The Haggard Man

The haggard man wandered into the bar, put down two twenties and bought a bottle from the stock. The barman handed him a glass and the bottle nodding silently as he did every night.

The man poured himself a glass and downed it before the bottle had settled. Pouring himself another he sat there and stared at the wall, looking at the things he did every time. Beer ad, beer ad, beer ad, happy hour special, and the collection of different kinds of liquor. He did this frequently, he'd been told drinking alone could be bad for you so he went to the bar. He was friends with the barman because he went so frequently. Sometimes they talked and he drank sometimes he just drank. The bartender was good because he could always tell if it was a talking night or a quiet drink night.

Most nights were quiet but sometimes they would talk the night away, not really about anything, they would just talk. The haggard man knew the barman had a wife, married for 30 years with an 8 year old. But the barman knew very little about the haggard man, other than which bottle he prefered. He knew that at one point he had been married, but never found out how they had split. With how much the haggard man drank he thought it best not to ask.

This night the haggard man seemed a little more into his drink than usual. So much so he barely noticed the young woman walking up to him from her group of giggling friends. She stopped at the bar, looking up the haggard man and his bottle, then bit her lip before opening her mouth.

"Would you mind buying me a drink?" She asked, knowing that most men would buy her as many drinks as she wanted.

Looking up from his drink the haggard man looked her up and down, then pulled his bottle a little closer to him and grunted.

The barman chuckled but was lucky to be far enough away she couldn't hear him.

The young woman looked a little put off and asked again "Would you mind buying me a drink, please."

This time without looking up from his drink he simply said "Leech off someone else." Then finished his current glass.

Now the young woman looked very upset, being used to always getting free drinks. While she stormed off the barman went to the man and poured him a drink from another bottle then nodded.

The haggard man raised it and nodded back with almost a hint of a smile, then downed it.

The haggard man finished the rest of his bottle without interruption then tipped the barman and walked out the door like he did every night. He walked around the corner to the police station and headed inside. Handing the woman at the counter his phone, wallet, and keys she motioned to one of the open cells. He nodded then went into the cell to sleep for the night. This is how he spent a lot of his nights.