The Mark

Light pierced his eyes as he stood, tapping brown oxfords and whistling tunelessly. Gazing across the thoroughfare, the bright rays of the sun made it hard to discern if the hand was red or white. It wasn't flashing, so the odds favored red. At his side, he clasped an extravagant attaché case that screamed of bespoke manufacture.

It was at that moment that the signal changed and the crosswalk came to life. A schizophrenic sea of bodies surged against itself, trying to reach the shore on both sides simultaneously. Individual waves rolled and crashed into one another. The corporate wiseguy also crested and crashed into one of these conflicting surges, the brief collision jolting him. Just a moment of contact and then the current continues flowing, disappearing into the ocean of humanity.

Arriving at the other side of the street, the homeless man that had commingled with opulence for a brief second hastened his gait. At the nearest malodorous gap between the concrete obelisks, he pulled forth a curious artifact. An elaborate alligator skin wallet that did not befit his current appearance.

His hands scooped out a thick wad of bills, stuffing them into one of his many pockets. This was followed by the quadrilateral wafers of plastic that he could barter to his Ukrainian acquaintance Andrei. The ragged figure seemed to be finished with his acquired treasure, when his hand trembled and reached forth again. A photograph came forth into his grasp.

It was good that the man was alone in the alley, for only a devil in search of a Faustian bargain would care to hear the epithets he barked out. Another visit to the wallet secured him an ID. The billfold and the unkempt man then parted ways.

David pulled abreast of the strolling woman, lowering the tinted glass on the right side of the G550 SUV. "Fancy a ride, pretty lady? I promise not to bite, unless you want me to."

"I don't know, my Husband might not like me taking rides from just anyone. He is insanely jealous, you know?"

"It's OK, doll. I have it on good authority that he is just now going on a trip to far away lands. I'd love to show you a good time while that schmuck is gone!" he leered.

"Well that certainly changes things, doesn't it?" she professed with a coquettish grin. "Why don't you and I spend a little one on one time together?"

"Slide on in to your chariot ma'am."

The flaxen coiffed matron lithely climbed into the richly appointed German automobile.

"So, we are going on a vacation, my love?"

"Something like that" her man flashed his teeth again in a rakish leer. "First we shall adjourn to your humble abode and see what type of trouble we can get up to."

She glanced at him, admiring his figure and the classic angles of his face, not unlike those that graced Michelangelo's statue he shared a common name with. It was moments like this that caused her duplicitous doubts to rise. "It's just an affair, he'll never know." She forcefully quelled the rebellious thoughts.

Shortly thereafter, they arrived at the aforementioned residence. The woman gasped in shock. A palatial structure once stood where a collection of wreckage dotted with heavy equipment now rested. Mute, the woman turned towards her lover.

"I'm sorry my dear, so very sorry. I'm afraid my cousin, Vittorio found quite a lot of our home to be out of code. Rather than face the massive fines the city would lay upon us, I had him simply demolish the offending bits."

She still could not find words, so he continued, "You might not be aware, but I never really gave up the family business after we married. Oh, I mostly work on an executive level, but now and again I like to get down in the muck with the working stiffs."

"But why would you do this?" she finally exclaimed.

"Today I hit a mark. Inside his wallet was a picture of what I can assume was his cock in your mouth and someone else's in your ass."

"Oh Fuck..." she sobbed.

"I have a flight to catch to Sicily. You may have the land here, but if you follow me there, my love will no longer override my baser instincts. I would suggest your corporate shark could help you build a new home here, but he found out that real sharks are somewhat more bloodthirsty. Que sera sera, my love."