The Valedictorian by David James Elliott

Author:David James Elliott [Last, First name]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-77180-513-1
Publisher: Iguana Books
Published: 2022-01-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Three

Greg had gambled and lost. After the brilliant beginning made by William’s story about the psych ward, Enzo’s rancid denials had left a bomb crater in the middle of the room. The meeting was only ten minutes old, so he couldn’t send them for a smoke. He thought about putting the music back on but that wouldn’t work any better. He had to go to his bullpen. He looked around the room for a face that wasn’t embarrassed, and he landed on Dusty the Postman. He gave Greg a little wink that said he knew what to do.

Dusty had a story that would turn things around. He let his thoughts wander back to the fiasco that had landed him here. He saw himself once again on the video, watching himself try to open the door to what he thought was his car. The real owner was startled to see someone trying to steal his wheels but, once he got a look at the state that Dusty was in, his mood lightened. The man gently took Dusty by the elbow and showed him which car was his.

“I got nailed fair and square. They got me on a cell phone camera. One more reason to hate those things.” He was expecting a laugh but didn’t get one. He realized that he had gotten ahead of himself. He needed to explain what had happened. “Look guys, I’m not going to candy coat this. I’m a postie. If you’re not sitting in the pub at lunchtime with an empty mailbag, then there’s something wrong with you. We work as hard as we have to and drink as much as we can.”

The men all laughed. This is what they wanted to hear.

“You see … you’re all laughing, so you know what we get up to. It was a Friday, and the mail volumes were unbelievably light. It happens in the summer. We had a real chance to finish early for a change. So while we’re shooting out the door, one of the guys says we should all meet at the Army Navy Club for lunch. Shit, we’re all there at twelve-thirty; done for the day and the weekend’s coming up. Pure bliss. I hadn’t been drinking for a while, so I didn’t even bother to change out of my uniform. They were practically giving away chicken wings so we loaded up on them. Then we played some pool and I won, and someone bought me a beer. I didn’t think that one would hurt. Next thing I know, it’s five o’clock and I’m drunk and still wearing my uniform.”

Dusty shifted in his chair. “That’s a definite no-no. The other posties have all left. I’m pretty blasted, so I decide it’s time to leave too. So I go out into the parking lot to get into my car. The problem is, it’s a grey Toyota and there are a lot of them in the parking lot. So I try to open the door to my car but the problem is, it’s not my car.

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