A young man bangs on the screen door of a small house.
The glass inside it rattles with his urgency.
He stands back and calls out a name.
An anxious pause.
He bangs on the door again.

The door behind the screen opens.
An old woman glares at the young man through the black mesh.
"She ain't here,
and even if she was -
she don't want to see you!
Now go away!"
She slams the door shut.

The young man stares at it, bewildered.
Stamps his foot.
Calls out a name -
louder this time.
He bangs on the screen door again,
the glass nearly breaking in its frame.
He yells out a name.

He shouts, "Are you in there?
I need to speak with you!"

"Go away,"  heard faintly from the other side of the door.

The young man walks to the side of the house.
He is grumbling underneath his breath.
Phrases like, "old hag," and "miserable old hag,"
can barely be heard.
He stops at a window.
Its curtains are drawn.
He knocks on it.
He calls out a name.
He yells,
"Please!"

He pauses.
Puts his ear against the glass.
He hears nothing at first,
then footsteps.
Grass being crunched under heavy feet
coming from the front of the house.
A large man turns the corner.
He stares at the young man.

"She's gone," says the large man.
"She left last night."

"What do you mean 'she's gone?'
Where has she gone?
I need to see her . . ."
He suddenly looks behind the man.

The old woman has turned the corner of the house.
She stands slightly behind the large man.

"She's gone with him," she hisses.
"**** good she did too!
He'll be able to give her more than you ever could in a thousand lifetimes!"

The large man growls at her from over his shoulder,
"Get back in the house!"
The old woman glares at the back of the large man,
then she gives the young man one last
disapproving look.
She huffs,
then storms off.

The young man stares at the large man.
He says,
"Has she really gone?
Is it really all true?"

"Yes. The part about her leaving is, anyway."

The young man goes pale.
He looks off into space.
He closes his eyes.
The large man looks away from him.

After a long pause,
with his eyes still closed;
"Was she happy?"

The large man looks at him, confused.
"What?"

The young man opens his eyes. Stares into the large man's.
"Last night,
when she left with him.
Did she look happy?"

The large man stares back at him for a few seconds;
sees the desperation in his eyes,
then looks down.
"Yes," he says softly.
"She looked happy."

The young man closes his eyes again.
One hand goes up to his head to clutch at his hair.
A range of emotions cross his face.

The large man looks up at him,
briefly,
then looks down again.
The young man sighs softly,
slowly.

"Ok," he says.
The large man looks up at him.
The young man is pulling something out of his pocket.
He walks up to the large man,
places it into one of his hands.

"Do me a favor, please."
They are staring into each others' eyes.
"Hang on to this for me."

The large man stares down at the object.
He looks back at the young man, confused.
"What do you want me to do with it?"

The young man is staring right at him, hard.
His face is devoid of all emotion;
all but resolve.

"Just keep it somewhere safe, please.
Keep it somewhere safe where no one can find it -
not even me."