Wanted

Butch spied them from his window. White coats, needles, clipboards and file. When the buzzer sounded, he scrambled to the balcony. He tugged the bedsheet before climbing down, spats smack-smacking off brick. Next door, Parker yelped. He put finger to lips and ran, vest flying, bowler rolling across the lawn.

Behind, they shouted his name. ­­ 

Butch leapt into his Mustang and took off, flashing lights in hot pursuit. He roared through reds, reared theatrically over tracks. Hard turn, slide, and CRASH! (“Sorry about that fruit stand, folks!”).  

Soon, the teeming city gave way to an inconclusive horizon. Butch skidded to a stop before a cliff’s stark plunge. Behind, red lights scalpeled through clouds of dust. Damn, they were relentless! No choice but to leap. SPLASH! He swam wildly until the current did the work. Ashore, exhausted, he was surprised by a timely burro, which waddled him to town. 

Where he donned a wig. Lost significant weight. And appetite. One evening, wheezing on a stool in a hotel bar, he noticed two white coats standing in the archway. One studied an x-ray, the other said, “We need another MRI.”   

Butch was gone—out the door and down to Costa Rica, where—a miracle? universal health care?—body and mind improved.  

But alas, nothing lasts. Lunching one day on the square, he heard disturbing reports. He dropped his fork, scrambled for cover.  

“Come out,” a voice megaphoned. “We want to discuss treatment options.” 

Perspiring against a dried-up well, Butch peeked at the square, weighing the cost of engagement. White coats eyed him from rooftops, from behind turned-over tables. Inevitably, the sky grew dark. When raindrops began to fall upon his head, Butch knew the jig was up. And to make matters worse, he hadn’t even the strength to go out in style. 

 

 Michael Cocchiarale is the author of the novel None of the Above (Unsolicited, 2019) and two short story collections--Here Is Ware (Fomite, 2018) and Still Time (Fomite, 2012). His creative work appears online as well, in journals such as Fictive Dream, South Florida Poetry Review, The Disappointed Housewife, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, and Worthing Flash.