check out a book at the library."
"Book?"
"Yeah, a rectangular thing with pages and writing on them. It's how people upload software to their brains."
"Retro!"
Time: 4:00 PM
Crossing campus, he dodges the 3 pm all-campus protest march. Today's Orwellian themes, scrawled across large campaign banners, is, Tolerance Is A One-Way Street and Diversity Through Conformity.
Safely crossing to another set of walkways, Jim heads for the strip to scrounge for a shopping cart to facilitate his move to East Gym.
Passing by a building entrance a perky saucer-eyed acolyte jumps in his path.
"I'm from the Coffee Party, wanna join?"
"Maybe, what's it about?" he replies, knowing this is going nowhere good.
"We're getting big money out of politics."
"What big money?"
"The Koch Brothers."
"How about Soros, Buffet, Gates, Steyer, Harold Simmons, SEIU, NEA, and that sort?"
"Oh that's good money."
"How will you do this?"
"We need to repeal the 1st Amendment. Will you sign my petition?"
"That doesn't sound good. Then people won't be free to speak."
"But people will still be able to say what they want as long as the Department of Truth approves. Only people who lie have anything to fear."
"Perhaps some other time," says Jim as he turns and walks on his way.
"At least come to our teach-in," she shouts as he walks away.
The strip is a motley collection of bars, fast food joints, laundromats, tanning salons, copy shops, liquor stores, bars, pizza parlors, book stores, Mexican food, Chinese food, Thai Food, fast food, karaoke, coffee shops, mini-marts, comic book shops, new age tea rooms, and two tattoo & piercing parlors. Pretty much what you see at every campus. A block further down is a decaying old supermarket. Jim grabs a shopping cart from the edge of the crumbling parking lot and starts pushing it, wheels wobbling, back towards Bander Hall.
As he passes one of the liquor stores, the guys he had breakfast with step out, each carrying two 24 packs of cheap beer, 144 cans in total.
Jim does a theatrical double take. "Got enough for the rest of the day?"
"Hey, we're not alcoholics. We don't drink to get through the day. We get through the day to drink!" says Phil with a smirk. "Come on over later, Ryan's got a new video game."
"Yeah, and whata ya' gonna do to it? Baptize it in beer?"
"Yep, something like that. See you around nine," says Phil.
"What's the cart for?" asks Ryan.
"I need to move. Seems my abode may be a security issue next week."
"Ahhh, right. The great one is gonna speak to the unwashed," says Ben.
"Correct and right under my window. So I need to clear out before security starts nailing things down."
"Ohh, I get it. Where to?"
"East Gym. Unless you guys want to put me up?"
"Ahhh, no. We got occupancy issues as it is," says Phil.
"Thought so. So, how about helping me move then?"
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning around 9:30, when the maids are on break and the dorm is mainly empty. I need some help carrying stuff and some lookouts."
"Sure. We'll be there," says Ryan.
"Right, see ya' later," says Jim as he pushes the cart towards Bander while the rest head in the other direction.
Time: 4:30 PM
At Bander, he hides the cart behind some overgrown shrubs near the west entrance knowing that the grounds crew only comes by twice a year. He ducks into the building and walks quickly down a long, many doored corridor. Near the end, he pauses, checks that no one is looking, then snatches the big key chain from his belt.
Fumbling quickly through the collection, he locates the prime candidate and fits it into the slot. He's in.
Inside the dark room, he feels the wall near the door until he finds the light switch which he flips on and begins searching for the stash of big, heavy duty, black plastic bags they use to haul trash from the building. He'll use a few of these to pack his stuff for the move.
Spotting his target, he grabs several, flips out the light out, and, peeking first to see if anyone's watching, exits unnoticed and retreats quickly up to his attic garret.
Once there, he begins packing his clothes, some books, a radio, and other odds and ends. After a while, the important stuff is in a couple of bags. The rest he hides in the drawers of an old dresser to await his return. If anyone discovers them, they'll just think they were discards along with the dresser. His wardrobe isn't very new looking.
Having stashed everything away, he goes back to the Union to scrounge for supper. It's all-you-can-eat Mexican Fiesta night so that means his friends will get extra plates for him.
Most nights he makes do with the DoR soup which isn't really that bad. It's all the leftover veggies and meat from the day before that they dump into a great stew pot and let simmer all night. It has the thickness of beef stew and they usually let you get refills. Along with it, he can also get a couple of slices of bread.
He picks a table over near where people bus their trays so, as they pass, they can give him their extra tacos, burritos, cookies, puddings, chips, milk, you name it.
Time: 9:00 PM
After supper, he hangs out in the Union talking to people and watching a big screen TV. A little before nine o'clock he leaves and walks across the dark campus to Phil, Ryan and Ben's apartment on the other side of College Ave.
The three guys live in an apartment above an old laundromat. The building is constructed of uneven, red brick, about eighty years old, once a small department store but long since divided into dumpy student apartments. The first floor is the laundromat and a collection of shops. Above, old, tall windows, from the age before air conditioning, look out over the street. There's a popular bar with live entertainment nightly directly across and the noise goes on most of the night.
Access to their apartment is by an ancient and rickety fire escape that clings uncertainly to the side of the building. As Jim clangs his way up the metal steps, it sways a bit under his weight. At the top, he sees that the door is open.
Through the screen door he shouts, "Anybody home?"
In return he hears, "Yeah, come on in."
"Hey guys, did ya' hear that I got a temp job with campus police!"
"Haha, you? Campus cop?" laughs Ben.
"Yep, for the big visit. Gonna have a security pass and everything."
"But you loathe politics?"
"Well, I need the money. So, where's this new video game?"
The apartment is a shambles of old furniture, empty beer cans, crumpled potato chip bags, paper plates crusted with dried food, a ramshackle array of bookshelves, a 60 inch HDTV, a crate of instant noodles, surround sound speakers, two bicycles, stacks of empty pizza boxes, a line of empty liquor bottles, a couple of beet up sofas, an easy chair, a coffee table piled with video game consoles, one with a large plastic guitar attached, magazines, old campus newspapers, a couple of desks with computers, piles of books, folders, stacks of CDs, several plastic storage containers on top of one another, filled with even more junk, a pile of old clothes in a corner, a vacuum cleaner (still in its original box, unopened), a large bulletin board with endless scraps of paper, pictures and stickers, posters on every wall, unmatched curtains of various lengths and colors on every window, a dart board, a makeshift beer pong table made from a closet door, and some uneven bar stools.
Ryan points in the middle of one of the heaps and says, "There it is."
"Ya'wanna a beer?" says Phil.
"You have to ask?"
"In the fridge," Phil replies.
Jim goes to the kitchen where he finds counters piled with unwashed dishes, several half empty cat food tins, and a nearly full large, black plastic bag lined trash barrel. Opening the refrigerator, he sees that except for some old pizza, it's packed from top to bottom with beer.
He
grabs one and says, "Anyone want a refill?"
The voices in unison reply, "Yep."
Returning, he passes around the beer and takes a seat on the end of one of the couches facing the big screen TV.
"So, security guy, when's the Munson fest begin?" asks Phil.
"Next Monday, don't you listen to the news?" says Ryan.
"Not if I can help it."
"It's gonna be a mad house, I heard they expect about ten thousand people besides the usual campus crowd. It'll be like a football weekend, including tailgate parties," says Ryan.
"So, what'a ya gonna be doing?" asks Ben.
"Directing traffic, setting things up, not sure yet."
"Why the hell is he coming to Podunk U?" asks Phil.
"Munson? He's out pushing the new constitution and annoying the crap out of DeWitt. Needs some photo ops with a lots of happy, adoring, cheering fans, I guess. Where better than a college campus for a lot of roboplause? Beyond me getting paid, it doesn't concern me one way or the other. So, lets see this video game, what is it?" says Jim.
They waste the next five hours in animated game playing and drinking, until around 2 o'clock, when, finally, Jim says, "Ok, I think I better get going. I'll see you guys around 9:30 tomorrow?"
"Yep, see ya then," says Phil.
Jim clatters back down the metal stairs and staggers aimlessly across the darkened campus to his rent-free garret.
Tuesday April 12, 2022
Time: 6:30 AM
Jim abruptly wakes and freezes. Footsteps and voices, in the attic, not far away and getting closer.
"Holy shit," he panics.
Then the footsteps pause, but the voices continue. Male voices, but they're not the voices of any of the university maintenance crew, all of whom he knows. He raises his head slightly from the bed, holds his breathe and strains to