The Turning Point
prologue in five parts to the short film “Blood Run”
by Chantelle Tibbs
PT. 2
The infected struck at night.
Some folks were handing out fliers with tips on how men could keep themselves safe from women showing signs of Contentious Rhunosinusitis. The fliers listed local government officials and their phone numbers in an effort to get people to call and push them to enforce an official curfew for all males, for their own protection.
“No way. It’s men’s turn to be on guard all the time. Fuck em’,” I heard a woman saying in line for Thursday’s lesbian night at the Perch. Her friends laughed.
The line outside was fairly long and it was drizzling.
I pictured my client’s face in court. Diana “Dee” Stanley had marked him with the stink of fear and as it turned out, he was one of the lucky ones. Everywhere she went men disappeared.
By the time I got in it had gone from drizzling to raining. I could feel my socks were wet. I ordered a shot of whiskey from a bartender I didn’t recognize and feverishly shot my eyes around the crowd praying my trip wasn’t all for naught. Two shots later, I feared it was. And then-
“You get that shirt from Delvins?”
The woman speaking to me barely looked at me.
“Oh, I’m not sure. Yes. Yes actually.”
“You forget what you were wearing?”
“I guess I did.”
“I’m here every week and I’ve never seen you.”
“First time for everything.”
“First time huh?”
She was looking at me now. Brown hair in a bob framed her round face. She was half my age and almost twice my height.
“I’m Jen. You are?”
“Misty,” I lied.
“At the risk of sounding tragically Los Angeles what do you do Misty?”
“I work in marketing for an organic makeup company. What do you do?”
“I manage the Delvins at the mall in Studio City.”
A tall figure pushed by us. The perfect excuse for Jen to move closer to me. She smelled like bourbon and opium oil. I smiled politely looking around for my escape when I saw Dee. She was hastily making her way through the crowd toward the exit.
“Sorry, I just saw my ex. She owes me money,” I said, slipping away.
Join us for PT. III of The Turning Point on Friday, August 25th.
Fan Voting is open for the 2023 !Short Story Contest!
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