chapter 55

word count: 1591

the last thing jake leichtenstein expected to see as he approached the ford f150 he had left parked in the cvs parking lot (while he was unsuccessfully pan handling on a nearby corner) was a swarm of local LEO’s.. 

he stopped short, did an about face and walked slowly, casually away,  so as not to attract any attention. ‘i should have just left “it” and the truck in the walmart parking lot like i originally planned.’ he berated himself.. at least then he had, had the presence of mind to wipe it clean of prints..

but no!! he allowed himself to become so consumed with his hunger for more, more, more,, that he had momentarily lost control of his sense of reason... driven by his own forbidden desires,, he had allowed himself to keep the truck,, take the easy route.. clearly his frenzy to return to his old familiar haunt had gotten the best of him,, and erased every lick of common sense he had ever had.. jake cursed his own idiocy.. 

“fuck, i fucked up like a motherfucker! fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!!”

he chanted in a low monotone as he crossed the street,, putting as much distance between him and the throng of uniforms and detectives that were devouring the truck.. he had been this fucking close to making it back to new albay.. this fucking close.. 

“god damn it!”

‘ok,, slow down buddy,,” he attempted to regain his composure.  ‘remain calm.. you can do this.. you have been doing this your whole life.. all you gotta do is slow down and think this thing through.’

with like $14.00 and some change to his name,, he slipped off the street and into the first neighborhood watering hole he came across, the wagon wheel saloon.. 

as the door closed behind him, the smell of stale beer , piss, and vomit overloaded his senses immediately.. his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, as  he made his way to a stool at the far end of the bar.. he could keep an eye on the door from there.. 

“wadda ya have?” asked the seemingly disinterested,  balding bartender.

“draft.” he grunted in reply.

“we got bud, miller light, sierra nevada, and newcastle on tap. wadda ya have?”

“just gimme a bud.” jake replied, way too preoccupied to really process his choices.. 

jake surveyed the bald, aging bartender as he turned away to pour the beer..  despite the fact he had barely acknowledged jakes existence,, he looked like the kind of guy that had been here a while.. he looked like the kind of guy that knew his regulars,, and therefore, jake could be sure, he knew he was not one of them..  maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all.. 

‘just have the one beer,, calm the fuck down, and plot your next move.’ jake tried reasoning with himself.. ‘then you can get the hell outta here..’

he kept his eyes trained on the door.  last thing he needed was some spun out local uniform coming thru the front door of this shithole looking for the driver of that truck.. and by the looks of the place,, it would be one of the first places they’d look.

“$3.50” the bartender said abruptly, as he slid a bar nap in front of jake, and set down the frothing mug.

jake dug four crumpled up singles out of his pants pocket and laid them on the bar.. he lifted the icy draft to his lips and took a long pull.. ‘act casual.’ he instructed himself,, even though it was taking every bit of restraint he could muster not to gulp down the draft,, and feel it’s cool, calming, caress envelope him, as slid down.. if he had ever needed a drink,, the time was now.. 

‘ok,” he thought introspectively, ‘let’s start with what i know.. they have the truck. they have more than likely already run the plate, and it no doubt came back stolen..  my fucking finger prints are all over the damn thing.. not only does the bed of the truck smell like a fucking tomb,, but my backpack and duffel bag are in the tool box.. that means as soon as they pry it open,, (and in light of the distinct smell of death that was emanating from it,, they probably already had) they will have all my fucking keepsakes,, and know that they are looking for an offender with a serious history,, and not just some idiot kid who took the truck for a joyride..’ 

for a brief second, jake allowed himself to mourn the loss of his most precious possessions.. it had taken him a lifetime to collect them.. without them,, his life would never be the same. it couldn’t be.

he tried to console himself with the fact that he had at least one sweet blonde lock safely tucked away in his wallet.. one delicious memento of his most recent foray into ecstasy.. if he made it out of this,, at least he would have that to hang on to.. although even that realization afforded him no real comfort,, he knew now was not the time to grieve..

jake downed the rest of his beer, and subtly exited the dive through the back door exit..  it led  into a dank alleyway,, where he paused for a moment to get his bearings. if he went left out of the alley,, he figured he would be headed back toward the location of the truck..  taking a right was his only real chance at escape. it would put him on totally uncharted territory, but he had no other choice..

as he exited the alleyway,, he had the good fortune to round the corner just as a local bus was coming to a stop at the corner.. he sprinted toward the bus,, neither knowing, nor caring where it would take him.. none of that mattered right now.. he would be off the street,, and headed anywhere but here.

***

the sound of the ringing phone jolted john from his blissful slumber.. he jumped up off the couch,, and caught the phone on the fourth or fifth ring.

“hell-o.” john muttered into the phone,, his voice still clouded with sleep..

“hey john, it’s lisa, lisa snodgrass,, you sound like i woke you up.”

“me??” john blundered,, his voice now riddled with adrenaline. “heck no,, just watching a little TV while the wife’s away and the boys are amusing themselves upstairs..”

“that’s cool,, i was afraid i woke you up.. so it sounds like adam is enjoying himself then?? 

“oh yeah, those two are like two peas in a pod”  john assured her, “they been upstairs since lunch.. probably playing some video game or another.. so what’s up?”

“well i just thought i’d give you a call and make sure adam hadn’t worn out his welcome.”

“oh hell no!” john exclaimed. “you’d never even know he was here..  and elliot’s got to be in seventh heaven,, poor kid never has anyone to play with,, so this is a real treat for him..”

“thank god.. i have done nothing but think about adam, since he told us he wished his dad had died in that terrible explosion.. have you been able to get anything out of him?? any clue as to why he would have said such a thing??”

“not a word,, but then i haven’t really pressed him.. i thought it was better to just let the two of them spend some time together.. you know, maybe have some fun, maybe it will help adam get this whole crazy situation off his mind.. “ 

“i can’t even begin to imagine the state of confusion his poor little mind must be in.. i am having a hard time putting all the pieces together myself,, and the thought of him having to make sense of it all with his little seven year old mind just breaks my heart.” lisa’s tone inferred her genuine concern. 

“well if it would put your mind at ease, you’re welcome to come on over,, have a look for yourself.”

“really? that wouldn’t be putting you out too much?? lisa sounded relived.. 

“putting me out? hell no,, the wife’s been out all day,, and like i said the boys have been upstairs playing.. i would love to have you drop by,, even if for purely selfish reasons!!” john answered gleefully,, barely able to contain his level of  joy at the prospect of seeing lisa again.. 

“ok then,” started lisa, “i am dropping erik off for karate here in about twenty minutes, wadda ya say i stop over for an hour or so while he is at his lesson?”

“i say go for it!!!” john exclaimed, clearly delighted.

as he hung up the phone, a distinct feeling that could be identified as nothing less than utter infatuation coursed through his being.. john hadn’t felt like this since he was a kid. quickly,, he jumped into action,, immediately clamoring up the stairs to check his look in the mirror.. 

‘lisa is on her way over!’ he kept reminding himself as he ran his hand over his coarse two day stubble.. 

'i’d better shave.. oh,, and put on something a little more presentable than the wife beater and sweats i been laying around in all day..'  john decided,, just as he was sure he felt his heart skip a beat..

“if there is a god,” he petitioned the universe, as he stroked his trusty triple blade over his well lathered beard, “please don’t let trudy come home any time soon!!”