A Commuter

Damn it I'm running late, yet again, to catch my last bus. I usually don't mind catching it, but on a cold damp night it's not the best. I dash down the block past two guys drinking beer and talking sports. Almost there. I turn another corner and see my bus only a few yards away.

I know Mr. Joe is driving tonight and he knew I was coming. This happens to be our usual routine, I'm late every Friday and he waits for me. He is one of the few people I know who is genuinely a good person and in my line of work that's rarer than a four leaf clover.

"Thanks Mr. Joe. I owe you a million bucks," I pant, sifting around in my pockets some change.

Mr. Joe just chuckles and closes the doors behind me.

I pay my fare and plop down in my usual seat towards the back and dig around in my backpack for this book I just started. You can never go wrong with a good whodunnit. But right when I'm about to dive into it that's when I notice it. A little black book wedged between the seat and the window.

I look around and there is no one else on the bus besides me and this lovey dovey couple sitting at the front. I open it and thumb through the pages and see its almost completely blank except for the second to the last page where there's an address, a time and tomorrow's date. I shove the little book into my bag and begin to read until my stop comes up.

The next morning I wake up after hitting snooze about five times and go fix my usual breakfast of champions. One piece of toast and some scrambled eggs. I shower, dress and head to the address that I found last night.

I catch the first bus of the day and hop off about ten minutes later right in front of this tiny brick house with a carport except there are no cars under it, just two huge German Shepherds. I go over and rub their bellies before I go ring the doorbell and take a seat on the porch. The door opens up and a blue haired old lady with sunglasses shuffles out.

"Hey honey," she says taking a drag from her cigarette "you're late. As usual."

"What can I say? I'm in high demand." I say with a smirk

She winks and goes back inside for a few minutes and when she comes back out she has a small manila envelope in her left hand.

"Well here you go sweetie." she says handing it over to me, "Be careful."

"Yes ma'am," I say grinning and shoving the envelope into my backpack.

I stroll along and get to my stop right as the bus is pulling up. I swear I'm always cutting it close. The bus is a little more crowded than it was this morning but its okay since everyone is in there own little world. I'm still able to grab my usual seat tucked in the back.

I open the envelope up and pull out a check made out to me for $20,000 thousand dollars. It's a little less than last time but that's fine by me since I've got a couple of more gigs lined up. Then I pull out a picture of this balding, middle aged, man wearing these round, little, black glasses. He looks like he could be a professor or something. You can tell he's a real professional. But I don't really care about what he does or who he is because within 24 hours he'll be gone.

I place the picture and check inside my jacket pocket and smile. Just a few more minutes until my stop.