Chapter 56

I woke up Sunday morning with running on my mind. I didn't want to do it. I knew that one skipped day led to the next ect, so out the door I went at 10AM. I ran the full route, I noted a lot of stores along the way were closed. It was kind of nice to see that on a Sunday morning, it made for a kind of sleepy little hometown feeling,

Half way through the run I got to thinking about towels. I had enough to make the curtain, but nothing to dry my body with if I did. So I decided to ask for two more when I got back to the motel. Back at the motel I found there was a cute little smart car sitting in front of my room. Inside the car was Rachel all dressed up. On her way to church no doubt, I thought,

"Hello Rachel, what bring you here so early," I asked.

"I went by your apartment but I didn't see your car, so I took a chance and came here," she said.

"Well you found me, good detective work," I said.

"I came to see if you would like to go to church with Jake and me?" she asked.

"To be honest I'm not much of a fan of the whole religion thing. I do appreciate the thought though." She looked really disappointed so I added. "I do hope we can all be friends."

"Of course, and the invitation is always good," she said, She smiled and started her car. "I still want to see that apartment, when you get it finished."

"Probably be the end of summer," I said with a laugh.

After Rachel left I went in see the weekend manager's office. "Hi there, Jennifer said I could have some of the old towels she had replaced," I said.

"Sure she told several people that. How many do you need," the manager asked.

"Four towels would be great, if you can spare them," I said.

"Oh we have more than enough to give you four. I hear you are leaving us?" she asked.

"Yes today is my last day. I am headed back to pack up the car now. I should be clear by noon," I replied.

"I hate to see you go," she said. She got me the towels, then watched me walk away.

When I got to the apartment, I was still working out the details. I needed one of those little step stools for inside the tub. Plastic would be my preference. I needed some clothes line to hang the towels on and some clothes pens to keep them up. That should easily do the shower curtain. I really didn't need all that till the hose came, and that wouldn't be for several days.

I supposed that until it came, I would be using one of the plastic throw away cups. Those came from the motel room, along with a package of throw away plates. By the time everything opened, I had a list which included dish washing detergent, sponges and toilet paper among other things.

I kept adding thing until it because obvious that another trip to Walmart was in order. I also added some food items as I need peanut butter and coffee for sure,

I left Walmart with several bags and a smaller bank balance. It had to be done, but I was about finished, I hoped. I still needed one more piece of furniture, so the common room didn't look so empty. Screw it, I thought, and went back inside. I bought a fifty dollar steel and pressed work desk and a Lamp for the desk. It came in a box that was almost too heavy for me, but I managed.

I spent the afternoon putting the desk together. After dinner I begin getting ready for work. I planned an hour to soak in the tub. When the first forty-five minutes were up, the soak felt so good I didn't want to sit up. I forced myself up to sit up and wash my hair, such as it was. I soaped my hair and bent over to pour water through it in order to rinse the soap out. I didn't get water everywhere as I had feared that I might.

I found that the system worked just fine. Also that I really didn't need the complicated system I had planned. Since the hose had only been eight bucks, I decided to store it for a while. I just wouldn't bother with all that shower curtain nonsense. I could control the water coming out of the plastic cup just fine.

I was ready for work well before 8PM, but I had a problem. Someone had blocked my car in. I went to the neighbor and told him I had to work to please move his car. He started to make a protest, then I think he realized the uniform wasn't a security guard. A light seemed to go on behind his eyes.

"Sure no problem officer. We probably need to work out a parking strategy," He said.

"Tell me what is convenient for you, just so that in the end I can get my car out to go to work," I said.

"Tell you what, I'll go back to parking on the street. I can tell my wife and she will do the same.," he said.

"Yes it would be great, if I could get somewhere near the rear of the building at 5AM, since that is when I finish my shift," I said.

I had always driven into work in my uniform, but I was beginning to consider leaving the uniform at the station. This new job required me to be in plain clothes now and then, Well I wouldn't be changing how I dressed for work that night for sure. I was already cutting it to close. The drive to the station was a real pain in the ass. At eight the downtown was pretty empty but the few people on the road were idiots. I parked in the parking lot near the courthouse. Then went into the basement entrance, which was also the Sheriff's department entrance.