Flash Fiction Challenge #10 – Numb

“How about another round, Mitz”?

Mitzi already had a buzz on.  She wasn’t much of a drinker since medical school. But, she didn’t want the evening to end, yet.
*
“Sure, Val. ”
*

Valerie knew that what she was about to tell Mitzi was going to be a real buzz kill. She needed to get Mitzi numb.  “Camerero.  Dos marqaritas, por favor.”

 

Valerie lowered her voice and offhandedly remarked to Mitzi that the waiter was “muy guapo”. Valerie always loved Barcelona, and the men weren’t bad either.  She looked across at Mitzi and realized her old friend had been talking…

“I’m sorry, Mitzi, what did you say?”
*
“I said, now that we have the pleasantries over with, let’s get down to brass tacks.  How was Afghanistan?  How many surgeries did you perform?  Were you close to the hostilities? Wha… ”

“Whoa, little missy!  That was a lot of questions. What are you doing, writing a book?  Leave that chapter out..”

“You know I hate that, Val.  My brother used to say that all the time.  He was a real jerk.”

“I remember he called you Gunga Din because you were his personal slave.  How is the low life anyway?”

“I don’t know, nor do I care.  He’s sleeping with the enemy.”

“The Civil War is over, Mitzi. Or maybe it didn’t get to you yet in that one-horse town you practice medicine in.”

“You’re a riot, Val.  We have two horses now. And it wasn’t our Civil War.  Are you going to tell me how your rotation went, or not?”

“Okay.  I did my fair share of surgeries until we lost our anesthesiologist because of some rotation foul up, so I was the gas passer for awhile.”

“Did you get any of the enemy on your operating table?”

“Ah, the enemy.  Who would that be, Mitzi?  Are you suggesting we gave medical aid to al Qaeda? the Taliban? the Energizer Bunny?”

“Well, Valerie.  Seems like you have a sore spot. Do you want to tell me up front or should I drag it out of you?”

“I was going to tell you about something but luckily I’m not drunk enough.”

“Okay, Val.  No pressure.  Got any gossip? Come on.  I’m living in a small town in the middle of Canada. The population is so small, gossip can’t spread.”

“Do you want liaisons, or trysts, or perhaps, adultery?  What’s your pleasure, Mitzi?”

“Bite me, Valerie.”

“Sorry.  First, tell me what you do when you’re not handing out antibiotics?  I mean, besides vacationing in Barcelona and meeting up with me.”

“I kill people. I’ve murdered six so far.  Mostly the elderly.  Oh, there were a couple of bikers.   Autopsies are never an issue since I perform them, but I don’t want to push my luck.  I acquired some “funds” and I’m not going back.  Think I’ll stay in Spain for awhile.  Hey, do you want to see their pictures?  You know, the ones I killed.  Valerie?”

Prompt: Two childhood friends meet up after twenty years.   After several drinks, one admits to having murdered several people.