jamie gets a life
(1520 words) by: arayna thomas
Damnit
Carl, who do you think you are to tell me what to do on my day off!
Jamie was so angry that he stormed off into the dark night without anything,
no money, no keys nothing, if a mugger decided to prey
on him the cops would find him alone in an alley and he would end up
with the john doe's, how depressing, and
it would all be carl's fault that self righteous cunt. Jamie walked
further and further, man was it dark, what time was it anyway. he tripped
over an empty bottle, a soft drink, fucking nutra-sweet, what was this
country coming to. was he ever going to be able to start a new life
in Paris, he'd been dreaming that dream for so long, he knew his plan
inside and out. and how close was he coming to it, the language set
that he'd bought on tv just sat in his bachelor apartment. That was
it! He would go home and listen to his CDs and clean up the living room,
then he would call Darrell and see if he was up for Nathanial's party
later that night. He was set and started walking with determination.
Once Jamie arrived at his apartment he felt a surge of energy. He grabbed
the first French disc set unwrapped the plastic and in one flash stuck
it in the player. As he listened and repeated he picked up linen and
dirty socks and a bunch of magazines he's been saving. He saw an article
about refurbishing carburetors as a side line to earn extra capital
and winced as he threw it into the waste basket. He made four trips
out to the dumpster at his apartment complex and filled up the trunk
of his car with old clothes and drove to the all night drop at the salvation
army. as he was driving he repeated some of the french phrases he'd
heard, ils es, il sont, elle es, elle sont formedable. It wasn't so
tough. He thought back over the night, to walking in the field. and
he remembered a flash of light in the sky, he'd thought at the time
it was his blood pressure but no it was a light a flash of light. When
he got home Darrell was sitting on the trunk of his car in Jamie's parking
space. Damnit why doesn't he park on the street Jamie thought, Jamie
waved. Darrell was drinking a beer, we going out man? Sure I'm up for
it.
A prostitute and homeless guy saw the flash too. They
were camping out in the park near the multiplex. Clairene, black
with very short hair and sporting a neon day glow bikini top and Paul
white with his hair grown out. Nearby Paul’s shopping cart full
of bottles and cans was parked in the sun giving off the faded smell
of 40 micro-brews combined.
“What was that Paul?”
“It might have been Jesus piloting an asteroid past the earth,
maybe the end of the world is coming.” It was bright and had red
in it.
”Don’t say things like that Paul,” Clairene pleaded.
“You’re trippin man.”
“I’m stone sober babe; do you have any suggestions as to
what it was?”
“I don’t know, do you think we’ll have enough money
to buy some peppermint schnapps?”
“Maybe later babe, let’s just lie here and enjoy the breeze.”
Jamie
sees Carl, “how dare he show up here,” he says to himself
and heads straight for the bottle buffet, a motley assortment of liqueur
with nothing under 50 proof. After a cursory perusal Jamie heads into
the kitchen with a bottle of Baileys. After a moment the sweet smell
of espresso drifts out over the heads of the congregation in line for
the keg. A few discerning noses lift toward the aroma.
Paul
and Clairene standout from the other side-walkers as they book it down
the street. Paul is pushing his cart industriously to keep up with Clairene.
As they walk they talk excitedly.
Jamie
is sipping his Bailies & coffee and talking to an attractive girl
with whose style is not quite goth, not quite new age bohemian. She
is not taking Jamie’s intended compliment well, “You think
I look like Frieda Khalo? She’s so ugly!” Jamie's
mind drifts from what the girl is saying to yesterday at the garage.
Currently Jamie works as a mechanic but he wants more. His boss
is such a shmuck. All he does is own a garage and collect rare
coins, what a life, how can he do it! I’ll never settle like him.
When he was young Jamie loved mythology and gems. He had
no idea at the time where gems came from except from pirates’s
chests. In reality if people saw photos of gem stones in the rough
they might not be as impressed, they look like growths, gross even. Like
warts of hard color on a course skin of stone. Jamie would have said
this girl had a mythical quality..but what was her problem? She seemed
so insecure. Did he dream that flash— what was it? He’d
never heard of UFO sightings in this area, not in San Pedro. Darrell
was checking on the level of the keg. “Who’s that girl?”
Jamie who had broken away from his uncomfortable encounter now asked. He
was still watching her.
“I think she came with that group,” Darrell said discreetly
gesturing to some preppy looking college frat boys.
“ She’s giving off a weird vibe, Jamie said and then, “I’m
gonna take off.”
“ We just got here.”
“I know but I’ve gotta think.” And with that Jamie
signaled across the room to Nathaniel and walked out. Nathaniel
was momentarily being swept off his feet by the punch or the energy
or the ambiance combined with a big haired blond sidewalk jewelry maker
from San Francisco, who was talking scholarly about crystals and various
kinds of metal settings and casings. It was hard not to let his eyes
follow the neckline of her blouse down to her exposed breasts.
Jamie
had had enough. He was sitting in his car now holding a plane ticket
in his hands. Meditating on it’s value. It was worth
800 bucks. He could cash it in and disappear. The ticket was
from his parents, he was supposed to fly to San Antonio for a big family
get together. He could get a different ticket. One to Paris and
start over. They must need machinists in a big city like Paris.
He
drove to the quick mart to get a 40 ozer. Just then the homeless
couple came running across the parking lot. Clairene was running
toward a pay phone and Paul following some significant distance behind
her. Jamie had to jump out of her way. “Hey man,”
she called. “You got a quarter?” Jamie brought the
coin to her without thinking. Clairene was inside the phone booth
in an instant. Her hand trembling as she held the receiver.
“This is Clairene, I’m across town on the South side.”
She was almost shouting.
Clairene was right to call, something had happened and it was all off
of a feeling she had. There had never been any history or instances
of ESP in Clairene’s entire family. This she new because her mother
used to tell her stories about her relatives on both sides of the family.
But it had been a long time since Clairene heard her mother’s
voice. Now Clairene was talking with her grandmother. “Baby, it’s
a wonder that you called.”
“Something told me that if I called you would answer.”
“You should come over right away and pick up your things. Malcolm
was tripped getting out of the elevator and sprained his leg in four
places. He will be in the hospital at least until Monday. You can slip
in through the back. Hurry darling.” Jamie was still watching
Clairene to see what would happen next. She hung up and walked over
to him. Not the way a prostitute would approach a john but the way a
young girl who was lost would approach a police officer. Jamie stepped
back a little. He didn’t mean to, it was just automatic. Clairene’s
eye caught a glance of Paul who was aggressively panhandling a safe
distance from the entrance of the quick mart. Her eyes fell back on
Jamie. “You need some help?” he asked, more out of duty
than of anything else. She looked appreciative and not at all like a
junkie, just a little shaken but stone sober.
Driving down Meridian Avenue Jamie watched Clairene who now was wearing
a sweater. One of Jamie's that had fallen out of the bag and never made
it to the thrift store drop off. She was looking out the window like
she was remembering. She broke the silence by telling him he could turn
right at the light. He turned on the stereo and more French phrases
mixed into the airspace. She said, “where are you from?”
He said, “Paris, I’m flying back tomorrow.”
jamie gets a life © 2006 Arayna Thomas
