Borrowed

Mathew sat and waited for the bus that would take him to work. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, the early morning dew made the air smell like spring and the wind was calm but steady. As he sat; he read his favorite column, in his favorite newspaper, on his favorite bench, at the same time he always did. Mathew always did enjoy his routines. The column was written by a man he knew in grade school and it always made him feel accomplished, as though he somehow had something to do with his success. Though the truth is he played no significant role. Mathew was in fact a very insignificant person and had been his whole life. Not very popular, not very handsome or interesting and had very little ambition. He worked in a mailroom and made just enough to get by. In fact the only thing unique about Mathew was that he had a very good memory, especially when it came to numbers.

As he waited a man sat next to him and unfolded his newspaper. He couldn’t help but notice the mans suit, he had seen it once on an advertisement for a high end men’s clothing store. $2499.99 he recalled as he looked the man up and down. “What did you say?” The man asked, as Mathew realized he must have muttered the price out loud. “Nothing!” He quickly replied, hoping the man would believe him. He stared at Mathew for a moment and then returned to his paper. The man wasn’t much older than he was and he thought to himself he must work as a stockbroker or an investment banker, jobs Mathew knew he could do if he really wanted. He wondered why someone like that would take the bus though or be in this neighborhood at all.

As the bus arrived, the two men stood up and stepped towards the bus. “After you.” The man gestured. Mathew nodded and walked up the steps to drop his $1.50 into the machine. Before he could finish he heard the man say “Hey bud, you think you could cover me, I don’t usually carry pocket change.” The nerve on this guy, he thought to himself as he searched his pockets, knowing he brought an extra $1.50 for the ride home. “Sure, no problem.” The man gave him a big pat on the back. “Much appreciated.” Mathew went to the first available spot and sat down. The man walked past him and towards the back of the bus, suddenly he stopped and turned around. He walked back to the seat just accross from him and sat.

As the bus began to move, the man leaned over and said “2899.99 actually, it costs more to have it custom tailored.” Mathew was in disbelief, how could someone spend so much on one outfit? He was also embarrassed as he realized the man had definitely heard him. “That’s impressive.” He said, “What is it that you do?” The man paused, reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black book. “Take a look for yourself.” He said, as he handed it to Mathew. He reached out and took the book, and asked what it was. The man leaned back in his seat and gestured for him to open it.

Mathew looked over the cover of the book, it was a very worn leather cover and only had one word written on it, ‘Borrowed’. It was written in gold and and was slightly hard to see. He opened the book to the first page and saw a list of handwritten names. They were numbered from 1 to 32, all of which were crossed out except the last. Andrew, Taylor, Lydia, Malcolm.. he read the names one by one until he reached number 32. “Christopher, that’s my name” the man said, “and you are?” “I’m Mathew.” He replied as he went to flip the page. “Wait!” “Before you read any further, I have to ask, how would you like to make $20,000 today Mathew?” He laughed, and thought to himself this must be a scam. The man continued. “This book can give you the things you need to make the life you’ve always dreamed of and all you have to do to keep it is write your name down and cross mine out.” “This is some sort of joke right”? Mathew replied. Thinking this must be the worst scam artist I’m history. “It’s not a joke, a little more than a month ago I was right where you were, but then I took the book and look at me now.” Mathew looked down at the book and thought about what he could do with $20,000. It must be a scam though, he thought to himself. The man reached in his pocket again and pulled out a pin. He held it out and waited. Mathew looked at the book and then back at the man. “What’s the harm in just writing my name down?” He thought. He took the pin and did as he was told. He crossed out the mans name, numbered the paper ‘33.’ And wrote down his own.

The bus came to a stop and the man stood up. “Mathew, it’s all yours now. Just make sure you keep it with you at all times.” He smiled and hurried off the bus. Mathew sat there, confused and bewildered. This had been a very strange morning. He looked down at the book and turned the page. At the top of the page it read ‘Andrew; $20,000, one job, one day.’ And at the bottom of the paper was one word written in gold. ‘Collision’. Mathew flipped the page. ‘Taylor; $20,000, 2 jobs, 2 days.’ And at the bottom another word in gold ‘Scorched’. He read every page, every one the same, the number of jobs and days corresponding to the number of each page. Every golden word however, was different. Each one sounded ominous and threatening. ‘Bludgeoned, crushed, buried, sundered’ finally he reached page 33. As he looked down at the paper, Mathew froze, he couldn’t believe it, there in his own handwriting, ‘Mathew; $20,000, 33 jobs, 33 days’ and at the bottom of the page, one word, written in gold, ‘buried’.

Mathew jolted out of his seat. He was gripping the book so tight it felt as though it might fall apart. “How is this possible?” He thought. He looked up and realized everyone was looking at him. He walked to the front. “Stop the bus I need to get off!” The driver stopped and opened the door. As he stepped off the bus a calming feeling came over him, the soft spring breeze felt good and he thought this must be a trick or a prank. He knew of a good cafe right around the corner and thought some coffee could help him figure out how this man got his name into the book. He began walking around the corner, as he walked he realized something was stuck to his shoe. He stopped and kneeled to take it off. It was a piece of gum stuck to a small piece of paper. As he turned it over he nearly fell over. There it was, a $5 scratcher lottery ticket. ‘Ruby red 7’s - Win up to $20,000’. It can be a coincidence, he thought. He hurried to the cafe, walked in and set at an empty booth in the corner.

He stared at the ticket. “Can this really be happening?” he thought. He reached into his pocket for a quarter and remembered that he had used all of his change on the bus. He grabbed his wallet and took out a dollar bill. “Excuse me miss!” He called to the young waitress walking by. “Any chance I could grab some change and a cup of black coffee”? She reached out and took the bill. “sure thing honey” she replied. He waited anxiously. His mind wondering about what he would do with all his money. “Here you go.” She said as she set down his coffee and handed him his change. “Need a menu?” He could barely respond he was so excited to scratch off the card. “No thanks, just the coffee.” As she walked away he began to scratch them off. The $20,000 jackpot required all 9 spaces to have ruby colored 7’s. One by one as he scratched and revealed another 7, he started to realize this wasn’t a scam, or a trick, this was real. Finally the last box, ‘7’.

Mathew couldn’t believe it. He had just won $20,000. He had never come close to having that much money. He sat and thought about everything he was going to buy. Suddenly a sinking feeling came over him. One word came to mind, ‘buried’. What was this? A payment? A threat? He opened the book and slowly turned to page 33. There between the words at the top and the one word at the bottom a new line. ‘Day one, job one, follow Christie home,’ What does this mean, he wondered. The sentence wasn’t complete it was as if more instructions were to follow. He sat in fear of what he had signed himself up for. As he sat the waitress returned to fill his coffee. “You sure you aren’t hungry? We’ve got the best waffles in the city!” “Im okay.” He replied. “Well if you change your mind just holler at me, my name is Christie.” She smiled as she walked away. Mathew’s heart started to race, his hands became numb. He layed the book down on the table. He couldn’t look away, he sat for what felt like hours and and stared at the words written on the page. ‘Day one, job one, follow Christie home..