Hell's Hero

by Temple Madison

  “Sorry,” he said, still keeping an eye on the guy sitting up close to the building.

  He wondered if he might be homeless since he hadn’t seen him here before. But he did look hungry, and that tore at Fate’s heart causing him to begin to edge closer to him. When the guy turned and looked at him, his heart did a kind of somersault. God, what a hottie! Their eyes seemed to fuse, and before he knew what was happening, Fate wasn’t edging anymore, but had begun walking over to him, and smelling what he thought was sulfur.

  The young man’s eyes widened, and he scooted backward while looking around nervously. “What are…what…what do you want?”

  Fate’s eyes lowered to his clothes, noticing again their terrible condition. “What are you doing here, waiting to get inside?”

  The stranger looked up at the front of the shop offering body painting at a discount, and said, “No. Why?”

  “Well, I just thought you should know that loitering isn’t allowed. There’s a cop that comes by once in a while, and if you’re caught hanging around he won’t take it too kindly.”

  The man looked around. “What about them?”

  “They’ll get off the street. Some will go to a shelter, others will find an alley somewhere.” When the stranger seemed confused, he asked, “Do you need a ride home?”

  “Home?” he repeated and looked down at his cup. “If I had a home, would I be begging on the street?”

  “You mean you’re homeless?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  “How long now?”

  “How long what?”

  “How long have you been homeless?”

  “I…uh, don’t know. I woke up in an alleyway, and…”

  Fate waited for him to continue. “What?”

  The guy just shrugged.

  “Are you saying you don’t remember?”

  “I guess you could say that.”

  “Well, look, maybe I could help get you into a shelter until we can find out more about you.”

  “A shelter?”

  “Yeah, there’s one down on—’”

  “No.” The young man got up and began backing away. “I don’t want to go to any shelter. I’d rather just…uh…” He suddenly threw his cup down, turned and began running.

  “Wait,” Fate called out as he saw the guy taking off down the street. “There’s food, and beds…”

  When Fate saw him disappear around a corner, he stood wondering about him. Hell, he hadn’t even asked his name. He tried to get him off his mind as he continued on toward the Pot Luck Diner, but the guy’s face kept pushing its way into his thoughts. He’d never seen anyone he’d been so attracted to. Whatever he had was powerful. But it wasn’t only his face. He was well put together, muscled and tall, and his skin was kind of dark, mysterious. He had a strong jaw, and his eyes, oh, God. The look they shared almost singed the hair right off his chest. His hair was dark, with curls that wound around his ears and face, and down the nape of his neck. His great looks made Fate wonder if he’d been a male model at one time.

  Just then he got a look at his own face in a department store window. He was the total opposite of the homeless man. His body was good, but his face—hell, he wasn’t even good-looking. His face was too damned ordinary, and his hair was a dark blond—sort of like sand. Dirty. His eyes were his best feature. They were blue, and he’d been told they were kind. He didn’t want kind eyes, he wanted smoldering eyes. He might as well admit it, he wanted the homeless guy to be as attracted to him as he was to…Damn, he wished he’d got his name.

  He’d never paid any attention to his appearance before, at least not that much. Sure he wanted to be good-looking, who the hell didn’t? He thought he’d come to terms with his ordinary looks, but that was before he saw someone he could care about, like the guy on the street who he knew was way out of his league. There was no way that guy was average. He was above average—way above. Fate had begun wondering if he’d ever see him again when he heard something going on in an alleyway across the street. It was the sound of someone struggling. When he turned toward the ruckus, he saw a man being picked up bodily, and literally thrown into the air.

  “Hey! What’s going on there?” When he didn’t get an answer, he rushed across the street to try and help. “Hey, are you all right? What happened?”

  “Nothing, get away.”

  Fate thought he recognized the voice, so he grabbed his jaw, forced his face toward the light and recognized the homeless man he’d met earlier.

  “Hey, it’s you. What the hell happened here?”

  Seeing who it was, the man quickly turned to run away.

  Fate moved fast and managed to catch him before he got very far. “Hey, I’m tired of this. Now, if you’re as smart as you are pretty you’d know I’m just trying to help you, so start talking.”

  “Just leave me alone, okay?”

  “What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you know when someone’s trying to help you? Were you hurt?” He looked down at his body. “I don’t see any blood.”

  “It wasn’t that kind of attack.”

  “Okay, so tell me what kind it was.”

  “He was trying to force himself on me, okay?”

  “You mean rape? Oh, my God. Did you know him? Maybe we should find a cop. You need to press charges against this creep.”

  “Look, I wasn’t hurt, it didn’t happen, so let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

  Fate let him go, and looked down at his clothes. “Hey, man, you got any more clothes? These are a little messed up.”

  “Look…whoever the hell you are, I’ll be fine. There must be another homeless dude you can harass, isn’t there?”

  Fate grabbed him and slammed him against the wall of the building. “Harass?” Fate yelled. “You think I’m harassing you? That’s a smart-ass remark; you know that, don’t you? It shows disrespect for me as a person who is only trying to help you. I’m just about ready to think that maybe you don’t deserve any help. Maybe you deserve to sleep in the gutters, and eat food from a dumpster. Maybe I should have let that creep rape you. Would that have made you feel better?”

  Fate saw fear in his eyes, and when he quickly lifted a hand as if he was going to call down some horrible curse on Fate, he suddenly stopped and did nothing—but turn to smoke and disappear.

  At that moment Fate fell against the building holding nothing. Confused, he quickly turned and saw the guy on the other side of the alley. “What the hell? I had you up against the wall. How did you get over there?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Hey…I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help, but it’s really not necessary.”

  “Okay, so did you know the bastard? It wasn’t one of your friends was it?”

  “I never saw him before tonight. Look, I’m okay now, so I’ll just be on my way. Thanks for your help.”

  “Not so fast. When’s the last time you had anything to eat? Being homeless it must be hard to get food when you’re hungry.”

  “Well…I’m kind of broke.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s on me. Come on.”

  Chapter 2

  BEFORE the man could object, Fate was opening the door of the diner, and pushing him in. The man looked around and said, “You mean we’re going to eat here? In a real restaurant?” He looked down at his clothes. “I’m not exactly dressed…”

  Fate chuckled. “Just grab a booth and don’t worry about it. It’s not a restaurant. In fact, it can barely be called a diner. But the food is passable, and the prices are reasonable.”

  “Hey there, Fate, how you doin’, baby?” a waitress called out from across the room. “It’s a little late. I was wonderin’ if you were comin’ in tonight.” When she saw the other man, she smiled. “Who’s the pretty boy you got with you?”

  “Roxanne, this is…uh…” He looked at Dante, realizing he didn’t know his name. “I don’t think you told me your name.”

  “Dant
e. My name’s Dante.”

  “Roxanne, this is Dante, a friend of mine. Dante, this is Roxanne, the best waitress in the city.”

  Roxanne looked at him admiringly, and then winked at Fate. “You sure you ain’t got plans for this one?”

  “This one?” Dante repeated. “What does she mean?”

  “Nothin’, don’t pay any attention to her.” After pointing Dante toward a booth, he said, “Here, take that one.” He immediately turned, and took the waitress aside. “Hey, watch your mouth, okay? He’s a little skittish. You keep talkin’ like that and you’ll scare him away.”

  “Sure wouldn’t want to do that,” she said as she took her pencil from behind her ear, and lifted her pad to write on. “What’ll it be, Dante? Coffee, tea, or…” she slid her flirtatious gaze over to Dante, “…me?”

  “Hey, I fuckin’ saw him first,” Fate mumbled as he cut his gaze back over at Dante to make sure he hadn’t heard, and then slid into the seat across from him.

  “Hey, don’t get so excited. I’m just havin’ a little fun, okay?” She looked over at Dante appreciatively. “He’s a big boy, he can handle it. Can’t you, baby?”

  With a big what’s-the-use sigh, Fate let it rest, and said, “So what’s your pleasure, Dante? You want coffee, tea, or would you rather have a soft drink?”

  “I don’t know…a Coke, I guess.”

  Fate looked up at Roxanne, and said, “Two Cokes, a couple of hamburgers with all the trimmings, and a side order of sautéed mushrooms.”

  “You love them mushrooms, don’t you?” she teased as she was writing.

  “Can’t live without ’em.”

  “Hey, Charlie! Burn two, take ’em through the garden, and pin a rose on ’em. Add two orders of Frog Sticks, and give me a mystery in the alley.” She looked over at the counter person, and called out, “Shoot from the South, Lorna, on the double.”

  “Two Atlanta Prides coming up,” Lorna answered, and began filling two glasses with ice and Coke.

  Dante’s eyes got big and round at the order that the waitress yelled out. “My God, what was that?”

  “That’s diner lingo, Dante. Don’t worry, they know the language.”

  “Really? I’ve never heard anything like it.”

  “Yeah, the food’s not the greatest, but when you couple it with the floor show, the entertainment value is priceless. I should know. I eat here almost every night.”

  “I heard her call you Fate. Is that your name?”

  “Yeah. My given name is Lafayette, but my folks shortened it to Fate when I was a kid, and that’s what I’ve been called ever since.”

  “Do you work…Fate?”

  “I run a small business. What do you do?”

  “Me?” Dante asked, and then shrugged. “Who knows?”

  “You don’t know what you do?”

  “I have a memory problem, remember?”

  “Are you talkin’ amnesia? Did you have an accident, or something? Maybe we should get you to a doctor. Maybe there’s a reason your memory’s gone.”

  Dante looked closely at this stranger. “What’s your angle…Lafayette?”

  “My friggin’ name is Fate. Got that? Fate. If you call me Lafayette one more time I’ll pound your butt into the ground.”

  “Okay, okay, simmer down. Look, I’m on the street, remember? If I don’t have money for a friggin’ hamburger, I sure as hell don’t have the money for a doctor.”

  “Okay, so maybe I can help you.”

  “Why?”

  “Why? I don’t know. Because you need help, I guess. I could pay the doctor, and you could pay me back when you get work, or whatever. Hell, maybe you come from rich parents and you have some kind of trust fund in one of these banks around here.” He snickered after he said it.

  “Now you’re making fun of me. Don’t do it again unless you want me to go on one of those social media things and tell the whole fuckin’ world what your name is.”

  “You probably don’t even know what a computer is, much less how to use one.”

  “Don’t be too sure. I might be made of nuts and bolts.”

  Fate began laughing. “If you’re a robot I guess you won’t need that hamburger. Maybe I should cancel the order.” He was only teasing, but when he saw the look of hunger in Dante’s eyes, he felt bad. “Just eat your friggin’ hamburger. It’s probably the first halfway decent meal you’ve had for days. You are hungry, aren’t you?”

  “I’m starving, but hell I’ll be hungry tomorrow, too. Who’s going to feed me then? You’ve got your own life to lead. You can’t take care of me.”

  “Why not?”

  Dante’s eyes widened. “Because you don’t know who the hell I am. Hell, I don’t even know who I am.”

  “You know, something’s awful wrong here,” Fate said. “You say you don’t know who you are, and yet you told me your name, and the way you talk leads me to believe you must have some kind of street smarts. Even a little education.”

  “Well, hell, I’m not a doofus. Just because I can’t remember a lot of things doesn’t mean I’m not educated. For your information, I also know my multiplication tables, I can read, tie a knot, I know this city like the back of my hand, and I can even carry on a halfway decent conversation. Tell that to the fuckin’ doctor when you see him.”

  “Are you sure this is not some kind of scam?”

  “Scam,” Dante repeated thoughtfully. “A con, a rip-off, a dishonest plan for getting money by tricking the victim…” Dante looked at him and gave him a sarcastic smile. “Any other word you want to pull on me to see how much I know?”

  “I wasn’t pulling anything on you. I don’t know how a person who’s lost his memory acts. I thought they didn’t remember anything.”

  “Well, I don’t know either, so don’t ask me. I only know about myself.”

  Just then the waitress set their food down in front of them, and when Dante got a whiff of the hamburger, he could feel his stomach wrench, and almost cried out for it. He grabbed it and chomped down on it like he hadn’t had a bite in weeks.

  “Poor guy,” the waitress said, nudging Fate. “You need to start feeding him better.”

  *

  Fate just sat there watching Dante as he ate. “You want another one?” he asked when he saw that his hamburger was almost gone in only three bites.

  “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

  Fate pushed his plate over to him. “Here, eat this one.”

  Dante looked up at him. “What’ll you eat?”

  “Look, I eat regular, you don’t, so don’t worry about me. Besides, I can order another one for myself.”

  After he ordered another hamburger, Fate sat watching Dante wondering how he was going to help him. Sure, he’d love to take him home, keep him, and even fuck the hell out of him, but he wasn’t sure this guy was the type to go for that kind of arrangement. If Dante would let him he would like to help him get a job so he could take care of himself. The only problem was, he didn’t seem to be the type that would take help easily. Maybe it was pride, or whatever, but he’d have to do whatever he could to change that, because now that he’d found him he didn’t intend to let this guy out of his sight.

  “Want to hear some music?”

  “Sure,” Dante said, sitting back comfortably.

  “What do you want to hear? Is hot rock okay?”

  Dante shrugged. “I guess.”

  By this time Fate had another hamburger sitting in front of him, and proceeded to eat it as he watched Dante enjoying the music coming out of the jukebox. To his surprise, he saw him pick up a knife and begin beating the table. He became mesmerized by the bobbing of Dante’s head, and the way he flipped his hair. He was sexy as hell when it fell down along his forehead. God, he had a look on his face that made Fate think he was having great sex instead of beating out an intense rhythm with the silverware.

  And then Fate’s eyes fell to the table and
saw a lot of raw nicks in the table where Dante had pounded the knife. He stared, seeing that he wasn’t hitting the table that hard, but each hit carved out a niche in the wood as if he’d hit it as hard as he could. Sure, it was a small thing, but when he picked up his own knife and did the same thing, no mark was left.

  He suddenly threw his own knife down, grabbed the knife out of Dante’s hand, looked at it closely, and saw that it was nothing but a butter knife. That’s impossible. How could he have—

  And then he remembered seeing him heave a grown man into the air earlier as if he were made of straw. And then later, when he had him up against a wall it was like he disappeared and reappeared behind him. Talk about weird… Who the hell was this guy? Had he found some kind of alien among the homeless on the street? He had no memory, and yet he seemed very intelligent. He thought of his stack of superhero comics at home, and knew that Dante fit the criterion to a T. He was muscled, strong, and good-looking in a messy way. He was new to this world with no memory of where he came from. Everything seemed to be new to him. He seemed to be just learning how to take care of himself. If Fate’s suspicions were right, this guy probably did have superpowers, but they were instinct, used at the drop of a hat to protect himself, or someone else. Wasn’t that the way superheroes did things? But one thing bothered him—there were also super villains in those stories.

  Villains that were sworn to destroy the world.

  As he looked at the stranger—at the black coal dust that clung to him, and the smell of sulfur that wafted around him—he had to ask himself, which was Dante?

  Since Dante intrigued Fate, and since he couldn’t just leave him out on the street, he took him home. The moment they walked into the small apartment, as expected, he got an argument from Dante.

  “I appreciate this, Fate, but you don’t owe me anything. I mean, how do you know I won’t kill you in your sleep?”

  “Call me stupid, call me dumb, but I’m willing to take a chance on you.”