Lucky Day
By Roy L. Pickering Jr.
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. He 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 of 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 rotary 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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