Jumping at shadows
ost of the times I just kind of stand in front of the shower (facing it), my head tilted
down at a forty-five degree angle. I just let the water flow down my hair, making it a
prostrate, minor waterfall.
But today was, of course, one of those days. I stood with my back to the shower, with the water scalding hot, burning my back. My eyes were closed at six-thirty, in the shower, an obvious bad sign. Those were the days when I was most tired, when I didn�t wait for myself to wake up before stepping into the burning rain.
The first thing I remember doing today was wrapping the cool, moist towel around my shoulders and putting on my clothes. I was sweating, of course, and it was hard not too�
That was when I heard the knocking at my door. �One minute, I�m in the shower,� I yelled. I listened closely for the reply, to identify the voice, but I didn�t hear anything.
I opened the door to the restroom and stepped outside, saying, �Just a sec.� � I wiped my moustache with my shirt-sleeve, dampening it, then walked to the door.
I went to the door. �You know you just caught me, I was about to step out��
There was no one at the door. I placed my right hand on the side of my head and used my index finger to scratch my bald spot. I reached down and grabbed the morning paper.
Tossing it onto my couch, I took my key and left the house, after locking the door. It was Saturday morning, I was just walking to the grocery store to buy some tomatoes and chicken.
The walk to the store ended up being, of course, anything but routine.
�Hey.�
I heard a voice whisper at my shoulder.
I froze. Somebody snuck up on me�(pretty childish).
�I got a job for you.�
�What? Who are you? I don�t even know you. You must have the wrong person.� I started to walk towards the �Giant� Supermarket. Suddenly, I felt a violent pull on my shoulder and I was spun around to face the bizarre man wearing a trench coat�how spy-ish!�like an idiot at seven in the morning. �Excuse me, sir, but do I know you? Can you please get your hands off me!�
�I said I got a job for you.�
�Look, pal, you must have made some kind of mistake or some��
�Are you or aren�t you James Emery, 38, 25 Trenton Street, apt 08-10 Social security number��
�Who the hell are you?� I asked with my eyes wide in anger and surprise. I started cracking my knuckles one at a time as I did whenever I was nervous.
�Be by the third dumpster behind Food Lion at eight tonight. We know what you did, but we�ll let you off if you help us out just this once��
�What? What did I do�� And he was gone.
The thirteen hours till the meeting went by so slow that I was counting seconds, just like I used to do during Algebra�
When I finally got there I realized that I was fifteen minutes early. I started walking around the dumpster in hopes of catching the mystery man before he snuck up on me again. If they knew what I did�I may be in big trouble. I laughed, creating an echo in the alley, and thought about the silliness of the whole matter, and why the hell I was even there!
Suddenly I felt the wind knocked out of me as I was struck from behind. I whirled around to face some weird man, he was holding something in his hand, but it was dark, so I couldn�t tell. He tried to hit me again, but I ducked out of the way.
I swung my clenched fist at his head, and scored a direct hit. The man seemed shaken for a minute, but then he raised his arm�
The next thing I saw was the asphalt, up close and personal, as my face was pressed against it, the barrel of a gun in my neck. �What, I didn�t do anything, why�d you attack me��
�Shut up, who are you?�
�I�m just here to�pick up some groceries,� I said, stuttering each word. �See, I�ve just got fifteen dollars and you can have it all�I need tomatoes to make stew for my date��
My assailant somehow accepted this and let me up. �I thought you were gonna try and take my spot.�
What� I turned around, feeling up the bruise on my cheek, and saw my attacker in the light of the streetlamp, for the first time.. His face was tired and worn and dirtied. He was a homeless man, a street bum, brandishing nothing more sinister than an old, torn umbrella through which rain was bound to seep.
�Don�t take my spot.�
�All right,� I said, shaking my head in anger, �I won�t.� I looked down on the ground where I had just lain, and noticed the small cardboard shanty. I shook my head.
For the next ten minutes I paced the perimeter of the grocery store, watching for the slightest sign of the mystery man from this morning, not expecting to find anybody� stupid, you should have told the police instead of trying to be a hero�
What was that? I saw the shadow of a cat or small dog bob up and down in the hollow street-lights. My heart raced as I struggled to follow it. I rounded the bend of another alley and saw three trash cans and some overflowing trash bags. I lifted the lid� Meow!!!
My heart jumped practically out of my chest by the combination of the meow and the banging of the garbage cans as the cat landed on them and prepared to go after the small brown mouse. Then, all of a sudden, a large shadow covered the mouse�
Oh my god, not again, I thought as I was spun around just like in the morning, but this time I lost my footing and landed on my cheek�again�on the beautiful asphalt.
�To be in this business you gotta learn to watch for people sneaking up on you.�
�What business, I don�t want to��
�Yes you do, or you wouldn�t have come here.�
I shut up.
�Here, take this��he smiled wickedly��you�ll need it.�
The pistol he held out to me was small and sleek looking. I took it obediently, and pointed it at the trash cans, just like James Bond would�
What the hell am I doing? Stupid son of a bitch.
�Get in the car.�
Obviously, he was right about me, I was gullible.
We drove for about a half an hour and when we exited the car we were at an abandoned warehouse�just like in the movies!
�Okay, you guard the door�with the gun�while I go in and�well let�s just say you�re on a need to know basis�and, well, you don�t need to know.�
Son of a bitch, keeping me out of the loop.
He disappeared into the warehouse. After about five minutes I noticed a car driving up. I got down on one knee and pointed the gun at the car. I was in the shadows, so they didn�t see me. Three men�three very large men�exited the car and walked towards me. Cowering from fear, I ran behind the corner of the warehouse, where I could see them but they couldn�t see me. They slowly approached the door.
They came within fifty meters of the door. I waited.
Forty meters, I adjusted my grip on the gun.
Thirty meters, I fidgeted with the trigger guard, fingering it like it was the trigger.
Twenty�they�re not stopping.
Ten meters! I raised the gun and aimed at the lead man.
They were at the door.
The lead man tried the door with his hand: locked.
He reached into a side pocket and pulled out a gun.
The shot was louder than I had ever expected, or imagined from my movies.
The man opened the door and as he was halfway through, I aimed and shot. I hit him in the leg�my first time ever using a gun! The lead man grabbed his leg with his left hand and crouched, drawing his larger gun with his right hand. All three men, very professionally, knelt down and provided enough fire to take out a Los Angeles high school.
Approximately the twentieth shot nailed me in the left arm, and I quieted an urge to scream. The pain was unbearable. I�d just received a parking ticket, I thought, why me? I cowered down to the ground and dragged my legs out of the line of fire. Safely behind the corner, sitting, I breathed deeply many times, and decided to make a run for it. Through the intense and unbridled pain simmering in my left forearm, I managed to lean on both arms and perch myself up; I eventually stood. I looked at the other end of the squarish warehouse�deserted, I hope. The garish light that shone on the broken windows provided the only illumination for my midnight flight. I was running so hard I could hear my heart beating. The funny orange lights would get brighter and dimmer as I slowly drifted�But the ticket was only thirty-five dollars�why�
With a look of anguish on my face�and in my very thoughts�I could have sworn
I heard gunfire. It was so loud, how could anyone miss it.
I looked back and looked for the three men. With the orange light I couldn�t see their gunshots, or them for that matter. I squinted for a better look. I didn�t see anything. Breathing a sigh of relief, I decided they�d gone in the warehouse and decided to take a rest. Siesta time. I leaned my tired and worn body up against the warehouse wall.
For some reason I thought I heard the gunshots again, but this time they were closer. I looked over again and felt a sharp pain�
