Little Black Book

It was Friday morning and Jared stood, nodding approvingly into the full length mirror. It had been some time since he had bought something for himself but it was time to finally enjoy the little extra money he had rather than just save his life away. The mall seems like the perfect place since it lost its appeal to the teenagers. Jared felt light hearted the more he turned to view himself. He was trying on a new pair of navy blue jeans that were a perfect fit. ‘You can’t take it with you to the grave so might as well enjoy it’ Jared said to himself as he decided to wear the new pair out. He slipped his Doc Martens on as he folded and rolled his old pants and tucked then into the crook of his left arm. In one swift movement he turned and unlatched the fitting room door, giving his reflection one last nod before swinging it open and making his way to the cashier.

Walking towards the register he began the automatic payment procedure; smile, reach for wallet, pull card, “OUCH!” Jared jumped and looked at the sudden sharp pain on his right hand and was surprised he was bleeding.

“Not many people keep their cards in a book,” the cashier said. Jared looked at her confused then back at his hand. The top of his finger was now freshly bleeding from a paper cut while he was holding a black card, which the cashier promptly took for payment of the $155 jeans. Faster than JAred fhad ever finished a transaction, the cashier had passed him back the card, the receipt and a bag for his old pair of jeans. Still a little confused, Jareds’ body was running on auto-pilot as he left the store and ended up on a bench next to the cell phone accessory kiosk. He absent mindedly sucked on his finger till the bleeding stopped and tried to make sence of what just happened.

‘Did I just get a free pair of jeans? Whose card is this? What am I holding?’ In Jared’s left hand was a little black book, a department store bag and his jeans rolled up in his arm still. On his right was a receipt with a blood stain and a black card. Dropped the bag and jeans on the floor between his feet, too excited to be tidy, and opened the little black book. Centered at the top of page one in black bold numbers read ‘$20,000’. As Jared focused and began to see red ink appear just under the $20,000 that read

‘ - $ 155.00

_________

Before the final black number of;

$ 19,845

There was nothing else written in or on the book or the black card. The surface of each were the same obsidian black that was almost shadow like. The back of the card was similar to any bank card with a swipe stripe but no name or initials anywhere. Jared couldn’t begin to return these, even if he wanted to. Yes $20,000 was a lot of money, but whoever owns something like this surly has the money to spare. Whereas for Jared, who’s never seen this much at once let alone expected to get it by luck, this was life changing.

Jared almost didn’t know where to begin, until he remembered where he was. This was going to be the shopping spree of his life. All the things he yearned for in magazines and from glass, the places he could visit and foods he could try, the possibilities were endless. First thing was first, It was time to see what the big deal was about apple products.

Three hours and $3,700 less later Jared decided he wanted to move on. There was so much more to get and he wasn’t going to miss a cent. After another few hours of exhausting shopping and trips to his car, Jared managed to spend his amounts down to his last $1,200. The little black book did well keeping up with the card usage calculations and was always prepared for Jared the second he needed to know the balance. Satisfied of the luckiest day of his life, Jared slid the card back into the book without looking and pinched the end of his finger.

Jared jumped up, he had to finish. There was still more money to spend and it had to go but what else could he buy that he wanted. He had a large Diamond studded watch, new clothes, furniture, and knick knacks that called out to him. But what more? ‘Might as well finish this off. Can’t take it with me”

Food. That was it and it solved another problem for Jared, giving back . . ? Did he want to? That was odd. Usually Jared always thought of others before himself, odd of him to go all day with such a large amount and not think of a single other living soul. Jared was starting to feel light headed. It was definitely time for food. He walked over to the restaurant across the parking lot from the mall and was seated in the corner booth near the back of the building. He ordered the largest steak and most expensive bottle of whiskey. It was the best meal of his life.

His bill came and he didn’t even look at it when he dropped the black card on the tray. Jared leaned back, completely satisfied with how his life is. Everything seemed to have finally fallen in place for him. Things were going to go his way and he would be on top for once.

“Sir. SIR!” the waiter was yelling now, “Your card declined for the full balance. You must present another.”

Jared looked around quickly. He didn’t understand why the waiter was so angry, even if the card didn't work he knew he had the amount in his personal account. Shrugging off the rudeness, he made a mental note to deduct the tip as he reached for the card. As soon as his finger tips touch the black front of the magical card, his skin began to burn. He tried to rip his hand away but to no avail, the card was melting to his fingers. The pain was like a lighting bolt shooting through his nervous system and directly into his brain, sending a transmission to every nerve ending in his body. Nothing else was real but the blinding pain that engulfed his entire body.

After what felt like years, the pain had finally subsided to a dull thud and Jared was able to look around. He was nowhere. Everything was completely dark. Reaching out he couldn’t feel anything, not even the floor he was standing on. He couldn’t hear anything beyond the beating of his own heart and even that faded as she screamed the last of the air from his lungs.

The waiter came back to the corner booth and shook his head. Once again, stiffed on a friday night. All that was left of his over enthusiastic customer was a little black book at the corner of the table.