Waiting for the bus

Susan knew this was a mistake. A mistake she had been repeating every week for months now. The man she met here every Tuesday was after all a confessed killer. At first she was certain he was simply pulling her leg to pass time while they waiting for the bus. He spoke with such a casual air of brutal acts that Susan could only assume he was exercising a dark and wildly inappropriate sense of humor. He seemed so normal in every other way, a gray haired elderly gentleman of some Slavic origins with a casual smile and an endless supply of chewing gum to offer.

Clearly he must have thought it funny to tease this young woman with tales of dark deeds in his distant homeland, just waiting for her to finally call bullshit. And yet, she never did. And he never stopped. With subsequent Tuesdays his stories became more detailed and revealing. Where at first he simply alluded to events and lethal acts he later went into disturbing detail. And still Susan did not shy away but instead delved ever deeper into this alien mind. And each Tuesday his bus came and took him away to places unknown and the stories would need wait another week.

Each Tuesday she arrived as a moth to flame anxious for the next chapter in this macabre life story and each week the unassuming vaguely European gentleman arrived in his rain coat and hat in hand - as one did not wear a hat in the presence of a lady - and added to the tale. Prison camps and government affairs; secret killings and things far worse. He told his tale as one might relate the most mundane of events from the past as Susan sat hands on her palms in rapt fascination. His stories of murder and torture offered with a matter of fact delivery were received by an equally casual and captive audience. She never once shied away from the graphic details nor failed to press him for more information when something piqued her interest. They were sociopathic soul mates.

Then, one day the elderly gentleman failed to arrive at the bus stop. Susan sat in the rain until his bus came and went and finally her bus arrived. Taking one last look down the street she sighed and with resignation bordered her bus. Looking out of the window she noticed a grey sedan with grey men in grey suits drive off into the grey afternoon and she knew her Tuesday friend would never again entertain her.