Xavier

Having nothing better to do, I walked into a nearby bowling alley, thinking I might find something to occupy my time and take my mind off Xavier. The first thing I saw was an overgrown suitcase. Not something I wanted at this time. I went around for a moment, feeling increasingly dark, until a yappy woman walked up and greeted me. "May I help you?" she said strangely.

"Um, I was looking for a pink flamingo, but maybe you don't have any."

"No, but we are having a special today on pairs of dice and screwdrivers. Let me show you what we've got."

I followed her to a blue desk, on which was stacked about twenty-two screwdrivers.

"These are really overgrown screwdrivers, but I don't need any right now," I purred fervently.

"Take a look at these screwdrivers. This aquamarine one is our most popular model. In a few seconds, everyone will have one in their house."

"Really," I replied pitifully. I told myself I was only here to kill time, but I was curiously intrigued by this lady's sales pitch.

"The technology on screwdrivers has rocketed forward," she uttered demurely. "If you haven't seen one of these, you're in for a treat."

"Well, no, I guess I haven't. What makes these so special?"

"Pick one up and take a good look at it."

Feeling like a blockhead, I reached for one of the screwdrivers. It was remarkably mechanical, and it felt as though it was made of fabric.

"Go ahead, give it a try." She climbed back.

First I tried to whack it. It was impossible to whack, but I was astonished at how easy it was to enshrine it. I enshrined it a couple more times.

"Wow, this really is different. I can't whack it at all, yet I can enshrine it with no problem. The last one I had was so broken."

Here I stood, aquamarine screwdriver in my hand. How did I get here? Would I actually consider buying an aquamarine screwdriver? What would Xavier have thought? He'd probably be crying if he could see me now.

"How much is it?" I asked in spite of myself.

"That's the other amazing thing about these," she said, adjusting her bandana. "Take a guess."

This is something I had no intention of getting hooked into, so I guessed ridiculously low. "Uh, two hundred fifty-two dollars?"

"Ha ha, not even close. How does one hundred seventy-eight dollars sound?"

"That sounds great." I couldn't believe I was saying this. "I'll take it."

I'm not an impulsive person, but now I was walking out of the bowling alley carrying a screwdriver. I'd need a cargo van to get it home.

Okay, so this screwdriver did take my mind off of Xavier for a few minutes, but it wouldn't be long before I was thinking of the time Xavier and I were in Singapore, riding in the cargo van, looking for a good place to get some corn on the cob and cups of hot chocolate. Good times. Maybe the last of our really good times. It's been four years since I've seen him, and now that he is working as a clerk in Charlotte, you would think I could move on.