chapter 33

word count: 1216

the people of new albany had been more than generous. jake leichtenstein had been flying the same sign, on the same corner for over a month now.. his presence there was expected,, if not welcomed.. he occupied his corner from just after sunrise till mid-morning,, took a break to pay his room rent, have something to eat, and slam down a couple of shots of cheap whisky (in keeping with his purported image,, not because he really derived any pleasure from drinking) and then would be back at it from mid-afternoon till just after the rush hour on an ordinary day.

by the grace of god, today was far from an ordinary day.. by running calculation,, jake determined he had collected in excess of three days room rent before the sun had even cleared the roof of the movie house on the southeast corner of main and elmwood.. surely, it was an omen of greater things to come..

an air of omnipotence filled jake’s being as he folded his sign and carefully stowed it away in the large zipper pocket on the back of his cammo jacket. as the first rays of sunlight shot masterfully over the main street theatre’s marquee,, jake made his way up elmwood toward the big lots store where he would assemble the accoutrements necessary to bring the divine providence of this seemingly blessed day to fruition.

as he walked the four short blocks up elmwood,, jake could feel the ever potent rays of the sun penetrating him,, igniting with in him a small, yet ever so familiar flame.. a flame, that when fanned, would bring the true desires of his heart to a raging boil.. that boil in turn releasing a heady steam,, creating within him an inescapable level of godlike supremacy that he would met out with near stealth mastery in the company of some, as of yet anonymous, young delectable over the course of the next few days.. days, (jake chuckled to himself as he thought about it,) that had been bought and paid for at the generous hand of the people of new albany.. 

jake drew a deep satisfying breath as he entered the big lots store.. a new found sense of urgency overtook him as he traversed the length of the store and headed toward the health and beauty department. this not being an area of the store that jake visited with any frequency, he took it as a sign of further predestination when he found the display of disposable razors placed just adjacent to the bin of travel sized items.. he hastily grabbed a travel size can of barbasol shave cream and a six pack of disposable gillette razors stuffed them in a hidden slit in the lining inside his cammo jacket,, and quickly headed off toward the foodstuffs.. 

filling his arms with assorted little debbie snacks, a six pack of raman noodles and a bag of red twizzlers just for good measure, he headed to the register.. he added two rolls of novelty bubble gum, a snickers, and a pack of gummy bears to his treasure trove,, and gladly paid the young goth behind the counter the $15.75 that made it possible for him to leave the store,, undaunted..

it was with a smile on his face that jake turned over $160.00 to the curry drenched matriarch of the pakistani family that operated the travelers rest motel, thus assuring himself of three nights and parts of four days of uninterrupted residence..

tossing the bag of goodies on the air-conditioner as he walked in the door,, jake set about the task at hand.. the LED display on the cheap motel clock read 11:47.. he had plenty of time before school let out for the day at westside elementary..

jake extracted the pilfered can of barbasol and the razors from the lining of his jacket and headed to the laminate bathroom counter that bridged the bathroom and the outer wall of his tiny motel room.. he drew a pair of haircutting scissors from his shaving kit, and proceeded to chop off the unruly, brown locks that had characteristically framed his bearded face since he emerged on the streets of new albany nearly six months ago.. he followed up by trimming his equally unkempt beard close, close enough to tackle the stubble with the disposable razors.

he then lathered what remained of his hair and his beard in the minty barbasol foam and proceeded to uncover a clean shaven, much younger looking, hairless version of himself with every stroke of the razor.

before entering the shower to wash off any lingering traces of jake the transient,, he lifted the mattress off the bed,, and produced a set of clean, mattress pressed clothes.. a nice pair of khaki dockers and a dark blue polo shirt that he had safely tucked away for just such an occasion..

he showered, dressed, admired his freshly shorn look in the mirror and then set about preparing his room for the titillating adventure he felt sure he was to impart upon this very afternoon.. 

jake pulled a seldom used duffle bag from underneath the bed.. first, he withdrew a crisp red, white, and blue backpack,, containing a remote control 4x4 dodge ram.. sparkling red it was, with huge monster tires.. he grabbed the battery charger and plugged in the nickel cadmium battery,, he had a little more than two hours, plenty of time for it to receive a full charge..  

 

reaching back into the duffle bag, he took out a roll of duct tape and three lengths of white cotton cord.. using a most secure rolling hitch knot,, he affixed one piece of the cord to the headboard of the bed.. he tied the other two,, equally as securely,, one to each  leg of the frame at the foot of the bed.. he cut a three inch strip of duct tape off the roll and stuck it like an inchworm to the motel dresser just inside the door,, arching it carefully so there was no chance it would crease and stick to itself..

satisfied that everything was in order and all he had left to do was wait for school to let out,, jake sat alone on the bed,, and passed the remaining hours excitedly reviving a delightful cast of characters from his past,, allowing them to prance playfully across the bed,, bringing them back to life,, one by one,, by way of his cherished locks of sweet smelling hair and carefully preserved newspaper clippings..

he glanced anxiously at the LED display and watched as 2:59 became precisely 3:00.. packing up his mementos and tucking them in the drawer of the bedside table,, he reassured himself,,  ‘there would be plenty of time for this later,’ 

he popped the freshly charged battery in the remote for the shiny red 4x4 and slipped it, and the bag of red twizzlers, into the patriotically colored backpack.

swinging the backpack over his shoulder,, he checked his look once more in the mirror.. a newly bald,, freshly shaven jake smiled back at him.. a jake he had missed dearly.. a jake he knew he could trust to go out that door,, and return with a delectable new playmate in tow.