Surprise, Surprise.....

Doyle called on Tuesday. We met yesterday at the Barnes & Noble outside the Menlo Park Mall. He was sitting at a table by the front window off the parking lot, and shot me with a "hand" gun as I crossed from my car. He was having a cup of coffee (I guess) and some sort of danish. He had another cup for me.

"Decaf, just a little milk, and one Equal." He said.
"How'd you know?"
"We monitor you very closely. I told you that. We know a lot about your habits, and different tastes in foods and the like."
"O, OK, so what's this about?"
"I wanted to check in with you, since I missed our last meeting."
Right, you were sick, or so Givings said. How're you feeling?"
"Better, but I'm still a little weak. Don't know if I could run more then 3 miles or so."
"Yeah, right. I'm guessing you wouldn't have any problems."
"Anyway, the People Upstairs had something they wanted me to tell you, and I wanted to see if you had any questions from your meeting with Givings the last time."
"Yeah. I have questions. Givings couldn't answer them, and I doubt you can, too, but I'll ask anyway. What happens when this is all over? Will it matter if I do or don't make the 12?"
"To be honest...I don't know. The People Upstairs never said, and I never asked. I find that it's better not to ask any questions at all. Do what they want and everything runs smoothly. They don't often ask for anything too difficult."
"What do you mean.."too difficult"?"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it. It doesn't apply to you. Besides, there's some good news."
"Oh yeah? What?"
"Remember that I told you that the 6 months began when I first approached you? That was on August 18th, so the end date would be February 18th, right?"
"I'm aware of that. So?"
"That's 3 weeks from today, right?"
"Again, so?"
"Well, you still have 3 more Events to take care of. So, the People Upstairs have decided to give you until the end of February. That gives you another week to 10 days."
"Yippee. I still don't know if I can finish this. It's not so easy in this weather."
"No, but so far you've been treating Random Events as if you can't plan for them."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, just because it's supposed to be random doesn't mean you can't be ready for it. Lets say that you go to a particular place once a week. Someone would know that, if they'd been watching you. If you were to be the subject of an Event, someone could wait along whatever route you take to get there and, depending on the traffic in the area, stage the Event. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

I sat there for a moment, thinking. The coffee was probably cold by now. I knew what he was alluding to, and said so.

"Good. Now that you understand, you should never mention to anyone that I told you this. It should look like you figured it out on your own. I've told you of the leeway that the People Upstairs are allowing, so it's time for me to go."

He had finished his danish, and drank the rest of his coffee as he stood up.

"Why did you tell me that?"
"You're carrying around my friends heart, and he deserves to get every break he can. Besides, removing the tracker and getting someone else would be a pain in the ass."

He walked away, and I sat there a while longer. There was a lot to think about, and plan for.

Number 9..Number 9..

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I have a lot of free time now. After the transplant, I couldn't return to work so I'm living on Social Security Disability. It covers the basics, but not much else.

Now, one of my hobbies that I'm still allowed (I can't smoke or drink anymore) is to read. After I got out of the hospital, I took to walking to the local library. I don't like to borrow books. I like to own them. I found out that the library puts books it no longer needs (usually because they wound up with more copies then they need) on sale - $.50 per paperback, $1 to $4 bucks for hardcovers. I went there maybe once every week or so.

Once I got my car, I expanded my library hunt and I'm now up to 4 in Woodbridge, 3 in Edison, 1 in Metuchen, 1 in Hazlet, and 1 in Shrewsbury. I hit Hazlet and Shrewsbury maybe once a month, and 2 of the Edison ones about as often. They don't really stock much for sale. The prices vary, and I've picked up hardcovers for as little as $.50. The drawback to this is that if I see a book I'd like to read, I have to buy it then, since there's no guarantee that it will be there the next time I come through. I've got approximately 100books piled up in my back room just waiting to be read, and I'm reading 2 at a time usually.

The day before yesterday, Wednesday, I was up early and decided to drive over to the main library in Edison. It opens at 9:30 as opposed to the others I visit which open at 10. It was a bright, sunny day, and as I pulled in to the parking lot I noticed an older man unloading boxes from a panel truck with the Edison library logo on it. New arrivals, I guessed, though there were quite a few boxes. Maybe supplies. I went in to check the sale racks. Nothing I was interested in.

When I came out, the older man was just ahead of me, and sat down on the floor in the back of the truck to take a break. I got into my car, and started the engine.

This library requires that you turn off your cell phone when you go in. I'd turned mine to vibrate, and was in the process of turning it back when I realized there was no one around. Just me and the old man in the back of the truck. Because of the way his back doors were open, he couldn't be seen unless you were directly in front of him. I took the Flasher from my back pocket, and moved the car out of the spot and towards the exit. As I came abreast of him I lowered the driver side window. I still didn't see anyone and there were no cars entering or exiting. The way the lot is situated, it's down a hill from the main road, behind the library, and there are no windows in the back overlooking it.

Point, push, Flash, and I drove up the hill, turned onto the access road, and headed toward Route 27. I had seen the old man droop over as I raised the window.

I didn't get a confirmation until I realized that I hadn't finished taking the phone out of vibrate mode. I debated going to the Metuchen library, but changed my mind and headed home. 3 more, and about 4 weeks to do it.