Tabula Rasa

You were mad. Real mad. Your girl’s been beat up by a tough guy mad. I told you to forget about it but you just told me to get in the car. You didn’t tell me where we were going, just get in the car. You were going to deal with it. I tried to see your expression in the steady flash of the streetlights but all I could see were your knuckles on the steering wheel. White. We veered into a side road and stopped suddenly. You didn’t say anything, just sat there with your hands gripping the wheel. You got out and slammed the door. I whispered that I was sorry. You didn’t hear. You stormed round the corner, hands shoved deep into your pockets. That was that last I saw of you. I stayed in the car for a while and smoked a cigarette. Then I got out and walked to the main road to hail a cab. I gave him my husbands address and sat in the back, looking out as the city slid by. I liked you Johnny, I really did, but even good men have to die some day.