Jack Allen
New Member
The Old Man in Rags
Jack Allen
Life played the Grand Ball Opera for me. And I let it. It didn’t mean so much when it started, but I let it get out of hand, and it doubled back on me, like a traitor, like cold blue Jack Frost. And I let it.
It wasn’t fair, what happened to me. I deserved a better deal. You see, I’m a petty panhandler and part-time shoplifter. I never caused any real bad trouble for anybody. And I never wanted to neither. Ever since I was a little boy in school, I never caused trouble. People never liked me, but they never hated me, neither, and I never minded. They never picked on me, and I’m glad. I wasn’t happy then ‘cause I never had a lot of friends, but I’m happy now because I don’t have any friends. I wouldn’t be happy with any friends.
School was over for me by the end of the eighth grade. That’s when I decided it was time for me to get out on my own. Especially since I didn’t have any family. Life became real simple for me, and I let it. I mean, I may not have any money a lot of the time, but I’m very happy right now, probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I have no responsibilities, no promises to keep, nothing to worry about. I don’t even know how old I am.
But I think I must have let something go wrong somewhere I shouldn’t have. You see, people just don’t notice me. They don’t know me, They don’t recognize me, and they never miss me when I’m gone. I like it that way. So when I had enough money to buy myself dinner the other day, the young man who runs the store just up the street from where I live didn’t even notice me when I came into his store.
I was there for several minutes figuring out my math to get the most out of the one dollar and fifty-seven cents I had, and he was watching a ballgame on television behind the counter. I don’t keep up with sports, so I don’t know what he was watching.
This is where the trap came to get me, and I let it. The door opened and somebody else came into the store. But I didn’t pay any attention to them ‘cause I was busy and I was at the back of the store behind and aisle of bread. This is where I made the biggest mistake of my life. I was real foolish not to pay attention to these new people. But I was too busy worrying about my money.
You see, these new people who came into the store weren’t there to buy anything; they came to steal. They had guns and wore masks over their heads. But I didn’t know this until I had figured out what to buy and headed for the young man at the counter to pay for the food. I saw these men with their guns and masks and gloves on and the young man behind the counter very nervously putting money into a paper bag. His hands were shaking terribly and his face was sweating, but I guess I would, too, if I had a gun held against my forehead.
This was the trap, and I let it trap me, foolishly, but it had me. They hadn’t noticed me yet and I was backing up to hide from them. But I backed up, real slow, into a stand, and knocked something off. It made a real loud crash on the floor behind me and I was stepping in something wet. I could smell dill pickles and the vinegar juice was getting my sock wet through the hole in my shoe. I had been meaning to get that shoe fixed.
The big guy with the gloves and the mask and a real big gun turned and saw me. I tried to look as small as I could so he wouldn’t see me, but he had big eyes and they looked real mean. I was hoping real hard that he wouldn’t shoot me, but I guess there was no way around that. I never took my eyes off his face. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet was going right for my chest, headed right for my heart. And I let it.
Jack Allen
Life played the Grand Ball Opera for me. And I let it. It didn’t mean so much when it started, but I let it get out of hand, and it doubled back on me, like a traitor, like cold blue Jack Frost. And I let it.
It wasn’t fair, what happened to me. I deserved a better deal. You see, I’m a petty panhandler and part-time shoplifter. I never caused any real bad trouble for anybody. And I never wanted to neither. Ever since I was a little boy in school, I never caused trouble. People never liked me, but they never hated me, neither, and I never minded. They never picked on me, and I’m glad. I wasn’t happy then ‘cause I never had a lot of friends, but I’m happy now because I don’t have any friends. I wouldn’t be happy with any friends.
School was over for me by the end of the eighth grade. That’s when I decided it was time for me to get out on my own. Especially since I didn’t have any family. Life became real simple for me, and I let it. I mean, I may not have any money a lot of the time, but I’m very happy right now, probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I have no responsibilities, no promises to keep, nothing to worry about. I don’t even know how old I am.
But I think I must have let something go wrong somewhere I shouldn’t have. You see, people just don’t notice me. They don’t know me, They don’t recognize me, and they never miss me when I’m gone. I like it that way. So when I had enough money to buy myself dinner the other day, the young man who runs the store just up the street from where I live didn’t even notice me when I came into his store.
I was there for several minutes figuring out my math to get the most out of the one dollar and fifty-seven cents I had, and he was watching a ballgame on television behind the counter. I don’t keep up with sports, so I don’t know what he was watching.
This is where the trap came to get me, and I let it. The door opened and somebody else came into the store. But I didn’t pay any attention to them ‘cause I was busy and I was at the back of the store behind and aisle of bread. This is where I made the biggest mistake of my life. I was real foolish not to pay attention to these new people. But I was too busy worrying about my money.
You see, these new people who came into the store weren’t there to buy anything; they came to steal. They had guns and wore masks over their heads. But I didn’t know this until I had figured out what to buy and headed for the young man at the counter to pay for the food. I saw these men with their guns and masks and gloves on and the young man behind the counter very nervously putting money into a paper bag. His hands were shaking terribly and his face was sweating, but I guess I would, too, if I had a gun held against my forehead.
This was the trap, and I let it trap me, foolishly, but it had me. They hadn’t noticed me yet and I was backing up to hide from them. But I backed up, real slow, into a stand, and knocked something off. It made a real loud crash on the floor behind me and I was stepping in something wet. I could smell dill pickles and the vinegar juice was getting my sock wet through the hole in my shoe. I had been meaning to get that shoe fixed.
The big guy with the gloves and the mask and a real big gun turned and saw me. I tried to look as small as I could so he wouldn’t see me, but he had big eyes and they looked real mean. I was hoping real hard that he wouldn’t shoot me, but I guess there was no way around that. I never took my eyes off his face. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet was going right for my chest, headed right for my heart. And I let it.
