41...

Spring was about ready to burst open and toss summer out, flailing and burning, into the streets of New York. You could feel it in the air, this sense of excited anticipation, this moist and warm feeling in the air like the breath of lover that will eventually gut you and leave you for dead.
Thinking on it later, Tommy Williams (as he was known then) was sure he knew something life changing was going to happen that day. The feeling rolled in on that breeze of impending summer.
He walked out of the Bobst Library and began to head across the street to Washington Square Park. He looked around at the white light bouncing off of the buildings, off of the cars, off of the people. He removed his lightweight windbreaker and sat down on a bench in the park. There was the usual gaggle of skateboarders, junkies, tourists and students scattered around the place, but something seemed to be vibrating through all of them just slightly. Tommy could feel it himself, this tangible excitement, but he did his best to ignore it.
Glancing down at the back of the book he had just checked out, Tommy was looking at the black and white picture of Lawrence Lee McDonald. The author appeared to be looking at the viewer with a sense of strange sexual attraction and murderous desire. Tommy flipped the book over and stared at the cover that entranced him so much.
The cover of Lansing, Store Bought, was a deep blue with this sort of scratchy, yellow, impressionistic drawing of a dilapidated house in a field.
He couldn’t explain it, and frankly didn’t want to try, but something about this book had irrationally attracted him. He was glancing over the shelves and first the title hit him. Something about it just rang of comfort for him. He pulled it from the shelf and was immediately drawn to the cover. When he finally shook himself from a druggy daze, he realized he had been standing in the aisle and staring raptly at this book for several minutes. Without seeing what it was about, or even what genre of book it was, Tommy went downstairs and checked it out of the library.
Beginning to crack open this book that had only been loaned out twice before in its history with the library, Tommy sensed a man sitting next to him on the bench, staring intently. Tommy was shocked that the guy could get that close without him sensing it. Something about the guy made Tommy think to himself that showing any surprise would be a bad idea.
Tommy turned his head slowly to face the guy and gave him a sort of terse, ‘can I help you’ look.
“Tommy Williams?” the guy asked.
Heavy surprise crept in and Tommy failed to keep it at bay this time.
“Yeah?”
“My name is Lester Sparks. I’d like to talk to you about a job at North Creek Sign Company.”