Chapter 3

Day Three - Wednesday

I was up at five again, showered and brushed. While I was looking at myself in the mirror, I thought I might want to trim the beard a little as I was scary looking. Oh well, I thought as I dressed in jeans and one of my new T-shirts.

By six I had boiled some water for instant oatmeal and made some coffee that I drank out on the patio.

Martin came over so I offered him coffee but he said he had too much already. I asked for directions to a Sears and where a barbershop might be. He told me how to get to a Sears store but asked what I wanted a barber for. When I said to trim my beard back a little, he said that Glenda would enjoy doing it for me and left to get her.

Glenda came over with a big towel, a brush, comb and scissors. "How short do you want it Steve?"

"Glenda, just take a lot of the ragged bottom off and get rid of the puffy sides. Clean me up but don't cut it too short yet. Let me cut it off a little at a time."

"Steve, do want me to trim up your hair?"

"Naw, I'll just leave it long for a while. I'm kind a curious how long it will get."

"I like your long hair, but your beard was too much," Glenda said while working the scissors on my beard.

When she was done she had me look at her and she snipped a little here and a little there then finally said, "You look like a normal person now. Not nearly as scary as you did yesterday. You might even meet more of your neighbors."

"Thanks Glenda, what can I do for you to pay for barbering me up?"

"Next time I have to lift something real heavy I'll call you over Steve. How's that?"

I took off for the Sears store and arrived just when they were opening the doors. I bought a lock and found a set of tools that had everything I needed including a small chest to hold them.

Back at the trailer, I changed the battery and the chain on the bike then wheeled it out of the shed. I locked up the shed and the trailer and put on my new helmet, a skinny little pea pod, adjusting straps so the hat would stay on. I turned on the gas and hit the button. The motor started easily then settled down to the "put, put, putta, put, putta, putta put" rhythm of the V-twin.

Just as I was putting the bike into gear Martin came out of his trailer walking fast. "Here Steve, you need these," as he handed me a pair of sunglasses. "You are required to have eye protection here too. You can borrow those till you get some."

"Thanks Martin, I'm just taking the bike to Tampa V-twin to get two new tires and get the wheels tuned. I'll bet they have sun glasses there."

"Do you want me to come down and bring you home or are you gonna wait?"

"I didn't think about that Martin. Would you mind? That would be nice."

"I'll meet you down there in a few minutes. Let me go tell Glenda."

I road down to the bike shop and went in to tell Jan and Dell I was there. Jan was helping another customer so I looked around and found some sunglasses that fit. When Jan was done, I paid for the helmet and sunglasses and then left the bike with her. She said to come back late this afternoon and it would be done.

When I walked out, Martin had just pulled in. I got in his old Pontiac and we went home.

I took a discovery walk around the trailer park. It was much larger than I had thought as there were many side roads that circled and crossed through the back. Just down from my trailer was one of the wash houses, you know places that had coin washers and dryers. There were two more buildings like this in the park.

Right in the center of the park, near the main entrance, was a very nice pool, a small kids wading pool, a concession stand, and a large building with a "Recreation" sign. The pool gate had a sign saying it was open from noon to eight weekdays and ten to eight on weekends. The pool looked good, as did some ladies laying out getting a tan. Looking at them reminded me that it would be nice to have some female companionship one of these days. It had been years since I had dated.

When I got back to the trailer, Abe and Alice were next door talking to Martin and Glenda. Alice came over and said they were visiting in order to use the pool and did I want to come with them. I told Alice that I didn't have a swimsuit but next time I would. I put something else on my Wal-Mart wish list.

I was sitting in a lawn chair drinking a beer when Abe came over. "Martin said you took the bike down to Tampa V-twin."

"They are mounting the new tires and tuning the wheels," I said pointing at an empty lawn chair. "Wanna beer?"

"Sure, if ya got one."

I jumped up and brought him a beer.

"One of yours anyway," I said handing it to him. "Next time I'll give you one I bought."

Abe chuckled, "You put in the battery and put on the new chain?"

"Yep."

"Where'd you get the tools?"

"Sears. Got a set they had on sale. Pretty good deal. Wanna see 'em?"

We got up carrying our beers and went into the shed to check out the new tool chest, now filled with tools.

"Looks like you have everything you need to fix up stuff like I used to do," Abe was saying wistfully.

"I don't know that much about small motors. As a matter of fact, I don't know a lot about any motors. I'm learnin' as I go," I told Abe as we shut the shed up and sat back down on the patio.