attonement

while i was driving over there i noticed KIT was driving behind me. exactly KIT i mean. event he little red light moving back and forth. i turned down the radio maybe hoping to hear one quick "that's not a good idea, michael," took a drag of my cigarette and faced forward. i didn't hear anything but that was okay.

the thing is, two nights ago, hammered, i rode with a friend of mine to this little 711 down the road to get some snack shit. i probably didn't realize how trashed i was beacuse i remember (albeit vaguley) leaning on the refrigerator doors for balance. waiting in line, i noticed they had buy two get one parliament lights. i try to make a gneral practice of buying a bunch of everything i need the night i get paid so my money doesn't just slip away and leave me with nothing. this has happened. so i leaned in, smiled a drooling little smile at the register person: "let me get those parliament buy two, get ones." "how many?" "whatever you've got...five." "but they come in increments of two." "so?" "so i can't sell you five, only four or six." "no, five of the sets. five buy two get ones. a total of fifteen packs." he looked at me confused. "alright," i said. "see those buy two get one sets behind you?" "yes." "good. grab one of the sets and put it here on the counter." he did. "now grab another." he did. "that's two. grab another and put it on the counter for me." he did. "three...you see how there is only two of the sets left?" "yes." "good, put those on the counter too." he did. "okay, now ring all this stuff up."

i had gotten a few other things: a sobe (wisdom), chips and cheese dip, peanut m&m's. he rang me up, i paid, grabbed the bag and left.

when we got back everyone else ate the chips and cheese while i passed out . my friends finished the episode of 24 we were watching and then (i'm assuming) left. i dreamt, but strangely. the next day, getting ready for work, i grabbed the last pack of camel lgihts i had, threw it in my bag and took off. when i got home, the camels were about gone, so i went to grab a pack of parlaiments. i coudln't find them. i looked everywhere: the fridge, under the bathroom counter, under my bed. they were gone. the people over didn't smoke so that wasn't it. i figured i left them in my car, so i checked but didn't find them. i went to bed, annoyed, thinking i'd find them in the morning. i didn't. so i got in the car, intent on having them pull the security tapes from the 711 and see what i did with them or if red (my friend) had carried them, or if the guy had seen me leave them and just laughed because of how drunk i was, or what. when i walked in, the guy behind the counter reached down and pulled a bag from behind the counter with my cigarettes in them. all fifteen packs.

i said something obvious and stupid like "hey! you found them" and he just smiled. i grabbed them and walked out.

last night, someone asked me if the world was making any progress. the answer is in the 711 bag full of cigarette packs stapled to a reciept that a guy could have easily just kept for himself. but didn't.

but didn't.

how many good ones are out there? quite a few yet, i'd say.

2004-01-16 | 4:10 p.m.
0 comments so far