Broken Down

Daniel was waiting, sitting on a bench – feet on the seat part and butt on the backrest.

His car had broken down. Well, actually, he left his headlights on when he parked his car on the street outside his office and now, six hours later, the battery was drained. He had called his insurance company and they said they’d have someone there within the hour to jumpstart his car.

It was a real hassle because at first he thought that it was just the battery in his key-remote that died so he walked a couple blocks over to a local drugstore to buy a new battery. When he got back to his car, he hit the button on his remote repeatedly to no avail. It was at that point that he realized that the car battery must have died. No longer afraid of setting off the alarm, he used the analogue key to unlock the car door and sat inside. He pulled out his cell phone to call his insurance company.

What made the situation worse was that half way through the call Daniel’s phone died and he was forced to go into a nearby Starbucks to borrow their phone. The Barista was kind and understanding but after the insurance company said it would be more than an hour before “Knockup-Lockup” people would be there to offer him a jumpstart Daniel’s mood had reached a new low.

And so, Daniel was waiting, sitting on the bench – feet on the seat part and butt on the backrest.

He pulled out his iPod and plugged in to drown out the sounds of the DC traffic that surrounded him. He had a book in his backpack and he could have done some reading for class but he wasn’t really in the mood. He pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes and stared into space as the sun was setting between some office buildings down the street.

An old woman in a heavy coat passed by Daniel and sat down on a nearby bench. She was fumbling with some bags when another large woman in her thirties walked up to her. As the younger woman approached, Daniel noticed that she was wearing a navy tracksuit of navy sweat pants and a white-stained purple sweatshirt that didn’t match. Her feet were in a tattered pair of sneakers that at some had probably been white. She waddled and was sucking her left thumb.

Spare a couple of bucks? Tracksuit said to the older woman. Daniel turned away and turned the volume up on his iPod so that he could ignore the situation more effectively.

Looking up the street he saw the shadow of his figure on top of the bench stretch out in front of him on the pavement. The large woman’s shadow was approaching his. He ignored it until he felt something touch his knee. He turned to face the woman who had her hand on his thigh now. He turned down the volume on his iPod.

Can you help me out? I’m hungry, she said to him, shifting her weight from her left leg to her right. Daniel found it difficult to understand her with her thumb in her mouth. He just stared up at her through his sunglasses.

Do you have a couple bucks? She said to him. She shifted her weight again.

Yeah, but I need it, Daniel said. He was aware that he sounded rude and unsympathetic but he really was concerned about how he was going to get back home with no phone and the likelihood of no car.

The woman just stared at him. At first he thought he had offended her but then as she continued to stare, her expression turned into a smile.
You’re cute, she said. She stared at him a little longer and shifted her weight again.

Thanks, he replied.

How old are you? She said.

Too young for you, Daniel responded.

Tracksuit took a second – switched thumbs – switched legs again. Then began to laugh hysterically as she waddled away.

Too young for me! Daniel heard her mumble to herself. Then he turned the volume back up.