Chapter 22
ALONE
“Ah hell!”
Lonesome Nicky hurls the empty flip top cigarette box to the floor after discovering he’s already smoked his last.
It’s 2:00 a.m. and Lonesome Nicky, the second in command of the 99th Street Dominoes, can’t sleep. Instead of tossing about all night in his hot, cramped apartment, he decides to take a walk.
“I’ll find a bar open and I can get another pack!” He thinks to himself as he makes his way up dark, deserted Benjamin Street.
He could have stopped at Rigger’s to pick up cigarettes but they closed early this evening.
“Closed the business just so they could watch that big baboon wrestle.” He says.
He stands in front of Rigger’s and looks up and down Benjamin Street. He starts muttering to himself.
“Now what?”
He sees a streetcar coming. It’s the Night Owl Express, the last surface car out of Stanktown that night. He flags it down.
“Gotta get outta this place.” He says nonchalantly to the driver as he drops two dimes in the fare box. He takes a seat in the back.
An old man, wearing a beat up fedora and a ratty brown overcoat is two seats in front of him. He’s the only other passenger on board.
Nicky stands up and approaches the man.
“Hey mister, ya’ got a square?”
The old man reaches into his jacket and pulls out a pack of Pall Malls. He shakes the pack until one pops up. Nicky takes the cigarette.
“Thanks old timer!” He says and returns to the back seat. He flips open the ashtray built into the inside wall of the streetcar and lights the cigarette.
With the cigarette dangling from his lips, he reaches over and squeezes the latches attached to each side of the window and opens it. The cool night air rushes over him and blows the smoke into his eyes causing him to squint.
As they approach the north end of Stanktown, they pass the Benjamin Street Rendering plant. Benjamin Street Rendering takes the slaughterhouse waste, carcasses, and other deadstock and turns it into grease, soap, and bone meal.
A thick wave of airborne stench enters through the open window and hits Nicky in the face like a solid punch.
“God –damn!” He says in reaction to the nauseating smell. He reaches over and slams the window shut.
The old man sitting ahead, apparently, was not bothered by the horrible stink. He has his head back and is snoring loudly.