frankie and johnny

by corinne delmonico

frankie and johnny were lovers. but not for much longer. the war was over. it had ended suddenly. frankie and johnny had a good thing going. frankie was a secret agent for the parthians, pretending to be a spy for the scythians. johnny was a secret agent for the scythians, pretending to be a spy for the parthians. frankie reported directly to miss nellie fly, the leader of the parthians. and johnny reported directly to mean old stagger lee, the leader of the scythians. frankie and johnny were each other’s contacts. they had no secrets from each other. no two people had ever been so in love. they met in the moonlight, on the waterfront, down by the river, on street corners, in sordid dives, in all night diners, in the bars and lobbies of swank hotels, in glittering casinos where they rubbed elbows with the real rulers of the world. they hoped it would last forever, that the war would go on forever. and then out of nowhere, miss nellie fly and mean old stagger lee had a secret meeting, and the war was over. the parthians got the west, and the scythians got the east. double agents like frankie and johnny would be exposed, and either shot or put on the chain gang. there was one place left on earth for them to go - easter island. it was midnight. frankie and johnny waited on a little airstrip outside st louis. the mighty mississippi rolled behind them. they were waiting for a guy named lucky lindy. he had a three seater plane and frankie told johnny she had paid lindy to fly them to easter island. they saw a single light in the foggy sky. “that must be him,” said johnny. “it all worked out in the end,” said frankie. johnny kept looking up at the sky and laughed. “the end? i thought it was just beginning. you got to look at the bright side.” johnny turned at looked at frankie. she was holding a gun in her hand. “what the -?” johnny gasped. “you thought you had me fooled, didn’t you, johnny?” “what is this? what’s going on?” johnny stammered. “what about easter island?” “i’m going to easter island. with lindy. he’s a straight shooter, not a cheap two-timing punk like you.” “but - “ “the time for talk is over, johnny.” frankie pulled the trigger three times. two slugs ripped into johnny’s guts and the third found his heart. the sound of the shots drifted away over the river. the little plane landed and frankie ran to meet it. but lindy did not emerge from it. instead, two men in gray suits that frankie had never seen before got out. “my name is hoover,” the shorter of the two men said. “and this is agent purvis. we are from joint peace conference headquarrters, miss lee, and we have a warrant for your arrest.” “you’ve got some explaining to do,” agent purvis snickered “so do you,” frankie answered. hoover laughed. “be that as it may, we hope you’ll come quietly.” “i’ll come quietly,” frankie said. “it’s over. all over.” purvis looked over at johnny’s body. “who was he?” “he was my man,” said frankie, “and he was doing me wrong.”