The Kiss

A story that was written a long time ago but never published. Back at the turn of the century there was a boy who aspired to be a boxer. In those days, there was a fight every Saturday night, and he had been quite successful beating all comers. This was his life and all that he dreamed about. He would move to the big city to seek his fame. 

On his first two fights, he had gotten beat up pretty bad. It had taken him  weeks to recover, and now he was wondering if he should give it up. He would tell his friends he was leaving but he never left. He had invested too much to quit. He thought about going back home but that was not an option. He spent hours a day at the local gym trying to hone his skill. He had made a few bucks from his fights, but now cash was running out, so he found a job at a local restaurant.

He enjoyed working at the restaurant. It was a mom-and-pop establishment, and he got to cook, wait tables, and he didn’t even mind doing the dishes. The proprietors treated him like a son, and they could have been his parents.

Every night they were busy, he didn’t have a chance to think about his problems. Also after everything was wrapped up he got a good meal, and he needed that to sustain himself.

He got into a routine. Every night he would get off around 8:00, and head for the local pool hall, where he would play pool for a couple of hours. At 10:00 he would put up his queue, bid the boys fairwell, and head home to be greeted by Miss Brown. Miss Brown had rented him a room at a very reasonable rate, and she was like a mother to him.

He would run an errand for her once in awhile, and she would stay up late every evening to let him in when he came home. But tonight as he left the pool hall something was troubling him. A new girl had moved in upstairs. She was aspiring actress. She was quite petite and pretty, but he had no contact with her, except to say hi when they were coming or going.

Miss Brown had invited them to dinner on Sunday.., and he had gotten to talk to Becky, but all he really knew about her was that she also was from a small town. As he left the pool hall that night the boys started kidding him about going home to Miss Brown. Then they started kidding him about going home to Becky. Something about all this ribbing started to get to Bob so tonight instead of turning left for the short walk home, he turned right and began to walk.

He walked for blocks, just he and the night, and his thoughts, as he walked. He continued walking until he realized that he was in a strange neighborhood, and wasn’t exactly sure where he was, but he just kept walking. Suddenly he became aware that there were two men following him. At first he panicked, but then he started to devise a plan of what he might do. As he passed an alley, he turned quickly and ran for everything he was worth. Out on the street, down another alley, and he never looked back. He ran for a long time before he looked back and he didn’t see anybody.

He found three trash cans beside the sidewalk and hid behind them for some time until he decided to come out. He turned left down a couple more blocks, and then another left turn and he was headed for home. But now it was getting quite late and as he tapped on the door Miss Brown didn’t answer. He stood there for what seemed to be at least a a half hour, just tapping and waiting.

As he waited he heard someone coming down the stairs. It was Becky carrying a coal oil lamp. She opened the door and they stood for a few minutes just looking at each other. They stepped in the hall and Becky put her lamp on a small table. They stood for a few minutes making small talk. Bob was still just trying to calm down from what had happened.

The lamp was flickering, but when Becky tried to adjust it it went out. Bob had a match in his pocket from work, and as he struck it flared up, to the point where they could see each other, but directly went out. They were standing there in the dark. Then something happened that shook Bob even more than his narrow escape. Becky put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

He was totally surprised. They found a couch and talked deep into the night. She was from a small town in Ohio and had three siblings. Bob never did go back to the pool hall. Every night after his shift he would be heading home and Becky would be waiting. Here the story ends.

I didn’t hear the final story. I know she had promised her minister that if she ever married he could do the honors. I have heard that there’s a small town in Ohio where some of their descendants are still living today. Few people ever make the big time, in the big town, but life is lived in the small towns.

—James Neuhouser