Chapter 7
So Many Tasks So Little Time
(11:00 am – 12:00 pm)
“Excuse me, I’d like a word with you young man!” Kyle turned to see Gene dressed in a light green suit and red tie advancing towards him. Kyle gave a false smile, but his mind yelled, “Aw shit!” The District Manager of Clips always guaranteed an upcoming headache. He wagged his finger clenching his brown leather notebook. “Did I just see that correctly?” “I know Gene, I’m sorry. I was just trying to help...” “I saw that but jeez…Kyle, is it?” He sighed “yeah Gene we’ve met many times, before.” Gene gave a little chuckle, “I probably have! I meet so many people after all. Listen Kyle, I need to remind you that when you walk down the ladder. You don’t do it facing out. You face inward right?” “I know it’s just faster then having to...” “I don’t see how it’s faster! You could trip and fall...go face first...” “I’m not going to trip and fall Gene.” “You never know that Kyle! So don’t say that, because you never know!” Waving his hands “alright, alright Gene I won’t do it!” “Here let me remind you that you go up and down facing the steps.” Kyle gritted his teeth but gave a false corporate smile. The urge to tell him the truth seemed to almost boil his anger over. The truth that his smile seemed to say, “The moment you leave Gene. I promise you nothing will change.”
“I just want you to be safe that’s all. What surprised me was that you did it in front of a customer...a customer jeez!” A voice bellowed, “Gene, Gene I printed off that pull list for you!” Gene clenched his notebook tight to his chest. “You got it right Kyle?” Nodding, “I think I’ll manage.” Gene gave a superior, “Glad to hear it! Listen, I will need to speak with you again.” Sneering slightly he wanted to run up and down the ladder a million times the “wrong way”.
“Kyle,” yelled a familiar voice from his Clips past. “Oh my god, if it isn’t the man from the history books!” Around the corner came a man that Kyle had not seen in a year. He was the former Easy Tech Expert and had been transferred to another store. He was now working as a Sales Manager in a downtown Chicago store. However, Kyle could have thought of nobody that deserved it more. Cody was the guy you looked forward to working with. Always cracking jokes, always pushing the buttons of customers, always speaking his mind, he was the guy system had not broken yet. He was taller than Kyle, but shorter than Joel with brown hair flat on his head. Unshaven and skinny, he was a snow boarder with eyes as blue as the skies above a sunny mountain snow cap. Walking up to his former employee he shook his head in disbelief, “damn I never thought I’d ever see you in a gray shirt Cody!”
Cody smiled as he clapped Kyle on the chest, “well I didn’t expect you to still be working here? Wasn’t it just a couple months ago you were going to be...going back to school?” Cody smiled holding up the air quotes. “Well I AM back in school, but I couldn’t quit yet. Also, my book isn’t finished.” Cody smiled wider, “oh yah! Well, I remember you saying ‘I can’t wait to quit this job’!” It was Kyle’s turn to laugh, “Yea I do tend to say that...a lot!” So what’re you doing here shouldn’t you be watching the store in Chicago?” “Yea, but Robert and Gene told me to work a couple hours to cover the other managers.” Kyle shook his head, “why? I’ve never heard of them doing anything like that. Can you tell me what’s going on?” He gazed around and Kyle saw that he genuinely looked worried. “Alright listen I’ll tell you! You can’t breath a word of this to anyone, ok?” “Cody...it’s me dude.” Cody huffed, “yeah I guess, alright! Carol is getting fired today.” Kyle froze and felt his stomach drop slightly, “No...I can’t believe it!” Cody gave a look that read, “really?” He just shook his head several more times, “I just couldn’t see it.” “You couldn’t see it…come on Kyle! She was rude to the customers and unorganized. She’d tell you to do one thing, and the next day you’d do the exact opposite. She’s a liability plain and simple.”
Kyle shrugged “yeah I guess, but she’s the only one that stands up for me.” “She sure did man!” “What is management saying Cody?” Cody shrugged this time, “I don’t know exactly. I just do you know? What do you care? You’re leaving anyway, right? Besides they already have her replacement. She’s pretty good looking too...gorgeous in fact!” Kyle gave a surprised, “wow that’s surprising...and fast!” Cody just smiled, “She’ll be in later today. You going to be here?” “Yeah a full shift.” He placed his arm around Kyle’s shoulder, “and since I’m going to be your manager for the next couple hours. I’m going to need you to clean the ceiling while you’re up there.” Confused Kyle replied “I’m sorry, I don’t follow you?” He pointed to the ceiling repeating, “While you’re UP THERE I need the CEILING cleaned.” Kyle’s mouth dropped open, “h...how can you tell?” “Please Kyle it’s me! It’s like a sixth sense. One stoner to another you know…I just know! You have no idea how many employees are just like you.” Just at that exact moment Brandon walked past and stopped dead in his tracks. “Cody, holy shit what’re you doing here?” “Brandon first answer me this question! When was the last time you got high and came to work?” “Last,” smiled Brandon, “I just took my fifteen. I’m high right now!” Clapping Kyle on the back Cody smirked, “told ya! Well, I guess I’ll see you later huh?”
Cody walked away with Brandon who replied quickly, “I’ll meet you up front. I forgot my list in the warehouse. Man, we got a lot to catch up on!” Kyle stood motionless for several seconds as they both parted. Carol was getting fired and replaced with just a snap of the fingers. “That’s too bad,” he muttered deciding to head back to the warehouse. “Damn that HP Ink sale is really selling…stupid penny days.” He watched people slowly meandering through the store. He moved down the aisle, “I hope some girls show up at least.” He walked past the aisles noticing many customers scouring the penny bins. Shaking his head, “I hate penny days, I really do! I should go get that U-Boat, before someone says something about.” He burst through the warehouse doors and saw to his utter dismay Brandon. He was bug eyed with a sheer look of terror on his face. It was the look of guilt.
As quickly as it appeared it had vanished. His face showed relief “Oh, it’s just you!” He turned back towards the large sets of wire shelves. “What are you doing? The Meat Loaf CD is on the shelf above that one?” “Is anybody coming in behind you?” Kyle walked to the baler and removed the key. “No everybody’s still up front. I thought you were grabbing a list?” He heard the sound of plastic cracking. Brandon was removing a small portable hard drive. “Are you crazy,” he said looking astonished. Brandon lifted his shirt and stuffed the portable hard drive into his jockeys. “They have security tags on them. Brandon, you’ll never make it through the detectors up front! Let’s take out the trash, but not out front like this.” Shaking his head, “there’s no security in the drive dumbass! It’s in the box... THIS GUY!” “You can’t just leave the box lying around! What the hell are you going to do with it?”
Brandon took the box and made his way to the baler. He tossed it under a pile of already crushed boxes. “What box,” pocketing the USB cord he added, “I don’t see a box! You tell me where you see a box? Where’s the box at Kyle?” Kyle walked away just shaking his head, “You still have to walk out the front doors with it. If this works would you be willing to do it again?” Brandon smiled, “You liked that didn’t you?” “Man, I haven’t seen anything yet! You still gotta walk out the doors with it.” Brandon wagged his finger, “now that’s some bullshit! First you mock it, then you wanna stick your nose all up in my…” Kyle raised his hand, “look I’ll even pay you! How about twenty bucks per item? You’ll still make money.”
The warehouse double doors opened with a loud slam. Bethany stormed through looking absolutely frazzled. Her hair tangled like a bird’s nest and glasses slightly askew. “Thought I’d find you two yapping back here!” The front of her shirt exposed more than the eye wanted to see. “This is the new plano for aisle four, so Brandon come with me. Kyle you need to bring up the U-Boat you left out there. Carol is already yelling about it again!” “Yes, mother,” he snarled softly. “What did I tell you yesterday about that! Also Katie just brought back more toner, so that needs to be finished too!”
“Brandon we can…” Her words were lost as they left the warehouse together. Kyle found himself in a puzzled state. Puzzled over the question of where he should start? Although, he didn’t have time to think long about it. The break room door swung open with a thunderous SLAM! A loud grumbling and clattering of metal U-Boats only meant the approach of one person. “Jesus, I am going to trip over something again in this mess back here!” Carol came through and with disappointment said, “Kyle! You didn't put these pallets onto the truck! I thought I told you to stack them up!” “I know, I’m getting to them!” Clearly upset she snarled, “I need you to move those tables too. Get’em in the corner over there to make some more room. We can take out this pallet of paper here. That’ll make some more room, so we can divide the truck up better.” He nodded, “alright let me just take these black totes upfront. I got a U-Boat outside that needs to be…” “No Kyle I need you to do this first. Everybody is busy and won’t have time to get to them right away anyway.” “Ok, but Bethany said,” “Bethany is not in charge! I am alright, now let’s…” She swore loudly, “Carol to the front please, Carol to the front!” Wagging her finger to the pallets, “oh that Katie! Can you just …take care of this alright? I’ll be right back and help with the pallet of paper.” Carol grumbled exiting out the large double doors.
The double doors opened again revealing his tall lanky friend Joel. “Just the man I’ve been looking for!” Kyle gave a, “you and everybody else. What do you need? Carol has me doing this bull…” Joel cut him off, “listen it’s starting to get busy out there, and I’m helping somebody find a printer.” He handed a 3 x 5 tag to Kyle, “the guy in furniture wants one of those Islington chairs.” Kyle gave a quick, “mhm…I don’t know man. We haven’t been getting those in for awhile. I might be able to find one but that’s a stretch.” Joel shrugged, “whatever just handle it for me. I gotta go!” He raised his two fingers before strolling out the doors. It took Kyle merely a second to find the only remaining Islington chair. “Eric's gunna be so pissed,” retrieving his phone he sent his friend a text.
[Kyle]
Hey man got caught up in work. I’ll be out there as soon as I can. When you see me come to the register...come quickly. I won't be able to stay up there long.
Several minutes later he was wheeling the chair through the double doors on the silver dolly. It clattered noisily rolling in front of him. He scanned the furniture section for the customer who requested the chair.
An older gentlemen possibly in his late sixties was examining a row of particularly expensive office chairs. Kyle approached the man “Sir, are you waiting on this chair?” The man had on an outfit that was possibly fashionable back in the late eighties. His brown Dockers and yellow Polo shirt were dirty and covered in mud. His faded red hat didn’t help his appearance. “Yes,” he replied giving a friendly smile. “Well I can wheel it up front for you if you want to continue…” Waving his wrinkled hand, “No, no but I did have a question for you…qeek, qeek!” Kyle watched as his face twitched violently and then returned to normal. He stopped and turned moving to a pair of chairs, “what’s the difference between these two here?” “Um well, this one...” He pointed to the black chair, “This one has real leather. The brown one is just bonded leather.” The man raised his head back, “ah leather yes!” Returning his gaze, “I remember when we used to call leather Noslaga. You remember that?” Kyle gave a quick, “um…no,” unsure if he heard the man correctly. “Yea I guess that term is really outdated. A little history lesson for ya I guess…qeek, qeek!” His face twitched for several seconds before returning to normal. “So, do you just want me to wheel this upfront?” Oblivious of his own bizarre twitches, the customer’s head tilted sideways. “Yes, that will be fine. I am done anyway. I’ll be right behind you...qeek, qeek!”
He followed Kyle every step towards the front. Seeing Eric by the computers, he gave a nod of his head towards the registers. The man didn’t say much as Kyle rang him up only asking for help to his car. The man twitched the whole way towards the “big white van there!” His voice sounded excited as they moved closer to it. It was a creepy looking van, which many people would label a “Chester the Molester” van. Wheeling the chair towards it an odd feeling came over him. A voice in his head repeated, “Please just don’t let the door slide open. Just PLEASE don’t let the door slide open!” “I’ll get the door…qeek, qeek!” He twitched more violently as Kyle made sure not to turn his back to him.
The door slid towards him with a clatter as his nightmare had come true. The entire wall was draped in a ratty camouflage blanket. The rear windows were blacked out with a large black blanket. “Oh Jesus Christ,” he gasped as the man said, “put the chair right there.” The man tossed a couple book bags to the side. This made Kyle notice two things, which made this truly a nightmare. The first was a long rifle like black pouch laying next to the driver seat. The second was the piles of camouflage and dark blankets piled upon a mattress. Gulping slightly he looked up at the man, “well come on boy get the chair in there!” Kyle made sure his eyes never left the man. He lifted the chair into the van knocking the mattress in his haste. He froze when he saw the mattress wasn’t a mattress at all. Inspecting closer he saw a lunchbox sized green container that he had only seen in war movies. They were 50 caliber bullet storage containers. He counted them in his head as he backed away from the van. He had counted ten, but he was defiantly under. His now fearful gaze returned to the man, “Well…have um, you know a good day.” The man gave a jovially, “you too, you too!”
The dolly clattered over the steel frame of the sliding door. Noticing the increasing amount of customers in the store, he sighed seeing Katie staring right at him. Her beady eyes narrowed through her librarian like spectacles. She was like an old owl watching from a tree branch. An owl waiting patiently for that mouse to come out of it’s hole. Pointing her crypt like finger at an older woman, “this woman here needs help.” The woman was just as old as Katie with her dead looking pony tail hanging down the back of her head. “Help…if you’re not too busy young man. I could use help with correction tape…tape dispensers.” Her tired white sweat shirt was covered with faded looking daisies. They screamed to him that this was not going to be an easy customer. He tried to be polite, “well all our correction tape is in aisle four left side.” His patience drained when she exclaimed, “well, I…I…” She turned to her faded black purse and began to dig through it. “I was over there and didn’t see it! I have, I have…the number here.” Beginning to pat herself down, he watched as people began to pour through the sliding door. The lunch rush was beginning. His attention returned to see the lady waving towards aisle four. “Come boy, you come with me and help me,” trying not to groan as he followed her. He saw Eric standing by the candy. His hopeful look had now turned to a frustrated defeat. Holding up a finger Kyle mouthed, “one minute.”
“Here you go ma'am the dispensers are right over here,” walking over to the large selection of Wite Out products. “I know that! I just don’t see my refills.” “Well ma'am, we don’t exactly sell the refills but…” Pointing towards the open spots, “well, what exactly do you sell here young man?” “Ma'am, we don’t sell refills. Those empty spots are just more dispensers but different brands. You should just get the dispenser after all refilling them…” She cut him off with a, “but I have the dispensers already! I just need the refills. You see I have a report due, and I need something to refill the dispensers I already have!” His frustration was building, “ma'am believe me I understand. However, I am telling you that we don’t have them. Besides those refills are a pain…” “But I don’t need the dispensers!” Trying to calm the lady Kyle continued, “please ma’am those refills are a pain! You will loose half the roll just loading it into the dispenser. It’s a lot cheaper and easier to just purchase…” “But you can order them online for me, I…I don’t understand?” “Ma'am you are going to spend more money ordering them and having to drive back here to pick them up. You can just buy these, which are exactly the same and much cheaper.” The woman began to splutter until her hands finally raised to her cheeks. She grabbed them in utter frustration. “Ma'am these are only 3.99 and work just the same as…” “I BELIEVE I HAVE SPOKEN!” Kyle froze as he stared at the wide eyed woman. Her glance looked menacing as her frail body looked ready to attack. “Alright,” he finished simply. Exhaling deeply he gave a soft “alright, let’s go order it online for you ok?”
Returning to Customer Service in silence, he tried to ignore her piercing stare. Ordering the item was painfully difficult. There were over a dozen different types of correction dispensers, brands, shapes, and sizes. However he grinned lightly seeing a two pack refill. “Ma'am, I think I found a two pack for you.” She peered around him squinting down at the screen. “Yeah that looks like it, good boy!” He shook his head as he began to place the order until her hand grabbed his wrist. “Wait a second just give me the item number. I’ll order it at the Bolingbrook store.” “You can order it here and have it shipped to Bolingbrook.” She shook her head as if he had no idea what he was talking about. “I have research today, and Bolingbrook said you guys had it.” “Well again we don’t carry refills ma'am. I’m sorry about the mistake you heard.” “Well, I want the item number to have them ship it to their store.” “O…k,” he replied repeating, “I can just order it here and send it to Bolingbrook.” Her eyes narrowed, “very well, I live…I live…near the Bolingbrook store. I don’t want to drive all the way out here!” “I understand and again I will just ship it to that store. You just have to pay for it right now.” She froze as if his words were a foreign language. “So, I’ll pay here and then pick it up here?” “No, I can ship the refills to Bolingbrook…see for $6.99 this two pack.” Her eyes widened, “very good let’s do that!”
Rolling his eyes, “I know I’m getting it all set up here.” She watched him beginning to order her refills. Her mumbling becoming more audible with every passing second. “So, it’s going to ship out tomorrow and be at the Bolingbrook store in two days. I don’t know if I can wait that long…couple of days, mhm?” Raising her finger, “I should go and get some dispensers at least then I can have a back up.” He groaned loudly as the customer was already walking away. Katie watched him shake his head in frustration. Her look seemed to convey a permanent gaze of bitterness. Turning to the computer, he tried to hide his dislike for her. However unable to pretend for long, he began to clean up around the computer. He gathered some plastic bags and trash throwing it by the garbage. They scattered over the floor, “Jeez, I’m sorry Katie let me come around and get...” Her hand raised, “no, I got it. I know you.” She wagged her finger as a wrinkled smile appeared. “You just want to see me bend over huh?”
Turning from her laughter, he tried to withhold a gag. Thankfully he saw the lady making her way towards him. She held up a single pack of correction tape dispensers, “I’ll just use this as a back up for my husband.” He tried not to laugh in frustration as he returned to the computer. “So should I still order the refills?” “Of course, it should have already been done! Remember I want…I want, it sent to…” “I know, I know!” He finished the order in silence trying to hide his frustration. He completed the order, when the line to the register grew to several people. Taking her to the second register, he rang her up and gave her the receipt. “Thank you young man,” she gave a polite little smile and exited the sliding door. He breathed a sigh of relief, when he saw Eric approach. “Hello sir,” he said pretending not to know him. “I got an HP tablet,” Kyle nodded heading over to Katie to grab it.
Thankfully Katie was too busy with customers to notice anything. “So that was a crazy lady huh?” Kyle nodded, “yeah, but that’s normal for me.” “Really, I heard her shouting all the way up here.” Kyle laughed as he rang out his friend making sure to apply his discount to it. He began to gaze around the register looking for more coupons. “You know if that’s normal for you then you should write a book on all this. It would be really funny.” Finding a ten dollar off coupon he scanned it, “You know I'm already working on one.” Eric frowned, “oh yeah, the Mayan resistance one right?”
He stuck out his tongue in disgust. “Kyle those kinds of stories have been overdone. Funny and true stories are what people like. I guarantee people would love it.” Kyle shrugged, “So, I could only get it down to $121.37.” Eric handed him the money, “I am almost done with it though.” Eric gave a little sigh, “just think about it ok? I promise you it's a great idea.” He nodded and bagged up his friend's tablet. “You still going to come by tonight?” “I don't think so. I have a lot of homework and plus I wanna try to finish the book.” Eric laughed, “yeah no problem man! Give me a call there’s a Bulls game tomorrow. You wanna come over and watch it?” Kyle nodded, “yeah definitely! I'll give you a call.” Eric smiled and walked out the doors without a backwards glance.
Pop! An older woman stood in front of him. Her hair was gold like fresh hay and shaped like a tumbleweed. Her large glasses sat like tea saucers upon her crooked nose. She gave a soft, “please hurry too.” “Must be something in the air,” he said to himself. He rang the lady up, “here’s your change...$1.25.” He handed her the money, nearly losing it in a startle. The loss prevention alarms started going off. A customer had come through the exit door with a trailing receipt. She looked embarrassed as he tried to give a friendly, “don’t worry about it.” He turned back to the older woman and handed her the receipt. “There you go have a good day.” She took the receipt and stared at him. The glasses on her face made her appear like a melting bull frog. The silence grew awkward, “is there something else I can…” “Yes there is,” she snapped. Before he could ask the customer was already in a tirade. “You can start by giving me my change back!”
Shaking his head as he tried to recall the memory. He remembered the woman with brown hair. She had a receipt that seemed to trail her entire leg. His eyes returned back to the woman, “I gave you the dollar twenty five.” “NO,” she snapped even louder. She held up the palm of her hand, “You gave me the twenty five. I don’t have the dollar!” His face fell slightly, “NO ma'am, I gave you the dollar. You should check your coat.” “I HAVE checked my coat,” she snapped even louder beginning to dig through her pockets. She pulled out scrap paper and old candy treats. “Ma'am I handed you the dollar. What you did with it I don’t know.” Her face contorted into a scowl searching wrist deep in her inner pockets. “I would know if you had given me a dollar. It’s not hard to give change back. I want to speak to a manager.” He raised his hand, “Ma'am I put the dollar in your hand.” Her eyes widened, “I want to speak to a manager, GET ME A MANAGER!” Rolling his head in exasperation, “very well.” Picking up the phone, he watched Katie’s eyes stare coldly at him again. The old owl seemed to smell some disturbance in the air. “Carol to the front desk for guest assistance, Carol to the front.” The woman glowered at him, “sure don’t treat me like a guest.” He turned back to her, “I’m being polite ma'am and you…” “Not a word boy, not another word!”
Kyle rolled his head again realizing how much longer he had left in the day. Waddling towards him Carol rubbed his back, “Hi sweetie what is it?” He motioned to the lady, “your associate here didn’t give me the correct change back. Now, he is refusing to do so.” Carol turned to him as he gave her a soft, “look I gave her the change back. What she did with it I don’t know.” Carol nodded, “did you check everything of yours ma’am?” “This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous...of course I did!” He saw Carol starting to get her defenses up. “Well, I can go back and see if you’d like? We have the transaction on tape. It’ll only take a second, and we can see what really…” “I don’t have time for that!” “Well, how about you check your purse again. Maybe it’s in...” “I checked my wallet already!” Carol sighed softly, “well how about just the purse?” The woman growled almost like a bulldog would. She snapped open her purse, “this is ridiculous! I never put loose money in my purse like that...of all the stupid….” Her words trailed off as Kyle saw something green folded between two coupons. Snapping her bag closed as she gazed at them both. She gave a little “hmph” and turned without another word. When the doors closed he couldn’t stop laughing as Carol patted his back.
She then pointed to the customer that had initially distracted him. Her face reminded him of something the Ghostbusters would chase. Handing over the anaconda like receipt she smiled at him. Her horse face wrinkled slightly as he removed himself from Carol’s side. “Hello, what can I do for you?” She slid the receipt towards him, “I didn’t have this coupon, when I came in yesterday. So, I would like to apply it now.” “Sure,” picking up the receipt he saw something to make his stomach do a cartwheel.
Clips
Take 10% off your entire purchase
To make matters worse, the receipt was filled with nothing but dollar and penny items. “Um well here is the thing ma'am. You see I have to return the entire purchase. You have at least sixty of these dollar items alone! In the end, you’re not getting much.” Waving her hand “that’s ok dear.” Shrugging, “You’re going to be here a very long time. I’d have to type in all these UPC codes.” “That’s alright, I don’t have anywhere to be hon.” Giving a long tiresome sigh, “very well.” Typing in all the numbers took twelve different transactions for Katie. Finally Kyle was relieved to say “Alright ma'am, here’s your new total.” “You see look how much I saved!” Her smile was priceless. It was like a child receiving candy from grandma. She took the money exclaiming, “See I am six dollars and ten cents richer!”
“Yeah, but I lost thirty minutes of my life. Was it worth it?” Startled by a clasp on his shoulder, “been a busy day huh? What the hell took you so long?” Chuckling softly, “Joel my friend, only in retail…only in retail. Hey, let me get the keys to the car will ya?” “Yeah...well, take this last customer then help that guy by the pen ink refills”. “Jesus Joel I still haven’t stacked the pallets, brought up the totes. I mean look the U-Boat is still out there…” “Look, I’ll grab the U-Boat just go take care of that customer alright?” “Those guys are the worst! They're always snooty rich people that think they’re so much better than us. All because, they can afford a fifty dollar pen.” “Yeah well he asked for the best guy and you’re it. If anybody would know you would…or Carol.”
Turning to the customer his eyes opened wide in a slight shock. Her brown coat was large like she had skinned a bear. She handed Kyle a receipt and had a large box with an Apple Ipod radio. “Yes, I wasn’t charged for this.” He was taken aback by this, “I am...sorry?” He took the receipt, “You weren’t charged for this radio?” Shaking her head, “No, I wasn’t charged. So, why don’t you ring it up, and we can get this straightened out.” “But…but, when did you purchase it?” “I believe that it was a couple days ago. I don’t know the specifics just look at the receipt.”
“Kyle you take care of the guy in aisle one, I’ll do this ok?” God, how he hated this job! Why was he stuck here? He had graduated from college with a degree in History. Unfortunately, this degree was something that required additional help. Currently, he was enrolled in a Masters program for Secondary Education. “Just two more classes, just two more classes,” he repeated. Was he serious about quitting today? Maybe it was time? He walked down aisle one to see a man in a large brown overcoat. His hand combing back his silver hair that resembled a small football helmet. He held a shiny blue pen in his hand and looked relieved to see Kyle coming.