The man who didn't talk

He was sitting in a table, quietly eating his lunch. A gentle man, arabian, with obvious manners and a classically appealing posture.

The soup he was slowly sipping had already gone cold, and the glass of white wine he had beside him was half-empty.

The restaurant was a peaceful place, with an art deco interior decoration and an a-class service personnel - not a place the average Joe would eat indeed.

On the other side of the room was a group of people eating - possibly on a business lunch. They were all wearing suits, the kinds you would normally see wearing in corporate offices. They had loosen their ties and were clearly enjoying a meal among friends. A going-away party perhaps?

The minutes pass with the noise of the group filling the room, going all the way to the other side where the lonely man is eating his food.

Most of it arrives to his ear as mumbling, but it doesn't even matter. He seems to be deep in his thoughts, thinking about his family and his past.

He is calm as a yellow leaf on the ground.

A gentle breeze brought him a sound wave that took him away from his thoughts. Between the mumbling he started recognizing some words, in the form of a whispering. They were insulting words, but to whom where they directed to? Who "should get his black ass out of here?" This wasn't alarming enough to even lift his head up and find out, so he decided to continue eating like it was a non-issue.

Living in the real world means you have to put up with people swearing all the time.

Then he started feeling awkward, like the feeling you get when someone is watching you. He instinctively turned his face towards the group of people but all he saw was them laughing and eating.

"Is it me? Am I feeling weird for no reason?" he thought. And what more could he do than continue eating his lunch?

More time passed and his food was almost gone. He tried to focus on the good stuff, the taste, the environment... but he ended up repeating to himself: "Why me? Why can't I have a meal without the crap?"

All this time there was a negative energy coming from the other side of the room. He could feel it - he could almost see it.

As he was about to stand up from his table, another degrading remark came from the usual place. "It's about time!". Laughs all around the place.

"Are they laughing with me?
Yes, they must be laughing at me.
I'm not crazy or bitter.
I know what's going on...
And I am not going to give them the pleasure of getting annoyed."

He tried to keep a straight face and looked at the table where everyone was sitting. A few quick looks around the group and everything appeared to be normal again.

Everything appeared to be normal.

"It's over" he thought.

....{silence}....

He looked away, got his receipt of the table and reached inside his inner pocket to place it gently inside. Standing at the edge of the door he decided to turn and have one last look around the place. After all it was a nice restaurant and he did want to leave with the best impression of the place.

A large fellow, almost obese, having placed his large fat ass in the group leader seat over at the table of the corporate lakkies mouthed the definitive phrase: "Highly un-hirable!"

An outcry of intense laughter surrounded the man and everyone else in the room. Some burst into tears and couldn't keep themselves in their seats. The relieving expression of a racist horde - absolutely politically correct and totally stingful.

If he left now he would be defeated, in a battle he didn't fight. But if he stayed and fought he knew he was going to be portrayed as a lune.

(Un)fortunately the table was right beside the door. He made a swift move and slapped the suited beast on the head with his gloved hand.

Silence...He is used to silence...The others are afraid of it... they don't know what to expect...

"Wh..what?..What are you doing? I was talking about another guy!!" mumbled the fat guy.

Why did he feel the urge to explain himself? That only proved he's guilty.

The man made an effort to say something, in part defending himself and in part hoping this will be a lesson for the group

"Leave your lies aside"

And that's all the others wanted from him to start shouting, all together and in an un-comprehensive manner.

Hearing his voice was something they could deal with.

In their primitive minds they knew the loudest always prevails and the gentle guy with his calm intellectually-driven voice wouldn't stand a chance with their loud voices and the years of wave abuse they had committed though their life span.

That was it. Sanity was at rest.

This could not end well...

Another mental crossroad for the man with the gentle face.

"Can I deal with these people?
Do I have to?
Will I accomplish anything by talking more to them?"

He couldn't find any real solution in this millisecond of thought. Of course he could still run away and have them have their small victory. But that would be just wrong and he was tired of running away from unfortunate events like this all his life.

The man reached to his side and grabbed a big metal object - The ashtray the others were using to accommodate their smocking habits. He lifted it up like an action hero revealing his secret identity and after a moment of grandure, he lowered it down to the fat guy's face.

The truth was out and nothing was stopping it now. He was hitting him repeatedly with the same move, lifting and lowering the ash tray on his face. At the same time he was repeating quietly:

Don't talk.
Don't talk.

The lesson all stupid bastards should know. His voice was getting louder and louder:

Don't Talk!
Don't Talk!
DON'T TALK!

Blood started showing on the fat face. He didn't stop pounding him.

When he got knocked out of his seat a pool of blood fell off his face as if his head got bent inwards and captured all that blood.

Instantly, he lets the ash tray roll on the ground and reaches down to grab the stupid round man's jaw. It's slippery from all that blood and needs to press his fingers inside the muscles to force it to move, so he could cross eyes with the blooded monster.

DON'T TALK!!!!

Silence filed the room once again