THE MOMENT
"Thanks, Mundo," the rainbow-haired teen nodded at the bartender and picked up the red velvet pouch from the bar. Ronald watched the exchange with interest and he heard a dull clinking sound inside the pouch when she put it away. He knew what was in the pouch; but, he didn't know what they were. Small golden glowing cubes that Mundo showed off before the girl arrived.
Aside from Mundo and the teen girl that looked too young to be in a bar, Ronald was the only other person there. He'd been visiting Mundo's bar fairly regularly since he found it a month ago. Mundo was a pleasant, kind woman with curly green hair; and she always made time to chat with Ronald. Not that it took much effort. For the most part, he was alone in there often enough to wonder how the bar stayed in business.
"No problem, Monday," Mundo smiled and waved as Monday glanced at Ronald, then walked out of the bar.
"Her name's really Monday?" Ronald asked Mundo when they were alone again. He heard Mundo use the name during the pleasantries when the girl first showed up. He'd been wanting to ask the question since then. She moved stand by him and nodded.
"Yep," she added. But, that was her only comment on it. Ronald felt like she didn't think the name was as ridiculous as he did, and decided to drop that conversation.
"So, what's the deal with those golden cubes?" Ronald meant to ask before Monday showed up. "Does she collect them or something?" Mundo shrugged with a grin.
"Kind of I guess," she chuckled. "Those cubes are currency and Monday is a merchant. She definitely likes collecting money," she said.
"Oh," Ronald nodded as he tried to guess why Mundo gave money away. "Was that a lot?" He'd seen half a dozen cubes in the pouch; each one about the size of a sugar cube.
"Nah, not really. That was more like a finder's fee than anything. Monday sends me people to help me fill out my collection," she said. Ronald tilted his head curiously. He didn't bother looking around, because he knew the bar was empty. But, if he was the only one in there despite Monday sending people her way... where were they?
"People?" Ronald asked. "So what do you collect?" Mundo grinned at him. And, when she gave her answer, he couldn't help but notice she stared at the tattoo on his wrist. It wasn't anything special, just something he did as a younger, dumber Ronald. It was a cliché yin-yang symbol next to the Japanese character for "Balance". At least, that's what the tattooist told him it was.
"I collect tattoos," Mundo said when she glanced at his wrist. Ronald felt the need to turn his hand over and hide the tattoo while he looked her over. She was in her mid-40s and wore a forest green shirt under blue jean overalls. Her arms, neck and cleavage were all free of ink. It made Ronald nervous all of a sudden.
"But.. you don't have any...?" Ronald asked. Mundo grinned at him. In the moment, it felt almost sinister.
"I have one that's not open to the public," she said, but continued. "Mostly, I collect other people's tattoos," she said. She stepped closer to the bar and her grin widened. "Since it came up, I've been eyeing yours since you started coming in; it's cute," she said. Mundo grabbed his hand. It wasn't the first time they'd touched, but the new information scared Ronald witless. As soon as Mundo touched his hand he yanked it back and jumped off the stool. He stood halfway between the bar and the exit and yelled at her.
"STAY BACK!!" he said. Mundo tilted her head at him in curiosity but she raised her hands to show she meant no harm and actually stepped back.
"You okay there, Ronnie?" Mundo asked.
"Yeah," he sneered at her. "And, I plan to stay that way! I'm keeping my tattoo, thank you very much. I should call the cops on you, you sicko..." Mundo had stopped grinning when Ronald leapt back; but, a faint smirk began to grown on her lips again.
"What are you talking about?" she asked while keeping her palms in the air facing him.
"You have a teenage girl sending you victims just so you can cut out their tattoos! You're not getting mine!" he yelled. Suddenly, the empty bar made more sense to Ronald. Mundo probably kept it going herself. She didn't need to make money at the business, her real goal was probably getting tattoos like his and disposing of the bodies.
"Whoa," Mundo said. "That's quite a leap. Monday wasn't even here for five minutes and you pieced that all together, huh? Let me show you something," Mundo said. She dropped her hands to reach under the bar. Then, she placed a forest green binder on top and opened it up. Ronald immediately felt like an ass. He saw two pages of beautifully colored artwork. Sensing that he relaxed a bit, Mundo flipped through a few more pages to show off the different tattoos she'd collected.
"I don't like tattooing people; but, I like drawing tattoos," she said with a shrug. She tapped the binder itself. "These are just from the past six months, I have a pretty big collection so far."
"I...," Ronald tried to find the words to apologize. ".. hell, I'm an idiot...," he grumbled and walked back to the bar as Mundo nodded at him.
"Yeah, you are," she said. "That was really your first instinct, huh? I'm a murderer?" Ronald shrugged sheepishly.
"Wow, that's unfortunate," she said. She started to fill a glass while still shaking her head. "I can't even imagine what you go through everyday."
"Huh?" Ronald asked. "What do you mean what I go through...?" He was in there often, but he was also guarded about his life. So far the only thing Mundo knew was his name and age and what sports teams he liked. Mundo nodded and placed a full pint down on the bar for him.
"On the house," she said. "It's probably pretty horrible not being able to trust people at all."