The Break-up

“So that’s  it then?”

Bob’s voice was soft to the point of  timidity.  That irritated Sharon more than anything.  A man like Bob, a big, broad, hulk of a man, should not sound timid.  Not when faced with certain death and definitely not when faced with a hundred pound, goth girl who just wanted him to go away.

“Yeah, that’s it.  I can’t take it anymore.  And don’t look at me like that.  You had to know this was coming.  Even you’re not that dumb.”

Bob turned his back to her, silent, but did not walk away.

That was mean.  Probably meaner than she needed to be, but words were her weapons and she would not hold back, not after what he did.  She would make a clean break.  Besides, they were never going to work out.  Everyone knew it, and they needed to finally admit that to themselves.

Sharon had wanted it to work out once, but no more.  She could put up with the drinking and the drugs as disgusting as those habits sometimes proved, but not the lying.  Bob had closed the book on their relationship as soon as he proved himself a liar.  All that was left was the break.

Besides, girls from the streets didn’t mix with yuppie boys from the burbs.  No matter how pretty the girl or how gruff the guy.  Or how gruff he seemed.  At the end of the day, the streets would win out, and Sharon couldn’t have a man that wasn’t even as gruff as she was.  Even if she didn’t look it, she was as tough as the streets.  Things like tough and gruff weren’t measured in size.

And the streets were home.  The fact that he had the means to get her off the streets didn’t matter.  What would she do without the streets anyway?  After all, the streets didn’t lie.

“You don’t have to do this,” Bob said so low that she could barely hear.  He knew that it was a lie, yet he spoke it anyway.  He seemed about to cry saying it, but whether that was because of the lie or the situation, she couldn’t tell.  That unnerved her even more.

“You’re wrong,” she answered back, trying and failing to not sound harsh.  She had dilly-dallied too long, and she ached to be gone.  “This has to be done.  You will forget me soon enough.”  And if you don’t, that’s your problem, she added to herself.

With that, she disappeared into the shadowed alley and was home.