I went down to the adult bookstore on the west side of town this afternoon. I was out on an errand run, to get a window blind fixed and drop off some books at the library. Adult bookstore was not on the errand list. I parked a few blocks away, on a quiet residential street just off the main highway through town; I liked the walk and the anticipation of what was to come. I thought I'd buy some lube and maybe walk through the arcade; but it was just after 2 in the afternoon and I didn't expect much action. The day was cool and the sky was gray.
As I walked the unpaved alley leading to the store I had to step aside as two diesel pickup trucks passed me. One made a left turn into the fenced parking lot at the end of the alley. I knew that this gravel parking lot was for the bookstore. The other continued out to the street, turned left and parked just off Seventh Avenue. I considered a parade of Dodge Ram diesel pickup trucks near the adult bookstore in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon to be a good sign. As I made room for the Dodge Ram guys I could feel my mood, already expectant, but not really needing anything, become even lighter. A couple of guys just finishing their shifts, I thought. As I approached the chain-link fence that marked the parking lot, the man in the first truck walked toward the rear entrance of the store, which was unmarked but ajar. His truck was a crew-cab, white, four-wheel drive with large tires. He was tall and well built and looked like he'd just finished a shift on a construction job of some sort. Concrete, I decided. His jeans were rough and he wore a dark t-shirt with an elaborate WHISKY logo on the back. His pal in the maroon Dodge Ram hadn't entered yet. They must be pals, I figured, because two trucks rolling down the alley one after the other both headed to the adult store at 2 in the afternoon on a Wednesday in November was too much for coincidence.
I got some ones from the guys behind the counter and wandered toward the arcade. Just before entering I got a glimpse of the very tall guy who'd come in from the maroon truck. A big guy, not fat, but probably six foot four and maybe forty-five or fifty years old. He was looking at the gay videos and glanced at me before going into the darkened corridor of the arcade. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that said "Route 66" on the breast pocket. He had a neatly trimmed white goatee and short silver hair. I didn't see him in the corridor of the cave-like arcade, but I started walking up and down the hallways to see who was about.