"Goddamnit, shut the fuck up. I don't do this for you, Sid." said Claire.

"But, I'm the only one who ever comes." he paused, "The only one." He grabbed his jacket and started buttoning it up.

"No, Sid, stay." she bent over. "I was wrong, don't leave."

But Sid had already buttoned his tan overcoat and lit a light filtered cigarette between his yellow stained index and middle fingers. This was the last time he'd fall for a stripper.

"True love, Claire. I gotta find that true love." said Sid.

She continued to insist he stay, but he had none of it. He walked to the door leaving a trail of smoke bellowing from his head.

"Well, don't come back til you've found it, you meat head." she looked down at her nipples, perky and erect, "There's nothing for men like you out there."

--------------------------------------------

Sid didn't believe in love. He never had. Sensible men didn't bother with nonsense, and love was the most nonsensical. When asked by his mother why he had never found someone, he had no answer. He could only spit in his mouth and look towards the cloudy sky bitterly.

The next morning he walked from his apartment in a three story brick building, overgrown with vines and graffiti, to the small store on the corner. The store was run by asians, and he didn't feel comfortable asking them questions. The store wasn't convenient, the prices were high and the products were poor.

He picked up the city's morning newspaper and filled up a tall paper cup with decaf coffee from a stained coffee pot and set them both on the counter by the register.

"Five fifty." said the asian girl at the counter.

Sid clumsily tapped over the coffee cup, soaking the newspaper and the counter by the register with hot coffee. He cursed and quickly tried sopping the mess up with his newspaper.

"Oh no." said the asian girl at the counter.

"Gee, I'm real sorry miss. I don't know how to work my hands sometimes." he shuttered in embarrassment.

The asian girl at the counter ran into a back room of the corner store and returned with a full roll of paper towels. She began to sop up the mess.

"Let me help," said Sid, "It's my mess, I really should clean it up."

"No, no, this is my job. Don't worry about it, really." said the asian girl at the counter. Sid was stupefied at how well she spoke english. "See, all better." she smiled.

Sid smiled back. He pulled up the back of his overcoat and reached into his back right pocket of his old jeans. When he felt no wallet, a new sense of embarrassment took hold of him.

"Oh shit... hey, listen... umm," he squinted his eyes and peered at her inquisitively.

"Daiyi." she said.

"Daiyi... I've forgotten my wallet in my apartment. I live in the brick apartment building. Would you mind if I picked it up?" his face was no longer smiling, but now his lower lip was quivering over his upper teeth and his forehead was wrinkled up.

"Listen, ummm..." she said sarcastically and did the same peering gesture Sid had.

"Sid." he replied.

"Sid... Don't worry about it. I've seen you here plenty of times, it's nice to hear a peep out of you for once. Plus, who would want to pay for spilled coffee and a soaked newspaper? They are free, today." she looked away.

"Oh really? Thank you Daiyi, you shouldn't." his face tilted.

"No, actually I shouldn't. The owner of the store would probably fire me. But he won't know. The security cameras aren't real." she laughed.

"Not real?" he laughed, "Well, that's a shame. I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I choose to relive my days as a career criminal."

"Well, I'd like to see you try," said Daiyi," The owner would shoot you faster than you could say 'cash register.'"

Sid could feel himself smiling a bit too much now. Was he about to flirt? No... no. Time to leave.

"Well, I'll see you around Daiyi." he quickly muttered and tightened his overcoat.

"Yeah, take care." said Daiyi.

On his way back to his apartment, Sid contemplated his farewell to Claire. "There's nothing for men like you out there." But Daiyi was something. To Sid she looked just about the same as every other asian had ever looked. Her tits were nothing great. Her hair had the kind of swoosh that he liked. But there was nothing spectacular.

Yet, he felt drawn in. Twice on his way back to his apartment did he consider turning around and storming into the corner store just to embrace the tiny asian girl. Daiyi was the one for him, he knew it.

He clopped his boots against the carpeted stairwell in the stairway of his apartment. Three stories of smelly rooms with misfit people. He resided on top, the king of these deranged men and women. He rolled his hand over his slick brown hair down to his neck and opened his apartment door.

He stepped no more than three steps into the apartment before he froze. Suddenly a burst of energy blasted into his gut. It was like nothing he could describe. The urge was too much. He bolted back down the stairs, forgetting to close the door to his apartment. He nearly fell down the lowest flight of stairs, tripping, leaping and flying down those carpeted stairs.

The front door of the brick building exploded open with such vigor that the sound of it's metal doors could be heard from every corner of the street. It caused a wild dog on the second floor to bark in a foaming rage out the window into the cloudy sky.

Below was Sid, stumbling almost, like a beast running back down the tan sidewalk. Beside him waved the many marks of graffiti, images of jagged lettering and nonsensical shapes, names of gangs and imprisoned men. They all blew past Sid as his boots slammed on the pavement.

He finally reached the corner store and crushed his way through its glass door. The bell that sounded each time a customer entered rang so loud that it fell from his hanger, making an awful clunk as it hit the ground.

Sid, with a vicious look in his pale eyes, said, "Daiyi."

He blurted, "Daiyi. Daiyi, I must have you, Daiyi."

Daiyi, still behind the counter was shocked at the mans apparent hysteria.

Sid lept at the counter and spread his stomach over the countertop. "I love you, I love you."

Daiyi, frightened to her core, pulled her managers gun from under the cash regiester.

"Sid... Sid, now listen. I won't shoot you if you stop right there."

The music in Sid's head stopped.

"I don't know you. You don't know me. And now we have to keep it that way." she said with the kind of power a woman with a gun has, "Don't you ever, ever, step foot in here while I am working. I'm nothing for you to love. I am not going to deal any man telling me anything. Do you understand?"

"Do you understand?" this time she yelled.

Sid's eyes closed and didn't open until he was back on the street. He stumbled to his feet and waved goodbye to the store for a second time that day. It was the last time he'd ever go.

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Claire's eyes grew large when Sid came back into the club.

"Give up? Already?" she said, removing herself from whatever sexy position she was currently in.

Sid said nothing.

"You know," she stepped down from the stage, stark naked with large erect nipples and long brown hair which reached the tips of her shoulder blades, "you never need more than a friend, Sid. If something's got you down, you know where I am."

He looked beside himself at the nude woman rubbing his shoulder. He pushed his hairy face above her breast and wept. Life's not fair, it's never going to be. But for what it's worth," he blurted with some tears silently crawling down his wrinkled cheeks, "It's always a pleasure to see you." he postured himself a bit and wiped his cheeks with his overcoat sleeves, "and your big ass."

They both smiled and nothing of the event was ever brought up between the two.

Six years later they died in a car accident, but neither felt so bad. At least they were together.