Rory had been born with what some called a gift but he considered a curse. He could see into the future. Not all that far really, usually only a few seconds. It had kept him unnerved all of his 22 years of life.
Today he was standing at the bus stop waiting for his bus to take him to work as he did at this time every week day. As he waited he saw a little girl of about 5 or so playing across the street. In a flash he saw in his mind that she would dart out into the street and under the wheels of a truck that was about to turn the corner. He yawned and reminded himself that it was not his problem. After all, nobody else was going to do anything about it either.
The scene played out exactly as he had seen it in his mind. The girl darted out into the street just as a delivery truck rounded the corner too late to stop or swerve. He knew the little girl would die in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Rory had seen many people injured and killed in his mind over the years. When he was a small boy it would greatly upset him and he would always try to do something to help them, but a small boy simply can't do much in these instances and he would invariably fail. Over time he simply stopped trying.
On the bus ride into the downtown area where he worked he flashed upon the man seated in front of him. He was red faced and obviously choking on something. A few seconds later a half empty bag of salted peanuts fell to the floor as the man thrashed about choking while Rory calmly watched.
The elderly woman in the seat across the aisle looked at Rory. "Aren't you going to help that man?" she asked.
"Not my problem lady, why don't you help him?" Rory replied in an emotionless tone.
"Hmph!" The lady looked at him disapprovingly as she stood from her seat and slapped the man squarely between the shoulder blades.
Whether coincidence or from the slap the wayward peanut suddenly dislodged from the man's windpipe and he could breath once again. His face was still red and there were tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked up at the old woman. "Thanks ma'am, I think you just saved my life."
"Think nothing of it young man. My little ones used to choke on all sorts of things." she replied as she retook her seat, shooting Rory a look that told him everything he needed to know about what she thought of him.
He finally arrived at his stop, left the bus, and walked half a block to the liquor store where he had worked for the past six months. As he stepped through the door accompanied by the raucous jangling of the old copper bell attached to it, he saw Janeen behind the counter ringing up a customer's purchase of liquid escape.
She gave Rory a smile as the customer walked towards the door, passing him as he walked toward the counter. "Hi Rory." she said in her ever cheerful voice. "How's tricks today?"
The more chipper Janeen was the more depressed he felt, but he pasted on his best fake smile and pulled his cheerful voice out of wherever it hid when he didn't need it. "Hiya Janeen. Tricks are for kids ya know."
She never failed to laugh at his stupid jokes. "Well, if you're ready to take over," she said, "I have to run to the market to pick up something for dinner tonight." She was already gathering up her coat and purse from the little shelf just inside the back room.
"Sure Janeen. Have a good time." he said as cheerfully as he could manage. He knew that her 'trip to the market' was in fact a visit to her coke dealer for some party supplies for herself and that scumbag rock band boyfriend she had hooked up with a couple of months back.
"Thanks Rory." she chimed as she went out the back door that led into the alley behind the store.
He suddenly flashed on her walking down the alley and onto the street that led to wherever it was her dealer lived. He saw a car drive past just as she reached the end of the alley, splashing a puddle of muddy water all over the front of her white jeans. He chuckled a little as he turned back to the counter. He was sure that it was going to be another long, boring night.
He decided to do a little reading and checked to see what magazines Janeen may have left on the store room shelf. As he was rummaging through a small stack of old Woman's Day and National Enquirer magazines he heard the annoying jangle of the bell announcing someone had just entered the liquor store.
He turned back to the counter to see a young black kid, maybe 15 or 16, picking a bottle of Crown Royal off the shelf and walk towards the counter. As the kid sat the bottle on the counter Rory asked "You got ID kid?"
"Yeah man, I got ID." the kid said and reached into his sweat shirt. Instead of a wallet he produced a pistol. "Gimme all the money you got in there!" the kid said, indicating the cash register.
Rory wasn't surprised as he had already seen the kid pull the gun in his mind. "Sure thing kid." Rory said calmly as he opened the register and started putting the pathetic amount of cash into a brown paper sack. "You want the whiskey too?"
"Man, you sure don't seem too freaked out by this." the kid said.
"Hey, I just work here ya know? It's not my money, it's not my problem." Rory said calmly.
"Yeah, well, ok. Just hurry up ok?" the kid said, obviously nervous. "I don't want to hurt you, you know? I just got some problems I need to take care of and all. I ain't a bad guy."
"Sure kid, I know." Rory replied. "Like I said, it's not my problem. Take the cash and go."
As the kid grabbed the paper sack Rory flashed on him being gunned down right outside the store by two cops. He almost spoke up, warning the kid to go out the back door instead, but thought "Don't get involved. It's not my problem."
A few seconds later the kid was out the door and Rory heard shouts and then a sudden burst of gunfire. The plate glass window at the front of the store exploded in a rain of glass. It was all over in two seconds.
Suddenly Rory felt a searing hot pain in his chest and it was hard to breath. Confused, he looked down at the small hole in his shirt pocket and the rapidly spreading red stain. In an instant he knew he'd stopped a stray bullet, probably the one that had shattered the window.
He felt his knees buckle. As he lay on the floor behind the counter a final thought crossed his mind as he died. "I never saw that coming."