Bev's Diner by Jason Ashbaugh

---It’s still dark outside and the lights will be on inside Bev’s Diner for another hour or so. A few of the bulbs have gone out and the ones that work only make the place look damp.
---Walt and Henry both have coffees. Ed has a glass of tea. He stirs in packages of sugar substitute and sniffs at the glass more than he drinks. Ed smells of Old Spice and menthols. Walt lifts an eye toward Ed’s glass and taps his own cup with a spoon. Walt has on a bright green shirt. He laughs at Ed in a comfortable manner.
---“You’re not but a year younger than me Walt. This here is doctor’s orders.”
---“Taste like shit though don’t it?”
---“Yeah, yeah it does. You know Walt, that shirt makes you look like a cartoon?” and Ed laughs, just a little.
---Henry is a short man with puffy hair. He looks at the front page of his newspaper for a moment, sips from his coffee, and opens the sports page. When he speaks, he sounds like an empty stomach.
---“Spread’s OU/+26 in the Buffs game.”
---Henry does not raise his head when he says this. He keeps reading.
---Walt’s plate has been mopped clean. Henry’s has only a fork and a crumpled napkin. Ed’s fruit bowl hasn’t been eaten so much as moved around.
---Walt shifts in his seat and looks around the café. His voice lowers as he leans in a bit.
---“I heard that Ollie was over to Purvis the other day stocking up on bullets.”
---“Probably rat-shot, Walt. Maybe he was just showing off for the checkout girl.”
---“Mary said she talked to him. Said she saw what he had in the sack. Said it was a box of .38 shells.”
---“Mary says a lot of things.”
---Ollie walks through the door and rubs his hands together for awhile before he takes his coat off. He does not speak. He pours himself a cup of coffee and almost drops it. He looks around, frowning, and makes a fist out of his right hand. He goes to the bathroom with the coffee. When he comes back he says his hellos around the room before he sits down. He smells of whiskey and he doesn’t order breakfast.
---“Sure is a bitter wind out there today boys.”
---“Not half as bitter as my wife.”
---Walt looks around for a laugh. No one laughs. Henry is on page twenty-four.
---“You really should think more before you talk Walt.”
---“Don’t start.”
---“Just saying your thinkin’s a little thin.”
---“What’s that supposed to mean?”
---Henry folds his paper back around to the front page and begins an article on zoning for the new hospital.
---Ed turns to Ollie and raises his hand just enough to give him a lazy point.
---“How you doing today Ollie?”
---“Aw, fine I suppose, didn’t wake up expecting much.”
---“Heard you were gearin’ up for a war.”
---“Figured Mary’d tell you guys about that. I’ve got myself a skunk problem. Killed one just yesterday, mid-morning, just wandering around in the yard. Sure sign of a crazy animal. You better watch out for your dogs. Rabies and all.”
---“Too late in the year. Ollie, how is it that you manage to give the best and the worst advice at the same time?”
---“Screw you.”
---Ollie huffs for a bit, then mutters,“…ugly old bastard.”
---Ed puts both hands flat on the table and shakes his head.
---“Me? I’m handsome Ollie. You know that. You’re just mad ‘cause you’re shabby.”
---Henry looks up from his paper with a dry, lazy face.
---“Either you guys take off your shirts and wrestle for it right now or shut-up. Keep on like this and you’re apt to give me a nose bleed.”
---Ollie scratches his moustache. It’s grown out and covered his upper-lip and it is stained on its ends. He gets up and fills another cup of coffee and returns slowly. He stares at his cup. He gets his cigarettes out and puts the pack and his lighter on the table next to him. He does not smoke.
---Walt and Ed both stare at Ollie for some time before Walt twitches his lip and straightens up.
---“We were just wondering what you had in mind for that shot, Ollie. You ain’t ever been the same since Helen died. Just curious is all.”
---“You know, I’ve been thinking about that and... I think if I had it to do all over again, I’d do things different.”
---“No you wouldn’t.”
---“Well, I know I’m gonna kill every last one of them skunks. I know that for a fact. Even if I have to track ‘em down.”
---“You really should think more before you talk Walt.”
---“Don’t start.” Walt looks Ollie in the eye and smirks.
---“Okay Ollie. You have fun with that.”
---“I’ve got a good mind to slap hell out of you.”
---Henry motions for Bev to come over and speaks as she walks toward them.
---“Ollie here wants to slap fight with Walt for your affections.”
---Bev bends down and smiles at Ollie. “You do and I’ll call the cops.”
---“That’s fine. Bet I can have his ass whooped by the time they get here.”
---Bev looks around the table, pops her tongue, shakes her head, and walks away.
---The two stare at one another for a moment, and then Ollie stands up. He has to put a hand to the table to steady himself. He puts on his coat and he leaves.
---Henry grunts and puts his paper down on the top of the table.
---“That man is crazy boys. Full-on Jackrabbit crazy. Did you know he duct-taped up his mailbox last month? Wrote a note on the tape said, ‘No more fucking mail.’”
---Henry lowers his head after he says this and sits quietly for a moment, and then Henry giggles.
---“Fact of the matter is this, if he’s after skunks-so be it, and if he’s planning on taking his head clean off-so be it. It’s his life. I mean, you got to admit this is shaping up to be less and less of a picnic here boys. Don’t you? Your ass goes flat. Your belly heads for the ground. You can’t remember things anymore.”
---Henry gets up, tucks the paper under his arm, grabs a handful of belly and shakes it at Walt and Ed. He turns and heads for the register. He pays Bev and he leaves.
---Walt and Ed do not speak. Walt sips his coffee. Ed moves his glass around on the table.
---“It’s a sin.”
---“What’s that Ed?”
---“Suicide. The old man won’t ever let him into the kingdom if he goes and does that.”
---“Ed-”
---“What?”
---“I’m going home.”
---Walt gets up and walks to the front. He pays, leaves the loose change on the counter, picks up a toothpick, and walks out the door.
---Ed puts a dollar on the table and walks to the counter.
---“That be all Ed?”
---“Maybe you could fix me up a cup of that sweet tea to go?”
---The sun comes up soon after and Bev comes out from behind the register and apologizes to people as she leans across their tables to open the blinds and let the light in.