A Sleight of Pain

While I stood waiting for a train that wasn’t coming, two men joined me underneath the big outdoor heaters. None of us were really dressed for the weather despite our bulky jackets and toques, but we all had these faces that you could tell there was more bothering us than the cold. The one wearing the red coat asked me how my night was going. I was honest when I replied to him, as I often am.

“It was pretty bad,” I said.

“Woman problems?”

I laughed. “That obvious, huh?”

“Yeah. My buddy here just got screwed over tonight by his old lady, too.”

“Oh, sorry to hear that,” I said, a bit happy that we found the tiniest ledge of common ground. “What happened?”

The one in the blue coat didn’t look up from the ground. “We broke up last week and she brought some other guy with her tonight, probably just to piss me off.”

“Yeah, and they were all over each other,” his friend adds, shaking his head. “I’m telling you, man, she ain’t worth it.”

“I know, I know. Every time she saw me looking over at her, that’s when she’d kiss him. And I know she’s going to call me tomorrow and apologize, too.”

“What are you going to say?” I asked him.

“I don’t know, man,” blue coat answered.

“I’m telling you, don’t forgive her. Don’t even talk to her again. She’s just some manipulative chick playing head games. Not worth your time,” red coat said, assuring his friend and raising his palms up to catch more of the heater’s warmth.

“But I really like her.”

Red coat looked over at his friend and said, surprised, “Even after all the drama she puts you through?” Blue coat nodded back to him and red coat turned to me. “What would you do?”

“All I can tell you is that no good can come of her. She’s probably too selfish to make anyone but herself happy and too uncaring to try. I’d forget about her if I were you.”

“See, Rob? This guy’s got the right idea. Probably going through the same drama tonight, huh?” he said, splitting his attention first with blue coat and then with me. I didn’t answer him – didn’t have to.

Well after the train was supposed to arrive, I decided it was getting too cold and that I should try to call a friend to see if there was a free couch that I could sleep on. I thanked the two guys for the chat and set off walking down the street in my uncomfortable shoes that had been digging into my left heel with every step of the evening. I could feel blood but I ignored it, because after all, that’s just one tiny pain. There’s plenty more parts of me without.