It was still raining at around 1:00am so I left the ditch and walked towards town there was this new building going up and I remember seeing it with a roof on it and a lot of empty beams. Inside was warm, dry, windless this was heaven and I even found a cardboard box to crawl into. I had never done this before but my body heat warmed the interior of the box to a toasty level and hardly any noise passed threw the walls of that card board coffin and I slept like I haven’t slept in years no fear of my father, warm, drying, dreaming of better things away from prying eyes. The routine had become survival, every morning there was a knock on the outside of the box and a security guard would tell me it’s time to go the workers are coming in. Four days with out food and now the building had walls that I could not enter, guess it was time to move; I really might die out here, that’s what I finally began to think. No way in hell, I would never let that man bask in the glory of being able to say “see He couldn’t do it with out me.”
As I walked across town there it was an oasis well really it was a pizza joint (Dominos) as I sat across the street and watched young drivers my age rushing in and out I thought about eating. Summing all my nerve I walked in and asked to see the manager, a young red headed man of 19 walked out and said “can I help you” “are you hiring “ I replied “I have never made a pizza but I know what its supposed to taste like”. Russ Logan was his name and he cracked a smile and said come to the back and fill out an application and have a soda and some pizza. Russ went to the store and purchased me a razor and comb while I ate a whole pizza and drank several sodas filling out that form. I worked that same night, mopping and washing dishes as he talked to me about his life, his state of Washington, and his family almost as if he could………………. see me. As all the drivers were leaving and he sat there counting out the money for deposit he looked at me and said do you have a place to stay? I laughed “hell I didn’t even have a job before tonight” “you can stay here if you want nobody shows up till 10:00am and it’s only me to open the store and tomorrow we’ll get you a key” Russ stated. This the second man to save my life and notice that I was human still.
Chapter 2
I am Invisible Now
A month had passed and I was now able to deliver in the company car, driving was kind of a freedom but never once did I think about going by my old house and seeing my father, I hated him like no one before. One night after work I went to the late night movies across town the walk was long but with a place to come back to I probably could have walked forever. Movies were great, an escape from reality, and a visual dream. I went there often, so often that the manager used to let me in free sometimes and get me all the popcorn I wanted I was even allowed up stairs in the film room. Sitting next to the giant reels as they spun that golden dream world for me to get lost in …it reminded me of being king of the world again.
One evening I went next door to the theater another frequented place the arcade out side pinball heaven was an older VW bug with a kid sitting on the hood smoking, I walked towards him and asked for a cigarette. I asked his name “john” he said with a wisp of smoke exiting his mouth and nose at the same time, throwing a cancer stick at me. “Thanks I’m Rodney, you live around here john,” I inquired. “Nope I’m homeless “and in rebuttal I laughed and stated “yea, me to “ as I plinked my butt down on the hood next to him. In truth he wasn’t homeless he just used that as a pickup line so the girls would feel sorry for him (in his own words) we hung out that night eating popcorn, drinking soda’s and polishing off packs of smokes till the sun was peeking up over the valleys mountains. He said you want to crash at my place I really live with my parents and of course I agreed, my second best sleep in years.
That afternoon John introduced me to his parents, they were great John told them that I was kicked out of my house and they said that I could stay with them I just had to follow the house rules (I had to work, tell them were I was at all times and no smoking in the house) easy enough but Papa K (Mama K & Papa K had become there names to me so much so that to this day I can not remember there first names), John and myself, well we seemed to break the smoking rule as often as possible. Often we would sit next to the window in our room and blow the smoke out throw the screen Mama K knew what we were doing now that I look back and remember, she would knock on the door and only speak through it never coming in (as not to bust us) john broke out the Lysol and sprayed the air with it every time (I bet she was chuckling on the other side of the door.)