A flickering jukebox sat in the corner of the dim diner and played a song that was too happy. Dusty booths with ripped red leather lined the walls. Stools that leaned every which way were lined in front of the bar table. The tears and holes in the upholstery held memories of children climbing on chairs and the awkward first dates of teenagers in love.

There were four people in the restaurant. A big-cheeked barista whose bosom threatened to knock over the condiment rack with every turn, meandered around. Sat in the corner, was a man in a tuxedo nursing a beer that was more tears than alcohol. On a bar stool was a man, early twenties, tapping his fingers against the countertop and periodically glancing at the front door behind him.

Adam Walker was the fourth. His wild hair brushed against the top of the door frame. It wasn’t like he was especially tall, the door was just short. Were there no people over six feet back then? The wind chimes laughed as the door shut behind him. He ambled through the bar and sat a seat to the left of the man at the bar. The feet of the stool scraped against the wood.

“Whatcha looking for babe?” said the rotund barista, who dried a glass with a dirty rag. Walker noticed her nametag. It read ‘Susan’.

Walker rubbed his temple, “I don’t know…” he leered at the guy beside him. “Whatever he’s got, I guess. It doesn’t matter.”

Susan huffed and turned around to the already hot grill behind her. Huh, guess she’s the cook too. Walker thanked her and then glanced the guy beside him. The dark bags hung under his eyes complimented his jittering leg that bounced up and down. He wore a hefty coat that seemed to bulge at odd places. He peered at the door again.

Walker smirked, “Someone coming after you man?”

The guy whipped his head around, “What?”

Walker jutted his chin toward the door, “Either someone’s coming after you or you’re about to dine and dash… and I don’t think you want Susan coming after you man.”

The guy scoffed, “Bitch can’t catch a cold in a blizzard.”

Susan threw a thin beef paddy on the grill forcefully. The meat sizzled.

“Hey man, even the lion fears the elephant,” Walker said.

The man barked out a laugh and shook his head. He stabbed a couple of fries with his fork and shoved them into his mouth.

Walker glanced around. “You know, if you wanted to watch the door you should’ve gotten a booth seat that faced the door,” he said, and pointed toward the side wall behind him.

His gaze ping-ponged between the booth and Walker. “That… makes sense. Why do you care?”

Walker laughed; it sounded hollow even to him. “Too young to buy a beer I guess.”

“You can’t buy a beer yet?”

Walker watched Susan slap a piece of cheese on the burger. It didn’t appetize him. He took a deep breath, “Not for another couple months. I can’t even afford it anyway.”

The man stood up and walked toward the booth Walker pointed out earlier, “I’ll buy you a beer, c’mon.”

Walker raised his hands in faux surrender, “Hey man, I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m not into dud—”

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Ozzy slammed his hand on the table. “That’s not…” he sighed. “Shut the fuck up man, just… come on.”

A few minutes later, Walker had a burger and a beer. The guy’s name was Ozzy.

“What’re you doing in this pile of shit Walker? People don’t come here for the company.”

Walker patted the folded-up piece of paper that hung in his pocket like a stone. He bought some time for an answer by taking a sip from the beer. Walker scowled. Tepid.

“I’ve got nowhere else to go,” Walker said.

Ozzy squinted at him, “Career-wise? Relationship? Girl cheat on you?”

Walker licked his lips and shrugged, “I wish. Dad kicked me out the house.”

Ozzy chuckled, which seemed rude to Walker.

“What did you do?” Ozzy said.

“Lose my job and has a brother who’s smarter than him…” He took another bite out of the burger and chewed. It tasted like stale gum. He swallowed hard before continuing, “Gotta pay for college somehow.”

“Sucks to suck man.” Ozzy placed his hands behind his head and stretched, causing his jacket to ride up, accidentally revealing the glimmer of the contents beneath. Ozzy caught Walker’s wide eyes and quickly dropped his hands. The jovial expression on his face dropped like a stone and suspicion took its place.

“Is that—”

Ozzy nodded and looked at the door which stayed closed, “Yes.”

Walker cocked his head, “So you’re a thief.” It wasn’t a question.

Ozzy cautiously placed his palms on the table, “Are you going to call the cops?”

“Not my problem,” Walker said as he took the last bite of the burger. He felt Ozzy’s eyes on him as he wiped his greasy hands on a napkin. “I’m just wondering how you were smart enough to manage to steal thousands of dollars’ worth of Stardust but stupid enough to hide it in your jacket.”

Ozzy stared at him, and then slowly, like water breaking through a dam, burst out laughing. “You got any skills? If you’re interested… He glanced at the door again, “I can hook you up with a couple jobs. Simple stuff really. A monkey could do it.”

Walker chose his words carefully, it was one thing to decline politely, it was another thing to piss off the man with enough Stardust up his ass that he could blow up half the city.

“Not me man. I’m no monkey.”

Ozzy shrugged as if to say, ‘suit yourself’. Before either could say something else, the front door opened. Ozzy’s brows knit together as he leaned forward and reached behind his back. The wind chimes at the door cackled as Walker turned to look. A crack echoed inside the diner. The man who Walker had been enjoying a meal with had his head split in half.

Walker cursed and sprung out of his seat as Ozzy slid out of the diner booth. His skull splattered against the grimy white tile, and brain matter slid bounced across the floor. Glowing glass containers fell from the body and slid across the burgeoning pool of blood.

 Someone was screaming.

“Is everyone okay?” said a calm voice from behind Walker.

Carefully, Walker raised his hands, climbed to his knees, and turned around. A stout man, with a graying 5 o’clock shadow and a cowboy’s hat, held a hunting rifle pointed directly toward him.

“He bought me a beer, that’s it!” Walker yelled.

The man kept the rifle pointed at him, “This true Susie?”

The barista glared at him, and Walker almost regretted the elephant comment.

“It’s true. He don’t know the bastard.”

The man immediately dropped his rifle, “In that case…” He marched over and shook Walker’s hand. “Good on ya’ for keeping him busy. Who knows what that scum would’ve done if it wasn’t distracted.

Walker stood up. The corpse’s head looked like a bowl of spaghetti.

“You killed him.”

The cowboy laughed, “I’m a bounty hunter boy, the city of Yttrium pays a pretty penny for the recollection of stolen items.” He bent at the waist and grabbed a glass container from the pool of blood. He shook it, and little red droplets splattered against his face.

The container was more of a capsule, almost like a pill bottle. The blackened splotches that covered the inside of the glass made it almost impossible to tell what was inside. Except… Walker squinted, beyond the smokey visage were flashes of light that sparked like bolts of lightning in a thunderstorm.

The man palmed the capsule and dropped it into his inner coat pocket. He caught Walker staring and motioned for the door expectantly. “Get outta here kid.”

Walker didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled out whatever bills remained in his wallet and threw them on the table. He added a bit more money than necessary for Susan. He grabbed the beer and gulped the rest of the contents down. When a man buys you a beer you finish it.

Making sure to avoid any pieces of the fleshy Ozzy, he walked along the edges of the diner and stepped out the door into the cool air of dusk. The sun’s last hopeful beams fell beneath the horizon as Walker marched toward the bright city.