HI! this is a short story i wrote! part one! part two is finished but i'm gonna wait a week to post it.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHESTER COUNTY
Part I
Wendy’s is open late and they’re closed. The Red Morning is running soundcheck and I’m tired but never more awake. Close to 22 hours ago I was half asleep listening to motorhead on the bus. I’m sore, dirty, tired, hungry, dirty, and never better. The 24 hour milkshake mirage is still a while’s limp off. Its real, but I called it a mirage because I’m alone in a deserted area and its a light of hollow hope I find myself drifting towards. Don’t know why, have no money and its not crowded enough to steal a snickers bar, but wawa seems like a place to regroup and maybe coincidentally run into someone who can help me. Doubt it.
I reach the store and walk up alone by the light of the moon. I don’t really think “by the light of the moon” is at all cool of a descriptor but it suggests that it feels like an old west ghost town. The lone night-shift clerk is reading a magazine diligently. On the side of the building is something I hadn’t noticed at first glance loitering diligently. A girl looking somewhat shady and somewhat my age and looks to have experienced some somewhat hard-livin’. I laugh at myself just like a hypocrite laughs at himself really late at night because I usually criticize people for thinking the same of me.
She notices my presence, which is rare around these hours, the presence not the noticing, and looks up at me. Her face told me she wanted to look too cool to look twice and I had no objections. “Likewise” I thought in her general direction. I grab the door, stop, turn around “can I borrow some money”
“I don’t have any”
“can I borrow a snickers bar?”
“I had one earlier but I ate it.”
“Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
“None of your business.”
“Fair enough, but I’ve never been hungrier and my life and could I ask you to borrow your jacket to hide my identity so I can steal a snickers bar?”
Intrigued and amused she smiles and nods.
“Wait here” and I walk behind the store. By the dumpster, as I assumed, was a pile of deadly weapons waiting to happen. I grab a piece of broken glass and come back around. She hands me the jacket and I wrap and tie the smokey goodwill rag and walk in. Entertainment Weekly barely notices. I grab a snickers bar, king size, 2 of them, and go to the counter. Entertainment Weekly barely looks up and beeps the lasers.
“$2.19” he mutters
“I’d like to but I don’t have any money.” at this he looks up to find a piece of broken glass 1.3 inches away from his face. He notices that its the very piece of broken glass he threw in the dumpster at the end of his shift yesterday. He nods and I put the merchandise in my pocket. I’m just about to leave when I hear the door open behind me. Uh oh.
“while your at it can you grab me a pack of cigarettes?”
“and a pack of cigarettes for the lady.”
“what kind?” Entertainment Weekly is fairly calm given the situation. nine bucks an hour.
“What kind?”
“Red Apple”
“Red Apple. For the lady.”
“you got I.D.” I’m getting to like this guy “just kidding” and tosses me the pack. “have a good one”
“you too” and we leave.
Entertainment Weekly is in no mood to appreciate the humor of the situation. He’s too confused for the moment.
We walk around the side of the building and I give her the jacket and toss her the cigarettes. “Well. Bye.” I mutter already walking away.
“wait, I don’t even know your name”
“don’t worry about it”
“well. Thanks for the cigarettes.”
Pause. “yeah”
So I jaywalk. It normally takes cunning and agility to jay such a walk but its Saturday morning, kind of, so Joe Bluecollar won’t be up for another few hours. I walk about half a football field to a bench in the courtyard of another shopping plaza, one where Entertainment Weekly doesn’t work nights, and I sit down for a double dose of king size nougatocity. Relax. Regroup. Figure out what’s next. The employees of the establishments I’m stealing hospitality from are probably gonna show up in 3 hours, if that because its Saturday, kind of. The Sun just started its first set and I’m expected home before the end of the second. That means I got less than 2 hours to get all the way across town. Maybe less. I’d need a nice bike, A Schwinn, to pull it off.
What about that girl.
Good question, why didn’t I think of that. Because there’s like a 4 percent chance she could do anything to help, but it couldn’t hurt. I peek my head around the corner. She’s loitering there just as before, only now she’s smoking a cigarette. My shadow is lord of the deserted parking lot. My shadow manages to catch her attention by jumping and moving around and together, my shadow and I, beckon her over here. Amused and intrigued she smiles, flicks her butt, and starts walking. Finished my first snickers bar I start the second one. About halfway down the snickers bar she gets here and her face goes ”what?” but she doesn’t say anything.
“who are you?” I say
“I asked you first”
“you asked me my name”
“and you asked me who I am”
“there’s a difference”
“no there’s not”
“my name is a one word answer. who I am is-”
“is-”
“a long story. Don’t worry about it.”
“your wasting my time”
“your time doesn’t appear to be worth much.”
“what do you want”
“I need to be across town in an hour and a half”
“thats 10 minutes”
“by car, 35 by bike, but all I got are these nikes”
“you think I can help you?”
“no. But It couldn’t hurt asking”
“well?”
“can you help me?”
“doubt it.”
“No?”
“Doubt it”
“well then what might you be able to do for me”
“I know where you could find a bike”
“do ya?”
“a girl in my class lives over there 10 minute walk”
“she has a bike”
“she has a schwinn”
“a schwinn you schway”
“keeps it outside no lock. Its a nice neighborhood”
“I know the kind. You’d give her bike to a stranger.”
“she’s not my friend. In 6th grade she told me my clothes don’t match and then we were paired for some physics crap and we did it at her house”
I laughed at that. “You can take me there?”
“sure, my time aint worth too much, one condition though; you have to tell me your name”
“well thats one thing I can’t do for you.”
“why not?”
“the writer hasn’t decided on a name for me yet.”
“fair enough”
“lets get started then. Its gettin light out and even ras-ah-gul would have trouble bein sneaky”
“what?”
“don’t worry about it. Lets go.”
We pass 2 middle-age women taking a walk and it was funny because they waved and said good morning how are you and we said good how are you and they thought we were up to no good. I laughed, she didn’t find it very funny.
“right there. #42.”
“and there’s the shwinn.”
“watch out, its almost full day.”
“yeah. I’ll meet you at the stop sign back at the entrance to the neighborhood.”
“good luck.”
I grab the bike and book. Rides nice. Gears switch smooth. I wish I didn’t have to steal this poor girls bike but I really have no choice. I pass the 2 ladies again and this time they know for a fact I’m up to no good. She’s already there when I get to the sign.
“how was it?”
“good. Passed the 2 old ladies again.”
“how was that.”
“good. Well, can’t thank you enough. You saved my life. See you around.”
“uhm nice meeting you.”
“you didn’t.”
1 hour, approximately 24 minutes, 17 miles, and one stolen schwinn. I feel accomplished, triumphant and safe, but it aint over till its over.
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