Someday I'll Be Saturday Night - Bon Jovi

Looking out from the windshield that very obviously hadn't been washed since the last rainfall he scanned the few buildings lit in the shopping center. Night was always the hardest because he wanted to sleep, but he knew the things that went bump in the night in this area carried knives and handguns with them. "Never fear," he thought to himself, "this car is so ancient and beat up someone would have to be blind to think I had anything worth stealing."

With a heavy sigh he pulled back on the lever to his left letting his seat jerk backwards. He would stand watch from his impromptu guard hut all night if he had to. Removing his eyes from the windshield just long enough to reach into the backseat he pulled out his portfolio. That truly was the only thing of value in this multifunctional mobile home of a car. Caressing the soft leather he gently glided his fingers over the cover to the zipper at the top. Unzipping it, the gloss of the plastic sheets for each page slid easily back and forth. Each page held an accomplishment from his four long years of college. Schematics, pictures and papers graced every page front and back.

Making sure to glance up every few seconds, he couldn't help but let a little self accomplished smirk cross his lips. All his hard work was reflected in every page and it would be this book of scholastic trophies that would get him out of this hell hole. Tomorrow he would show potential employers how smart and capable he truly was. They won't have a choice, but to hire him on the spot. He just had to believe it.

Flipping the cover back over he zipped up the leather binder locking away the contents as he did every night. Reaching over he found the zipper for the small pouch on the front. He gently pulled out the picture and stared at the smiling faces. It seemed like years ago when they could smile that big with real excitement behind it.

"One day," he thought, "she'll be proud of us again." Kissing the picture he pushed it back into the small slot, zipped it closed and put it back in the front seat. Peering out, once again, through the crusted windshield he stared at the same blond he shared the smile with in the picture as she stood on the corner reluctantly making eye contact with any vehicle that passed by.

"Yeah," he thought, "One day this will all be a bad memory."