Meet Me in the Food Court

Jessica had gone back to Somerville. The weekend closed. Weeks passed. Today he was wearing a pair of distressed denim jeans with a chocolate brown vintage corduroy lapel jacket. There were chains with stars dangling off them swinging on his hip that were clipped to his brown leather belt, the one that had the head of a Native American skeleton on the buckle. The hole in the armpit of his favorite undershirt disappeared as he slid on the coat. As he spun around, the oversized stainless-steel crucifix he was wearing clanked against the metal buttons on the jacket. He had a smirk on his face while putting on a statement ring that spelled GOD. The ring clicked the crucifix. He liked the sound.

The bubble gum pink and glitter polish had mostly chipped off his fingernails awaiting a new coat of candy apple green with iridescent gold sparkles mixed in. For some reason today his hazel eyes were more green than usual. The only thing sexier than his postmodern glamor was the way he smelled. He smelled like sex, cinnamon, and weed.

Eddie and Tony rolled up to Dunkin’ Donuts for some coffee. Tony was Eddie’s mall date today, Iron Bark from the Glade, off the headset and in a body. The mall was loud and crowded. Saturday shoppers buzzed in and out of their favorite stores like bees pollinating honeysuckle. Over in the corner, a young Asian couple were arguing, and their voices started to elevate to the point everyone in the mall started to notice.

“He needs to chill the fuck out cuz he’s gonna hurt himself on that one,” Tony said.

Eddie replied, “She is cheating on him and he knows it, but he doesn't have enough proof to call her out. She knows he knows and is trying to gaslight him. He’s going to blow up and fall on his face, watch.”

Suddenly the guy at the table jumped out of his chair causing it to flip behind him. He looked at his bitch and wailed, “Fuck off.” Then he turned to walk away and his ankle rolled; he tripped and fell flat on his face.

The girlfriend jumped up and ran to collect him off the ground. They were both embarrassed by now and grabbed their shit to run to their car.

“See, I told you,” Eddie said.

The two men walked shoulder to shoulder trying not to spill their coffee as a group of children cut them off running into Build-A-Bear.

“Yo dude, I gotta piss,” Eddie said as they passed the men’s restroom. Tony agreed they would meet up at the food court.

When Eddie walked in the bathroom, he saw a young Black guy standing at one of the urinals. He was wearing a white t-shirt, plaid boxers, and khaki joggers that were slid down all the way to his ankles, exposing his entire ass and muscular legs.

"Damn," Eddie said softly. “That’s hot.”

As he approached the second urinal, he saw the guy was wearing over-the-ear Skullcandy sound-canceling headphones. He was masturbating with his eyes closed, doing slow strokes, almost like he was moving in slow motion.

As Eddie started pissing, he started getting hard. “This guy doesn’t give a fuck!” Eddie thought.

The two guys stood in front of the urinals jacking their cocks: this mysterious young guy checked out in his own bliss, and Eddie getting a free show.

The boy started breathing heavier, and Eddie could tell he was about to cum.

He started ejaculating into the urinal and let out a grunt. After the last drop of jizz left his body, he opened his eyes and shook the rest off the tip. Then he pulled up his pants, walked to the sink to wash his hands, never making eye contact with Eddie, and took off.

Eddie pulled his pants down past his knees and started pumping his meat rapidly to finish himself off. As the guy washed his hands, Eddie jizzed.

By the time Eddie pulled up his pants, the guy was long gone.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting all that today,” Eddie said to himself. He cleaned himself up at the sink then went on his faerie way to meet Tony to eat.

When he left the men’s room, something strange happened. There was silence. The mall that was hustling and bustling with shoppers was disturbingly empty. It was as if the entire place was emptied out.

“That’s weird,” Eddie said out loud, looking to the left then right. A disorienting feeling came over him and he felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and he felt pressure on his forehead. “Da fuck? I don’t like this at all.”

Eddie started making his way towards the food court. As he passed the shops he noticed that even the workers were nowhere to be seen. After peering into Victoria’s Secret, he snapped his focus back on his path. Suddenly he started getting tunnel vision.

“Yoooooo, what kind of weed did I use last night?” he thought. “I’ve never reacted to herb like this before. Something feels gross in here.”

Out of nowhere he caught a foul smell, like rotting garbage and animal blood. “Goddamn, what is that smell?” There was no trash can in sight. Eddie’s heart was beating fast, and he was starting to feel panicked. “I know I am not dreaming right now,” he affirmed.

The food court appeared, and he could see Tony was seated in front of Taco Bell. As Eddie got closer, he saw Tony staring at his burrito, deadpan, and not moving. “Yoooo, bro!” he called.

Tony blinked then looked up at Eddie, “Hey man, you were gone a minute. What happened?”

Eddie had broken a sweat. His eyes were wide open, and he had a grimace on his face. “Dude I want to go home, I don’t feel well. You good bro?”

“I think so,” Tony responded. “I feel like I have been sitting here a while, but I don’t know for how long. Really weird.”

Eddie looked at Tony’s burrito which was still steaming. It only had a bite taken out of it. “You gonna eat that man?”

“Naw, I don’t feel hungry anymore,” Tony replied.

“Man, the energy here is fucked up. I don’t know what happened, but shit feels off here and I’m done with it. Let’s get the fuck outta here.”

They hurried to the parking lot and headed back to Eddie’s apartment. The pressure in Eddie’s head lingered. The nausea from the stench of rotting garbage and death sat in the pit of his stomach.

“Dude, when we get back to my place I am making us a spiritual bath using those bath bombs from Lush. I feel dirty, like I need to cleanse,” Eddie said, adjusting Seraph’s silicone sensor.

Tony agreed. This was a warning.