Mike(ro)

Mark looked around the empty store -his store- and fingered the check in his pocket: that wall would be devoted solely to the videos of Dana Callahan and Jane Sheckleton; this one would be all gay videos, right at the front, since they sold second best; behind the counter would remain the toy section; three of the walls would be the rest of the videos, arranged by subject - straight, lesbian, bisexual, tranny, scat, BDSM, barely legal, midget, cleft palates, handicapped, mentally retarded, animal, and foodstuffs videos; classic literature and the latest porn mags would decorate the remaining space; and in the corner, cordoned off from the rest, would be the new Dennis Cooper Reading Room for Youngsters, in which he'd hold weekly meetings with the area's youth to discuss his favorite author. But first, business had to be done.

He opened the door to the back, where the video booths would remain, and slipped into the darkness. Down the hall to his right, in the light from one of the booths, he could see Mike's uncovered legs and crotch - and that horrendously tiny penis - sticking out from the same booth. He coughed, watching Mike's legs jump, the man's incher bobbing amongst the much-longer pubes. "Mike, I'm here-"

"Um, okay," Mike growled, "just a sec."

Mark made his way back to the front of the store, which was still empty, and waited until Mike appeared, the man's auburn goatee, which was much too long and shabby, flecked with splinters of wood and dried flakes of cum. Pulling the check out of his pocket, Mark handed it to Mike with one hand while he shook hands with the other.

"All here?" asked Mike.

"Yeppers-"

Mike held the check up to the fluorescent lights overhead and eyed the check for a minute before folding it and shoving it into his back pocket. He brushed past Mark and stepped behind the counter, his head disappearing under it. A large ledger plopped onto the counter, then Mike reappeared, shuffling quickly through the pages inside the dusty binder. With a pen he marked several X's on several pages, then turned the ledger around to Mark. "Sign on the X's and it's done-"

Mark grabbed the pen and quickly found all the X's. When he was done with his last signature, he closed the large leather book and placed the pen on top. "So it's done," he said and looked into Mike's eyes, which were glistening. "Aw, I'm sorry, Mike-"

Mike shook his head and rubbed his belly, half of which hung out of his T-shirt, which was two sizes too small for him. "Nah, don't worry about it, man." He looked around the store and sighed. Then wiped his eyes. "I had a lot of woo hoo! good times! here," he said. "Huzzah!" His finger automatically pointed straight up in the air, as usual, when he said this last. "I just have no choice, Mark. The legal bills-"

"Yeah, it's fucked up, dude-"

Mike shook his head, his eyes fixed on the ledger. "It's like a dream. I still can't believe it. One minute, I'm standing there, watching that Bieber onstage; the next, that crazy man's pantsed me and that crazy detective's choking the life out of me." He popped his elbows and his neck with three loud cracks. "I'm facing 12 years for indecent exposure!" He slammed a limp fist on the ledger.

"Dude, it totally sucks. And that detective, he totally sucks. He's a real cunt-"

Mike winced as he looked to the door to the back room, which had just opened as Mark's last word had jumped to life from his mouth. Mark looked too: Detective Jorge T. Vinos stood in its frame, the darkness behind him reverse-silhouetting his huge frame. "Oh, Mister Dennison-"

"What are you-"

"I'll ask the questions, Mister Dennison!" barked the detective. He looked to Mike. "Mike, how long you gonna be?"

"Just a minute," said Mike, his face reddening. The detective nodded to the air and retreated back into the video room. Mike looked at Mark and shrugged. "One more time for old times' sake?"

Mark laughed. "Sure." As he watched Mike drag himself back through the door to the video booths, he rounded the counter and leaned his elbows onto it, his head propped in his hands. And surveyed the small empire that was now Mark's Books, Videos, and Toys.