The Gambler Vol. 1

Chapter Two - No Caffeine Past Noon

Glen's cell phone ringed a pleasant "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack at such an unpleasant time. He loved to wake up to it and believed that his alarm clock (which the alarm set to a country station) ringing. But when he looked, he saw 3:34 am and got the idea that it was his phone ringing. He stumbled a little to look at his Samsung phone display to see a number that was unknown to him. He imagined a contact of his was in some trouble, and he shook his head to that.

He dragged the phone symbol on his Android phone and said to the other end, "Yello?"

Nothing at the other end for a few seconds, and the typical hang-up alert that the Android would do followed.

He looked at the phone and said to himself, "Thanks for hanging-up, douche."

He leaned over to the side table where stood the alarm clock, lamp, 5×8 framed photo and where his cell phone was, turned on the lamp and looked at that photo into the frame before putting his phone back on the table. It was a photo of him and that blonde-haired woman by the name of Sheila in summer clothes and with a beach behind them. She wore a straw hat with a bright smile on her face, and so did he while both of them holding each other in their arms. It was a photo that defined a million good words. He leaned over to take the photo frame off the table and took a good look for himself.

"Why did you leave me?" He said.

He put the photo frame back on the table, shut off the lamp and fell back into bed.

Clint Black's version of The Eagles' Desperado at the second verse awoke Glen, this time, from his alarm clock. He quickly got out of bed but kept the music on while he went to his dresser to get his sweats on for his morning jog. That was quick, and what kept into his mind is that phone call in the middle of the night. He went back to his cell phone to take a look at the call logs. It was a 702 number that called him. He turned down the radio and dialed that number for cursory, but a typical disconnected message had arrived at the other end with the female voice Glen found scary but mostly annoying. He put the phone down and shook his head on how creepy that little situation was, getting a phone call in the middle of the night. It sure wasn't the first time for him, as in his adult life he had received that awakening phone call a few times before. One previously was a hang-up, one from a concerned friend at a bad time of his life a couple of years back, and one was from a family member just a year back needing to crash at his place. But, the thought of that had the creepy feeling for him. He didn't think too much of it and grabbed the rest of his gear, turned the volume up on the radio to hear the male/female DJ duo and shut off the alarm altogether.

He stepped outside with his iPod on the sports radio station while he began his stretching warm-up by his door. More info on the Rick Jones injury and it wasn't good, he would be out for one month. Glen uttered a foul word at that info and continued. The morning show hosts talked about the three-nothing victory by the Detroit Red Wings. He chuckled at that but began to think that the hang-up call was from that cop. Next, to think that he may have used a gas station phone card to contact Glen. He remembered that a phone card can make a wall against the receiving end.

Ten minutes later, Glen was running as opposed to jogging. The idea of him taking a chance on giving him a little run for his money was on his mind. And he felt good or it. However, there were a couple of times where he looked behind his back when a car passed by. It wasn't every car, but if it was something that sounded like a sedan and not a loud sound of a truck, he'd take a look.

Shelby Township's roads were major roads asking for a speed limit at 45 and even 50, with subdivisions and condos in each square that a major road surrounded. Most subdivisions and condos came with their own sidewalks. But the township was behind in some of the sidewalks by the major roads, and argumentatively, they were a little close to the road. And at times, there would be no sidewalk but a rocky shoulder. How could one lose weight when there is a danger when walking, running or bike-riding when you have to deal with the danger of getting hit by a car, or even by a drunk driver whoorling all over the road for that matter? That thought stopped Glen in his tracks. He bent down to take a breather and thought about Sheila. The good times with her were playing in his head at a fast rate of speed, all at random and going fast.