The Change Guy

by

Sheila Lee Brown

Published by Sheila Lee Brown

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 by Sheila Lee Brown

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The Change Guy

Jimmy Ray wandered the streets downtown. He walked several miles daily. He headed out to shopping malls and gas stations and vacant lots where the grass grew tall and he often thought about snakes and vermin that might possibly show up underfoot. But, they never did.

Jimmy Ray was on a mission. He was on the lookout for coins, quarters in particular. He made it a habit to find drink or snack machines, anything that might have a quarter or nickel or dime abandoned in its change slot. He scooped them out and housed them in his pockets. He could be heard to jingle as he walked.

He was sure people saw him as a strange old man. He always wore a business suit out on his walks, making sure he looked his best and never appeared to be loitering. But, he never spoke to anyone, even when they looked at him oddly as he bent down to check the coin slots of the drink machines inside the mall or outside other businesses.

He knew people made up stories about him. They said he collected the money to pay his rent or to be able to eat and generally felt sorry for him. And while it was true that he didn’t have much, his house was paid for and his retirement and social security check took care of him and all his needs.

The fact was that Jimmy Ray was alone. His wife Lora had died about three years earlier. They had no children and he had fallen out of contact with the friends they had shared. All Jimmy Ray had was his gift from God that no one else knew about. For him, that was enough.

Jimmy Ray stopped walking briefly in front of a video store and checked the snack machine there. He found a quarter and a nickel. He smiled and added them to the other coins in his pocket. As he did he happened to glance at the clock inside the store. It was half past six in the evening. Time to be heading home.

Jimmy Ray made his way back down the streets and further outward until he came to his little house off the roadway and back by itself in a slightly wooded area. He entered the house and locked the door behind him. He checked all the windows to make sure they were locked and that all the blinds and curtains were closed. After all, he was an old man and lived by himself and he wanted to be safe. And, he wanted his privacy.

Jimmy Ray walked into his living room. He emptied his pockets of change on the coffee table by his favorite chair. He looked at the handful of coins and smiled. He then took off his suit jacket and tie and hung them in the front closet before sitting down. He sank into the chair comfortably and began his evening routine.

The sun was going down and the living room grew darker. Jimmy Ray didn’t bother to turn on the lamp next to the chair. He didn’t need the light. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and spread the pieces of material apart at the top. Just above his breastbone was a thin horizontal opening, an inch-wide slot in his flesh. Jimmy Ray reached over, grabbed a coin, and pressed it through the opening. It rolled down within him until he felt the familiar click of something unknown inside him.

Immediately, the room transformed into bright sunlight and Jimmy could feel a warm breeze and smell the salt in the air. He didn’t really understand how this worked. He knew from experience he wasn’t really moving from the chair in the living room, but in this illusion he stood and turned to see the ocean behind him. And, there was Lora lying out on a towel in the sand. She was young again and wearing the red swimsuit he had always admired on her. He looked down at his hands and saw that his skin was young, too. Jimmy Ray laughed happily. An empty towel lay beside Lora and he moved to join her. It was a peaceful, loving memory - one of his favorites - and he relived it almost every night.

Sometime later, the sunlight faded and Jimmy Ray found himself back in his living room, in the darkness. He instinctively reached for another coin and pressed it into his body. He hoped it was a quarter; they lasted longer.

As the room changed to yet another memory (this one where he and Lora hiked up a mountain and found a lovely, secluded spot with a view of the valley), Jimmy Ray couldn’t help but think it was a strange gift God had given him, an answer to a prayer he had repeated daily for months after Lora died. Jimmy Ray had needed a reason to continue, something to keep him getting up every morning.

The opening appeared in his chest one morning. Jimmy had been a bit worried at first and then curious. He wasn’t sure how to explain why he picked up the quarter he had found under the dresser edge the day before and plunked it inside him, but after that first vision faded away, he had stood in his room, tears flowing down his cheeks, grateful.

Sometimes Jimmy wondered why it never worked with quarters he got from the bank or change he received back from purchases. It only ever worked with coins he found. He never dwelled on that for very long, though. He would go out every day and search out the change he needed. It gave him something to do during the lonely day. It gave him purpose.