#456 Briley Boy- Robert Mailer Anderson
Briley could dodge a punch. That’s what he was good at. Which
was pretty convenient because he had a knack for making people take swings at
him.
“He had learned to become elusive, especially from himself. He
didn’t stand in front of a mirror long enough to see his own reflection. It
helped when he was stealing cars, scouting houses for a B & E, scoring
drugs.”
So when his new stripper wife clocked him in the head,
breaking his nose, he laughed. He stood there and took all her blows, until
something would give, something had to give.
This is a classic noir story, and with every good noir story
you get some pretty choice lines. Here were some of my favorites:
-Her eyes were like tunnels. No train coming.
-You can’t kiss a shadow or a memory, he had been told. It
was hard enough to stare at someone in the eyes and wish them dead.
-He wanted to say something. Not and apology, maybe an
epitaph.
-Waiting. He heard sirens in the distance racing toward him
as if there was something left to save.
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