Agent of Second Chances

“Hi, my name is Todd.” He was tall and lanky with a bent tooth smile.  He just appeared startling Henry Schuster.  Henry was deep in self-pity when he tossed the quarter into the well at Angel of the Mount Park.  This park was a scenic retreat from the big city, set in the Los Angeles foothills with a winding trail to the top of Angel Mount.  There were benches cemented into the ground at various intervals. 

Todd, who are you?” Henry asked once the initial shock had worn off.

“I am an Agent of Second Chance.” He held out a business card.  Henry took the card and tried to read the ridiculously small print.

“Sorry about the print.” Todd apologized.

“Alright, why are you here?” Henry eyed Todd suspiciously.

“You summoned me.” Todd put his tiny hands on his tiny hips and peered over the top of his glasses with a “C’mon man!” look. 

“I did.” Henry twisted up his face at the thought he had summoned this strange person.

“You did.” Now he crossed his arms over his chest. “The minute that coin hit the water, I got a text telling me my services were needed.”

He held up his Apple cell phone so Henry could see it.

“I’ll be darned.” Henry twisted his face again.

“I am here to offer you a second chance.  It’s kind of my job.” Todd nodded.

“This is freaky.” Henry smiled to express his discomfort with the situation, but earlier in the evening he had suffered something far worse.

“Glad you think so.” Todd shrugged.

“So how does this work?” Henry asked.

“I offer you a second chance on something you want to change.” Todd fished around in his light jacket and pulled out a thick document. “It is all explained in this.” He handed Henry the thick stack of documents stapled at the corner.  “Read this over and sign at the bottom.

”Henry did a double take as he opened the document noting that the same font was used in the document as was used on Todd’s business card.  It was growing dark as twilight swept over the landscape. “I don’t seem to have a pen.”

“Right here.” Todd extended a pen to Henry.

“I can barely read this.” Henry took the pen shaking his head.

“Don’t sweat it, Henry, it’s just a standard contract.” Todd nodded.

“What does it mean when it says here, ‘Agents are not responsible for the outcomes of poor chosen customer second chances?’” Henry pointed to the line on the contract.

“Like I said standard contract.” He chuckled, but Henry did not like the sound of his laughter no matter how minor it was. 

“If you take a scond chance and you blow it again, I am not responsible for your blunder.”“I see.” Henry swallowed.  All his life he had been the second banana and so it was true in his love life.  Before coming to Angel of the Mount Park in the eastern foothills of Los Angeles, he had just broken up with Hillie Masterson his long time steady after a disagreement on how far physically they should go.  Henry was willing to go all in, but Hillie had severe reservations.  Pointing out the length of their relationship, Henry tried to talk her into agreeing with his side of the issue.  This however was not the outcome that was to be and, in his insistence, Hillie let him have the line about seeing other people.  She was not ready to go all the way even if most of her friends had already crossed that bridge. 

“There is something in there about how I can give you a quick glimpse of the future outcome of your second chance so you can make up your mind if this is the second chance outcome you want.” Todd pointed to one of the statements on the final page of the contract.

Squinting, Henry asked, “So you’d be willing to show me what will happen.”

“Might.” Todd stressed the word as if it were a dozen syllables long.

“But aren’t you an agent?” Henry tilted his head. 

“I know you are a student at University of California Los Angeles.” Todd shoved his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans.

“Yeah.” Henry nodded.

“And you have been going there for six years.” Todd stated.

“I am taking my time.” Henry felt a bit defensive.

“I have not been sent to judge.” Todd turned his back on Henry, “That is up to someone else entirely.”

The insinuation was not lost on Henry as he rolled his eyes to the clouds overhead.

“All I am saying is you are almost twenty-five and you do not have a single clue as to what you want to be.  Life is not lived-in slow motion.” Todd turned back wearing a melancholy expression on his face.

“Hey, do you something I don’t.” He hissed.

“Not my department.” Todd stuck out his chin.

“But you can give a glimpse of what might happen.” Henry put his finger on the contract.

“I am just pointing out that your life is a hot mess.” Todd shook his head. “You should have more figured out than you do.”

“I just broke up with my girlfriend of six years, because I felt we should show how we feel about each other physically.” Henry closed his eyes.

“Do you blame her?” Todd was sarcastic.

“Sure, sure.  Everybody else does it.” Henry shot back with a bit of agitation.

“Where do I begin?” Todd sounded like a tire that had sprung a leak. “You have been here a quarter century and you are stuck at the start. She knows that.”

“So you were sent here to criticize me?” Henry was angry now.

“No, I was sent to give you a second chance, but first you have to do something.” Todd pointed out.

“What about Hilly?” Henry leaned against a tree near the fountain.

“What about her?” Todd asked.

“I had hoped we’d one day get married.” Henry whined.

“Did you tell her that?” Todd asked.

“I figured she knew.”

“Did you tell her?” Todd repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“No...not in words.” Henry bowed his head.

“Words are what we use to make sense. But I see in your case this did not happen.” His sigh was heavy. 

“Whose side are you on?  It was my quarter I tossed in there.” Henry stuck out his lip defiantly.

“I am simply an agent.  That is all.” He sounded as if he was disappointed. There was an awkward pause and then Todd said, “I was just like you. Just like you.  Thought I had it all figured out, but I didn’t have a clue.”

“You were one of us?” Henry managed a crooked smile.

“Yes, just like you.” Todd’s face was red.

“What happened?” Henry asked.

“Ain’t going to say.  It’s none of your business.” He turned away again. Henry waited and when Todd turned around again there were tears in his eyes. “I was a pilot in the war.  Rode escort in me Spitfire against the Luftwaffe.  One night, I never saw him coming until he flamed my engine. My parachute got wound around my seat.  It was the last thing I remembered in me life. And you know I had no agent to give me a second chance.” There was an obvious bitterness in his tone.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” Henry sat next to Todd on the bench.

“You Yanks take it all for granted.” His sad face was too much for Henry to take in. “They let me look in on my service at the churchyard where me mum was wearing black so I could not see the tears rolling down her cheeks.  And me love was the same, but then she got over me.  Married one of the American GIs stationed at the airfield.”

“I didn’t know.” Henry hung his head and let the silence wash over them. 

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. It gets in the way of what I was sent to do.” He put his hand on Henry’s and he made no attempt to remove his hand. “So, what are you going to do? I can remake your past to fit the future. It’s what I now do.” 

“I was told...I mean I read the plaque at the entrance of the park that a little girl was kidnapped and murdered right up here on the hill.” Henry walked with Todd on the path.  “One of the cops said when the child was found, she looked like a sleeping angel which is what gave the park its name.”

“Good story.  Better than my sob story.” Todd chuckled, but this time Henry could feel the warmth and sincerity in his mirth.

“You must have been a brave man in your short life.” Henry observed.

“Not so sure about that.” Todd shook his head. “We were just young men with a job to do and we did it with pride.”

“I wish I could be brave.” Henry added.

“We can change all that.” Todd replied.

“I want to be brave.” Henry asserted.

“Sign the bloody contract.” Todd pointed to the document Henry was carrying.

“You can change that?”

“Why not, it’s what I do. I am an agent of second chances.” Todd said proudly.

“Alright.” Henry stopped, leaned against a tree and signed the contract, “There.” He handed the thick contract to Todd.

“Done.” Todd checked the now signed contract and smiled.

“Now do you wave some kind of magic wand over me?” Henry asked.

“You must have me mixed up with Harry Potter of one of his kind.” Todd shook his head.

“Well how does this work?” Henry asked.

“We will find the junction.” Todd answered without hesitation.

“Junction?”

“Yes, your whole life is made up of junctures...connections that join together and make you who you are.” Todd sniffed.  They had reached the summit of the hill where they had found the little girl’s remains.  It was a known fact that the case was famous in the early days of the Great Depression when desperation was a known commodity and passion was sometimes the only thing a man had to call his own.  It was no excuse as the warden flicked the switch that ended the guilty man’s life. 

There was a flutter of light as the darkness set in.

“Look there she is.” Todd waved at the light, but Henry saw no shape to it as his agent did. “You can’t see her as she no longer has a physical form.”

“But I can see you.” Henry scratched his head.

“Only because I am an agent and in order to help you, I must be seen.” Todd explained, “But this form you see is not really what I am.  If that be the case, I would appear just like her, a flutter of light. In the beginning He made the light and when He saw it, He saw that it was good.”

“We’d better be going, because the night is coming.” Henry pointed out.

“Don’t they have trail lights?” Todd pointed to one of the lights on the trail.

“And they also have mountain lions that like to run around at night.” Henry explained.

“Now I remember the fear of being alive.” Todd shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets again.

“You just have to be careful.” Henry shrugged.

“Just like that Messerschmitt that I never saw, eh?” He chuckled again. “Every time I went up with my squadron, my heart was nearly pounding out of me chest. But that night, the last night of my life, I was calm, because I had become complacent.  Shoudda put that on me headstone, right?”  He reached out and tapped Henry on his arm with his fist.

“There’s nothing wrong with being careful.” Henry wanted Todd to be sure that being cautious was not the same as being afraid.  He wasn’t really a coward, but he wanted to have the ability to move forward in his life and not be scared to move because he was timorous of what awful creature was waiting for him in the bushes ahead.

“Only if it prevents you from moving forward.” Todd put his hands behind his back as the trail wound around the hill beginning a slow, but steady descent.  The displayed a last blaze of glory before being swallowed up on the western horizon.

“I think I will give Hilly a call when we get back.”  Henry said with a certain amount of panache.

“If that’s where you think you need to go.” Todd shrugged.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Henry felt the weight of his question sink his ambition.

“Second chances might mean you have to leave the past behind.” Todd answered.

“What happened to connections connecting us to our past?”

“Life never stops moving from one connection to the next.”

“Just when I think I got it figured out, you change everything.” Henry frowned.

“You’ll get it, don’t worry, you are with me now.” Todd assured him, adding, “What say I buy ya a pint at your favorite pub?”

“Sure.”  Henry agreed. “I like the Hoppin’ Rabbit.”

“Sounds delightful.” Todd nodded.

“It’s a college bar, but I like the ambience.” Henry elbowed Todd.

“Ah, good show, eh?” He laughed.

About an hour later, they reached Henry’s car, a Kia Sportage his dad had given him for his high school graduation, now six years ago.  The car had a lot of miles on it, but Henry took good care of it.

“Trusty.” Todd put his palms on the roof of the car.

“It has served me well.” Henry commented as he opened the door. 

“To the Hoppin’ Rabbit good sir.” Todd announced sitting in the passenger’s seat. 

It took another hour to drive down College Avenue near Westwood. It was a Wednesday night, but there was a surprisingly good crowd inside the quaint bar.  With his back to Todd as he hustled to get inside, he did not see the small item Todd pulled from his jacket pocket.  With a wave of his hand over Henry’s head, Todd disappeared. His job was done even if Henry had no clue what just happened.  He pulled out his cell phone but could not remember why he did it. 

He walked into the Hoppin’ Rabbit, where there was a man stationed at the entrance collecting the fee since there was live music on the stage.  The bearded man with two arms filled with tattoos put a stamp to the purple ink of the stamp pad and smeared Henry’s hand with an indelible stamp of membership.

“I’m paying for my friend, too.” He pointed behind him.

“What friend?” He asked.  Henry turned around.  Todd was no longer there.

“I wonder where he went?” Henry said aloud, but the man just shrugged. 

Once inside, Henry found a cozy corner to plant himself as a pretty, young server asked him what he wanted.  Henry felt as if Todd had reneged on his promise to buy the first round, but when he went to pay for his beer the server told him it was on the house for a reason, she would not divulge to him. 

“My name is Clarissia.” Her smile was infectious and when she walked away, Henry could not help looking in appreciation.  There was a note under the beer glass and when he slid it out it said: 

My name is Clarissia and I get off in another hour.  If you stick around, I thought we might share a drink together.  Sorry, I’m usually not this forward, especially with customers.

There was a phone number scratched in, but the dampness of the cup had obscured some of the numbers.  He made up his mind that Clarissia was worth waiting for and as he found out that was just the start of a stream of wonderful things that were to come for both of them in the coming weeks.  It was funny how having someone to share your life with made even the most intolerable task much more bearable.  Three months later she moved in with him and a few months later Henry applied to graduate from UCLA.  He would propose to her after graduation and their wedding in early fall was well attended in a traditional ceremony performed outside the church complete with rice and tin cans tied to the bumper of his Kia.  Clarissia was proud of him for landing a position at her father’s investment firm. 

The only detail he missed was a slender man sitting in the back of the folding chairs unfolded for the congregation wearing skinny jeans and a bent tooth smile on his face when the couple said, “I do.”  Of course, this guest vanished into thin air without a single guest noticing, once the vows had been exch