I don’t even need a lighter, the fumes from the oil as I grab a handful of it and throw it in her face ignite like fucking napalm when they surround the lit cancer stick. I jump back with a hearty laugh, just barely missing the flames taking my face too. The cigarette falls from my mouth and rolls to her foot, catching droplets of the oil up and lighting her shoe on fire as well.
She goes up like a fall time bonfire made of cheap kindling, the oil catching and burning so hot that I have to back up even further as she drops to her knees, her screams never returning even with my hand gone from her neck.
The fire is instantly in her mouth, all over her face, and turning her hair into the wick of a human candle. There’s no way sound can escape her as she takes her final breath in, sucking the flames into her throat as she falls to her knees, her arms flailing for one last second, before she becomes nothing more than any other burning pile of trash.
Her body hisses and pops with the intense heat, slithering and moving on its own. She’s already dead, but the force of the fire makes her corpse look like she’s still trying to crawl away. It’s downright beautiful as the flames grow larger, covering her completely and I contemplate how to get her into the dumpster.
Should have done that first.
“You told me to do it.” I snap. “Now help me get her in there before the whole fucking diner goes up.”
How the fuck do you think I can do that? You are nuts, aren’t you?
The hysterical laughter that erupts from my mouth breaks the quiet of the night around me. I sound like a maniac as I cackle, holding onto my stomach from the pain that shoots through it from how hard my body lurches with the howling guffaw that flies from my mouth.
“Fuck.” I grunt, bending over, trying to keep myself upright in my hilarity as I grab at the burning meat sack with my gloved hands.
The fire immediately takes my left glove from the coating of oil as I lift her off the ground, careful not to let her touch the rest of my body.
“Good thing you’re lighter than you look.” I say as I pick her up like a baby under the flaming armpits and toss her into the big green dumpster with a loud bang. My glove follows her in, like a molotov cocktail.
The flames lick out of the top of the receptacle, flickering and illuminating the night sky as they overtake the trash inside as well. It’s quickly growing into a massive fire, cracking and popping and hissing out its anger as it consumes her and her fucking attitude, making me smile even wider.
Burn baby burn!
My humor calms down as I stand between the dumpster and the building, making sure the flames don’t lick the structure and take it too. Not only are there innocent people inside, but so is Phoenix, my Phoenix, my angel.
She ain’t yours, you left her. Remember?
“She’ll always be mine, whether she knows it or not. Whether we’re together or not. If I have to follow her in the shadows for the rest of my life, I will, just so she stays mine.”
You’re pussy whipped.
“And you’re a cunt.”
I never said I wasn’t. I’m your cunt and you’re mine.
“Ugh, shut up and let me enjoy this.” I grumble, crossing my arms across my chest, sitting on the stoop at the bottom of the two little steps outside the door.
On the ground at my foot shines the cigarette pack her smoke had come from, already forgotten in the dirt. I poke at it with my toe, then pick it up and turn the cellophane covered box over in my hand a few times, looking at it, pondering how people can become addicted to something so foul.
It did taste good. All minty and hot. Have one.
“Gross.” I scoff, but I don’t put the pack down, instead I find myself opening the lid and looking at the little cylindrical sticks.
Go on, one won’t hurt you.
“Fine.”
He’s right, it does taste good as I pop it between my lips and light it. The first drag is harsh, heating my throat, but then it’s immediately cooled with the menthol flavoring. The next couple get easier, and by the time half of it is done, I’m enjoying it, feeling it calm my insides, even though my heart rate is faster than it’s ever been. My head is a little swimmy too, and I deduce it must be from the reduced oxygen and carbon monoxide in the smoke.
“Not too bad.” I chuckle, looking down at the butt between my two fingers, frowning at how much I’m actually enjoying it. “Fuck.”
I knew you’d like it.
“Piss off with your bad influences.”
Just remember, I’m you and you are me. I don’t make you do anything.
