|
Tonight was Wednesday night, the night of the week that my
wife has her Avon party with the women from
the neighborhood.
Stopping here, at the pub, every
Wednesday, I eat and have a few beers while waiting for the
women to go home. The pub is only about six blocks from the
house. (I can not see myself sitting there, watching them
smell different perfumes and trying different shades of
lipstick and eye makeup.)
As I finished my meal and drank my
second beer, I noticed a man (just a few years older than
me) come in the pub. (I was not a young man, myself.) His
clothes were filthy, not just dirty! His hair was down in
his eyes. His face had not seen a razor in months. His
hands were not much cleaner.
Sure enough, he came over to my table, licked his lips, and
asked if I would buy him a beer. He slid onto the bench,
not even waiting for a 'yes' or 'no'.
I motioned for the waitress to bring
him a glass of beer. He hollered at the waitress, telling
her to make it a double. He just nodded his thanks and it
was gone in two gulps. I wondered how much this was going
to cost me. About 10 beers later, he started talking and
sobbing ... wiping his eyes with a napkin and using his
sleeve to wipe his nose.
(We all need someone to talk to. But,
why me?)
He started
telling me how he had been where I was now. He said, by the
suit and tie I was wearing, I must be an executive of some
sort. He pointed to his jacket and pants ~ saying they use
to be a suit, some time ago.
He had been married to a beautiful
woman; had two lovely children, a nice home that was paid
for, and a good job. There was nothing money could not buy
that he would not have gotten them, no matter what the
price.
When he got off work, he would stop at
a place like this, have a few beers (maybe two or three).
Then, he would go home and be late for supper. The next
night, the same thing. Finally, it got to be all night.
When he
decided to go home, there was no home anymore. He put his
key in the door. But, it would not open. He knocked on the
door. She opened it and told him he was not needed there
anymore. She told him to go back to the bar, his beer, and
his friends. But, there were no friends, no job either.
There was a moment of silence.
Looking at my watch while being
sarcastic, I told him I had a home to go to ... and
a family.
As I got up, he did too.
I paid for his free beers and said,
"Goodnight."
He said, "Mister, I would like to show
you my home. It??™s only a few blocks away."
I thought for a moment and said, "Ok,"
feeling sorry for the guy.
As we got outside, I asked which way
and he pointed in the direction that I had to go. We walked
a few blocks and turned another direction. Funny, the same
way for me.
We walked another couple of blocks and
he started slowing down. I asked him what was wrong.
He said we were getting close to the
house and he did not want her to see him, as she would call
the police. (I was telling myself that this was just a
coincidence, that we lived on the same street.) I asked him
where he had lived. He pointed and said, "Over there."
I followed his arm and it followed to my house. I told him
he was crazy, that was my house.
He just smiled and said, "Was."
I ran across the street, put my keys in
the door, and stopped. Then, I began praying that my key
would open the door. It did! As the door opened, I heard
my wife tell the kids that Daddy was home.
I knelt down and hugged them tightly.
Then, I stood up and embraced my wife, holding her close to
me so that she could never get away, ever.
Next, I turned around and looked out
the front door. Across the street, in the shadows, I could
see the man smile, wave, and walk away.
?© 1994 by
Robert H. Gilbert, Jr.
RGBLUEBOY@aol.com
http://www.geocities.com/rgblueboy/StoryPoetryPage.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~
*** ~~~ ***
If you like Starfish, please recommend it to your friends
and help us grow.
~~~~~Important Information~~~~~
To subscribe to Starfish, visit our web site at
www.ripplemaker.com, click
on "Starfish" and then click on "Subscribe"
**** **** ****
To cancel your subscription, send a message to: starfish@ripplemaker.com
with "Cancel Starfish" in the subject
**** **** ****
To contribute a story for starfish, send it to: Starfish@Ripplemaker.com
**** **** ****
To view archives (past issues), click on "Read Archived
Stories" from the
Starfish Page at www.ripplemaker.com
**** **** ****
If you encounter a problem, please send e-mail to me at
Starfish@
Ripplemaker.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today.
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher |
