Al said, 'Yes, Anna, I could use a cup'.
Anna was looking at Al, and as she said
'Coming right up', she turned and looked
at me. I guess I was still looking at her
because our eyes locked for a second.
It was the longest, most beautiful second
in my life. Her eyes seemed to light up,
as a slight smile formed on her lucious
lips, then she turned and walked away.
Believe me, I tried not to watch her walk
away. I couldn't help myself.
Al was looking at me, as I turned to
face him. He had one eyebrow slightly
raised, and was peering at me,
questioningly. 'We aren't gonna have a
problem with you two, are we?' Al asked
sternly. 'No, of course not!' I said, feeling
a little heat in my cheeks.
Al kinda chucked and pat me on the back
as he said, 'Good! Now let's get our day
started. All the information in the filing
cabinets are alphabetized, and catagorized
by name. Each file should be complete with
financial statements, assessments, receipts,
bills, and all other records of transactions.
When you get all squared away, I would
like for you to start with Parks & Rec.
When you get that old Mac unplugged,
let me know and I'll move it.'
'Sure thing', I said, turning to the dusty,
cluttered desk and chair. 'I should have
all this cleaned up before lunch'.

Chapter 8

I unplugged the Mac, dusted it off,
wiped down the slightly discolored
keyboard and trackball mouse. Gathered
up all the cords and put a thick rubber
band around them.
I went and got Al, and he grabbed it all
and took it to his area.
I gathered up all the papers, folders, and
all the other odds and ends that were on
the desk and put it in a box temporarily.
I wiped down my desk, the filing cabinets,
and all the other surfaces in my area that
had accumulated dust.
I cleaned out the drawers and put all the
papers and items into the box, and wiped
them out. I wiped down the adding
machine that had been covered in paper
work, and plugged it in. I wiped down
the desk lamp, removed the bulb, wiped
it off and put it back in the lamp.
Turning on the light, I grabbed the box
I put everything in, and started to go
through it.
I catagorized it all by county building and
date, and paper clipped them.
As I was going through the first filing
cabinet drawer, Al walked up. 'Here's
a key to the front door, Jim. We usually
leave for lunch, but you can do whatever
you like. If you would rather pack a lunch
and eat here, go get something to eat, or
go home, it's up to you. We usually do
a one hour lunch. I don't worry about a
few extra minutes, Jim, like I said, no
pressure here. As long as we get our final
numbers in to the Government by the end
of next month, we are good here.'
Looking at the clock on the wall, I said,
'Sure, ok, Al. I'll probably go home for
lunch. Wow! Where did the time go?'
Al chuckled a little, and said, 'See you
later.' I heard him walk away and say,
'See you in a little bit Anna'. Her sweet
voice trailing after him, Ok, Al... Bye'.
I was dusting myself off when Anna
appeared in front of me. 'Got any plans
for lunch Jim?' She asked.
'I thought I'd go home and make lunch',
I answered.
'Well... There's a really good sandwich
shop over on 9th street. Would you care
to join me?' Anna asked.
I said, 'That'd be great, Really. Thank you
Anna'.
'Good'. She said smiling. 'Lets go dirty boy'.
We walked out the door, and Anna
locked it behind me.
I asked, 'my vehicle, or yours?'
She started walking toward the Ford, and
said, 'Yours. Mine is messy. I gotta clean
it out'. I walked to the passenger door of
the Ford, unlocked it and let her in.
Walking around the front, I approached
the drivers door to put my key in, but
she already unlocked my door.
She had passed the first of many tests.
It only took a couple of minutes to get
to the locally owned delicatessen. I was
surprised to see a lot of cars.
'They make the best sandwiches for
miles', Anna said, hoping out with a
hungry grin on her beautiful face.
There were tables outside, with the
traditional red and white checkered
table cloth. The traditional yellow and
red, mustard and ketchup bottles, clear
salt and pepper shakers with chrome
caps. A chrome napkin holder with a
menu tucked into the back. Red high
back cushioned metal chairs. Patio
lights of red and white strung in a criss
crossing pattern above the patio area.
It was a red and white wooden building,
with a walk up window, a drive up
window and a lobby that seat about 30
people. The people that were out on
the patio payed us no mind. I was
half expecting everyone to start staring
at me, but that didn't happen. In fact,
even people out walking didn't act the
same as I drove Anna and I to the deli.
I thought to myself, 'What an odd little
town'.
Anna walked up to the outside walk
up window, and motioned for me to join
her.
'Yes, What can I get ya today, Anna?' The
middle aged Italian looking woman on
the other side asked.
'How about a turkey and provolone on
Cracked wheat with lettuce, tomato
and avocado', Anna requested.
'Hold the pickle, light oil and vinegar,
and a dash of salt and pepper, right?'
The Italian looking lady asked.
'You got it', Anna said, as she picked a
bag of Lay's potato chips off the rack
by the window. 'And a root beer!'
I smiled, thinking to myself, I love root
beer. How crazy is this!
Anna paid for her order, and stepped
aside to let me order.
The Italian looking lady said, 'And you
Sir?'
'I'll have the very same thing as Anna,
except hold the potato chips.' I said.
'You got it. Be a couple minutes you
two', the Italian lady said studying me.
I handed her my debit card, and in a
few moments she handed it back,
along with 2 root beers.
'Ill bring it out to you', she said
dismisingly.
I went to where Anna was already seated.
'So where are you from cityboy'? Anna
asked, as I sat down. 'By the Bay in
California', I said. 'San Martinez, I added.
Anna said, 'Ohhh', with a wanting tone
to her voice, 'Id love to see the ocean
some day', she added, popping a chip
in her mouth.
'Are you from here?' I asked.
'No... I'm from Washington state.
I live here with my mom though, and
look after her.
My pop died in that massive train accident
in Nevada about 13 years ago. Did you
hear about it?' Anna inquired.
"No.' I looked at her to see her reaction
to her words. Her mood changed slightly
and I can see a glimmer of hurt in her
face. 'I'm sorry for your loss Anna'. I
said, sympathetically.
She said, 'well, I was just 15, so it was
a little tough at first. I went on to
college for two years and got an
associates degree in Accounting. Mom
took it kinda hard, but she is a real
strong woman. All the women in my
family are. When I got done with some
schooling and carousing around, I came
here to where she had moved after selling
the house back home. She said she wanted
to get out of the rain. Yeah! Into the dust!'
She chucked a little, brushing it off.
'Ill bet you were a good carouser', I said,
jokingly.
'Ah, funny guy, huh?, She said as she
smiled.
The sandwiches showed up, and we
ate our lunch with a mix of small banter
in between bites.
The sandwich was good, a little dry for
my taste, but the turkey and provolone
was excellent with the fresh avocado.
We finished up our lunch, and in great
spirits, hopped in the Ford to go back
to work.
We showed back up, one hour five
minutes from when we left, let ourselves
in the door, and went back to work.
Al was nowhere around.
After a couple of hours, I had my work
area all organized. The filing cabinet was
now catagorized by Department, with all
the paperwork I could find in their
perspective folders.
My desk was clean and arranged the way
I wanted it, and I had the Parks & Rec
folder out to go through.
Anna had been typing for a while, and
when the sound stopped, there was a
mind numbing silence.
I walked toward her station, asking loudly,
'Hey, do you think Al would mind if we
had some soft music in here? Would you
mind?'
'I wouldn't mind at all, what do you have
in mind?' Anna asked, looking up from
her work.
Well, I'm preferential to Classical music,
you know, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven,
Mozart, Vivaldi... It helps me when I'm
crunching numbers', I said.
'Oh, well I love Classical music'! Anna
said as her eyes genuinely lit up. 'Im
not sure about Al. I've never heard him
play music. I only started working here
6 weeks ago.'
'Yes! Test 2! Passed!' I thought to myself.
'Oh', I said, surprised. Well, I'll bring some
in in the morning, and we'll find out what
Al thinks'. I added, walking back to my
area, a little beside myself with a strange
feeling I suddenly had.
The rest of the day was finished up
and we were set to go home.
'Does Al usually come and go a lot?' I
asked Anna as we were closing up the
office.
'Yeah. He's a pretty busy guy, and raising
a boy by himself. His son comes here
sometimes as you already know. He's a
quiet kid. autistic, I do believe. His name
is Eric. He spends a lot of time at a
local care center that helps his dad
watch after him. He's only 13 years old'.
Anna explained.
'Damn', I said, shaking my head a little
As we were walking out the door.
We stopped outside the door. Anna
locked it, looked up at me and said,
'Well, thank you for a fabulous lunch!
I'm really glad to meet you, and work
with you'.
'Im super glad to have met you, and
to be able to work with you as well Anna.
I hope you have a great evening'. I said,
smiling at her.
She smiled back, turned and walked away.
I watched her get into her little Datsun
280Z. I should have figured it was hers.
Sleek zippy car, for a sleek zippy lady,
and a classic ta boot! Nice touch!
I watched her pull away, got into my
Ford and drove home.

Chapter 9

I got home, pulled into the complex
parking lot, and parked... #6.
It was starting to dawn on me, that
most the numbers I have been dealing
with are Six, Thirteen and numbers from
adding or multiplying Six or Thirteen.
My unit number is Six. Anna has been
at her job for Six weeks.
Al's son, come to find out, is Thirteen!
I turn 36 In Six weeks.
When I bought my truck, it only had
36,000 miles on it, and I paid $6,000.00
because of the trade in.
I drove 1,800 Miles to get here to a town
of 13,000 people. I only get 36 channels.
There are 13 units here, and the address
is 136 Acacia Rd.
My clocks were off Six minutes.
I thought about how strange it is here.
All the people staring at me. The
smashed cell phone. The slashed tire.
That... Thing that ran out in front of me.
Something was definitely amiss, but I
couldn't put my finger on it.
I shook off the ominous feeling I had,
and my thoughts of superstitious
nonsense, and climbed out of the Ford.
All was quiet, except for a t.v. up to loud.
One of the tenants here must be hard of
hearing. I walked up to my door, and
unlocked it. Opening it, I immediately
came upon a dead mouse in the entrance.
Nothing else around, no blood. Just the
lone dead mouse.
I went to the kitchen, grabbed a few paper
towels, and went back to the mouse.
Examining the rodent, I noticed that it
hadn't been punctured or visibly injured.
It was wet on one side of it, as if it had
been carried in an animals mouth. The
fur was all stuck to the skin.
I took the dead mouse out to the complex
dumpster and threw it in.
As I was coming back to the apartment,
Ted saw me and waved. I waved back,
and continued to my door.
I was too beside myself with my thoughts
to engage in questioning or interigation
at the moment, but I sure had questions.
How did his cat keep getting in?
I'd have to investigate when I had more
time. Right now, I was too distracted by
the events of the past week.
I came back into my apartment, and it
still had a musky smell, so I opened the
curtains in the living room, and opened
a window. I went to the kitchen, and
realizing I still hadn't gone to the liquor
store, so I grabbed a green tea I had bought.
Opening it and taking a long, satisfying
gulp from it, I looked in the freezer for
something to eat.
I need to buy a crock pot. Then I can
prepare it in the morning, before work,
and come home to an already prepared
meal. I don't like eating frozen food.
I grabbed one of the Marie Calendar's
pot pies, turned the oven up to 350°, and
put the pie on a pizza pan I brought from
the city.
Half hour later, the timer on the oven
dinged as I was immersed in another
box I still hadn't unpacked.
I brought a four foot dark oak book shelf
from the city, that I had found at a garage
sale. It was a steal for $20.00. It was
probably about sixty years old, and in
fabulous shape. It had hand crafted
book ends that came with it, that were
the same exquisite wood. It was an
excellent piece for my dark wood
ensemble of furniture. I had put it on
the right wall, next to the leather love
seat and right of my easy chair.
I had a pretty decent collection of books
ranging from Psychology, Astrology,
Mathematics, a couple I.T. books,
a book on Political Science, L. Ron
Hubbard's book of Dianetics. A book
by Dr. M. Scott Peck on the Psychology
of evil. Robert E. McCammon's book,
Swan Song. A half dozen books by
Stephen King, including The Stand, which
is one of my favorites. A few Dean Koontz
books. A couple Gene Roddenberry books
of the early Star Trek series.
Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet and Macbeth
by William Shakespeare.
A book called, Philosophy as a way of life
by Pierre Hadot. Socrates in 90 minutes by
Paul Strathern.
A 1st. Edition of Thinking Socratically,
Critical Thinking about Everyday Issues,
by Sharon Shcwarze and Harvey Lape.
I have hard back editions of The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by
Mark Twain.
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, by
Toby Wilkinson.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Volume 3 by Edward Gibbon.
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, by Bernard Bailyn.
My survival book, Bushcraft 101: A Field
Guide to the Art of wilderness survival,
and a couple dozen miscellaneous paper
back novels, like 'Where The Red Fern
Grows', and 'Hitchhikers Guide to the
Galaxy'.
A took a break from assembling my
entourage of books, and sat down with my
pot pie. These things aren't to bad, but
it's gotta be the Marie Calendar's. The
Banquet pot pies aren't even as good.
Finishing up, I threw away the empty pie
tin thingy they come in, and lowered
the blinds in the kitchen. Closing the
curtain, I was fighting off the temptation
to hop into the Ford and go find that
liquor store. As I said before, I don't
drink that much, but the past couple weeks
have been really trying. A nice Scotch sure
eases the tension.
Just as I turned on the t.v. and went to
sit down, there was a tap on the patio door
glass. I walked over to it, and opened it.
There stood Ted, sporting a Nirvana T shirt
Levi's with holes in the knees, and a six
pack of Keystone beer dangling from his
fingers.
'Hey Man, wanna pound some brewskis?'
Ted said, eyes already glazed, probably
from smoking that whacky tobaccy.
'You know what Ted?!! I would love to
sit and have a beer with you!' I said,
smiling.
'Great!' Ted exclaimed as he let himself
in. We went to the living room and sat
down. The theme song from 'Cheers'
playing in the background. We both
popped our beer, and took a big long
drink. I don't drink beer, but once in a
while at social events, which for me, are
very few and far between. I just don't like
crowds. They feel constrictive. I don't
really care for the taste of beer, but the
Keystone was real cold and went down
easy.
'So what's new Ted?' I asked.
'Not much man, just been chillin'. Ted said
with a boredom to his tone.
'How's Garfield?' I inquired. 'I don't know.
I haven't seen him all day'. Ted said.
'Well, He's not here, although I think he
was earlier. He left a dead mouse in the
entrance for me to come home to'. I said.
'Oh yeah?' Ted said, with a feigned surprise.
'I don't know how he's getting in. Will you
help me look tomorrow when I get off
work, Ted?' I asked as I took another drink
of beer.
'Sure man. No problemo!' Ted said fighting
back a burp. BURPPP! 'Not bad manners,
just good beer', Ted said as he grinned like
a schoolboy.
Ted Danza and Woody Haroldson were
arguing back and forth over the usual
comical satire. Kirstie Alley was standing
there facing both men as they bantered.
'She is an attractive woman', I said out
loud.
Ted looked at the t.v. 'Who, her?' 'Yeah,
I said. I know she don't look quite like
that now, what with her weight battle,
but she sure is a beautiful woman.
Ted rolled his eyes and said, 'Whatever.
Now Shannon Elizabeth... She's a fox!'
Ted said with some excitement.
'I don't know who that is', I reported.
'Oh she's that smokin' hot brunette in
the movie 'American Pie'. She plays a
foreign exchange student. I got some
things I'd like to exchange with her', Ted
said, gyrating his hips.
'Take it easy there Don Juan', I said
jokingly, finishing the contents of the
beer can.
'You want another one?' Ted asked.
'Sure, why not', I answered.
I opened the can and asked, 'So, about
your Aunt. Does she hold any position
in the county?'
'Yeah man. The Mayor made her
Chairwoman of the Lottery Commission',
Ted answered.
'Hmm. Lottery, Huh? I didn't know Arizona
had a lottery'. I told Ted.
'Oh. Well, It's just a local lottery. Just for
our town. No one really knows about it,
except for the residents in Polyandrion'.
Ted explained, nervously looking at his
beer can, and at me.
'Does the winnings come out of the
county coffers?' I asked.
'I don't know man. I've never won, and I've
had to participate 5 times'. Ted said,
figiting with his beer can.
'Wait, what?' I asked, in disbelief.
'They make you partake in the lottery?'
I added.
'Well, Yeah man. Everyone has to partake
in the lottery when it comes up'. Ted
continued. I've never known anyone that
has won though, so I don't know what
the reward is'.
'Who arranged all this, the Mayor?' I asked.
'Yeah', Ted answered.
'Whats the Mayor's name?' I asked again.
'His name Is Wilbur'. Ted chucked, 'But
he likes everyone to call him 'Will'.
Wilbur Sozabee. I don't know what my
Aunt sees in him. He's ugly and fat and
he's an asshole!' Ted said with disgust.
I thought to myself, how strange is this.
What is this mayor guy up to? A secret
lottery? And for what purpose?
I felt like I just read a scary part in a book
as I got an eerie feeling thinking about
what possibilities could exist.
I didn't want Ted to clam up, so I changed
the subject.
'Any female prospects, Ted?' I asked, after
taking another sip of beer.
'What do you mean?' Ted asked with a
confused look on his face.
'You know. Future girlfriends'. I explained.
'Well... There's this one chick down at
the bowling alley I like. I think she kinda
likes me. She comes up and talks to me
Everytime I go bowling'. Ted said, as the
look on his face changed to a somewhat
happy look.
'Oh yeah? Well, what's her name?' I asked
sharing in Ted's excitement.
'Michelle man. She's a doll!' Ted said, as
he pounded the last of his third beer.
Standing up, he said, 'I gotta take a wizz
man, can I use your pisser?'
'Sure, but don't make a mess', I said.
Ted disappeared and I got up to throw
the empty beer cans away. I went back to
my easy chair and packed a fresh bowl
Of Cherry tobacco.

{Continue}

© Michael W. Taylor