Jump Rope Switch

Jump Rope Switch

An Imaginary Friend’s Tale

© Copyright 2019 by Lillian Baker OMalley

All rights reserved

Chapter One

He was uncomfortable sitting on the sidewalk.  Being homeless was uncomfortable in a lot of ways but this sidewalk was cold and felt damp through his jeans even though the early morning sun was shining. He adjusted his back against the brick wall he was propped up on and pulled his legs up a bit because out of the corner of his vision to his left was a group of laughing teenagers, jostling each other in a playful shoving and shouldering companionable way as they advanced towards him. He moved his backpack closer to him on the sidewalk to get it out of their way.

They saw him sitting there and split into single file to pass him, but they blocked his view of the building across the street that he had been watching since early this morning. The teenagers kept their eyes on the ground as they passed him and were silent until they reached a storefront two doors down from where he was sitting. This was not a store but seemed to be a drop-in center of some kind and was not open yet. They milled around the locked front door in a restless continuous movement as if they were unable to stand still, their pent-up energy exploding out in short dancing bursts.

There was a beautiful woman who had parked her car in a parking space in front of the storefront. She got out of the car with purse and keys in hand and out of the passenger door emerged a huge bear of a man who hauled himself out of the car and shook himself out as if he was cramped and had folded up in sections to fit in the car seat.

The woman had long straight hair that almost reached the waist of her light coat and she turned her head and glanced sideways at him as she approached the teenagers, as if she was letting him know that she saw him and was keeping an eye on him. She called out to the teenagers as she approached the door, asking them if they had been waiting long and they all reassured her that they had just arrived a few minutes ago. She unlocked the door and they all crowded into the storefront behind her.

The woman re-emerged from the store front and walked further up the street to a coffee shop that was a few doors away. The man was envious because he knew that going into the coffee shop like a normal looking customer was impossible for him because his month-long growth of scraggly beard and tangled curly hair made him look like a homeless derelict.

He turned his attention to the building across the street again and saw that there was increased activity as men came in and out of the building more often. Just then he saw the beautiful woman emerge from the coffee shop with two trays with four cups of coffee in each and she held two huge bags that probably held donuts. She was approaching slowly, carefully balancing the coffee trays and juggling the donuts, when a man who had emerged from the building across the street started running flat out, crossing the street and hitting the sidewalk behind her with one big jump.

He saw what made the man run, it was a Deputy U.S. Marshal, who had swung his car around and double parked across the street. The Deputy U.S. Marshal jumped out of the car before it really came to a stop and went in hot pursuit after the running man.

Meanwhile, the beautiful woman had passed the storefront and came to stand in front of the homeless man. Would you like coffee and donuts? I brought those two extra coffees and you can have the donuts in the smaller bag.

He struggled to his feet, but his body was cramped and cold from sitting on the sidewalk and he was not even really upright, when the running man who was looking behind him at the U.S. Marshal pursuing him and not where he was going, crashed into the woman and the U.S. Marshal crashed into the fleeing man. They all fell forward, and the woman fell forward right into the arms of the homeless man, and he caught her and the coffees, but the triple impact of the U.S. Marshal and the running man and her body slamming into him threw him back against the brick wall. His head and body hit the rough brick of the wall and he dimly saw the running man take off again.

The Deputy U.S. Marshal ran after the fleeing man again and caught him by the back of his t-shirt, but the running man kept going and the t-shirt ripped right off him tearing into shreds in the Deputy U.S. Marshal’s hands. A pickup truck came screeching up the street and the running man did a parkour style of jump and hurled his body into the back bed of the truck. The truck peeled out of the street and was gone with the fleeing man in it. The Deputy U.S. Marshal stopped pursuit and turned back to the homeless man and the woman with the coffee.

Meanwhile, the huge bear of a man and all the teenagers poured out of the storefront, picking up the woman and the coffees and donuts and then the woman just said, bring him and the huge man picked the homeless man up on his feet and half carried him into the storefront. One of the other boys grabbed the homeless man’s backpack and the U.S. Marshal and the rest of the teenagers followed them into the storefront.

They sat the homeless man on a chair beside a table and soon they sorted out the coffee that miraculously hadn’t spilled and gave a cup of it to the homeless man and urged him to drink.

He should have water, the Deputy U.S. Marshal said.

No, coffee better, the homeless man mumbled and clutched the cup as if he was afraid someone would take it away. He sipped at first then drank it in large gulps because it was still hot and warm and creamy and sweet. He tried to grin at the beautiful woman and it came out like a twisted leer instead of the flirtatious grin he intended. He put his hand up to the side of his mouth and felt that it was numb, swollen and sore. He went to touch the side and back part of his head that had hit the wall and the beautiful woman stopped him from touching it.

When you feel a bit better, I need to wash your wounds and clean up the blood and put some antiseptic on them, said the beautiful woman.

You can do it now, please, replied the homeless man.

She brought out a well stocked emergency first aid kit and bathed his whole face gently from a basin of hot water and soap that one of the teenagers brought to the table. She washed his hands and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt that was ripped at the elbow and bathed and cleaned the scraped-up areas there too. She took some tweezers and gently removed small shard like pieces of brick that were imbedded into his arms and shoulder. She dried him gently then used the sterile saline solution water from the emergency kit with some gauze wipes, then applied antiseptic cream to some of his open scraped areas. She put hand sanitizer on his hands and it stung, and he made a little ouch sound when she touched an open scraped part. Some parts she bandaged, and he looked like a spotted alien with his split swollen lips on half his face and the swollen different parts of the side of his face that had hit the wall. Parts of him were turning green and blue and purple and red in different spots, highlighted by the white spots of taped bandages that gave him a weird scary look.

Thank you, I feel so much better now, thanks for the coffee, I have to leave now, he said and stood up, swayed crazily and the huge bear of a man caught him as he fell and led him into a side room with a double bed and a side table and a dresser in it. He eased the homeless man onto the bed.

I can’t stay here, protested the homeless man.

You’re in no shape to leave. You need a doctor to look at you. We already sent for our free clinic doctor and he will be here soon. We don’t know if you have concussion or if you need stitches. Have you had any alcohol or drugs today? We don’t care if you did, we just need to know so that the doctor knows what he can give you if you need a prescription. Lie back and be still. If you’re concussed, you can’t be moving around a lot until the doctor comes. Don’t fall asleep yet though. The big bear of a man adjusted the light blanket as he talked. People call me Daniel, Daniel Hill. Care to share your name? The doctor will need to know who you are, and we wouldn’t mind either. 

My name is Colton. Colton Butler King.

Got any I.D. on you, or a health insurance card, Colton Butler King? asked the big man. He was looking at the duffel bag that Colton had tossed on the bed.

Not really. Colton closed his eyes. I don’t do drugs or alcohol or any kind of prescription medications.

Just then the beautiful woman came to the doorway of the room and said, the doctor is on his way. He should be here in about 20 minutes. She came further into the room and said, my name is Jade Rivers. I’m a psychiatrist, but I run this drop-in center. You may as well know that you will probably have to stay here for a couple of days, maybe even a week or two. You can’t be wandering around the streets looking beaten up like that. Besides, you will need those bandages changed every day and those open areas cleaned to avoid infection and you can’t do that on the street. Then maybe we can get you a room where you will be off the street permanently.

The sound of her voice was so low and musical, comforting was the word, he felt like drifting off to sleep. He opened his eyes slightly and could see that the Deputy U.S. Marshal was standing in the doorway to the room. May I have a glass of water now, please? Colton could barely speak out of his damaged lip and his throat was dry with tension.

The Deputy U.S. Marshal brought the glass of water and set it on the bedside table. Do I know you? he asked Colton. I thought I had seen your face somewhere before. I’m new to this area, but I feel like we may have met somewhere. He gave Colton a searching gaze as if he was interrogating a suspect. Have we ever met? My name is Holt Jackson.

No, I’m pretty sure we haven’t met. You don’t know me. Colton propped himself up on his elbow and grabbed the glass of water, but then he had to sip it slowly, so he didn’t drool out the side of his injured lip and embarrass himself in front of all these people. The water refreshed him a bit and he settled back down and closed his eyes again. The bed was surprisingly comfortable.

He heard movement and opened his eyes and saw that they were all going back into the main reception area. But I do know you, Holt Jackson, he whispered softly so they couldn’t hear. You’re the man who stole my wife!

A teenage boy around twelve or thirteen came in next and brought in a full water pitcher, and said, we are making coffee. It will be ready soon. You can have as much as you want and once the doctor arrives and looks at you, we are all going to have something to eat. You may have to stick to pudding and soup or chili for a few days. Your lip looks pretty bad and it might be hard to eat anything else. We are making chili and buttered toast and banana pudding tonight because you are here. We learn to cook and feed ourselves and other things we should know as part of this program. It’s pretty good too. My name is Jason Storm. I live in the school orphanage residence up the street with the others. I’m an orphan and so are most of the other children who come here. Do you have parents or children?

I have parents but no children, Colton replied. And I love chili with buttered toast.

I know it was a personal question, Jason said. Sorry, I am curious about what it’s like having families and friends and sisters and brothers and how that feels. I’d like to have a family myself, but no one wants me because I’m too old and people like adopting young babies. It’s okay though. They really look after us here. Jade is from us. Our nation, I mean, that’s how I got here. She found me and brought me here. Do you want a straw? That might help. We have some bendy ones left over from a birthday party last week.

A bendy straw would be perfect, Colton replied.

Yeah, I can see where it would be perfect. I wouldn’t want to drool in front of Miss Rivers either. That would be mega embarrassing. Jason left the room, bouncing out in a slight dance move that took him across the room and out the door.

A man after my own heart, called Colton after him laughing a bit, then wincing when his split lip stabbed his face with pain.

The next person to come into the room was the doctor, who spent a long time examining him. I’m Dr. Brown, he said as he opened an old-fashioned medical bag and took out a stethoscope. Dr. Brown made Colton take off his shirt and examined his chest in the rib area, and then his shoulder, and then his back and head and checked his lungs and heart with a stethoscope. Then he checked his eyes for concussion and examined his banged-up head and asked if he had a headache or was dizzy or felt nauseated.

Headache but not dizzy now or nauseated. Colton tried to look well and healthy as he could, so he could leave.

Jade and the U.S Marshal came back into the room and Jade helped him put his shirt back on. Colton tried to hide the tattoo on his arm and quickly rolled his sleeve back down to cover it. No one here would know what it meant but he didn’t want anyone wondering or asking him about it. He couldn’t hide the rope necklace he wore but it might not matter. Everyone would think it was because he liked baseball because that’s what the professional baseball players wore and so they were really popular with fans. That wasn’t why Colton chose to wear his necklace and he doubted if anyone would ever guess the real reason he wore it.

I don’t want to have to go to the hospital, Doctor Brown. Miss Rivers patched me up and I’m feeling a lot better now. Colton tried to sit up but his back spasmed and he had to lie down quickly again.

The doctor continued talking to both Colton and Jade. Well there doesn’t seem to be any concussion yet, but you need to stay quiet for a few days. Bed rest because by tomorrow or the next day when the shock wears off your body is going to hurt so bad that you will feel like you got hit by a truck. There doesn’t seem to be any broken ribs or dislocated shoulder, but your neck was jolted, and I can see that there is a haematoma on the side of your head where you hit the wall, so it has already filled with blood, so you had quite a bang when three people fell into you. I may need to do a CT scan if your symptoms worsen. I need to put some staples, not stitches in the two big split open areas on the back and side of your head. I might be able to use butterfly bandages on the smaller cuts, but I don’t know if they would stay because you have a lot of thick curly hair there. I don’t want to cut your hair if we can avoid it. Maybe Jade would be willing to clean the staple areas too when she changes your bandages.  We will still watch for concussion and I have some pain pills in my bag and I can make out a prescription or Jade can do it for you. If there are any signs of breathing problems or nausea or vomiting, you have to get to emergency right away and call me. Someone has to wake you up tonight a couple of times and make sure you have not lapsed into a coma. Here’s my card. Come see me at the clinic in two days. Jade can bring you. She usually brings other people in anyway. It may be a month or two before you start feeling better. Take care, son.

Colton had to fight back tears when the doctor said that. Take care son, was exactly the last thing that his own father had said to him a few months ago. He disagreed with Colton’s choices and maybe he was right. Maybe he should just go back home and start living his normal life. This life he had chosen was not working out so well for him. Nothing had gone according to plan at all. He always seemed to be one step behind everyone else. A day late and a dollar short, was his father’s saying.

Jason came to the door and said the coffee and chili were both done if everyone wanted to eat. Soon even the doctor and the Deputy U.S. Marshal were seated at the tables, eating and joking with the boys and girls there as they all ate in a companionable way. Jason brought a huge bowl of chili and some banana pudding and hot buttered toast and coffee with cream and sugar in to Colton. Colton sat up on the side of the bed and ate hungrily, trying to eat slowly because of his damaged face, but the chili was so delicious and so was the pudding and coffee, that he soon wolfed down everything set in front of him. He thanked everyone and after a second cup of coffee, Jade came in and doled out two pain pills and he took them with water and was going to lie back down but she went out and got a robe, a pair of pyjama pants and a t-shirt from the laundry room and gave them to him to change into for the night. She took his clothes and put them in the washer in the laundry room and when they were washed, she put them into the dryer. She gave him another bathrobe from the piles and racks of clean clothes that were there for anyone to take and then went to a linen storage closet and got out towels, washcloths and soap for him. 

He was helped to the bathroom where he washed the unscarred parts and then he dressed in the pyjama pants, but he couldn’t get the t-shirt over his damaged head, so he slipped on the robe instead. He still felt grimy but was forbidden to shower or shave or wash his blood matted hair because of the bandages.

He tried not to fall asleep when he finally got back in bed, because he wanted to keep watch on the building across the street, but everyone stayed late to clean up and rehash the events of the day and speculate on who the man was who had escaped from the U.S. Marshal. Finally, everyone left except for Daniel Hill, who stayed to watch Colton in case he needed medical help. With no chance to keep up his surveillance, Colton finally fell into a restless sleep, jolted awake every