Bagged Man
Bagged Man
“Hey, Ethan, you want to come down to the saloon with me for a drink?” Ethan poked his head into his house and looked around.
“Fine, but I have to be home before sundown. I told Marline that I would quit drinking.” The two men started down the road. “Hey, Ace, you ever seen the bagged man?” The light from the setting sun stretched their shadows out in front of them.
“Of course I have. He wears his mask and thinks he’s tough. He ain’t nothing special.” They reached the saloon and entered. They grabbed their regular table at the back and ordered a bottle.
“If I were you I would be scared of him. Yesterday he got into an argument with that guy Timmothy. You know him?”
“Uhhh yeah. He’s that poor fellow who lives out of town right?”
“Right. Ok so they get into this big argument and when the bagged man tried to walk away Timmothy grabbed one of his guns.”
“What? You got to be shitting me.”
“Let me finish. So he grabbed his gun and the bagged man turned, dropped to his knee, and shot all six shots before Timmothy could get off one.”
“Jesus.” The waiter arrived with a bottle and two glasses and placed them on the table. Ace grabbed the bottle and poured for both of them. “To Timmothy.” They raised their glasses and drank. They sat and talked about their lives and jobs and the sun began to fade into a maroon haze.
“Ok, Ace if I wanted to grow a mustache, what products would I want to buy from your store?” Ace finished off his drink and looked at Ethan. They
“Well, first you would probably want to grow some facial hair. That would probably be the first thing I would do.” He stroked his own beard pretending to give the question deep thought.
“Ok well if I could grow facial hair what would I want to buy?”
“In that case, I would suggest you buy my beard or mustache oil. It’s got all the right things you need to-.”
“Oh shit I got to get home. Sorry, I got to go-promise you’ll tell me tomorrow.” He hopped out of his seat, threw a ten down on the table, and walked swiftly to the door. Ace watched him go and poured himself another drink. He sat looking around the bar watching people come and go. He didn’t notice when his head began to nod or when sleep eventually took him. Ace was having a wonderful dream about a successful men’s grooming business when a voice broke the illusion. He opened his eyes and was dimly aware of a person standing next to him. The person’s arm was extended, pointing at the bottle sitting in the middle of the table.
“I said, are you gonna finish that?”
“Huh? Oh, no, you can have some.” The man pulled out the chair across from Ace and sat down. His face and head were covered in a white hood that was secured on his head with a pristine cowboy hat. The bag had two holes cut out for the man’s eyes which gleamed in the lantern light. He grabbed the bottle and poured himself a drink. Ace sat in stunned silence. “Holy shit,” He whispered under his breath.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.” The bagged man took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it in his mouth through the bag.
“Hey, do you have a light by chance?”
“Me? Oh yeah, of course.” Ace fumbled to get the lighter out of his pocket and hand it to the bagged man. “So… you new to town?” The bagged man took a drag of his cigarette and when he blew the smoke out it enveloped his whole face.
“No, I am not.” He spaced out each word carefully. “I have a question for you though. Ace.” Ace’s name hung in the air for a long while.
“How do you know my name?” The fear he felt dripped from every word.
“You and your friend have very big mouths. I would suggest that you keep them closed.” The bagged man’s eyes were locked on Ace, though Ace would not dare meet them.
“I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry.” He shook a little as he said it.
“Hey, it’s ok. Don’t worry about it–no harm done. Now get the fuck out of the bar.” The bagged man flicked his cigarette at Ace and nodded at the door. Ace stood up and walked to the door, his eyes always on the bagged man’s revolvers. “I’m keeping your lighter by the way. I hope you don’t mind.” Ace opened the door and took off running as soon as it closed behind him. He returned home and passively listened while his wife yelled at him for staying out to late his eyes never leaving the windows.
“Grace please just go up to bed. I need a moment to think about some barber stuff.”
“Oh, my god. What is wrong with you? You know what I don’t even want you to come to bed tonight for all I care you can sleep on the floor.” She stormed her way upstairs and slammed the bedroom door. This is what Ace had hoped she would do he was scared out of his mind. He grabbed the shotgun that sat in the corner of the room and pulled a chair up facing the door.
“God if I survive the night I swear I’ll be nicer to Grace. Just let me live through the night. Give me the strength to protect my home and my family, please. God lend me your strength.” Ace continued praying deep into the night until nothing but a slight haze from the moon gave light to the small town. Ace’s head began bobbing and his eyelids seemed to stick together. It didn’t take long for sleep to once again take him.
Elsewhere in the town, a fire began to rage engulfing a store. The townspeople began flooding out of their housing bells were chimed to call the fire brigade. Ace woke with a start before noticing the light illuminating the road and bells. He raced outside gun in hand the smell of smoke was strong. He raced past the saloon and pushed through the crowd of people surrounding the store. The sign that had once said Ace’s mustache and hair emporium crashed to the ground in a ball of flame. The entire building was engulfed in flame no amount of water could have put it out. Ace fell to his knees. “My store.” Sheriff Levi walked up behind Ace and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I am sorry son. Why don’t you come to my office while some of my boys deal with this.” Ace slowly stood up and held a lingering gaze on the store before solemnly following the Sheriff. They reached the Sheriff’s office and Ace was made to sit.
“I am really sorry for what has happened to your establishment. I understand how hard you have worked to gain the reputation that it has.” Ace didn’t respond he just stared at his hands. “I am sure it was an accident, but either way I will have our detective look into it in the morning. I advise that you get some sleep.”
“It wasn’t an accident.” Ace’s hands were shaking and his voice trembled as he spoke.
“Come again?”
“I said it wasn’t an accident. I know who lit my shop on fire.” Ace then relayed the story from earlier that night to Levi. He was only interrupted by the Sheriff’s acknowledgment of the bagged man.
“Thank you for this information. I will take this into consideration when we do our investigation now please go home and get some rest.”
“Thank you, Sheriff.” Ace grabbed his gun and began his walk across town. The store no longer blazed but instead smoldered only hanging on by its foundations. Ace averted his eyes. He couldn’t stand to see his life’s work gutted. His walk back was long and empty devoid of color and vibrance. When Ace reached his house he stood outside and looked up at the moon which glared down on him. Its light both illuminating and seemingly sapping the world of color. He stared for a long time before his suffering-filled trance was broken by his name.
“Oh, Ace. I looked all over for you. I was so scared I thought that maybe you had been in the store when it burned down. Oh, I am so sorry. This is terrible.” Ace only stood there watching her approach from down the road. The burning embers of his beloved store still rising into the night sky behind her. She embraced him doing her best to comfort his loss. Still, he did not move and neither did she, until a tear leaked from Ace’s eye. It was followed by another and another until his face was streaked. He finally raised his arms and held his wife. They climbed the porch steps together and paused before entering. “It will all be ok. We can figure this out in the morning.” Ace kissed her on the forehead and she started up the stairs to their room. Ace began closing the door taking one last look out at the street. In the darkness, he saw a flash in the alley between the Branches house and the Pharmacy. It went off three more times before a flame was stuck. Ace looked up the stairs Grace had already returned to their room. He quietly closed the door behind him and stepped out onto the porch. There he could see a figure illuminated by a small lighter. The figure lit a cigarette and moved it up to its mouth where it stayed. The figure slowly walked out of the shadow of the building and into the light of the moon. Ace’s blood ran cold. The all to familiar white canvas only seemed to gleam brighter in the bright contrast of moonlight. The bagged man to a slow drag of his cigarette the smoke leaving a black spot on his mask. He tossed the lighter at Ace and it landed on the porch before skittering behind him.
“Thanks for the lighter. I don’t need it anymore.” He turned and began walking down the road occasionally taking a puff of his cigarette.
