Once he left I took off my warn boots and shawl and stuck um next to my knapsack. I got up from my crouched position and finally turned down the rough fabric of the bottom bunk and began to scoot my body into a comfy position. God you just don't know how good this feels. I haven't slept in a bed in weeks. Well good night all!
BOOM….OWWW….god what is dat noise……shit my head hurts….it does take long for me to find out what happened. Apparently that racetrack guy jumped outta bed and wit the surprise I bump my head…and trust me I'll have a great big souvenir to show for it later. As my senses return and my head stops ringin I realize that all the boys are gettin up and are gunna go to newspaper row. I figure the best course of action is to cover my head wit the covers and fall back asleep again…
The next thing I know the sun is peering through the thin sheet and my eyes are burnin. Ummm…I really don't think I'm gunna get outta bed today. I mean I still have about 14 bucks left and I am so comfy. Just for curiosity's sake I look out the window which is block by my bed. It looks to be about 8'oclock. I push off the window sill and fly back into a lying position…yup that's just that I'm gunna do…sleep all day…I lift up my arms to stretch and inhale through my noise…ugh…maybe I should take a bath…and maybe unpack a bit and hide my shit before the boys come back…I hate carryin all this money around anyways…So I get outta bed…cautious so that I don't bump my head again…I grab the crap that I stuck between the mattress yesterday night and head to the wash room.
I walk through the swingin door and rumble through the filth and muck tryin to find a somewhat clean tube. I'm not lookin for perfect…I just don't want to share a bath wit whatever it is that is clingin to the edges of the metal soakers that are sprawled across the floor. I carefully walk across the muck, soap, dirt, and foam all over the floors (so I don't slip and split my head) and inspect the tubes drapin the floor lookin for the most bearable. After ten inspections I finally find one that is useable. I fully put it right side up and drag it to the faucet…kick the one that is already occupying the space…and start fillin the thing wit water.
Once it's filled and I stop pumpin…I push it away so that I can fit in the space and in the process a flush of water drips out of the metal container…oh well more water to this floor would be like addin a rain drop to a flood…is it really gunna make a difference? I put my knapsack onto the counter and start to scrounge the room for soap, shampoo and if I'm lucky…conditioner. In the back of the room I see a closet and to the right of that…a row of stalls…I figure if it's anywhere it's in that there. I open the closet door and start dumpin all the contents to the floor tryin to find my prized items…soap check…I put the container on the bench (left to the closet) and keep searchin for the rest. A few moments I find the shampoo and an unexpected surprise…a towel! After that short celebration I see a shinny container way in the back…I finish dumpin the rest of the crap on the floor and finally find the conditioner…clearly someone was trying to hide it…boy are they gunna be pissed…
I finally take all the things I collected and put them on the counter near my knapsack. I take off my cloths and put them on the counter too…I do have another pair of cloths but if I wash these they will take forever to dry and I'm not planin on stayin here that long…I grab the cleanin products and put them on the floor next to tube with the exception of the towel and finally take a bath…
The water is freezing cold but because the temperature outside is about 90 degrees it really is quiet refreshin… From here I realize how bad my condition is…dirt and dried mud is caked onto my scalp and hair…not to mention the rest of my body and judging from my facial reflection in the water... I have a lot to clean there too. After about an hour of scrubbin rinsin and repeatin I am finally clean. I figure that while I am here I might as well enjoy myself…I mean I did spend a nickel on the accomadations…I snicker at that and I slide down so that I can lay my head on the edge…out of the corner of my eye I see the large scar I have on my left hand. See that's my stealin hand…awile back when I was just startin to wait outta saloons to rob blind the boozed out gentlemen …anyways it was late at night and I was leanin on a building across the street and I saw this large figure.
He stumble out of the pub but even from across the street I can see the shine of the gold and the twinkle of the diamond as it reflected off of the moon light. I figured he was as good as any…so I started trailin him…anyways to make a long story short when I bumped him wit my right shoulder and went for the jewels he caught me…and slashed my hand all the way to the bone. He wasn't even about to stop there…yup I'm surprised I got outta that one wit my life still intact.
On my neck I have another slash. That was when I was about seven…see I was still livin in the orphanage and before they made me start workin at the factory I had daily chores that I had to do around the joint. Anyways it was my day to clean the bathrooms and I slipped on something or other and sliced my neck…all the way across of it…you know the part of the neck where the hair line starts to meet. As a matter of fact the nun that patched me up…I think her name was….ah yea it was sister Anne…anyways she made this joke…I can't remember it exactly but the punch line was that if woulda fell forward I would have slit my throat.
I got bruishes all on my stomach and rib cage from when I joined the Gophers and I got a indent on my throat from the time that I tried to rob their leader and got caught…sorry to talk your head off again…I must be gettin hungry again…