Lines On My Face ( Part II )

It finally happens. The tool aisle. A man stands alone. Six foot tall, in his late sixties, looks about a healthy eighty, and slightly hunched over.Bam! The story begins to unfold.
He is a proud man. Wears it like a badge. He has seen the best and the worst of humanity. His hands reflect a hardened work ethic that has provided for a family and is now the thread by which he dangles. He is a drinker... The hard stuff. The nicotine stain in his mustache tells me he has had a cigarette in his mouth almost every waking moment of his life. The divorce was hard and shameful...It's amazing what you don't remember when you're sober. She got everything, mainly cause the kids were still in college and she wound up being the bread winner. "They used to not care if you had a nip at lunch, Hell, when I was runnin' my own crews, I'd drink with em'!".That's what he tells them at the bar. He figures if he hasn't got cancer yet, he ain't gonna get it."My grandma smoked since she was eight and she lived to be eighty-five." He tells them that, at the bar, too. His old truck has been about as "duct taped and bailin' wired" as you can get and he hasn't had insurance on it since 82'. He has lived in shit hole apartments for years and has spent a few weeks here and there "camping" in the truck.He's looking for a tool belt and a few general tools. Last job some "jackass" stole it.Truth is, in a pleasant afternoon drunk, he left it on top of the truck and sped away spilling the belt and it's contents on the ground for all to enjoy. He's gotta get some work this week. His oldest daughter, Debra, is coming down from Vermont to visit. She always stays with her mother because "They have internet, and she needs to keep tabs on Andrew and the kids." She loves her daddy, but it hurts her to see what he has become. Andrew is a "spoiled rotten little sonofabitch" that refuses to come with her and urges her to give up on her dad."He's never gonna change,Debra!You're just in denial!"The old man tells himself that he has earned the right to live his life the way he wants to and "If anybody doesn't like it they can kiss my ass!" He slowly twirls his mustache between his fingers and reaches for one of the toolbelts and tosses it in his cart. He looks up, turns towards me, looks me dead in the eye and winks. Not sure of the meaning of his gesture, I nod my head and promptly leave the aisle. Feeling somewhat depressed by my own imagination, I head towards electronics. The electronics section is my "happy place" in Wally World cause that's where the CD's are. I glance down the aisle with the Hot Wheels and can't help but wonder why we didn't have such realistic toys as kids. I feel as though I must start collecting them... It is what Wal Mart wants me to do...and, I will obey. I wonder if Debra is hot.