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Lucky
Day By Roy L. Pickering Jr. |
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Some
days you can just do no wrong, thought Dan as he headed towards his
girlfriend's apartment. And
for him, today happened to be one of them
His lucky streak started off first
thing in the morning. The
radio station he listened to as he dressed for work was giving away
concert tickets to see his idol, Bruce Springsteen.
All he needed to do was be caller number ninety five.
He had a better shot at parting the Red Sea.
The D.J. picked up on the first
ring. Dan would be sitting
front row center. He had never
even tried to win anything from the radio before, but since it was the
Boss, he figured it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.
That figuring had turned out to be extremely understated.
The day whisked by as Dan basked in
the glow of his good fortune. Plus
it was an abbreviated one, because he needed to leave work early to make
an appointment with his doctor. Before
going to the subway station, he went into the supermarket around the
corner from his job. Dan had a
ritual to perform.
Every day after work, Dan would
come here and head straight towards the gumball machine.
It was filled with miniature replicas of NFL football helmets.
Dan had been putting quarters into it for the last six months, but
to no avail. He never got the
helmet of his favorite team, the Green Bay Packers.
Dan stood before his mechanical
nemesis and fished through his pockets.
He knew he shouldn't be doing this.
Dan would have to borrow five dollars to be considered broke, yet
he spent every day squandering precious coins.
He promised himself that this would be the last time.
One quarter was all that Dan found
in his pocket. It no doubt
could have been put to better use, such as helping to reduce his growing
pile of dirty laundry at home, but nevertheless he kissed it to God just
as he used to do with dropped candy when he was a boy.
Then he placed George Washington’s profile into the allotted
slot. One twist of his wrist
and out came the plastic bubble.
Unbelievable!
The helmet of the Green Bay Packers.
There was no denying it now. This
was definitely his lucky day.
A short while later, Dan got off
the train and headed towards his doctor's office.
He repeatedly tossed his prize into the air, alternating between
his two hands. Toss it with
the right, catch it with the left. Toss
it with the left, catch it with the right. A block away from his
destination, he misjudged a toss and the plastic bubble rolled under a
parked car. As he bent down to
pick it up, his eye noticed a green piece of paper.
A fifty dollar bill!
Lady luck definitely had the hots for him today.
Dan was a man unaccustomed to such
favorable fortune. Not that he
considered life to have given him less than he deserved, but it certainly
had not given him more. Not
like his old friend Rick, who must have been born under the right star or
something. Over
the years, everything from good grades to beautiful women to financial
riches to inexplicable talent at a variety vocations was afforded to Rick.
He excelled at everything he attempted, no matter how little effort
he exerted or concern he held for the task.
Rick was always in the right place, it was always the right time
for him. He was adored by all
whose paths he crossed, as if they sensed that they were in the presence
of someone who had been touched by divinity.
As much as Dan admired the feats and triumphs of his friend, he
would have loved to beat Rick in something just once, to do a single thing
better, longer, faster, or first.
Two hours later, Dan was confronted with his least favorite aspect
of living in New York City - rush hour on the subway.
Dan could think of preferable places to be.
War torn Iraq, for example. Attica
would suffice. As long as he
wasn't in a hurry and his destination was less than thirty blocks away, he
usually walked. But there were
ninety blocks between the starting line of his doctor's office and finish
line of his girlfriend's apartment.
He did have fifty dollars in his
pocket, so he could have taken a cab.
But those guys often did not have change for a big bill, and Dan
didn't want to squander any of his new found cash just yet.
He decided to be frugal and endure the subway at the unholy hour of
5:00 in the afternoon.
A train pulled in just as Dan arrived on the platform.
The doors opened and the masses squeezed into the already filled
car like a nostalgic, beer bellied, forty year old man trying to fit into
his high school baseball uniform. Dan
was exhausted. The doctor had
put him through quite a work-out. He
would have given anything to be seated, instead of hanging from a
straphanger like a side of beef in an over-packed meat locker.
Then a miracle happened.
For whatever reason, the person seated directly in front of him
chose to get up. There were no
senior citizens or pregnant women in sight to guilt Dan out of it. So he
swiftly dropped into the seat, pleased as a baby drawing milk from his
mother.
When he arrived at his girlfriend’s door, Dan reached into his
pocket and retrieved the spare key she had recently given him.
This was as sure a sign as could be given that a relationship was
getting serious. Dan couldn't
have been any happier about it. He
was crazy about Sharon.
She wasn't expecting him.
Dan usually called before he came over, especially since her home
doubled as her place of business, but today he hadn't.
He had something important to tell her, and wanted to do all
talking face to face. Besides,
he didn't have any change on him to place the call.
One day he would have to invest in a cell phone.
But only out of absolute necessity, not because it was the trendy
thing to do as he suspected was the reason why more than half of them were
purchased. He certainly saw no
purpose to buying one that also served as a camera, stereo, television,
fax machine, and massager. There
was such a thing as being too inventive in Dan’s opinion.
Alexander Graham Bell pretty much nailed it when he created the
first telephone. Push buttons
were a nice improvement over dialing.
Beyond that, the bombardment of additional features over the years
was pure overkill. Not
everything needed to be elaborate. Mankind
had lost its ability to appreciate the fine art of simplicity.
Dan entered his girlfriend’s
apartment and gave his plastic bubble a pleased gaze.
Sharon knew all about the crusade he had been undertaking to get
it. She would be happy for
him. Maybe he would celebrate
by taking her out to dinner. He
could certainly afford it now.
She was not in the living room or the kitchen, and the open
bathroom door revealed that it was also empty.
Either she had run out to take care of an errand, or else perhaps
she was taking a nap. Lately
it seemed she was always tired. Well,
not always. Just when he was
in the mood to make love.
The dual sounds reached his
ears just as his hand touched the doorknob to her bedroom.
Seconds later, his eyes confirmed what he thought he had heard and
desperately hoped he had not. Sharon
was moaning as she did only during the heights of passion, in this case,
courtesy of Rick.
Dan's first impulse was to rush in
and beat his friend to a pulp. How
could he do this to him? How
could she do this to him? How could they do this to each other?
And what was the name of that position they were in?
The mighty charge that Dan made
consisted of one step. It took
that long for him to remember that Rick spent hours in the gym building up
an impressive grouping of muscles, so therefore could twist him like a
pretzel if the occasion called for it.
Dan closed the door, leaving his
former best friend and best girl to do their business.
His heart felt leaden, his tear ducts threatened to erupt.
What a shame that something as pretty as love could turn out to be
so shabby and cruel.
Unable to think of anything else to
do, Dan walked away. With each
step, his sense of betrayal grew stronger.
He had confided in Rick many times about how much he cared for
Sharon. Rick already had a
gorgeous girlfriend of his own who was no less than a runway model.
And if he wanted to be with someone else, plenty of other women
were more than willing to volunteer their services.
He should have considered Sharon off limits.
Granted, he was unfamiliar with the concept of limitations on his
actions and achievements. Still,
there was no excuse for what Rick had done.
Maybe he could come to forgive
Sharon, though. It seemed
ridiculous to be considering such a thing, but Dan couldn't help it.
He was so madly in love with her that not even the sight of her in
carnal embrace with another man was enough to convince him that it was
over. It couldn't be over.
After all, he had cheated on her
too. His indiscretion had
taken place one month earlier and he had been beating himself up over it
ever since. The woman had been
so drunk, the opportunity given to Dan with such little effort on his
part, that he was regretfully unable to resist.
He had not been brave enough to confess his sin to Sharon, but
he’d done everything he could since then to make it up to her.
Maybe he was now receiving his just desserts.
Maybe he and Sharon could start over again with a clean slate.
Yes, perhaps he would forgive her.
But not Rick.
Not Mr. Physical Fitness, Mr. Casanova, Mr. Perfect.
No matter how much he possessed, he always wanted more.
And he always got it.
Dan took a moment to rein his resentment in.
It had not been easy to play the part of Rick’s best friend for
these many years without being consumed by envy.
Dan had been forced to master the art of not begrudging or coveting
the many bounties that came Rick’s way.
He learned to seek out the bright side of his own far less
impressive set of circumstances. And
after he hooked up with Sharon, there was no more reason to be jealous of
anyone. So
Dan managed to convince himself, just as he had done on many prior
occasions, that he was dwelling too much on the negative.
He reminded himself to recognize that things could certainly be
worse for him. He did after
all have a pair of tickets to Bruce Springsteen coming his way, and fifty
extra bucks were in his pocket, along with his treasured Packers' helmet.
To
top things off, there was the important news he had to share with Sharon,
the secret he had been about to reveal before finding her in such a
compromising position. Sooner
or later, she and Rick would both find out.
Dan's doctor had confirmed his suspicions.
He had contracted herpes. He
should have known there would be a price to pay for his single night of no
strings attached and no protection worn passion.
No doubt he had already given his burden to Sharon, which meant
that it was being transferred to Rick at this very moment.
Rick’s run of perfection would be coming to an end.
From now on, at least in one department, Rick would be no better
off than Dan. Some
would call it poetic justice, others an eye for an eye, and there were
those who would place it under the category of God's mysterious sense of
humor. Dan applied none of
these labels, for he knew full well what the reason was for this latest
turn of events. This
was his lucky day. |
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