Dan glanced down at the man in rags who was staring at him from the
stoop of the vacant store next to DeSoto's Cafe.
"Sorry, my change went into the fountain, but after lunch, I'll have
something for you," Dave said.
He entered the cafe, and the bell at the top of the door jangled.
"Get out of here you bum! If you want food go round to the alley
door!" shouted the restaurant owner shaking his fist.
Dave blinked and looked down. His suit was gone. He was dressed like
the bum he had seen outside. His watch was gone, but the ring remained
on his finger.
"I'll call the police!" shouted the man moving toward him.
"Okay, I'm going!" Dave said pivoting on his heel.
He blinked as he saw his reflection in the glass door.
He now had a scraggily beard, and looked dirty in addition to being
dressed in the homeless guy's clothes. He bolted out on to the street.
The homeless guy was no longer on the stoop, but Dave recognized his
suit - or one exactly like it, except cut down from a size 48L to a
size 40S. The guy wearing his suit was impeccably groomed. His beard
was gone, and his hair combed, but it had to be the homeless guy.
"What did you do to me?" Dave demanded running up to the former bum.
"Sorry, I tossed my change in the fountain, maybe tomorrow," the man
answered.
"Hey, Dave, wait up, let's eat at DeSoto's today!" Casey from Dave's
former office shouted, as he slapped the new Dave on his shoulder.
"Casey, I'm Dave!" shouted Dave.
Casey looked surprised, "Hey, listen buddy, you might be named Dave
too, but I'm talking to my co-worker Dave. This guy right here! Not
you!"
A police car rolled up, and pulsed its siren for a couple seconds.
"Hey, is that guy bothering you gentlemen?" asked the first cop
getting out of the car.
"Hey, buddy, move along, or you want a ride down to the station?" said
the second officer as he patted his nightstick.
"Uh, okay the joke's gone far enough," Dave said angrily.
Casey stepped up, "Listen it's just a misunderstanding. My buddy is
named Dave and apparently this fellow is too. And I invited my buddy
Dave to lunch, and this guy thought I was talking to him. We don't
want to get him into any trouble."
The guy in Dave's clothes smiled smugly, and said, "I don't really
care for DeSoto's. There's a nice restaurant up the street, Marco's.
Why don't we dine there instead."
He started to walk toward Marco's.
"Here's a couple bucks, get yourself some food," Casey said handing
Dave a couple of crumpled bills.
"You don't have to do that, sir," the officer said moving between Dave
and Casey.
"Panhandling is a crime in this town," the second officer said
reaching for his cuffs.
"Wait! He didn't ask me for money. I shouted out "Dave, I'll treat
you to lunch" to my buddy," Casey explained pointing up the street to
where the man in Dave's suit was retreating. "Anyway, he
misunderstood, and I felt bad about it, so I offered him a couple
bucks since I'm not taking him to DeSoto's. He never asked for money.
Is it a crime for me to voluntarily give it to him?"
"No. Put your cuffs away, Mark. Go to lunch with your buddy," the
first officer said. Then he turned to Dave, "Now Dave, we've had a
complaint about you bothering Mr. DeSoto's customers. There's a
shelter two blocks over, we can give you a lift there."
"This has to be a joke. Casey put you guys up to this?"
"I don't know any Casey, but I can tell you're confused. Maybe we
should take you to the hospital for evaluation?" the officer said.
Dave thought for a moment. This was real. It had to be the ring.
"No, no. That won't be necessary. You say the shelter is two blocks
that way?" Dave asked stepping back two paces.