"Jerr's girlfriend got a peep at Brendan at "Coffee Pie" while he visibly fluttered uncomfortable on his seat, until she decides going straight to him for a chat.
-Hi, Brendan, you look tired... -He shrugs bored staring at his table- More than usual...
Brendan breaks his silent mood and his lips curl forming a grimace that she mistakes for a smile.
-Hello, Becky. Do you come to pick your bunk coffee?
She nods and sits in front of him.
-I won't take coffee. It's bad for my diet. When I called you the other night, Brendan, I told you the truth about Jerr. I never suspected that he was such a tweaker.
Brendan orders the waiter a pair of colas and tries to look Becky in the eye, firmly.
-He was just a ripped sneak, your darling. I had to block his poison on time.
She wovens nervously her hands. Her nails are coloured in red, but their polish lacquer is chipped.
-I never -she continues- suspected of his adventure with Emily. Not until I found her photo inside his wallet.
-And have you brought the snap?
She nods mechanically and takes out of a notebook's pages a small picture.
-So she had a flirt with Jerr -her lips are distended now.
-No duh! -almost hissing.
-But some pieces don't fit -trying to verbalize her anger.
The waiter serves them two glasses of Cola. Brendan takes a first sip feeling a pleasant caffeine boost.
She grabs her glass as if suddenly she was dehydrating and drinks half of her cola.
-But you never stopped loving her...
-No -distant.
-Even after her death...
-What do you want?
-Nothing. Just giving you this picture... -she passes the snapshot to him.
Brendan picks it delicately, holds it close to his face, looking at her lovely mysterious features.
-It's sad -Becky mumbles- She was so beautiful.
Brendan keeps the picture in his pocket carefully and then stands up, broody.
-Are you bailing out on me? Not even are you going to thank me?
-Thank you, Becky, but I'm not the running-drag type.
And he accelerates his way out of the local, while she, hastily, walks after him, a little clumsy on her high-heel shoes.
-I never understood what made Em so special.
Brendan turns around and hesitates before replying her.
-Why are you interested? Jerr didn't sell me out. Simply bad luck.
-I'm not a bimbo, please, convince me that all has been a bad dream... -she maunders at this point.
Brendan's attitude is brittle and aloof.
-Emily met me here the first time -pointing at the sprightly grass-
She got lost on her way and got late to our first date -he mussitates- But I didn't mind. She came running, with sweat ruining her makeup, so when she held me in her arms, she was worn out, breathless.
-Did you kiss her, in that day?
-When she held me in that way, it was me who stopped breathing.
-I see... -she inclines her head down, ashamed.
-Don't feel moded, Becky.
-Listen, when I met Jerr, he wasn't riding the white horse, then he changed, he was always searching for something, what were they searching, Brendan? -her eyes widen, afraid of finding out the answer.
-Don't you know it? -he gives her a sphinx look.
-No. Maybe... her brick? -slowly spelling the words.
-Maybe -answers Brendan- Or maybe it all was a fraud -he pauses- And she isn't dead, and it was me biting the big one.
-And she ran away to hide in another place -Becky follows his talk entranced as if bespoken.
She approaches to Brendan and whispers to him:
-Lie to me.
-She's not dead -he repeats squeezing Becky.
-She's not dead -negates with her head -She's with you, at your side (starts to cry silently).
The pieces of his brain shatter, Brendan quivers while her voice is loading.
-Kiss me, Brendan.
His heart explodes inwards, like a faulty cheap Cola can at the moment her lips press his mouth. And Brendan knows the girl of the picture inside his pocket is Becky."
My Brick "Outtake"
After my take on "Brick" a literary insomniac vein made me write another scene inspired in the "Brick"'s story and characters. Its title is: "10 out of 10":
