Book of Life

Book Of Life

PART ONE

Who the Hell are Ruben and Sonja?

When you think of reasons to follow through with something and just going for it I am not one of those type of people. I am always one to be on the safe side. I am always one to make sure I don't choose the wrong pathway in any part of my life. So… When I woke up in the middle of a motel room in Tuscan, Arizona, I was alone with three empty bottles of Southern Comfort and wearing nothing but a tablecloth and cowboy boots, I knew I should have just stayed the hell home and not head out for an open mic night the night before. I lied on the floor staring up and this retro celling fan with three working blades and realized how the hell did I end up here in my life.

You see being a kid in the early 80's was grand, being able to go to an arcade with a roll of quarters and just had to worry about being home before the streetlights were on was amazing. And then, being in my late teens around the same time as DeLorean’s were cool, Mario was Super and there were no worries of sending a drunken text to an ex-girlfriend, or boss I never worried about ending up like the way I did in Tuscan.

I rolled over, placed my hands on the blue shag carpet as though I were going to do a push up and got up. "Where the hell am I'? I looked over to the bedside table and picked up the newspaper. "Arizona Daily Star"? O.K. now I know where I am. Then I paused for a second and realized the papers date was a full week since I left my bachelor’s apartment in Phoenix. What the hell happened. How was I over 100 miles away from my place.

As I picked up the paper, a small black book with a bunch of variable numbers in it fell to the floor and also about $20,000.00 in cash. "Um, O.K. what did I do"? I sat in the room at the Motel 6 and went through my things that were left in the room. I had to try to get an inventory of the last week of my life and see where I could have possibly got the book and cash from. The black book was the same size as a passport and was torn on the corners as though it was passed from person to person until I was graced with having it. Or was it a curse?

I opened the book, and I was in about 3 pages in and that’s when . I seen a name, Cameron Henderson .... "Wait …What the Hell!" I’m Cameron Henderson and right beside my name was a payment of $14000.00. How the hell did I have this money and who was this Mr. Ruben Bowman that was paid $6000.00 for a commission and why was I hungover in a motel room wearing a tablecloth and cowboy boots.

I looked over to the entrance of the room and seen a small envelope with both Rubens and my name written on it in lipstick with the room number and a heart shape with a name and number, Sonja. I hesitated to open the envelope but needed to know what the hell happened? How did I get to Tuscan and who the hell were Ruben and Sonja. I stumbled over to the Motel phone dialed out and called the number.

The phone rang and had that old classic ring sound. A female voice on the other end answered "Hello"? As soon as I heard the voice, I said the only name I knew at the time that it possibly could have been. "Sonja"? "Cameron you're awake, I thought you would have slept the day away after the past week". "I have way too many questions to ask, can you come to the motel?" I replied. She had the slightest Arizonian accent and said "Sure, as soon as I pick up Ruben from the office, we can head right over."

This is great, hopefully when they show up, they both can explain why I’m here, who they are and why do I have this small black book and $20,000.00. When I said before about being on the side of being safe. This was most definitely not one of those times.

PART TWO

A Black Book, $20,000.00 and an Explanation

I sat in the Motel and collected the pieces of my last week onto the small, laminated table near the front window of the room with a bottle of $9.00 water and some Pad Tai I found in the fridge. Staring at the items I had collected and trying to gather my thoughts before they got there I realized I needed to know what happened this past week and why I had this cash and book.

You know when you are waiting for someone and it feel like hours when it’s only been minutes well it felt like days instead. By the time they pulled in I was able to track down my shirt under the bed, my pants in the bathtub and the rest of my clothes were draped over the back of the washroom door. I could hear them laughing outside the room and finally they walked in. Sonja was a small, framed girl, brunette and reminded me of Mila Jelavic and had to be in her early 30’s and Ruben looked to be like one of those guys you would see in an 80’s cop show. Full black handlebar moustache, tan coloured suit with a unbuttoned dress shirt and tie. He had to be in his early 60’s

Ruben looked right at me with a smirk “Hey, Cameron, how yah feeling buddy”? “It’s been a rough week” “You should sit down, and we can explain everything buddy”. He explained to me that the book was created by this company he works for that determines the rate of life and how long someone is supposed to live. After they determine your life expectancy, they offer you money to buy your days left to live.

“Wait, what”?! I am not one for math but that only gives me “… Sonja looks down at her phone and replies “38.33 years left on your life Cameron”. “Yeah, you were going off last week about that and kept on saying the number over and over again 38.33” Sonja shows me her phone and a video of me waisted out of my tree screaming at the top of my lungs at the UnderTow Bar near my place “38.33 years! Who needs it when you get $14000.00 today, Oh yeah!!!!.

Looking at the video I remember the number and realized I wanted to leave Phoenix and it would have been just shy of $10,000.00 to do it. Being a guy who thought I could get a quick way of doing it. I would take the leap when they approached me with the offer. I did not ever take a leap of faith before. I always played it safe So, I guess I decided to do it. I thought when they approached me about this about a week ago, I thought it was a joke, said yes, got the cash and went to The UnderTow to celebrate my win fall.

This is why I always played it safe before. I would not have ended up hungover in a Tucson Motel room, wearing cowboy boots and a tablecloth and selling my life away to complete strangers working for a company that buys and sells peoples lives. Worst week ever.