The Train

The subway station rank with dried piss and decaying breath; hobos hid in dark corners, wiping their chapped lips with greasy fingers. The herd was present. A large mass of gray and beige and stale browns, following each other. Not a minute late, they stepped through the electric sliding doors, careful not to catch a briefcase or limb. The tin snake barreled away, screeching, its electric embers shooting out around the top.

A man in the middle of two dingy, tiled columns strums a guitar, while his band mate taps a rhythm into a set of congas.

He says that it hurts when he really loves you. The words still loop in her head.

People pass unnoticed, while a few tourists, mostly Asian drop coins in an empty guitar case, smiling and snapping pictures.

It’s a cruel sight this Monday morning.

Jenny fears the concrete jungle. Coffee singes her fingers as she rushes the humming doors of the tin snake. She follows the herd. Their legs in unison march on like military, claiming the subways as their territory. She sees him out of the corner of her eye.

It hurts when he really loves you.

He’s looking at her, but not seeing her. His dark blue eyes planted on the window behind her. Jenny has always wondered why there are windows on the subway. The only thing to see is the dark labyrinthine walls of the under-city. She settles on the idea that the windows are to give people an excuse to look at something else, like he is doing right now.

It hurts when he really loves you.

He keeps his distance although his eyes fall on hers. He doesn’t remove the headphones from his ears, so she pulls out her phone to nonchalantly check missed calls.

These are the interactions. This is the love.

He says that it hurts when he really loves you.

She’s called. He’s called back. She’s cried. He’s moved on.

He says that it hurts when he really loves you, but does he mean it. Can he mean it? No. Not yet.

The train stops, the doors slide open.

He’s gone. Not a word, not a gesture, only a glance in her direction.

He says that it hurts when he really loves you, but she already knows.