My own path

"Aw crap! Nothing to eat again. I bet Mom’s at the Gaslamp or Rosie’s bar."

"I’ll find out, it has to be one or the other. Maybe I’ll see who she’s been ‘with’ for the past three and a half months. I haven’t really had a chance to meet him yet but he’s got to be better than Frank! That guy only lasted two months. Heck, just another loser for the list."

I hussle over to the Gaslamp. Man, I hate walking into this bar. It’s always so dark and I can’t see a thing. The stale smell of cigarettes, beer and whatever scent is coming from the bar flies, not that I would want to know. This place is a total dive.

“ Hey look who’s here! Come over here and give Shorty a hug.” I’ve known Shorty for as long as I can remember. The Gaslamp is her bar. Her husband, Rob, works behind it. I don’t know how he’s still alive because I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without a drink in hand. His eyes and skin are a dingy yellow. It probably won’t be long for him. He’s useless, but Shorty loves him. “Hi Shorty, have you seen my Mom?” I ask. “Ya honey, she’s over in the booth with Jeff” she responds. “Thanks.”

Jeff huh, I wonder what he does for work? Does he have any kids? Does he even like kids? He wouldn’t be the first that didn’t. Oh well, it won’t matter, he won’t last long. Mom just needs someone to pay the bills. I hope I can get some money from her so I can get something to eat. If not, I know Shorty will give me pretzels and a soda. I sure hope she’s not out of pretzels! Then all she can offer me is nasty popcorn. It’s so disgusting, I swear someone swept it off the floor at the movie theater.

“Hi Mom,” I greet her. “There’s my baby! Come meet Jeff. He’s a friend of mine. Come, come” she insists. “Jeff, this is one of my boys, James” she introduces me. “Hi” I say as pleasantly as possible. “Hey there Jimmy boy, how’s it shakin?” he replies. I’m not sure how to respond so I get to the issue at hand. “Mom, I’m hungry.” Strike one, she sends me back to Shorty for something to eat. I sure hope she’s stocked up with pretzels. I really don’t want chewy popcorn for dinner. “Shorty, mom sent me over to get something to eat.” She readily replies, “No problem, here’s some popcorn and a pop.” Strike two! No pretzels. I guess popcorn will have to do...and what’s a pop? It’s a soda. “Here ya go honey but you need to sit at the table. No youngsters at the bar.” she declared. “Ok, thanks” I responded while I made my way to a table.

I don’t understand why people come here. It stinks, it’s loud, and there’s nothing to do. There’s a T.V. that I can’t hear it but at least it’s something to look at. Popcorn’s not bad tonight. I can actually taste a little salt. Digging deeper into my dinner of popcorn, I feel something unexpected. What’s this? How did it get in my bowl? Is it a token of some kind? Wait, it’s not a token, it’s a coin! A gold one I think! I wonder if it’s real or if it’s worth anything? I can’t ask anyone here. I'll lose it quick and someone will buy beer with it. I’ll take it to Allen. I know I can trust him and his pet store is just around the corner. “See ya Mom, see ya Shorty.” I hollar.

“Running off already Baby?” my Mom complains. “Come back if ya want, your mom should still be here.” Shorty added.

Allen’s pet store is such a cool place. I love the monkeys and small kangaroos. Allen is nice and he doesn’t treat me like I’m invisible. He actually talks to me and I like helping him out with the animals. I wonder if he lives at the pet store? He’s always here. I come by a lot waiting for mom to get drunk enough to give me a little money. She won’t remember giving me money but later she might ask if I’ve been in her purse. I never admit anything and she forgets about it.

“Hi Allen!”

“Hey there buddy whatcha out doing tonight?”

“Nothing much just looking for my mom again.” “Did ya find her?”

“Ya she’s at shortys with a guy named Jeff, I think.”

“I’m glad you came by. Some new fish came in and I wonder if you can give me a hand with them?”

“Ya, no problem.”

Allen can’t get around too easy. He shakes a lot. He’s pretty old and kinda shuffles when he walks. He doesn’t have anyone to help him out. I don’t know why and never asked. A couple of times some older kids have come into the pet shop. Knowing he can’t move that fast, they wait till he was busy in the store and then they open the registrar and take money. All Allen can do is yell at them. He tries to get up front to stop them but he’s not fast enough. The crooks take what they want and laugh at Allen as they do it. They’re so mean! I wish Allen could stop them. I guess it’s good he isn’t up front when they come in who knows what would happen to him. He is pretty old.

“Allen can you look at something for me?”

“Sure what is it?”

“A coin I think but I’m not sure.” here it is.

“Well let me get my eyes so I can see.”

His eyes, that's what he calls his glasses, it's funny.

“Ok now let’s see what you have. Hmmm where did you get this?”

“I found it today.”

“Did someone lose it or give it to you?”

“No, I just found it.”

He won’t ask any more questions about how I got it. My mom would have asked who I stole it from or something like that. Not Allen, he has never thought of me like that. I would never steal it. I don’t even know who I would steal it from around here anyway.

“You might have something here boy. There’s a book on my shelf in the office, a good sized brown one. How about you go and bring it back so I can do some looking.”

“Ok be right back.”

I like it when he lets me go in his office. There are a ton of things from all over the world but I would never touch anything. I’m afraid if I did he would think I was snooping, but man I wish I could. There’s so many cool things in here. I think I found the right one, it’s titled Coins, Currency and Other Fine Metals. This is a big one! Must be at least a thousand pages or more.

“Here ya go Allen, is this it?”

“Yup sure is, thank ye boy. Can you take care of those fish while I take a look here?”

“Ya no problem.”

He knows I can handle the task without having to look over my shoulder. I’m glad he trusts me. He does have some nice fish. They’re all fresh water. He said he used to have a ton of saltwater tanks but they're too much for him to take care of now. He told me he’s had fish from all over the world. That would have been cool to see. Now he has some gouramis, fantails and my favorite, Cichlids. All different kinds and lots of colors I have always liked them but didn’t know what they were till Allen taught me about them.

“Ok Allen, the fish are taken care of. Sorry it took so long, I was watching them swim around.”

“No problem bud. Well, if I am correct here, you might just have something.”

“Oh ya, what is it?”

“Well, as far as I can tell, it is a gold coin and it might be a rare one at that.”

“Cool! What’s it worth?”

“Well before I tell you, does your mom know you have this?”

“No she would spend it on beer or cigarettes.”

“Ha Ha Ha, well she would have a lot to smoke then. This coin is worth a pretty penny.”

“It’s only a penny?”

“No no no that means it is worth a lot, it’s actually a golden dollar.”

“A dollar’s not worth a lot.”

“Not now but when this was made it was a fair amount and with age it just gets better.”

“Just like you Allen.”

“Ha not quite young man, but thanks anyway. You see this coin has a lot of value to it. Unlike this old man.”

“ You’re worth a lot to me.”

“Thank you again boy, you mean a lot to me also.”

“Well Allen if it’s really worth a lot then you can have it so you can get some help in here.”

“Oh that would be nice but I couldn’t you see, this coin is worth about twenty grand if I’m right.”

“TWENTY GRAND?! I could buy an Army tank with that!”

“What would you do with an Army tank?”

“I don’t know but it would be cool.”

“Well I don’t know what you want to do with it but you should put it away someplace safe so you don’t lose it and you might want to let your mom know.”

“NO I can’t do that, I won’t get any of it. Can I keep it here? You have a safe in your office.”

“I guess I could store it for a little while but you should really think about what you want to do with it.”

“Like what?”

“Well not buy a tank with it.” he chuckles. “You might want to save it for the future like an investment.”

“Hmmm ok I’ll think about it. I have to go now I have school in the morning.”

“Ok you best run along. I’ll see you when I do. And don’t worry I’ll keep it safe for ya.”

Man it’s been three days since I talked with Allen, I hope he still has my coin. “Hi Allen how ya doing?”

“Hey there boy how ya been?” “Good”

“Good to hear. I still have your coin in my safe so you don’t have to worry.”

“Oh I’m not.” Phew, if he only knew.

“Have ya thought about what you’re going to do with it?”

“Ya I have but I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

“Ok what’s that my boy?”

“I want to buy the pet store.”

“Haha haha now wouldn’t that be something! You think you could run it?”

“Sure if you help me.

“What makes you think I want to sell it?”

“Well not all of it just part of it, we can be partners.”

“Partners huh? That would be new. I never had one of them before.”

“So you wanna do it?”

“Hold on there Rockefeller.”

“Who’s that?”

“Oh just some guy is all .”

“I’m serious Allen, I don’t know what else to do with it and I love this place.”

“How old are you now?”

“Twelve thirteen in March.”

“Well you’re still a little young but I’ll tell ya what I can do...I can hold onto this coin and you continue to come in and help out. Then when you get a little older we can talk about it again. Ok?”

“Ya I can do that! Please don’t tell my Mom.”

“Don’t worry your secret's safe with me, as is this coin. Now go to my office, there is a black notebook on the desk. It has an inventory of what’s in the safe. I better log this in before I forget.”

“Yes sir be right back!”