Alexa Daskalakis

Another One

​A short story about a friendship.

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Mike ate the same turkey sub from the same deli every shift for thirty years. No tomato. The man behind the counter stopped asking after the first week. When you find something that works you don’t go looking for something better, he told Ruth once.

They met at a restaurant where he was a regular. Same booth, same waitress, same order. She was there with a friend. He was telling the table next to them a story about a man who called 911 because of a turkey in his yard — the man, the turkey, the dispatcher keeping a straight voice. People laughed. Mike didn’t. He moved on to the next thing.

When she left he said, “You want a ride? I got the cruiser outside.” She said, “I don’t know you. I’ll walk.” He smiled.

They were friends for four years. He texted her restaurants. She texted him shows. He said the second season of everything was better. She said it never was. Once her tire pressure light came on and she sent him a picture. He wrote back a name on Northern Boulevard. Ask for Danny. She texted thank you. He wrote back, “Yeah.”

He never talked about the job. She asked once. He said, “It’s a job.” She didn’t ask again. He went to work. He came back.

Sometimes they’d be at a bar and neither of them would talk for a while. He’d watch the game. She’d look at her phone. The ice would melt in her glass. He didn’t fill silence.

She stuck a fork in her chest once at dinner to make him laugh. He laughed. Then he said, “All right, take it out before you get us both arrested.”

She was in his car once. He was giving her a ride somewhere. The gun was in the console between them, sealed in a case. He didn’t mention it. She looked at it once and looked away. The radio was on — not music, the other radio, the one bolted to the dash. Dispatch. Voices she couldn’t follow. He said, “Just ignore it.” So she tried. They talked about something, she couldn’t remember what. Then a call came through — a pedestrian hit on Northern. Mike listened for a second and said, “Another one.” The call kept going and she sat there hearing it come through the speaker with a gun between them.

She went to the deli. The one on the corner with the handwritten menu. She had never been. She ordered the turkey, no tomato. The man behind the counter made it without asking questions.

She took it to her car. She sat in the parking lot with the engine off and the windows up. It was good. The bread was right. The turkey was right.

She folded the wrapper into a square and set it on the passenger seat. She watched the road for a while.
 

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Author’s Note:
The author is not an attorney. This Author’s Note is not a legal document, legal opinion, or legal interpretation. It is a good-faith statement of the author’s creative intent and does not constitute the practice of law or the rendering of legal advice in any jurisdiction.

This is a fictionalized short story. It is not a memoir, autobiography, journalistic account, or factual narrative.

All names, characters, events, relationships, dialogue, and identifying details in this work have been fictionalized. All names used — including “Mike,” “Ruth,” and “Danny” — are common placeholders chosen for their generality and do not refer to, depict, or identify any specific individuals, living or dead, including any law enforcement officer, personnel, or public servant. Any similarity to real persons is coincidental and unintended. No real person is described, depicted, or identifiable in this work, whether by any individual detail or by any combination of details.

Any locations, streets, or businesses referenced are used fictitiously. No real location is identified or intended to be identified.

The relationship depicted in this story is a platonic friendship. The story contains no romantic, sexual, or intimate content of any kind. It is not intended to suggest, imply, or depict any romantic or sexual relationship between any characters. The work is not intended to embarrass, defame, invade the privacy of, cast any person in a false light, or cause emotional distress to any person. This work does not disclose, reveal, or publish any private facts about any real person. All details presented are fictionalized and do not correspond to the private life of any identifiable individual.

The story includes a brief, incidental reference to a duty firearm in a setting consistent with standard law enforcement equipment and protocol. The firearm referenced belongs solely to a fictional law enforcement character acting in a professional capacity. The firearm is not accessed, handled, brandished, aimed, discharged, or used by any other character at any point. No firearm is described in instructional, operational, or technical detail. No act of violence — including gun violence, domestic violence, physical violence, or violence of any kind — is depicted, implied, encouraged, or endorsed in this work. The reference carries no endorsement, promotion, or normalization of firearm access, ownership, or use by any person.

Any incidents referenced through dispatch, radio calls, or emergency communications are entirely fictional, do not correspond to any real event or public record, and do not depict any witnessed, committed, or reported acts of violence.

All physical interactions depicted in this work are comedic in nature and do not constitute or depict acts of violence, self-harm, aggression, threat, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, disturbance of the peace, or criminal conduct of any kind. A scene in which a character playfully places a fork against her chest to make a friend laugh is intended solely as lighthearted comedy between friends. The phrase “stuck a fork in her chest” describes a fork placed visibly in the front of a character’s clothing as a visual gag — a common, lighthearted comedic gesture. It does not describe penetration, puncture, insertion, or physical injury of any kind. No skin is broken. No wound is inflicted. No blood is drawn. No medical attention is required or implied. The fork is resting on the outside of the character’s clothing and is removed moments later at the other character’s request. The accompanying line — “take it out before you get us both arrested” — is a humorous, exaggerated remark made in jest by a fictional character. It is not a legal assessment, does not reflect any actual criminal conduct, and does not indicate that any offense has been committed or is being committed within the story. No character is arrested, charged, cited, detained, or subject to any legal consequence at any point in this work. The scene does not depict, suggest, encourage, or normalize self-harm, self-injury, suicidal ideation, reckless behavior, or any harmful act. No person is harmed, endangered, or placed at risk in the scene. No disturbance, alarm, or disruption to any other person is depicted. No property is damaged, destroyed, stolen, removed, or misused in the story. The scene does not depict any act that would constitute a criminal offense, civil violation, or basis for involuntary intervention of any kind under the laws of any jurisdiction.

This work does not depict, endorse, encourage, or normalize any illegal activity, substance use, or harmful behavior. No character is depicted consuming alcohol or any controlled substance at any point in the story.

No portion of this work is derived from or based upon any confidential, privileged, classified, or operationally sensitive law enforcement information, procedure, protocol, or communication. No private communications, confidential exchanges, or privileged information of any kind are reproduced or disclosed in this work. All dialogue is fictional.

The author makes no claim to any person’s life story, likeness, identity, or personal experience. This work is the author’s own creative expression. Any resemblance to real events or persons is the result of fictionalization and coincidence, not appropriation. No character’s words, actions, attitudes, or behaviors are intended to represent, attribute, or reflect upon any real person.

This work is published for literary and creative purposes only. It is not published for the purpose of commercial exploitation of any real person’s identity, likeness, or life story.

Nothing in this work or in this Author’s Note constitutes or should be construed as legal advice, legal opinion, legal interpretation, factual reporting, expert opinion, or a statement of fact about any person, event, institution, agency, or organization. The author is not an attorney and is not providing legal, medical, psychological, or professional guidance of any kind.