ST4.01 | "Eye Candy"
JANUARY 2026
A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES . . .
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream about the brotherhood of humanity, but dreams don’t always have to be so big . . . or so magnanimous. This month, give us noir on the theme of dreams. Maybe it’s petty dreams about gangland glory, or maybe it’s a story about “a dream deferred” as Langston Hughes wrote. Let’s kick off the new year by taking a look at “what dreams may come,” and what happens next when all your dreams come true . . . or don’t.
EYE CANDY
by Kay Hanifen
Most parents tell their kids to dream big. Reach for the moon and even if you miss, you’ll still land among the stars. But not you, Ma. When I was six years old, I told you that I was gonna be a singer, and you know what you said to me? You laughed in my face and said, “Candace, you sing like a horny donkey. Maybe you can get away with it if you’re hot enough, but I doubt that’ll ever happen.”
Then, you blew a puff of cigarette smoke in my face and told me to get you another bottle of wine.
Well, look at me now, Ma. I’ve been discovered. I’d been singing in dive bars and lounges full of dirty old men smoking even dirtier cigars for years now and today, someone finally noticed me. Today, as I sang my heart out to a ragtime song, a man entered the lounge and sat in the back corner. Our gaze met, and it was electric. His dark eyes never left mine as he lit his cigarette and brought it to his lips.
During my break, the bartender appeared with a martini.
“From the gentleman in the corner,” he said with a wink.
I slid into the booth, sitting opposite him. He smiled at me, revealing a gold-tipped canine and I raised the drink to him before taking a sip.
“Mmm, you really know how to get a girl’s attention.”
He raised his eyebrows at that. “I was about to say the same about you. I simply couldn’t look away.”
I offered my hand. “Candy.”
“Tony,” he said, bringing it to his lips.
“So, what’s a gentleman like you doing at a place like this?” I took another sip of the martini. It was a tad stronger than I would have liked, but delicious.
“Talent scouting. You never know where you might find a diamond in the rough. And I think I just found a very shiny diamond.” He took a puff of his cigarette and blew it out, the smoke curling around his very kissable lips. I always hated the smell of cigarettes, the way they burned when you put them out on me, Ma, but coming from his mouth, it was intoxicating. “So, what do you say? I know some very important people. Come meet them tomorrow. You can perform at my club.”
“And what club is that?”
“Aces and Spades. Exclusive joint with some very exclusive clientele.”
I grinned and downed my martini. It was almost time for my next set and I had to get going. “Just give me the time and place. I’ll be there.”
“Absolutely, Candy. A sweet name for a sweet thing.”
I giggled, my heart fluttering like a schoolgirl with her first crush. He kissed my hand one more time before I returned to the stage for my next set.
So, Ma, it looks like you were wrong about me. I am talented and beautiful, and I’ll be meeting some very important people tomorrow.
***
If you were still here, you’d be laughing at me. I bet you are anyway. Laughing up at me from hell. Get all the yucks you want.
I met Tony at Aces and Spades, a little speakeasy at the back of a seemingly abandoned warehouse. There were three important men there alright. I recognized them from the news, the crime rags reporting on the nefarious deeds of all the bootleggers and mafiosos. This group wore the neat pinstripe suits and shoulder holsters that were the uniform of mobsters. Because I cannot catch a regular break, let alone my big one.
Tony gestured for me to get on stage and perform. It was just the four of us in this private room, no waiters or bodyguards. You’d call me an idiot and a slut for being alone with four mobsters, but I had come too far to chicken out now. Besides, these men still had connections that could help build my career if I played my cards right, so I sang my heart out.
I was good, Ma. I was real good. I sang better than I ever sang before.
But once I was done, the men all laughed.
“I don’t know where you find these chicks, Tony,” an older mobster said. “But she was a riot.”
“She’s hot at least. I’ll give you that,” another said. “Can’t sing worth a damn, but she’s a looker.”
“Eye Candy, get it?” Tony said.
The oldest mobster leered at me. “She’d do well at my club. None of the men care about talent there. Just how well that ass can shake and how much it costs to spend the night.” He looked to me. “How’s that sound? You’ll never make it as a singer, but you can put your looks to good use with me.”
That was when I understood. All this was a game to them, an exercise in humiliation. They would build up some unsuspecting girl’s dreams before crushing them. And then what? Did they take advantage of the shattered remains? Or did they do something worse?
I remember what you told me when I moved to the city. Candy, you’re a moron. In a few months, you’ll come crawling back to me, begging for me to help because you’ve been slutting around and ruined yourself. And I’ll just laugh and laugh.
And then you laughed at me, Ma. You laughed and laughed and laughed until I shut you up.
But now, you’re laughing again. You and all these awful men. When he saw the tears streaming down my face, one of the mobsters snickered. “Aw. I think we hurt her feelings.”
Tony got his feet and approached, taking a wad of cash out of his inner pocket. His expression was strangely conciliatory. “Here, sweetheart, for your troubles.” He raised his hands to rub my shoulders, and I spotted the gun in its holster. “And consider Alonzo’s offer. We were just having a bit of fun, but you’d fit in there. Really.”
I don’t know what came over me. I just snatched it and took aim. “A bit of fun, huh? Well, now it’s my turn for a bit of fun!” I pulled the trigger twice, the shots ringing out over the sound system. Tony looked down in shock as red bloomed on his white shirt. He staggered backwards before falling, landing on the stage with a heavy thud.
The rest of the men all jumped to their feet in horror. They all fumbled for their weapons, but they were too late. I turned to them, years of pent-up rage fueling every pull of the trigger.
No-Talent!
Ugly!
Bimbo!
Whore!
By the time I stopped seeing red, the room was full of it. Blood splattered the walls and pooled on the floors as the four men laid as dead as my dreams. I booked it out of there, still holding the gun. The police think it was just a regular gangland killing, but you and I know better, don’t we, Ma?
And you know, it felt pretty good to finally open fire on someone and show them that I’m more than eye candy. I know you think I’ve got nothing but cotton between my ears, but I’m a lot smarter than I look. And there are plenty of men who are on the prowl, looking to take advantage of innocent girls like me. Maybe it’s time I got justice for those girls. Maybe that can be my new dream.
KAY HANIFEN (on Instagram @katherinehanifen) was born on a Friday the 13th and once lived for three months in a haunted castle. So, obviously, she had to become a horror writer. Her work has appeared in over 100 anthologies and magazines. Her first anthology as an editor, Till the Yule Log Burns Out, was published in 2024. Her first novel, The Last Ballard, debuted in 2025. When she’s not consuming pop culture with the voraciousness of a vampire at a 24-hour blood bank, you can usually find her with her black cats or at kayhanifenauthor.wordpress.com.