So here’s the thing about Lenny–he was lucky. And he was happy-go-lucky.
Back in the day, Lenny was totally cool with couch surfing. He lived in a few basements too, basements that he was supposed to remodel in exchange for rent and never did.
Consequently he moved around a lot, but was never homeless. He lived in some cool places too, like in the guest house of the lead singer for Dr. Hook–he was dating the guy’s daughter–and on the houseboat of a rich old man.
Lenny was a good-looking guy–he looked like a rugged version of George Michael if George Michael was from Chicago–so it might surprise you that he had some geek hobbies, like metal detecting on the beach and magnet fishing in the lagoons around the business district. Then again, knowing what you already know about him, it might not surprise you at all.
So one day, Lenny was magnet fishing and he pulled up a safe that had Herring, Hall, Marvin 1943 engraved on the bottom of it. There were tool marks where it had once been pried open and the combination lock was smashed, but it was in surprisingly good shape and sealed tight as a drum. Lenny managed to get it into the truck-bed of his 1970 Ford Ranchero, but just barely. The thing weighed a ton. He put a nasty scratch on the Ranchero too in the process.
From there he took the safe to his storage locker where he was living at the time. Not that he was living in the locker, mind you, he was the head security guard/maintenance man for the facility so he had an apartment there.
Lenny was good with tools. He took mechanics in high school and was a certified boat mechanic. When he worked as a boat mechanic he made good money, but the shop hours didn’t jibe with him. Saturday was the boat shop’s biggest service day and it was also his biggest day on the beach. It got old not having Saturday’s off.
Anyway, Lenny had thousands of dollars of tools. Good tools. Nothing below Snap-On quality. Plus, Lenny was smart. He got that safe open.
And guess what?
It had nothing but change in it…old change. Lots of Washington quarters, walking liberty half dollars and Roosevelt dimes. Bunches and bunches of Roosevelt dimes. All of it at least 90% silver. A small fortune of it.
With the proceeds from the silver currency, Lenny bought a nice condominium that needed a little work. He made that place into a show piece; he really did. And he put a green paint job on his Ranchero, a stock ivy green that looked a lot like avocado green.
Everybody was surprised by that.
He built a bar for his condo that had a saltwater tank in it and put some gorgeous tropical fish in it. He turned one of his bedrooms into a mini theater/gaming/stereo room that he called a “media room”. He bought a three thousand dollar mattress and a 50″ 720p television set before 720p was a thing.
A Sony.
And he invested the rest of it into Molly, or what people use to call Ecstasy. Lenny did very well with the Ecstasy. It was back in the early days of raves and techno and he knew all those people.
And that’s when he met Trish.
I’m in! Waiting to find out about Trish now. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks, Pete. I’m glad you’re in. I’ll be posting on it every 3-4 days. We’ll see where it leads.
–Pam
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Back when raves used to be fun and relatively drugfree other then E before dealers started making it more destructive. Yours truly went to his fair share of raves and had a blast (but never took any drugs,never was my style)
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Never been to one, myself, Michael, but we had some DJs that specialized in techno and raves so I know my way around the scene–a little bit.
–Pam
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Those DJs in the early days were like rockstars.
A lot raves lived or died on the DJs a organizer could draw. Of course the biggest thing was actually FINDING where they were being held. The cops never once found the first couple of dozen I attended. Of course once booze and heavier drugs started showing up,so did the assholes and then the cops……somehow I can see you with your glow sticks and whistle out on the dance floor!!
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No. Ha! That’s not me, Michael. Like I said, I know my way around the edges of the scene because we had some DJs that specialized in raves back then. Raves were a big deal back then, as you know. There was good money in it.
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Always immediately pulled in with your unique style, Pam. I’m looking forward to the next part too. I feel a little out of the loop, though: I assume that’s a shot from a movie up there? Is this a movie review? Not that it matters. It’s intriguing, regardless!
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Nope. It’s not a movie review. Ha! It’s my new book, that I’m writing. Or it may just be a short story–I don’t know yet. I’ll know when I get there.
About the picture? It’s just a random couple. A very good looking random couple, no doubt, but…well, you know. Ha!
Thanks for the kind words.
–Pam
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Wow, all right! Whole new slant on it now. Now I’m extra pulled in/intrigued/can’t wait to see what happens. 🙂
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Cool. I’m honored you feel that way, Stacey.
–Pam
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Great story Pam 🙂 Interested to see how you will follow it up 🙂 Anyway, keep up the great work as always 🙂
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Thanks, John. I’m glad your on board for the next installment.
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Looking forward to part II…I like Lenny so far…he does things in style…
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Yes, he does have a certain way of doing things. And he is likable. Very charming.
–Pam
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I have a bad feeling that could change…
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Lenny won’t really change. But his circumstances might. To tell you the truth, I don’t know exactly where this is going…We’ll just have to see…
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Like the fact you don’t know what this is. Fact or fiction? I feel like I should know him? But then I feel silly that he’s from your imagination? That’s how well you’ve painted the picture.
Fav bit? The safe of course. “It had nothing but change in it” but then the spending starts, lots of spending, big bucks spending.
I want that media room. Well unless you make it into something that will shock me later in the story………………………….
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Glad you’re aboard, Mikey. I’ll try to earn your readership–and your praise. Seriously, I will.
–Pam
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Fascinating stuff. Can’t wait to meet Trish
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