He had a mouth fool of lies buried behind his mischievous grin and bad intentions waiting in the palms of his fingertips and he walked on two feet but slithered all the same and there was something of a snake coiled in the green of his eyes and he bought three shots of poison to fill the hollow spots of his teeth sharpened and shaped into fangs and left behind a trail of smoke and tears as he walked out onto the street at the hour that smelled of innocence just stepping into town... She was fresh off the boat and two steps off the bus with a heart full of hope and a head full of dreams and fire streaked golden hair that was all under the protection of a wide rimmed yellow sun hat and her skirt was closer to her ankles than her knees and she wore quite black shoes and solid white stockings and her blouse was plain and simple and revealed little for the imagination to explore and she stood their with the cliché picturesque backdrop of the american dream as the bus rumbled then roared and rolled out of sight... He had the nose of a blood hound and the heart of a snake and she was a pretty bird singing a song and as small as a mouse with big wide smilng eyes and he had a bait in his pocket and a trap in his jaws and spoke softly and kind leaving his venom to flow silently through the air while wraping and seeping into her skin and she smiled and laughed a deep and clean and genuine laugh and mentioned she was a peck hungery and needed a the name of an upright and honest hotel with clean sheets on clean beds with well read bibles on the nightstands and he spilled out more poison than truth and said he loved the book and knew a place not too far to sleep that he had even himself stayed at when he first got into town a heartbreak or two before and his favorite twenty four seven day a week dinner was just around the corner which was the only truth he could ever tell and they walked in and took a seat and she smelt what she thought must be magic cooking in the back and stirred stars and sugar and cream into her coffee and they talked back and forth and forth and back as hours passed and he let out a yawn and she apologized for talking too much and he smiled knowing the trap was set and she asked with sincerity and hope if he would walk her to the place he knew and it all almost seemed to easy and he guided her down one street then another and she held his hand along the way and to his surprise an alley before his own she pulled him into the dark and shyly whispered she knew she shouldn't ask but she wanted to know what it was like to kiss such a handsome man that looked a little like he could be mistaken for the devil but before he could oblige her request she had one other favor to ask and that was would he wear her yellow hat because her momma told her never trust a man who wasn't willing to look silly to make her laugh and so he did and before he could scream the hat had chewed and swallowed him down to his knees and by the time it was done all that was left was half a shoe lace and a tooth full of venom and she picked up the tooth and placed it in her purse and patted her hat and placed it back on head and giggled and cackled and laughed as she faded into the night and took her seat back on the bus