Monster, Part 2

The glow of neon light lit up the small corner diner as Monster crossed the street.  The bell chimed as he pushed his way through the heavy glass door.  There was no one to be seen inside the diner and no sound except for the muted Eagles song playing somewhere in the back.  Monster picked out a booth as slid onto the red vinyl bench.

He waited.

He was resting his head in his hands, his elbows on the table, when he heard voices coming from the kitchen.  Two characters came out through the swinging doors, an angry little man carrying his rumpled fedora in one hand and waving the index finger of the other, and an even  smaller woman, waving her hands in the air and shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Whaddya mean cheatin'!" she yelled in a thick Irish accent.  "Why ahm bein' as honest as the day I was born!"

He laughed and replied, "You prob'ly told the doctor you was a boy!"  The he went on.  "All I'ma sayin' is you had four aces, that's all.  I didn't mean nothin' by it, you've got the luck tonight."

But she would not be calmed.  "You called me a cheat, Tom, you did!  An' I won't be called a cheat by you or anyone else!"

He was about to apologize again when she stopped short.  Monster was staring at the two of them and now the two of them were staring at him.  She looked frightened, but he could not tell why.  The man, Tom, squared his shoulders and took a short step forward, partially blocking the woman with his body.

"The place is closed."  He said.

"Oh," exclaimed Monster, "I didn't know."  A pause.  "I'm sorry.  He grabbed his coat which he had laid on the bench beside him and got up to leave.  She had now grabbed Tom's shoulders as if using him for a shield, her fingernails dug into his threadbare jacket.  Monster made his way past the couple as quickly as he could and stepped once more into the street.  It had begun to rain.