A bell jangled lightly as a boy, a newly minted college student with short blonde hair, white button-down shirt tucked neatly into black dress pants, stumbled out of the doorway of a corner street bar to step on a piece pumpkin. More six-day-old Halloween decorations rotted underneath the window behind him. Election day.
A tall man followed closely after, grabbing Ben’s arm to steady him. A military man through and through.
“Is this the first time you’ve had a drink?” Richard laughed. “You need to keep it together. We have a lot of stops to make today if we want to get our man elected.”
“Hmm? No! Well… maybe.” Ben pulled his arm free and stumbled away from him, fumbling around in his shirt pocket and pulling out a slim volume.
“Tamerlane and Other Poems. I quite like Poe, don’t you? Being an English Professor is my dream, Rich.” He turned around and grinned at Richard.
“Throw that junk away. White male authors are out of style.”
A motley group of college students exited the bar and stopped in front of Ben. Boxes of assorted costuming gear in their hands, they watched. Ben wilted and gently threw the book by the bus stop bench. Everyone clapped then turned, Ben forgotten, to climb into the waiting bus.
“Here.” Richard untucked Ben’s shirt and handed him a black trench coat which Ben quickly slipped on. “There. Much better. Let’s go. Time for the second stop of the day.”
Ben followed, pausing with one foot on the step to look back at the book. A light rain misted down, and he pulled himself into the bus.
Leave a Reply