The Haunted Traveler Vol. 2 Issue 1

44
waited with his hands folded on his protruding stomach. No
one in the bar had ever seen him before. A couple of regulars
sitting next to him glanced his way every couple of minutes
as if they were paranoid he would try to rob them.
“Anything I can get for you?” Pepper asked. He
lowered his head a bit to try and make eye contact under the
man’s baseball cap. The customer was dressed like he had
just returned from a morning of fly fishing. He stared back at
Pepper with a look of harsh stoicism.
“What are you?” The man asked in a quiet but firm
voice.
“Um, what?” Pepper replied. He gripped the counter
under the bar for support as he felt himself begin to shake.
He knew what the man was asking but always felt nervous
whenever someone new tried questioning him like this. “I’m
sorry is the Spanish bothering you?”
Pepper could feel the man’s gaze scratching and
clawing at his neck. There was a long silence that most of the
regulars attempted to ignore but failed. It seemed like the entire
bar was staring at what they assumed could be a potential
fight.
“I’ll have the lowest calorie beer you got on tap,” the
man spat. Pepper looked at the small pool of saliva in disgust.
He reached over to the stack of newspapers a few seats
down from him and grabbed a copy of the previous day’s
journal. Tearing off a corner from the front page and dabbing
the saliva on the counter with it.
Pepper turned and saw that Diego was half standing
off his stool. His fist was clenched and he glared at the man
across the bar. The man paid no attention to anyone’s stares
as he slouched back into his chair and read the paper.
As Pepper was about to fill a clean glass with Bud
Light he caught a dead, black, eye staring back at him. The
reflection almost appeared to wink before shattering and slicing
Pepper’s hand.