What's in the box?

What's in the box?

Reading, Pennsylvania was an industrial town. We got off of I76 and turned East on to 422. As we rounded the big bend we could see Reading open up in the valley. My first thought on seeing the rusted hulks of old factory buildings was that once upon a time Reading had thrived; but I knew we had made a mistake. Truth be told it was me that made the mistake. Always searching for something better for my family I had thought that Reading was what I was looking for in the next step in my career. However once I laid eyes on the rust colored, and brown valley below, my heart sunk. We were moving away from Palm Beach Florida, which I can tell you were no great shakes either. If you are among the rich I guess Florida may always feel like a vacation, however for the working stiff it was more like Paradise Lost. Hot sultry mornings with the humidity at 80-90% and the temperature already at 82° at 7:30 in the morning portended another long, stinking hot day. While the humidity burned off as the sun rose it was still like working in the actual Sun. South Florida is no place to be a blue collar worker.

Dreams of a white Christmas and the smell of a turkey in the oven that warms the kitchen on a cold Thanksgiving Day was eventually what drove me back up north. Still, the shock of seeing the burned-out, rusty looking, industrial area of the city of Reading was no way to make a first impression. Reading has some lovely areas and some wonderful people to be sure. It seemed though that in the blue collar, working poor section of the town it was a mix of cultures and the Pennsylvania Dutch. I'm guessing that the Pennsylvania Dutch arrived first.

Every town has their share of quirky, odd, and dangerous looking people. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the factories. It was really the temps that filtered in and out of the production lines that always seemed to move just on the edges of society. Often it seemed that most worked a week or so took their money and moved on. It was one of those temps that I told my friend Bobby about, at lunch.

I went downtown to City Hall to get a permit or a license or some such item like that. It seems they always manage to pop up around payday. Okay, so it was more like a notice that you got that just got buried with all the other envelopes that the mailman brings on a daily basis. By the time you see it again it's due and of course it's usually on payday. If you don't go pay it now something will get turned off or it will cost you more when you do get around to it. So it was one of those envelopes that brought me downtown that day I told Bobby.

Downtown Reading is at the bottom of a long hill that is N. Fifth St. I was glad I had the car that day! I did not relish the idea of riding my bike or walking up that hill to go home. Apparently neither did the guy hitchhiking I guess. I asked Bobby if he remembered the temp that was working last week. He's wasn’t a very big guy and it was hard to tell where he was from. He reminded me of Travis Bickle, you know the guy Robert De Niro played in Taxi Driver? Yeah I remember that guy Bobby said, he did seem a little odder than usual temps we get. Yeah I know. Well I saw him hitchhiking up N. 5Th. As a rule I don't usually pick up hitchhikers. Too many horror stories over the years, true or not, I prefer to keep my jugular vein in my neck intact, thank you very much. Well, what did you do Bobby asked? Unfortunately he saw me looking at him as I passed and I knew he recognized me. I felt like I had no choice but to pull over. He came over and got in the car, and kind of mumbled thanks. It felt creepy but it was because he just had a creepy vibe to him. "I remember you", I said. You worked on the packaging line last week didn't you? He didn't say anything, just nodded. The only thing worse than a creepy ride, is a quiet creepy right, am I right Bobby? Bobby nodded in agreement. Bobby was a tough guy, a Junior middleweight boxing champion of Pennsylvania, great guy, Low key, badass, easily spooked and easier to make laugh. I said, I figured I'd better make some small talk with the guy. I told him I was just downtown paying a bill now that it was payday. He was carrying a cardboard paper box. Kind of like a shoebox with some brown wrapping paper around it and some old looking string. It looked like it has been around the block a few times or maybe a few states while on the run I joked. Now mind you this was just in conversation, but I asked him what was in the box he was carrying. Looks like maybe it’s quite a big lunch! Buy something new on payday? He turned and looked at me with those scary eyes. The kind you can never quite read. He said "it's none of your fucking business". I want whoa! I tell you Bobby my jaw just dropped to my chest! Funny thing, so did Bobby's. We drove on another block, I was in kind of a stunned silence. Then get this, the guy turned to me and said listen man, I'm sorry about that. I'm kind of a private guy and what's in my box is my business and "no one else's fucking business"! Bobbys eyes kept getting wider. Seriously? He said that? He really said that? Yep, he did. Even that weird, kind of half apology didn't make me feel any better. Bobby said yeah that guy kind of gave me the creeps too. Now I really wanted to know what the hell was in that box! I would be lying if I said I didn't want to know. Bobby then said “I would have just thrown the guy out my car that if that was me”. I thought of that too I said but after that other temp blew his brains out in the alley with a shotgun a couple of weeks back, I wasn't about to tempt fate by asking again! I know, I kinda liked that kid Bobby said. I did too. It was sad. I think it had something to do with his kid and the baby's mama. But I'm more concerned with this guy shooting me with a shotgun, more than I am about him shooting himself. Amen, Bobby said!

Frankly I wanted nothing more to do with the guy, so I told him I was turning on Spring Street and he would just have to catch another ride. He kind of deflated a little but said okay. I pulled over and he opened the door and got out quickly. I pulled away just as quickly. I didn't want to chance him jumping back in the car! No shit Bobby said. Man, you lucked out getting rid of him with no hassle. No shit, I said! I turned on Spring Street anyway even though I didn't have to, just in case he ended up temping again. I didn't want him catching me in a lie. I didn't care that I lied, I just didn't want to get caught, by him! Bobby laughed a little but I could tell that the thought of this guy coming back haunted him a little bit.

Once I got onto Spring Street I relaxed a little bit. I’ll bet Bobby said, but then I happened to look over and I saw that the guy left his paper box, with the wrapping paper and the old string! No way Bobby yelled. Everyone in the lunch room turned to stare at us. Quiet down I said. Well what did you do? I waited till I got home that’s what I did. I was spooked! Did you open it Bobby asked with some trepidation? Of course I did! I've never seen Bobby that excited and worked up. A mixture of curiosity killed the cat and the fear of the unknown. Well what was in it Bobby asked? His anxiousness was now palpable. "None of your fucking business"…... I laughed….. Bobby didn't.