Disintegrating pages

On any other night, this street is serene and freakishly quiet with the exception of the boxelder maples swaying in the wind or an occasional jogger or dog walker whisking by. The new halogens street lights serve as a guide through the darkness. Well acquainted with the scenery, Torri enjoyed her long walks home from her favorite place, the library. These nightly strolls offered her the opportunity to reflect on the day's events, make mental notes for tomorrow, and conversely with her father. However, tonight is not one of those nights. The skies were lit with lightning bolts; the rain was brutal and almost blinding. In the middle of this city block, stood twenty-four-year-old Torri who belts out a howl so loud it halted a neighbor who was running to his car from his house. The scream, bursting from her lungs, was an instant reaction to what she was witnessing. Money-filled pages melting away as the rain pounded down upon it. The inner parts of the pages revealing Benjamin Franklin's face. Every page in the book was laced with them unbeknownst to her. Grappling with the idea, that this seemingly new book was melting, Torri was frozen in disbelief and confusion. Realizing she needed to protect the rest of the book, she shoved it into her wet jacket. The concerned gentleman slowly drives up to Torri to offer help but she sprints away quickly leaving him bewildered. With the black Japanese album tucked into her jacket, she ran with full force embracing the assault of mother nature. Determined to get to the nearest train station, Torri was unbothered by the water. After all it was the catalyst for this inconceivable moment. Despite the torrential rain, a fire was lit within her. It had awakened some inner sensations that felt foreign to her. Torri led a reserved and basic life. Her routine is pretty predictable. She is awkward in social settings so she purposely veers in the opposite direction. The bookstore owner and librarian are the only symbols of friendship she has. This night would change her life in an indescribable way.

Exhausted and drenched, she gets on the train and finds a secluded area to sit down. Her mind is racing. Her heart feels like it's on the brink of explosion. Her stomach is flipping with unbearable anxiety. Like an out-of-body experience, Torri is no longer in control. She closes her eyes, breathes in deeply, and exhales with the longest breath she's probably ever blown. She repeats the calming technique three times. "Keep it together Torri," she coaches herself. She discreetly lifts the corner of her jacket to peek at the book. The pages seemed to be disintegrating. She quickly closes her jacket and zips it all the way up this time. "I gotta talk to Carl. I can't believe this," Torri mumbled. The train screeches to a stop. She bolts out of the train and through the tunnel. Torri hops into a taxi. Impatiently suggesting that he drive a little faster, she directs him to her home. She can't get there fast enough. Once she arrives, she hops out of the cab and throws the driver a twenty-dollar bill, and jets up the stairs to her apartment. Barreling through the door, she drops all her belongings in the hallway except the little black book. She slams her body onto the sofa. Who made this mysterious book she thought to herself. Tenderly peeling the cover back, Torri lays eyes on the hundred dollar bills sealed in plastic but only half of the journal had gotten wet. The rest of the bills were tucked away within the book pages. As she holds the fragile book together, she walks to the bathroom to fill the tub. Torri immerses the book in the water. Taking another deep breath, she leans against the wall and slides down. Tears filled her eyes and she began to cry softly. She could not believe this was happening to her. She was overwhelmed with so many emotions. Her bright red hair dye is dripping onto the floor and staining her white walls. "What a mess," she whispers. She begins to undress and joins the book in the warm water. She pushes the pages aside and begins to wish the day away. As she lathers her body, she begins to investigate the situation. "Why did Carl tell me to get that book?" she asks herself. Carl had persisted that she get the book as soon as she could. Torri tries to recount the story of Sevo, one of Carl's friends. "A genius artist using his good for evil," Carl said jokingly. "Why was this book on the shelf in the library?" Merely hiding in plain sight. "How did Carl, a bookstore owner, come to know of this inconspicuous item or the criminal artist?" A barrage of unanswered questions crowded her mind. Anxiety coursing through her body, she quickly washes and gets out. She's so tired but the adrenaline won't let her rest. She knows it's too late to accomplish anything worth knowing, so she flops onto her plush bed. As she lay pondering this miraculous happenstance, sleep overtook her.

Jumping up the next morning, Torri's excitement could not be contained. She skates into the bathroom to see the clear, sealed sheets of money laying in the bottom of the tub. She grabs them all and races back into her room. She spreads them over the bed like a deck of cards. She picks up one sheet to examine it. "This is unreal!" she yells. Torri then grabs the scissors and with great precision, she cuts along the seam. She gently nudges the hundred bill out of its slot. She held the crisp bill up to the beaming sunlight. All watermarks and security strips in place, she emphatically knew of its authenticity. Carl trained her well. "Cashiers must be able to decipher a real from a fake," he stated sternly. Torri recalls the memory as if it was yesterday. Looking at the pile of money on her bed, she feverishly begins to cut all the sheets. Gathering all the big face hundred dollars together, she divides the money into sections. She counts it all. Two hours later the cashier was $20,000 richer than the day before. She gets dressed and makes haste to the neighborhood book store to confront Carl. She swings the door open in anticipation of Carl's presence but to her disappointment his office was vacant. Her co-worker Darryl explains that he went on vacation and left instructions and keys in a satchel in the drawer. Deflated, she pouts and slowly walks into this office. Torri retrieved the satchel. She sinks down into Carl's comfortable, custom-made chair and begins to read. The handwritten letter presented on expensive stationery was adorned with a calligraphy font.

Carl had written:

"Dear Torri, if you're reading this letter that means that I have left the country. I truly apologize for the awkward salutations. I found myself scrambling for time and I couldn't give you a formal goodbye so get prepared to blush and gush with my soliloquy. I hope I can also answer some questions you may have right now. You are one of the most brilliant and astute young women that I've met in decades. It warms my soul to know you are such an avid reader. You devour literature. You believe in books and the authors' imagination. You are dedicated to my shop and the kids you tutor on your off days and sometimes during your shifts. I admire what you have been cultivating between the children and the love of books. In the age of advanced technology, you seem to be unaffected by social media which makes you that more special…"

Carl wrote extensively about his adoration for Torri, his past, his love for the shop and the neighborhood. He details his faith in her and his dependence on her to handle the shop in his absence. Throughout the pages, he explained many of the connections that Torri just couldn't put together. The most important connection, the book placed in the library. He explained that Sevo was hired by an international group to hide enormous sums of money. He created over 200 books and gifted Carl with two of those journals as repayments. Decades ago he saved Sevo's life and he reassured Carl one day he would repay him. The gifts enabled Carl to take a nice vacation and invest in a fellow bookworm. With the help of the librarian, Carl was able to place the book in the massive library. Now, with her start up money, she can open up her own reading center for the children in the neighborhood to freely learn the love of reading.