Jesse leaned against the phone booth door. Rain was pouring over his head and falling along his face. The cold raindrops masked the tears streaming from his swollen, red eyes.

He slouched forward then leaned back, bringing the half-empty bottle of whiskey to his lips. Another long swig, another memory washed away. Jesse wasn’t sure if there was enough whiskey in Seattle to cleanse the sad memories from his mind.

He was alone, drunk and thoroughly disgusted for letting himself fall into the easy trap of self-pity. He had just moved to this broken-down neighborhood after being crushed by a woman’s words and lack of compassion for him or his feelings. Getting drunk did nothing more than show weakness when he should have been showing strength.

Staggering away from the phone booth, the rain seemed to be falling harder. His body numbed by the drinking. He walked across the empty street toward someplace that felt familiar. He saw a blurry figure of a man running to a parked car. The man covered his head with his jacket and didn’t notice Jesse standing in the middle of the street behind him.

Following the path his feet led him down, he walked toward a small alley behind the apartments where the man had run from. It was muddy from the constant rain. The pavement had cracks in it and a few garbage bags had been pulled from the dumpsters behind the place. Neighborhood stray dogs scattered the contents around the alleyway. Jesse stepped on wrappers as he walked. It was the same alley the garbage trucks followed.

Taking another drink, Jesse was determined to drink his sadness away. But he knew he wasn’t doing anything more than hiding it. People try to escape into a bottle, but Jesse was just hitting rock-bottom. He just wanted to numb the confusion and regret, even if just for a while. Life was cruel and he wanted to just succumb to the urge to quit—but he wasn’t the type to give in.

A light brightened the alley. It was from one of the apartments. It used to be an old hotel. The owner had converted it to apartments and, in these tough times, they rented quickly because they were cheap. But you get what you pay for…

Jesse walked toward the light. Being curious and drunk tended to be a very bad combination.

Curtains covered the small window, but there was a sliver of space that he could see through.

Looking in, Jesse saw a woman naked and stepping into the shower. She had her back facing him, then turned and let the water rinse over her. Her head hung low with the wet strands of her hair dangling down. Her hair was long and dark. She had a natural beauty to her, but there was sadness in her face and the dark smears of mascara revealed she had been crying.

Jesse began to stare at her. Her body was slightly tanned and she had an attractive but not perfect figure. She brought her hands to her face, turned around and crouched down into a ball. She finally looked up and Jesse could see she was still crying. Her green eyes were filled with such sadness and remorse.

He looked down. Jesse felt like he was invading a place he shouldn’t. Something disquieting was making this woman sad. He knew nothing about her except that she was pretty, had a nice ass and a tattoo on her front hip of a heart. He may have been drunk, but looking at a naked woman brought details to the forefront for any man.

Looking back up through the window, Jesse saw the woman was now leaning her head against the shower wall, crying and letting the water wash over her.

Like him, the woman was trying to rinse away her pain.

With a final drink, Jesse collapsed in the alley in a pile of debris, hitting his head against a small, dark car.

Kari looked up from her tears, hearing the noise outside her window. She didn’t care what it was, dismissing it for a dog ravaging for food in the trash. Her own sadness encased her in disgrace, letting herself become dirty. She just wanted to crawl away and hide forever. Life had been cruel to her also.

“Wake up! Goddammit! Get up, you dumb, drunken bastard. I have to go to work!” A woman kicked Jesse, trying to wake him.

“Fuckin bitch! Quit kicking me… I’ll get up.” Jesse was grumpy, wet, dirty and had a headache that felt like a truck had run over his head.

Jesse propped himself up and looked at the woman. Awkwardly he hung onto the car for balance so he could stand erect. His back ached and he was slightly hunched over like Quazimoto. His anger was about to erupt but, as soon as he saw her eyes, it hit him. He recognized her from the night before. Those green eyes were deep and full of emotions. He stood like a deer in headlights.

She stood, hand on hip, waiting for Jesse to speak. “I can see you’re a real talker. Hey, buddy, I’m running late and have to get to work. So if you’ll just move, I can get into my car and go.”

He just stood there, drooling and smelling bad.

“Okay. I’ll make it clear. Move your ass or I’ll kick you in the balls!”

Jesse moved aside, not saying a word. He noticed she was wearing a waitress uniform from the diner around the corner from his job. The white and gold nametag read “Kari”.