This
posting is the third part of the story College Jobs. To read the first and
second parts of the story please click on the links on the right side of this
blog. Thanks for reading!
I
parked my Ford Taurus on the opposite side of the street from the house. I
double checked the address that I had received with the one displayed on the
curb. It hadn't been hard to find, and it wasn't too far
from my apartment either. The house was attractive from the exterior; red brick
with a small front yard that looked well maintained. It was not a large house,
probably only two bedrooms from what I could tell. The sun had not yet risen. I
checked the time on my cell phone - 6:01 am.
I put a
baseball cap on and pulled it low over my eyes. The previous night I had prepared
my “Private Investigator Pack”. It consisted of some snacks and drinks to hold
me over for the day, a change of clothes in case I needed to change my
appearance, a pair of aviator sunglasses, and a couple copies of Slam Magazine.
It was
cold outside, but I turned the car off as soon as I parked. I did not want to
draw any undue attention to myself, and I figured it was best if the car was
quiet. Efrain’s note had instructed me that she would leave at 7:00 am, which
meant I had an hour to wait. I was tired, but sleep was out of the question.
The adrenal that I was feeling, mostly from being scared out of my mind, kept
me wide awake.
A lot of
deep introspection creeps into your mind when you are sitting in the dark and
waiting for a woman to come out of her house. Was I breaking the law? Was I
participating in organized crime? Would I end up owing my soul to the Mafia? I
still had no clear indication of who this woman was. She was somehow connected
to Efrain. The possibilities as to what type of relationship they possessed
seemed pretty limited. They were either involved romantically or financially.
No matter the relationship they had, I was stuck right in the middle of it, and
that made me more than a little uncomfortable.
The sun began
to rise around 6:30 and the street became illuminated with light. I sat quietly
brooding in my thoughts until just before seven, when I saw the entry light
come on and the door open. Efrain’s description matched the woman I saw come
out of the house. She was in her mid to late twenties with blonde hair that was
above her shoulders and had highlights that made her even more blonde. She wore
a skirt and blouse that indicated a business casual dress code. Overall she
looked fit and was surprisingly attractive. Immediately I knew that Efrain’s
relationship with her must be financial.
She got
into her car, a golden Chevy Malibu, and started off down the road. I waited
for her to pass then turned the key and pulled into the road. The distance to
her work was not far. She pulled into a parking lot adjacent to a small
corporate office. It was the kind of place that housed numerous small offices,
filled with business that provided services that ranged from dentists to
accountants.
I drove
to the end of the parking lot and positioned my car so that I still had decent
view of her car. The next four hours were quite possibly the most boring of my
life. I had anticipated the possibility of a security guard coming to chase me
away, but that never happened. I sat in near complete silence the entire
morning, waiting for any sign of the woman. I briefly considered the
possibility of squeezing in a nap, but I didn't want to risk the
chance of missing her if she was to leave. So I sat and waited, hoping that she
had not brought a lunch to work that day. I wasn't sure I could last
in my car until 5:00 pm.
Around
11:30 I was saved from the monotony of waiting, when a number of people began
to file out of the building for lunch. I tried to appear as though
I wasn't watching them coming out of the building, but this was
surprisingly difficult, considering I was actively observing them. In the
second wave of people that exited the building I saw the woman I was following.
She exited with a man and a woman who I assumed were her coworkers. They walked
to a black Ford Excursion that was parked near the Malibu and began to climb
inside. I was actually glad to see they were climbing into a large
vehicle, as I figured it would be much easier to follow; thank you American-made
cars.
The
small lunch party drove to a nearby restaurant that served Mexican food, parked
their car and made their way inside. From the parking lot I could see the table
where they were seated inside the restaurant. Lunch was mind numbing and
uneventful. I made a quick note on a piece of paper that the woman had gone to
lunch with two people who appeared to be coworkers; one male and one female.
It didn't seem as though they were in a hurry, so I jumped out of the
car and ran to the Wendy’s next door. I sat in the car and ate a dollar menu
heart attack until the three returned to work.
The
afternoon mirrored the morning hours with one exception; the heat was
relentless. Finding shade to park in was futile, so I rolled my windows down
and tried to make the best of my situation. The cap I wore protected my eyes
from the sun, but offered no relief for the heat. Sweat ran down my face and
stung my eyes. I knew it was probably unwise to get out of the car, but I began
to fear that staying in the car would ruin my sanity. There were a few trees
next to the building the woman had entered, and I made way to the patch of
grass that sat between them. From my position between the trees I could see the
entrance to the building and the woman’s Chevy Malibu. The temperature must
have dropped 10 degrees in the shade, because I immediately felt a sense of
relief. My sanity began to return.
I waited
patiently in the shade and sipped lukewarm, grape PowerAde for the next few
hours. My favorite flavor has always been grape, but many vending machines only
carry Berry Blast or Fruit Punch flavors. Luckily I had planned ahead. At 4:30
the woman exited the building and walked in the direction of her car. I jumped
to my feet and walked briskly to my car, all the while attempting to look
normal.
She
pulled out of the parking lot in a direction opposite of her home, and I
followed close behind, assuming that she was going to make a stop somewhere. My
day of following this woman had caused numerous questions to arise in my mind.
I had ample time to sit and dwell on who she could possibly be and why Efrain
would be willing to pay someone to follow her. What did he expect me to find?
Where did her expect her to go? Who did he expect her to meet?
The
turn signal on the Malibu flashed red as she prepared to pull off the road. The
brake lights came on as the car slowed and made its way into a gravel parking
lot. I didn't want to bring any attention to myself so I passed
quickly and made a U-turn. I parked opposite the street of the gravel lot and
looked to see where she had gone. From my car window I could see the woman
browsing at a fruit stand. From what I could tell she had purchased a
watermelon and a few ears of corn. Was all of this really that important to
Efrain?
It
didn’t take long to arrive back at the woman’s house. I parked about five
houses down the road and figured that I would sit outside until she had turned
in for the night, which I realized could take about four or five more hours.
The unknowns in this scenario were becoming unbearable.
I didn't think I could follow her around for the rest of the week
without even knowing her name. I settled it in my mind that I would do some
research on the property and its owner when I got home that night.
I had
just opened a package of beef jerky for dinner when the front door to the house
opened again. The woman came back outside began stretching on the grass in the
front yard. Her hair was pulled back, and she wore a college t-shirt and a pair
of spandex that nearly floored me. Her appearance confirmed what I had already
discovered; she was very attractive.
I tried
to conceal the fact that I was watching her from the car parked down the
street, by leaning the seat of my car back. She stretched for a few minutes
that seemed to last an eternity. The feeling of hiding and watching an
attractive woman stretch on her lawn was very uncomfortable.
I couldn't wait for her to run off down the road, but then I began to
worry about how I was supposed to follow her. I quickly decided that there was
no way I could follow her without alerting her, but I did want to take
advantage of her being away from the house.
I
watched her run until she disappeared around the corner. I quickly exited the
car and ran to her front porch. Fastened to the wall next to the door was a
mail box. I lifted the lid and peeked inside, hoping for an envelope or even a
post card that would reveal her name. The box was empty. I contemplated trying
to go inside of her house, but it didn't take long to convince myself
that was a stupid idea. I began to turn back towards my car when I heard a
voice down the street; she was back! I could see she was talking to someone on
her cell phone, and hadn't looked up at her house yet. I ducked low
and quickly scrambled to the front of her car. As she approached I slid behind
the car trying to conceal myself as much as possible. I thought to myself,
“It’s over. There’s no way she didn't see me.” As she approached the
door I heard her speak into the phone, “Ok, mom.” She entered the door and a
few seconds later I heard the click of the deadbolt locking.
My heart
was pounding, my lungs gasped for air, and I could feel sweat beads forming on
my forehead. I walked to my car and drove home; that was enough fun for
one day.
The
drive home was a blur. My mind was somewhere else and I did not have the power
to find it. One thing was certain; I wasn’t going to tell Efrain about my close
call today. He wouldn't need that many details. I would give him a
rundown of the day’s events, which to me included nothing important, and let
him decide whether or not it was a success.
When I
reached my house I found a small package at my door. I picked up the package
and carried it inside. Before I had time to open the package it began to ring.
I ripped open the seam on one side and slid out a prepaid phone that was still
ringing. I pushed the send button and heard a familiar voice say, “Hello, this
is Efrain.” Apparently he knew where I lived.
To be
continued…
