I have been riding this bus from downtown Liberty out to the edge of the city for nearly two years now so I barely noticed when two drugged out homeless dudes began fighting. They were apparently pushed to all out combat over some random piece of trash on the ground that they both found great value in, for some reason. The full story was not readily available, and probably not even the same if it were to be presented from both perspectives. It didn’t matter anyways, this was a common occurrence, once the drugs take hold, a thing didn’t have to make sense or even be real in order to obtain a life or death importance.
I ignored them for the most part, I was more interested in the line of
black SUVs that had just flew past the bus in the opposite direction,
heading into the city. They didn’t look like cops, but they certainly
looked official. I couldn’t say for sure who they were but my
imagination was rapidly coming up with several scenarios. I was
pondering the possibilities of terrorist attacks and alien invasions
when the driver made the short announcement that my stop was next. I
stood up and pushed my way past the now tiring combatants, who were each
lying half in the aisle in a semi-conscious stupor. I got to the exit
doors at the midsection of the bus just as they opened and stepped off
into the small parking lot of Stop and Go. The Stop and Go is the gas
station where I have worked for the past two years, it wasn’t great but
it did pay the bills and I was able to get free soda and candy bars,
also it was really easy and I am a huge fan of really easy.
The
gas station is located on the edge of the city which meant that
generally the only people that stopped here were either arriving in
Liberty or leaving Liberty. Given the staggering crime rate, a person
arriving in Liberty upon their own free will was rare. For the same
reason, anyone that had the means to leave Liberty would most likely be
doing so by plane, and would probably never be returning. I’m pretty
sure in fact that most of the cars that did come through here were
packed down with drugs or weapons of some sort. Once I punched the clock
I seldom ventured out to the parking and fueling areas. I was content
to stay in my little bullet proof room, punch some buttons and keep my
attention on the small television under the counter and out of the
business of anyone who might have business outside.
There
was only a single car fueling up as I got off the bus and as I walked
into the building they were pulling out leaving the parking lot empty,
just as I liked it. I nodded to John as I passed the counter and went
into the back room to punch in.
“ Hey Tommy.” John acknowledged.
John
worked the day shift almost everyday, he was the employee that I saw
most but we rarely spoke more than a few necessary words, which suited
me just fine. He was in his sixties, older than my parents, and I really
doubted that we had any thing in common. The second I had punched in
and counted my drawer John was out the door and gone. Ten after six and I
was left to my own thoughts and my small television. It would be dark
in a few hours and I could count on a relatively quiet night until two
when my shift is over.
I
was thinking of the different possibilities I had to pass the time when
I remembered the black SUV”s. I quickly turned on the little television
and flipped to the news, but they were only covering the usual
robberies and drug crimes. I figured that meant it was either nothing or
that it was even more top secret than I could possibly imagine.
“Oh well” I said to myself, time to get a soda and a candy bar and settle in for a long quiet night.
Ten
O ‘clock presented me with my first customers both at the same time.
The first walked into the store, as the second was pulling up to the gas
pumps. The first guy walked up and down each aisle looking at
everything. He was acting kind of funny but in this town most people
acted kind of funny, and I decided not to worry about it. Finally after
seemingly examining every item on the shelves he made two quick
decisions grabbing a bottle of water and a large bag of chips and
brought them to the counter. As I was ringing him up, the second
customer who had already paid for his gas with a debit card at the pump
came in and asked to use the restroom. I pointed him to the back and
took the first guys money, as he handed it to me his hand rested in mine
for a moment and I noticed that his skin was unusually cold but also
sweaty. I pulled my hand back quickly, I thought I should ask the guy if
he was alright but then decided I didn’t really want to know. He took
his things, thanked me and walked right out to the second guy’s car, got
in and went squealing out of the parking lot.
I
can’t say I was surprised that a car had been stolen in Liberty but I
definitely wasn’t expecting what I had just saw. About a minute later
the second customer and now previous owner of the car, walked out of the
bathroom looked out to the parking lot, took a few seconds to register
what happened and then proceeded to fly into hysterics. I took that as
my cue to call the police, mostly as a way to put off talking to him for
just a little longer. After the phone call I did my best to deal with
the distraught man. I said all the things I could think to say except,
why the heck did you leave your keys in the car you idiot!
It
took about forty five minutes for the cops to arrive. The man who had
his car stolen rushed out to meet them, finally leaving me in peace. At
this point I was trying to return to my lonely little world but I was
just positive that soon I would be pulled back in to give my version of
events. Sure enough about fifteen minutes later I was dragged from my
little fortress of solitude behind the counter by the first police
officer who had arrived. She was older than me by probably ten years or
so but she was still fairly attractive. The second police officer who
had arrived a few minutes after was still outside talking to the victim.
“ Hello Sir, I’m Officer Gray, you saw what happened?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, what is your full name please?”
“Tommy Marek.”
“Alright, you want to tell me what you saw tonight Tommy?”
I
brushed my hair back and organized my thoughts. I felt a little uneasy,
I didn’t have a problem with cops, actually I had tried to become a cop
once, about eight years ago but had got kicked out of the academy for
cheating on a written test. I’m sure that is where my uneasiness came
from. It seemed like a long time ago and a lot had changed, I was a
completely different person now. I wasn’t a criminal or anything but I
certainly would never want to be a cop now, that part of me was long
gone.
“Sure,
well the guy who took the car, he came in first, you know, walked up
and down all the aisles for awhile. Then as that guy came in to use the
restroom,” I said pointing to the guy outside, “The other guy went out,
got in the guy’s car and flew outta here, smoking the tires all the way
to the street”
“Did you see which way he went? Did he go back into the city or did he get on the highway?”
“ Yeah, he got on the highway, going north towards the mountains” I said.“ We need to see the security camera footage.”
“ Well actually we have been harassing the owner about that for a while.” I told her, “Those things haven’t worked for about two months now. As bad as the crime rate is in this city you think he would be more inclined to fix them but, nope. Sorry.”
“Of course.” she seemed annoyed by the news but didn’t say as much, “Can you tell us what the guy looked like?”
“Uh, yeah. he was about six foot, white, clean shaven, he was wearing a hoodie and had it pulled up but i could tell his hair was cut very short. Also when I took his money I noticed his skin was very cold, but also he was kind of sweaty, you know like he was sick or something.”
“He was wearing a hoodie? It’s like 75 degrees outside?
“Yeah, I thought it was a little off myself, but he was also acting weird and like I said his skin was real cold, you know, so I just figured he was on drugs or sick, or something, you know. We get a lot of that around here.”
“Yeah you’re telling me, well alright, that is all I have for you, let us know if you think of anything else. Have a good night”
“Uh, thanks, you too.” I said as she was walking out.She gave a small laugh. “That isn’t very likely.”
“ Oh, yeah, well, right. Ok well stay safe then” I said, but she was out the door already and I’m not sure if she heard me.
The rest of my night was uneventful and at two Greg showed up and I followed the example John had set and as soon as Greg had punched in and counted his drawer I was out of there. I thought that maybe I should at least mention the night’s events but then decided not to, I didn’t like Greg much and didn’t want to get stuck talking to him. What did he need to know for anyways. Ten minutes later I was heading back home, into the heart of the city on a mostly empty bus. I wasn’t exhausted or anything but I was definitely tired, more than usual, tonight had been more hectic than most nights and I was ready to go to bed.
