Gin & Tonic on Vashon

Episode 3:

This is the wallet of Charles Ray Dalton. It is the shittiest wallet I’ve laid eyes on. It must be at least 20 years old. It may be older than I am. The leather has worn paper-thin. It is torn and can no longer hold its contents properly. Does a man resemble his wallet? Mine happens to be eel skin.

On the wallet is a dull impression of a camel. I think Charlie got his wallet free by sending in the tabs from fifty cartoons of Camel cigarettes. Charlie must be a smoker.

Hamsini actually smells the wallet for smoke and nicotine. I scan the room to see if anyone notices. Then I search for anyone resembling the wallet. There are no scruffy, faded fellows suddenly short of cash in this tony bistro. There is no Charles Dalton here.

It takes fortification to go through the wallet of Charles Ray Dalton. In fact, it takes six gin and tonics between us. First, we count out the cash. It is a wad of $366. Then we lay out the rest of the contents. Remarkably, the owner of the wallet has no address or telephone number. There is no driver’s license. There is no picture ID. The wallet is full of odd, impractical things.