It started sometime ago, many days and maybe even seasons ago, when a friend got fed up with hearing me whine and wish and simply said, “You should just go to a pawnshop…I am sure You will find one there” and the other day I finally found out how very right she was.
It was Friday the 13th and I mention that not because I am superstitious but rather because that just happened to be the day that I finally remembered her advice before it was too late and I was at home already. For some reason I cannot pinpoint, that morning I decided to do it, to go for it, to follow my friend’s advice and see if a pawnbroker, a pimp of lost memories, may be able to fulfill my long held wish and have what I was looking for. So with my mind made up I sent an e-mail to my friend to confirm the directions and began to wait out the passing moments between sending my request, getting a reply, and being able to begin my search.
The day dragged on for many reasons: it was Friday, I had plans, and not the least of which was that the night before lasted a wee bit too long. But end it finally did and with the official day done my search could begin buoyed by the bounce found in steps toward a possible wish fulfilled.
Now the directions were simple, “go out of your office and turn left, east, until you reach Church then turn left, north, on Church and you should find the pawnbrokers”. Easy enough right? Well not exactly. You see, sometimes when I walk the streets I can become distracted by many a sight or thought…even if I am on a ‘mission’ I am susceptible to being sidetracked, it could be anything from the sight of a single leaf falling that I can’t help but follow gently to the ground, or the bloom of a flower, a student driver trying to paralell park or a car accident or even just capturing the beauty of a ray of sunshine caressing the backs of my closed eyes in the crisp autumn air.
On this day though it was none of the above, on this day it was something different that distracted me. I started out following the directions to a tee…out of the office, turn left and just have to look for Church street then another left and from there the real search could begin…but that start didn’t last very long as when I left the office and turned left I was walking into the early evening sun. It was actually soothing catching those soft rays in the chill of the afternoon and I almost looked at them as a good omen. Then as sunglasses covered eyes got their bearings I caught the sun glistening off the old stain glass in the huge centuries old church that engulfed my sight. It was mesmerizing, this historical building basking in the illumination of the late afternoon sky and needless to say I was distracted.
I walked all around that church, not too close of course but all around it and close enough to enjoy the architecture and the history that the was the building before me. It was magnificent, so much so that it wasn’t until I reached the other side and felt the chill of the shadows cast by the church that I snapped out of it and continued my search for Church street and then to pawnbroker’s row.
Off again I go, one foot in front of the other, in the front of the other, in front of the other, until one just simply began to follow the other with a sneaking feeling they were getting further and further away from their intended destination…and knowing the city, I realized that I had to have missed Church street, not knowing how but just knowing I did. So, with that feeling growing and the afternoon slowly turning to evening I make an about face and decide that I if I don’t find Church street before I hit the tunnel home the wish will have to wait another day.
Not wanting to give up without making sure I didn’t try to find it I kept my eyes open and my mind focused. I looked at streetcar route maps for a clue, I called every friend that might point me in the right direction, I even asked a couple strangers but nothing. As I walked I just couldn’t understand how I could be lost? How was it that I could not find Church street? It’s not like I haven’t been on the street before. Finally, I found myself befuddled waiting at a red light on the very corner where I first noticed the Church and seeing the entrance to the tunnel home in the distance I took the opportunity to capture one more glimpse of its beauty and that is when it hit me.
I was on Church street!
What should have taken me five minutes took me forty-five but what the hell, I was now on my way. Lighting a cigarette to mark the accomplishment I finally headed down Church to see whether I might be lucky enough and there would be a ‘broker with just what I was looking for. I could feel the excitement growing as I got closer and even as I peered through the windows of the first few shops knowing there was no pot of gold to be found it grew and so forward I went deciding I would let my dwindling cigarette decide when the first shop I would go into.
As I smoked my guiding cigarette I couldn’t help but look around pawnbroker’s row without one once of surprise at what I saw, it was exactly as one would imagine it. Run down dingy store fronts with run down dingy people milling about and the signs are faded with paint chipping or fluorescent ones muted by the dirt of life staining the windows and inside, well again exactly what you would imagine, floor to ceiling shit. Everything you could imagine, from swords to betamax players to gold and jewelry behind locked cases...a great experience.
Then as my right foot landed the left followed it to put out the guiding cigarette and, with its job done, I proceeded to enter the bowling alley shop the last cloud lead me to. It was in there I that I found it. Just like I hoped, right away I walked right to a stack of them and knew that wish was fulfilled...there it was in the middle of the stack...I knew when I saw the sturdy charcoal case, I knew I had it:
My first ‘typer; my fist Underwood.
Thanks my Friend I may have got lost at first but You were right.
-2006
No comments:
Post a Comment