The Truckstop

Razor had been watching the truck stop all week.

In and out, in and out.

One after the other.

He watched them intently.

And he purposely tried to be within earshot of most every conversations he could. So as to hear any information he might be able to use later.

Most of the drivers were oblivious to the fact that they saw Razor every day.

"That guy", they probably referred to him as.

Either way they weren't paying enough attention.

Or they didn’t care. Most likely, both.

They felt safe I'm sure.

Perhaps even comfortable.

After all, it was a truck stop. Lights everywhere.

It's safe right?

A lot of the "don't care" attitude comes from the fat that they assumed he was just your average, everyday panhandler.

A beggar just like the rest.

His clothes were dirty and he looked like he smelled very bad.

However, he was extremely attractive.

For a panhandling bum.

It was the kind of attractive that made you wonder how. How?

How did he end up in this situation?

Is he really in a situation?

He's probably one of those panhandlers that has a Mercedes Benz parked around a corner somewhere.

Nevertheless, here he was. A beggar.

Some of the female drivers might have even thought of him as attractive enough to speak to. And even smile at.

Especially if he'd ever smiled at one of them.

She would have been hooked.

Oddly enough, no one noticed all of his teeth were perfectly straight and milk white. As if he regularly visited the dentist.

That surely would have struck someone as odd.

People don't pay enough attention to details.

If they pay any attention at all.

People are not taking care to be aware of their surroundings.

They skim over things. They don't really observe anything carefully.

That's why there are so many victims.

Razor's victims.

Every so often he would wander inside, looking to use the restroom.

Or he would linger around the coffee machine.

His predatory eyes would be watching everyone and everything like a ravenous hawk.

Usually he never knew who his victim would be from night to night, but this time he knew.

He'd been watching a particular truck for about 3 weeks now.

Watching, studying and memorizing his every move.

And every move that truck made when it pulled in.

In between his daily and nightly pick offs , Razor was watching this particular truck.

And its driver.

He knew what time the driver would arrive.

He knew where the driver would park.

He knew the driver's routine.

The driver was consistently preoccupied and unaware of his surroundings to a certain extent.

Which made him an easy target for Razor.

The driver would pull into the lot, find his parking spot and seemingly settle in for the night.

Razor would watch the truck as he continued to engage in his nightly truck stop shenanigans.

Which was liable to include any and everything under the sun that he thought could get him enough money to survive the night.

Every story and/or plot you could think of to try and gain someone’s trust, Razor knew it.

And he knew how to play games with it. and spin it just enough to get them to believe whatever cockamamie line he gave them.

And out would come their wallet and/or their money.

Most times he would just wait for them to give him whatever they were going to give him and he would hit them a fake thank you sir or ma’am and be on his way.

But, there were other times when he wasn't so pleasant to encounter.

He would snatch the wallet or money and run off disappearing into the night that he controlled and lived in.

They could never find where he went.

He had no problem knocking a lady driver to the ground just to rip her purse or her wallet from her before she could get to screaming good and loud, he was gone. Into the dark as usual.

There ae signs everywhere advising women to not be friendly and don't talk to strangers. But they do it anyway.

And they don't carry mace like they should. They aren’t armed like they should be and the. They don’t pay enough attention as they should and they fall for the okie doke. Repeatedly.

He knows when he smiles at them that he has gained another victim.

Sometimes it almost seems like some of the women are actually flirting with him. Probably thinking about taking him home and cleaning him up and making a "new man" out of him.

They just don't know what a really bad idea that would be.

It only takes him a moment to switch into stealth mode when he sees the driver he's been watching emerge from the cab of his truck,

He does a silly little stretch and then a walk around

He shined his flashlight under the truck and off into the night a few times, checked the locks on the back doors of the trailer and proceeded casually into the truck stop.

As usual.