“Now what on earth did you do that
for!?” Ray yelled at Bob.
Bob was a new comer in this
company. He tried hard to make a good
impression on everyone. He actually was
quite successful; many people liked him—except Ray, one of the supervisors.
In fact, Ray yelled at anyone who
crossed his way.
“Sorry, sir, I…” Bob struggled to
explain, “I didn’t…I wasn’t….”
“I’ve said a thousand times, if not
a million: do not leave anything on my god damn microwave! Now get rid of your god damn coffee from
there, would ya?”
“Sorry, yes, I’m sorry; I didn’t mean
to…” Bob left the room with his damn coffee.
Outside, some people looked at Bob
with a strange mix of smirk and sympathy.
“You’ve met the king, haven’t you?” Adam, a co-worker, came over and patted
Bob’s shoulder.
“What’s his deal?” Bob lowered his
voice, still looked at Ray’s direction.
“Don’t worry, he’s not really a bad
guy; his bark is way worse than his bite.
It’s just his personality. You’ll
get used to it in no time. I promise.”
“I’ve never seen anyone like that,”
Bob’s eyes were still wide open.
“Welcome to the company.” Adam patted
him again on his back.
“I’ve heard he wasn’t this bad
before his first wife divorced him.” Amanda, another co-worker, added.
“I heard differently,” Adam said, “his
first wife divorced him because of his temper.”
“When I heard he got married again I
almost fell off my chair!” Amanda said.
“That brave woman! Somebody
should give her a medal.”
“It won’t last,” Adam sneered.
“Well, it’s been 8 years.” Amanda
shrugged.
“Unbelievable.” Bob shook his head,
took a sip of his coffee.
Ray was glad that Bob was
straightened out. Now he was going to
enjoy his favorite double cheeseburger. After this burger I’ll hit the gym; I
promise. He told himself. He was in his 50s. His hairline was receding, and his belly was
blocking his view to his toes. He knew
he should exercise more, and he always told himself tomorrow he would
definitely do it.
Just when he was about to take the
first bite, his office phone rang. He
grudgingly picked it up. “What?”
“Ray? What’s up?” The voice sounded pleasant. It was his cousin Zach.
“What do you want?” Ray
sniffed.
“Nothing, just to say hi.”
“Spit it out.”
“OK, ok, I’m just wondering…you
know, my lawn mower just broke this morning, and my neighbor is out of town;
since you guys are coming to visit tomorrow, can I borrow yours?”
Ray rolled his eyes. Please,
he’s so cheap! Last time I used his coffeemaker
and now he’s trying to get even? “Well,
Zach, I’m not sure…”
“Why not?”
“I’ll have to ask Allison.”
“I thought you’re the only one using
it.”
“You know what? I’m having lunch here, why don’t you call
back later?”
“Oh, well, ok…”
“Bye.” He hung up right away. Yea
right, let you use my stuff, like that will happen. I’ll deal with it later. Ray took a huge
bite of his burger and sighed with relief.
Ray was staring at his watch and counting:
ten, nine, eight… At the moment it turned 5 o’clock, Ray instantly walked out
of his office with his briefcase and a lunch box. There was another cheeseburger inside for him
to enjoy on the way home.
He walked out of the gate, expecting
he would see Allison waiting for him already.
His car broke down a week ago, and for a week Allison had been
faithfully waiting for him right on time.
He specifically told her to pick him up right at 5. Not one minute late. Five.
But today Allison wasn’t there. He frowned.
He sat down on a bench right outside the company building.
“What’s up, Ray? What are you doing here?” Adam walked out of
the door.
“Waiting for my wife.”
“What happen to your car?”
“In the auto shop. It just wouldn’t start.”
“Sorry man. You need a ride?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Of course.”
“Ok, I’ll leave you alone then. See you later.”
Ray waited a bit longer. She’s
terribly late. She must have
forgotten. I knew it; I knew sooner or
later it’s gonna happen. She’s so
forgetful. Ray checked his watch
again. 5:03.
Holding the lunch box, he lost his
appetite. How could she let me wait here?
For such a long time? Ray
reached to his pocket and took out his cell phone. He was debating whether to call her or
not. The problem: he purchased the
cheapest phone plan—$2 per day for unlimited calls, and no charge at all if not
making or receiving any call that day.
He hadn’t made or received any call yet.
I’m not gonna throw away $2 just
for her mistake. I’m gonna wait. And she
better shows up quick.
It wasn’t until 5:15 that Ray realized
that she might not come at all. All the
other co-workers were gone, and there was nobody he knew around. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of walking
home: it was a 2-mile walk; the sun was shining above, and the air was dusty. He started cursing. For
Christ’s sake, she just doesn’t care; I’ll bet right at this moment she’s in
salon doing her hair, or in the mall shopping and enjoying herself. I’ll bet she fucking totally forgot about me.
This is so typical of her.
5:29. Ray finally got up. Ok, enough
of this shit, I’ll walk; I’m always the one who sacrifices anyway. When she sees me she’ll know how guilty she
is.
He started
walking home.
It really wasn’t a pleasant
walk. It was cold that morning so Ray
brought a jacket. Now it was too warm,
but it was easier to put that damn jacket on because he already had his
briefcase and a ridiculously big lunchbox in his hands. Merely 5 minutes into the walk, the heat
caught between the jacket and his body was already boiling; the up-and-down
road surely wasn’t helping the situation.
Holding that lunchbox not only annoyed him, but also made him look stupid. He cursed some more.
Some dogs barked
from distance. Ray was never a dog
person; especially big dogs. Whenever he
sees a big dog his heart pounds. I hope they’ve locked their dogs. It sounds like too far to be a threat though,
guess I’m safe anyway.
But the dogs
barked some more. Wait, it’s way closer now. Ray’s
neck muscles tensed. He looked to his
right. Two huge dogs as big as lions were
running toward him. He could see their white
fangs. Ray totally froze; in fact, he
was paralyzed. There was nobody around,
and it was literally impossible for him to outrun these dogs. He had only one thought: oh Fuck! I’m gonna die!
Before he could move a muscle, the
two lions were already right in front of him.
Their mean look turned to curiosity, their barking was replaced by
sniffing. He let them did whatever they
wanted. About 5 seconds later they lost
their interest and sniffed the grass instead.
Ray almost soiled his pants, but he
managed to keep walking.
Some cars zoomed
by. Several drivers glanced at him. Fine,
just ignore me, or better yet, look at me like I’m a clown. Don’t offer any help.
Suddenly, a car
turned around. A middle-aged man in the
car rolled down the window. “Hey man,
where’re you going?”
“…Fairview street.” Ray uttered.
“Want a ride?”
He hesitated. What
does he want? Why’s he acting nice? What’s the catch? “…I’ll walk.”
The guy nodded and drove away.
When Ray finally got home, it was 6:
26. He was puffing like an old dog and
sweating like a pig. The garage was
empty. Fine, she must be looking for me now.
Let her panic. She should be
sorry.
He opened the door. To his surprise, Allison was sitting on the
sofa. Her eyes and nose were red. She stood up: “Why are you so late? Is everything ok?”
What
the shit is this? She hasn’t realized
her mistake? “You forgot to pick me
up!” Ray grumbled.
“Why should I pick you up? You drove the car to work this morning.”
Ray paused.
“I’m sick so I took a day off,
remember?” She sniffed.
“I…” Suddenly, his mind totally went
blank. Then everything was clear:
right! He was the one who drove the car
this morning! Now the car was parking in
the company’s parking lot. Shit!
Shit, shit, and shit! How could I
be so stupid?
“Oh my gosh, so you walked home!?”
Allison’s eyes wide open. “Look at you…
oh my, your shirt is soaked! Why don’t
you take that off and sit down? You want
some water?”
“No… I mean, yes.” Ray said
sheepishly.
“Why didn’t you call?” She handed
him the water.
“I… uh, I…” he couldn’t find a
reason to tell her.
His cell phone rang. He picked it up. “Yes?”
“Hi Ray, Zach here. So… did you ask Allison about the lawn mower?”
“What Lawn mower?” The phone was
loud, Allison overheard it and was puzzled.
“Yes, you can borrow it.” Ray said
weakly.
“Really? Thanks man!
So you’ll bring it tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Great! Thanks!
You’re the man, Ray!”
He hung up.
“So…you have to walk back to get the
car? You still need to work tomorrow.”
Ray feebly nodded.
“Well, think of it this way: you’ve
got all the exercise you need for today.
Maybe for this week.” Allison giggled.
Ray laughed too, though it looked more like sobbing.
To think that he had to walk another
2 miles of uphill and downhill, to face that two stupid lion dogs again, and to
bear the heat once more, Ray was completely numbed. That
was totally, fucking stupid. Usually
when shitting things happened, Ray was able to find someone or something to
blame. He was quite talented at it. But no luck this time.
He got up and dragged himself to the
door. He had to walk back right away,
and he had to be quick before it got really, really dark. They lived in countryside, and there were
very few streetlights.
When he opened the door and looked
at the road extended far away, seemingly into the sky, he shook his head with
only one thought in his mind.
That
was totally, fucking stupid. What can
possibly be worse?
Then he
realized: the phone call. It just cost him
$2.
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