Mindtease

Chapter 32

A set of bells rang as the pair of friends opened the push-bar glass door and entered a small, Spartan office. A counter ran the length of the room, and the reception area was without any furnishings except a few dusty plastic plants. Behind the counter on the wall a sign declared:

Store It in Mind Storage--Never Mind, Store It!

Underneath the sign, was a smaller counter, more a ledge, and then a set of drawers against the wall. Each drawer had a letter or number in small print taped to the lower right corner.

"Very obvious," Kirk said looking at Josh, who furrowed his thick black bushy eyebrows in displeasure--nobody was there to assist.

"I guess the store man is in storage," Josh said blithely much to Kirk's amusement.

"Here we go..." Kirk said, finding a button bell which he pushed once. The bell dinged, and it seemed the sound reverberated through the sterile, impersonal office. Behind the desk was a computer, an old outdated model that had seen better days, and various binders, sheafs of documents, and clipboards. There were no chairs and the shiny linoleum floor glared with a seeming sterile, antiseptic light.

After a few moments that seemed like an eternity, a wizened old man came out from the back, wiping his hands and gazing at his unexpected, young patrons.

"Help you boys?" the old man asked in a flat, loud tone.

"Yes," Kirk said..."I wanted to ask about a unit rented some time ago."

"Uhh, do you have a copy of your rental agreement?" the old man asked.

"No," Josh chimed in, approaching the counter and facing the old man with a wide, winning smile.

"Well..." the old man started, but Josh stared intently at him.

The old man took off his glasses, rubbed them with his handkerchief, and put them back on.

"Oh, it's you..." the old man said, looking at Josh. "Where have you been...it's been...oh..."

Going the technologically archaic computer, complete with large, hot video tube monitor, the old man typed on the keyboard which clicked as he did, and looked at Josh.

"Eric..." the old man said looking up at him. "Dehaviland...your mom paid cash for a thirty-year lease."

"Instead of that mortgage for the three-bedroom colonial house," Kirk quipped in a sudden flash of antic humor.

The old man looked at Kirk, smiled, and shook his head.

"Let me see," Josh asked and said, and the old man printed a copy of the rental agreement.

The old man looked at the hardcopy of the rental agreement, and then handed it to Josh.

Josh glanced at the rental agreement. There was a photo identification of...Katrina Apollonia Vega, and the actual person renting, Eric Clarkson Dehaviland...but the image was the spitting image of Josh...only older and more filled out physically. The unit was a personal storage unit, rented in the name of Edward Prendick.

"Unit six-three-two-one," Josh said, handing the agreement to Kirk who examined it more closely.

"You seem a bit more athletic boy," the old man said. "Only customer to rent a unit for thirty-years, and pay cash for it to boot."

"Yeppers," Josh answered, "mom believed in the power of cash. Maybe the bitch knew something after all."

"Well do you have your key?" the old man asked, ignoring Josh's sardonic, biting comment.

"Noppers," Josh answered. "Why?"

"You rent your lock from us so we control the kind of lock you put on your unit...and we have a master key for padlocks. We have 'em made special, bullet proof, saw proof, drill proof, and so on."