Don't Mess With Texas

Fred woke up early and smiled. It had been a while since he’d woken up in such a good mood but getting a new job after so long out of work will do that to you. This was a new start. A new job in a new city. Things were finally looking up.

Boxes were still stacked around the bedroom so it took a little longer for him to find his tie clip, which was stashed along with loose change, paper clips, and scraps of paper with notes that no longer made sense in the little pine box that usually sat on his dresser. The dresser instead had a folder containing Fred’s job description and an employment agreement that meant he’d have job security for at least the next three years. It was iron clad and neither party could back out of it now, a notion that provided Fred great comfort. It had been a long search and the family had lost their savings. The idea of three years without even having to entertain the thought of finding a new job was comforting, indeed.

Fred found the little pine box near the bottom of a box that also held his t-shirts, socks, underwear and some wool hats and gloves. “Won’t be needing those anytime soon,” Fred thought cheerfully. In fact, he was breaking a sweat as the sun drilled in through the curtain-less windows. It was 7:15 and hot already.

“Gonna be a scorcher!”

There Are No Bad Ideas When You’re Brain Storming

Stewart pulled into his driveway and sat for a moment listening to the end of an NPR story about an anti-theft program in Philadelphia, part of which included placing a recording device and GPS in a car left on the street with the keys visibly left in the ignition. The story had audio clips of perpetrators who’d made off with the car, only to be apprehended a few blocks later by the police lying in wait. One such perp was Kenneth Halpert, a 26 year old administrative assistant who boosted the car as a drunken prank. The audio clips of Halpert captured him giggling to himself and cranking the radio as “The Boys are Back in Town” blared from classic rock radio station WMGK. Stewart listened and laughed along as Halpert took his joy ride through neighborhood streets. As he turned right at the first corner in order to return the car to where he found it—it was a prank, after all, not the real thing—the tone of his voice suddenly turned from giddy to panic as police lights illuminated behind him.

Chapter One

Neil folded his clothes neatly into squares and set them into the suitcase resting on his bed. Four button down shirts, three pairs of chinos, one charcoal gray sweater, five pairs of socks. He’d packed this bag so many times he could let his mind wander as his hands did the work and as the pieces of the puzzle fit neatly into the plaid nylon box that clasped on two sides. He moved a lot, or at least he packed to move a lot. Sometimes he’d stay in one place for as many as a few months, always waiting for the signs that told him it was time to go. They always came. He always followed them.

There was a cheap TV set on the dresser against the wall facing him as he stood between the two queen size beds. He never needed two beds but they were there in almost every room he rented, mocking him for being alone. He always slept in the bed closest the wall and that left the one nearest the door untouched and unneeded. And yet, there it was night after night. He sometimes wondered if he was paying for it even though most of the rooms he rented had set rates and rarely even had an option to not have the second unnecessary bed. Still, it crossed his mind because he had to watch his money. Neil always knew how much money he had on him—to the nickel.