps because of what happened, or maybe just because of who he was I decided not to. I had to tell someone. Maybe he would know.

"Do you have ghosts?" It sounds strange but I really thought he might understand. His eyes narrowed and I saw him evaluating me. Deciding how and if to respond. Like a comic book I saw the balloons form and disappear over his head in rapid succession. Pop! Pop! Pop! They went so very fast but I didn't miss a one of them.

"I know ghosts...why?"

So I told him about the Tree People and how they had taken my food.  How I applied for a job. How the ghosts of the me that was once would come to me, stand there, look at me, cry and ask me for explanations. Then I took a deep breath and told him my secret. "They took my heart. They came with sharp knives to my bed. My Mother watched them and helped. She laughed when they opened my chest, took my heart, and put it in a white Styrofoam box and took it away. Now I have no heart!  I can't be a hero or good anymore. They took it from me!" I was crying and I shouted the last part. 

He didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't look at me with one of those looks. He just said "They do that."