The Coffee Shop

Bolting from overhang to overhang, trying desperately to avoid the heavy down pour of rain, Mike dove into a coffee shop that he was sure had never been there before.  He just missed being splashed by a passing truck. “Nasty out there, yeah,” came from a small, skinny man who was wiping out a coffee cup with a heavy linen cloth behind the counter.
“Yeah, it’s murder out there.  I’d swear that guy was aiming at me… or that puddle one.”  A small chuckle was heard from one of the darkened corners.  Mike couldn’t help but think this place looked more like a bar than a coffee shop.  Never the less he had found himself here and chilled to the bone… a hot cup of coffee just might warm him up after all and at least it would give him a chance to dry off a little.
“Ah, can I get a cappuccino?” The look of the little mans face instantly told him no. 
“A latté?” Still nothing.
“Mocha?” The mounting silence was getting more and more uncomfortable.
“Coffee… Black?” A smile slithered across thin lips and almost without moving, the server had placed the hot cup on the counter and was back working his cup again.
“So, how much do I owe you?” The smile got disturbingly wider now.
“Not a thing.  Your first visit, everything is on the house.”
“Thanks. I think.” Turning to try and find a place to sit, he found one lonely empty seat in the very back across from a very weathered, little old man with thinning, ratty white hair wearing an old overcoat that looked as if it were possibly in worse shape than its owner.
“Excuse me, sir. May I sit with you?"
An old, wrinkled hand tiredly gestured towards the empty seat. “Take it son.”
“Thank you.”  There was something about the old guy that both revolted and intrigued Mike.  A long silence fell as Mike found himself staring into the shadows that hid the man’s face below the wide brim hat on his head.
“You know you’re late don’t you boy?” The sound of the old man’s voice startled Mike.
“I’m sorry?” With a shallow laugh the old man repeated himself. ”You are late. You should have been here hours ago.”  It took Mike a moment to rethink this.” I don’t get you, what are you talking about?”
The soft murmur of the room seemed to drop a little more around him, as if the whole room had now stopped what they were doing to listen to what this one old man had to say.
“Son, you are in the midst of some of the greatest figures in history, you have been invited into our refuge, the only place where we can come without people pointing at us… or staring.”  Suddenly, aware of what he was doing Mike looked down into his coffee.
“Oh, sorry, it’s just that I know you from somewhere.  I just can’t place where.”
Leaning forward into the light a little more, so that Mike could now see the lower part of his old gnarled face.  The old man smiled at Mike and a cold chill ran down his back.
“Yes, I suppose you do. I am well known all over the world.”
“But who are you?” ask Mike hesitantly.  Something that sounded more like a growl than a laugh came from the old man.  “I have been known by many names in my time: Ahriman, Apep, Peter, Set.  Some have called me Lord while others still Devil.”
Mike looked across the table at the shabby, wizened old man, sure now that one of them was mad and began wondering how best to exit from his current situation.
“Yeah, alright… I think the weather is letting up maybe I should go.”
Leaning back into the darkness, the old man spoke again. “Where are you off to in such a hurry? It’s not like there is going to be anyone there to greet you when you get back to your tiny little apartment. Besides, you would only beat yourself up later if you bolted now, how often do you get the chance to interview people… even those that you’re sure are mad. After all, weren’t you just telling yourself that all you needed was one really good story and the world would know your name?  That is what you want.  The world to know who Mike Lesphey is.”  A sudden jolt hit Mike. How did this man know who he was; how did he know about the empty apartment and mostly, how did he know what Mike had been thinking moments before that damn truck had chased him in here.
          “Have your attention now… don’t I?” The smile on the weathered old face widened a little.
         “So, you know who I am and where I live, big deal, anyone with more time on their hands than they know what to do with could have followed me around and learned that.”
“And the fact that I know exactly what you were thinking before you came in here?” He stated, staring at Mike from across the table.
“Just chance.” But even as he spoke the words, Mike was starting to feel more uncomfortable with this chat that he had found himself in.
“Then why don’t you just get up and walk away?  I know you are thinking about it.”
The silence of the room closed in on them.  Mike could hardly breathe now.
“Because… boy, you know that this could be your only chance and you don’t want to lose it, no matter how uncomfortable you are.”
“All right fine but who in the hell are you, anyway?”
“And you say you don’t know. You do flatter me so.  You know who I am just as well as I know who you are. I have been watching you for ages now, deciding whether or not you were worthy of this honor. And here you are.”
          “So you have been stalking me, for how long?” Mike said; the blood now rising into his face, coloring his ears a bright red.
“Ever since you were five and you got lost at the fair, or have you forgotten that. I lead you back to your mommy?”
The silence became deafening, but before Mike could speak, the old man continued.  “When you were nine and you climbed that tree and found yourself hanging upside down by your ankles, or the night that you finally stood up to that monster in your closet.  Your fifteenth birthday party when you……”
“Fine.” Mike broke in not wanting to hear anymore of his past from this stranger, “You’ve made your point, somehow you know about all my darkest memories. What does that prove?”
“It proves that you would have never made it this long, had it not been for me… boy, and now… tonight… you will learn why.”
“W…W…What are you talking about?” Fear now boiling in the back of Mike’s throat.
“You know… boy. You really are not too smart are you?”
Fear subsiding to anger, Mike gathered himself.
“Are you calling me stupid?”
“Hey, when you’re as old as I am you tend to call ‘em as you see ‘em.”
“Well, I may be stupid, but I know how to walk away when I want to.”
“Knock yourself out, but when you get tired I’ll be here and maybe by then you’ll listen to me.”
Neither knowing, nor really caring what the old man meant, Mike stood up and made his way to the door. Almost all eyes were on him. He could feel them staring at him with intense interest, but the only thing on his mind now was putting as much distance between himself and the creepy old man as he could. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he reached the door.
Turning back to look at the old guy sitting there watching him, “You are one creepy old fart you know that?” And he turned and pushed the door open and steeped back out onto the street…The only problem was he was not back out in the street. He found himself looking at the same coffee shop as before only from a different angle, as near as he could tell  he had just walked out of the kitchen back into the main shop.
“What the hell?”  Not entirely sure what had just happened he quickly found the front door again and made for it a little faster this time.
As he made his way to the door he could tell that the few people that had not been watching him before were indeed watching him now.
Looking back at the old man again. “Like I said. Creepy old fart!” Turning to again open the door to exit he held his breath and pushed through it once more. Only to find himself standing in front of a door marked gentleman staring out on the same room.  Then, it was the ladies. Then, he found himself in front of a bland oak door, turning to see where he had come from, he found the stock room behind him. Panic set in, he had to get out of this mad house but how?
He had completely given up on insulting the old man before lunging himself through the front door again and again: the cloak room, a broom closet, the rest rooms again, even out from what seemed to be a cabinet behind the bar before giving up. As he made his way back to his empty seat next to the old man, the room erupted in laughter.
“You know, another five minutes, and you would have broken the record.”
“All right, then, what in the hell is going on?  Why can’t I get out of here?”
“Well, you have to hear me out first.”
The laughter died down a little, and he sit back down again.
“So, talk.”
“For close to a thousand years, there has been, sort of a standing pecking order, if you will. It all started back with the Forefathers, Forebrothers if you really want the truth of it all. Anyway, as it turns out a set of brothers set out to take control of the family business. They took turns doing in the relatives; one by one, they all simply disappeared, until it was just the two of them left.”
He paused to take a drink of his cup of coffee.
“So, anyway, things were going great for a while, but then one of the brothers decided that the other brother needed to go, the only problem was that if he did in the last relative, then it would be clear that he had been behind the disappearances.” Mike broke in.                     
“So what difference would it have made?”
“You see in their business, if the people stopped believing in him, he would slowly wither away and die.”
Now, the old man had Mike’s undivided attention.
“What do you mean wither away and die?”
Another shallow laugh erupted from the old man.
“You still haven’t put the pieces together have you?”
“The one decided that he no longer wanted to share the lime light and he knew exactly how to get rid of his brother, he would make dear little brother out to be the bad guy, in a big way.”
“So, what does this have to do with me? Will you get to the point all ready?”
“Fine. To cut the story short, the older brother, let’s call him James, started a little publicity stunt, and before the younger brother, let’s call him John, realized the impact he was known as the most evil of all evil. From that point on, he was known as Satan among other things.”
Mike opened his mouth then closed it then opened it again and closed it again as the thought sank in.
“You’re trying to tell me, that you are God or Satan?”
“No, I am not God or Satan, they have both long since retired, I am something like the fiftieth to hold this post.”
“So, you still haven’t told me why I’m here.”
“You are slow aren’t you? So, anyway, every so many years, it becomes necessary to bring in new blood, as it were, and it’s your turn.”
         “My turn?” No longer able to hide his confusion or his fear.
“All right, I’ll make this simple for you. You were chosen to become the new dark lord and with the title, comes power that you can not imagine.”
“I am going to be the Devil?”
“You got somebody else in mind kid?”
“I’m getting to old for this shit, I just want to retire and have a nice quiet life again.”
“But I don’t know how to be the Devil, what makes you think I would be a good Devil?” The old man found the look of horror that crept over his face priceless.
“Don’t sweat it kid it will all be taken care of. “
Suddenly there was a third person standing at the table.
“Oh, hi, Jeff, how’s it going?” the old man spoke up to the new comer.
“Ah, not to bad Ed. Yourself?” Jeff said conversationally, standing there as if the two had known one another for years.
“I can’t complain. I’m retiring soon, you know?”
“Yeah, I thought it was about that time. So, is this the new guy?”
“Yeah, the only problem is I’m having a bit of trouble explaining it all to him.” A look of understanding crossed the newcomers face.
“Yeah, well good luck Ed, I wish you luck in what ever you have planned.”
“All right, see you around then.”
And with that the man was gone again.
“Let me guess, that was God.”
“Damn kid you are even slower than I thought, no that is not God, only the man holding the position at the time.”
“So why didn’t you introduce me to him?”
“You’ll meet him soon enough.”
“So, are you ready to take your place in history?”