Junkyard Blues

Chapter Thirty-eight

153 C Chapter Thirty-eight ude turned his face to the door of the room as it opened suddenly and Mabel walked into the room holding a small black plastic shopping bag in her hand. He could make out a piece of bread inside the shopping bag, just the shape of it, but it was unmistakable. Suddenly he felt hungry. “Finally,” she said with a smile. “And what do you mean by that?” She shrugged. “Don’t I have the right to sleep?” She dropped the shopping bag and looked at him, “What time is it?” “I’m learning to be lazy.” “You’ll learn that precious profession only out of here and where I can’t see you or even hear about you,” she said and they both laughed. “Do you want some fried eggs?” she asked after the laughter. “That sounds great,” Jude yawned stretching in the bed. It was grand to have a woman around, a woman who was ready to take care of everyone of his needs. This was a dream come true, even if it was a dream he had never thought was possible. It’s not too bad. “You should’ve asked me for money,” he said. “It wasn’t necessary, I still have some money.” She was also good at saving money. She was not the extravagant types who always made sure any dime that entered their hand filtered through in a hurry. And that was great; exactly what a woman was supposed to be. “Are you going to get out of that bed?” she asked getting ready to prepare breakfast. “Yes, ma’am, anything you want me to do.” He got out of the bed and yawned again, stretching himself and feeling his joints crack and creak. It was a beautiful sound to hear, he told himself, just like the sound of Mabel starting to prepare breakfast. It was just another great morning and it was going to be a great day just like the others. Things were happening, and changes were taking place all around his life… J 154 Yes, things were happening, things were changing and he was liking those changes. It was a new life, a new life that was made up of a lot of good stuff. The constant smile Mabel was now capable of flashing him at anytime she walked into the room, the light in her eyes that was able to give some real life to her sad eyes and the touch of her hand at every time she walked pass him, that was all something. In fact the murky and damp smelly room now had a new life. And the idea that somehow he was the cause for these changes was something too. It was simple, it was all because she knew she was no longer ever going to stand in the cold and wait for some drunk client, the fact that she knew it was time for her to start forgetting that old nasty and cold life and start thinking about a new life. And the miracle was the short time it had taken him to achieve all that… Just after the first pay. Yes, all those changes had started after he had collected his first pay… “I’m happy,” he could still see her saying to him that night after he had told her that it was no longer necessary for her to go out in the cold and wait by the street side for a client. He had told her that he was now capable of taking care of the rents and the bills and not only that but a lot more. “I can make enough for the two of us to manage without needing anything or anybody,” he had told her, spreading the banknotes before her, his own heart still pounding like a locomotive engine at every sight of the money, “I’m going to make more, I now know how to do everything necessary…” “I’m happy,” she had said again her voice sounding a little guarded like she was trying to keep something inside after a while, when the babbling had dried out of his mouth. She took his hand in her hand as they sat on her bed, “I know it’s hard for you but I’m happy.” “It’s not hard on me,” he said, “You’ll never go out there again, ever. I promise you that.” She sat for a while looking at his hand...