Groceries

(NOT A PR0MPT) 

******

“Hey wait!” Villain felt someone brush his shoulder at the sound of the words, but he disregarded it. He was just another busy person on the street, right?

“Wait!” Villain heard again, then the hand grabbed his shoulder before spinning him around. “I recognize you,” Civilian said.

“No, you don’t. Because if you did, then I’d recognize you, too.” But Villain did remember this person. Looking at their face, he recognized Civilian as Hero’s lover. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep walking.”

Maybe his words were a little…brutal for being ‘another busy person on the street’, but oh, how Villain couldn’t stand to look at Civilian’s face. How he couldn’t stand imagining how many times it had frowned since losing Hero.

“You work at the grocery store, right? I don’t think you’re that scary.”

Villain blinked. “Yeah,” he whispered. Then, more loudly, “Yeah, the grocery store. So many faces in one pay period- one day even- that it’s hard to remember just one face.” Villain didn’t work in a grocery store. In fact, a grocery store might be the last place he would ever try working at. Still, it was a good cover-up if it meant getting out of this conversation.

“I get it.” Civilian nodded, then anxiously tapped a foot. “Hey, man, I’m sorry to hold you up. I just…you looked so familiar. I almost thought you reminded me of someone, but…”

But she’s dead. Villain knew how the story went. He and Hero had gotten along at one point in life- when they were two young siblings playing in the woods. Things changed as they got older. Villain changed as they grew older. More calloused and bruised. Broken and damaged. He became angry, while Hero remained as soft as the decorative pillows she used to stack on her bed.

‘You know there are too many pillows when you can’t see your own sheets, right?’ Villain used to say. What ever happened to that time of innocence?

Before Villain knew it, there was a phone in front of his eyes. His sister stood next to Civilian in a picture, beaming with her newly straightened teeth. “She’d just gotten her braces taken off,” Villain almost said, but couldn’t. Saying that would confirm Civilian’s suspicion.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Civilian told. “I didn’t stop you because I recognized you from the store. I stopped you because- well, you look like an old friend of mine. You two could be siblings.”

Villain swallowed. We were siblings.

“We do look similar, huh? Strange coincidence.”

“Never met the guy, but Hero used to talk about having a brother. It was a sour subject most of the time,” Civilian explained, “but other times, I swear I’d never seen her smile so big, or laugh so loudly. She loved her brother. Think she was always a little disappointed about his disappearance. Sad.”

“Look, it was great talking to you, and it’s neat I could remind you of someone, but I have to get home to my wife. Bless her heart,” Villain laughed. “She couldn’t even cook rice if she tried. Rice!”

Just as Villain didn’t work at the grocery store, he also had no wife. Maybe he would like one, a partner whose eyes gave him comfort whenever he gazed upon them. Soft hands and nimble fingers to rub his back when he was stressed. A loving tone that was spoken from the deepest part of her heart. But Villain didn’t feel deserving of that. How could he when he was responsible for his own sister’s death?

“Are you alright?”

Without looking, Villain convinced himself it was Hero’s voice, checking in on him as if the two of them were still teens. “I don’t feel fine he admitted,” but as his eyes found Civilian’s he shook his head frantically. “I am fine,” he said. “I’m sorry, Civilian. I need to go now.”

Not realising his own mistake, Villain began briskly walking away.

Only three steps into his departure, Civilian said, “I haven’t told you my name.”