Glenda picked up her bag of mail from the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Post Office, as she did every day. She had to sort the mail before delivering it. That was her favorite part of her job, she got to have time to herself, without anyone looking over her shoulder. Today Glenda had her hair in cornrows as it was a hot day, and at 10:00 a.m. she was already perspiring. Weatherman said it was only going to get hotter as the day went on. She had her short sleeves and shorts on, too. Man, she hated that Post-Office outfit, it was so ugly, why couldn't they let the women wear something the men would look at with one of those smiles they give her when she's dressed up? Glenda likes the attention she gets from men, and she gets a lot of it, with that body, all curvy with a nice big butt.

Sort, sort, sort. Sometimes it seemed as there was so much mail....wait, what was this? An envelope was torn and Glenda could see the contents of it...it was full of $1,000 bills. She just ripped it a little more so she could get a better count and there was upwards of $50,000 in the envelope. Now who in their right mind would send $50,000 in cash through the United States Postal Service? Only thing that was on it was postage, no Express Mail package or insurance or anything. It was addressed to Jim Blakely, 1205 Main Street, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 17055. He had other mail as well, most of it advertisements, and a letter that looked to be from his mother.

Now, let me tell you, Glenda had a habit. She was a heroin addict. She went to the methodone clinic every day, she'd been trying to get off the stuff for awhile now, but the sight of $50,000 cash made the hairs on her arms stand straight up. She had goosebumps. Just think how much junk that $50,000 would buy. And who would know, no one was watching her? She could just say there had been no letter for Jim Blakely, and Glenda was a good liar, like all junkies are. She could take that lie to her grave and never give it up.

Deep inside, Glenda knew that the right thing to do was to deliver the letter containing the money to Mr. Blakely, but the devil took her brain and she delivered his mail minus the money envelope, which was tucked securely in her sock. It seemed like hours until she finished up her regular route. She had half a mind to leave the truck where it was and "f" the mail, but she made herself finish the route. How could so many people be getting so much mail on today of all days?

Finally finished, Glenda returned her truck to the Post Office and signed out for the day, feeling the envelope touching her skin underneath her sock. She got in her car and drove home. Her boyfriend, Isaac, a recovering addict with two years of clean time under his belt, was there, sitting on the easy chair watching television. He was a good man, but he couldn't seem to hold a job. They never had much money for anything. Glenda's paycheck was small and just covered the bills and a small amount of food to eat. They didn't go out, well, Isaac went out to those NA meetings every night, but she didn't need to go, not yet. She was still coming down from the methodone, she wasn't quite ready for NA. He tried to get her to come with him, but she would have none of it.

She walked past Isaac, saying nothing, which was not unusual, and went into her bedroom to change out of that damn work outfit. This time she closed and locked her door. She hoped he wouldn't notice the locked door and make an issue out of it. Shaking, her hands took off her shoes, and then her socks. She ripped open the envelope and counted the money, not $50,000, but $70,000 was in the envelope. Now that got her thinking, she could pay off some bills, buy some nice clothes, and go see the cop man for a nice supply that would last a long, long time. Isaac didn't have to know a thing about it. She would just tell him she received a bonus at work for being "Letter Carrier of the Month" and got a little extra money to buy the clothes and pay the bills.

She looked around the room, where to hide the money so he wouldn't find it? Her jewelry box had a false bottom, and she hid it in there. He never went into her jewelry box anyway. She was confident the money would be safe there.

Glenda got dressed and went and sat on Isaac's lap. She ran the story by him about being "Carrier of the Month." He was pleased for her and pleased that they would have a little extra cash around the house that month. He asked her if there would be enough to buy him a new pair of shoes. She told him she was sure she could find it in there.

Isaac had an appointment with his probation officer, so he had to leave the house, he had to travel about an hour to get there. Glenda pretended to be sorry to see him leave, all the while jumping for joy inside. She would get to call the cop man!

After he left, Glenda dialed the number she remembered by heart. The deal was made, and she left the house to meet the cop man at the appointed place. She took most of the money, and when she came face to face with the cop man he had an evil smile on his face, as though he had known that he would see her again one day. He knew he had her for good now. The exchange was made and Glenda hurried home. She still had some time before her boyfriend was due back from his probation officer, so she sat on the bed, tied herself off and took a shot. The drug going through her veins was like manna from heaven. She fell back on the bed, seeing herself running through a field of flowers. When she came to, everything was just alright. Yeah, it was going to be okay. She had definitely done the right thing.

Isaac returned about an hour later, and Glenda sort of steered clear of him for the remainder of the evening, at any rate, he didn't notice that she was high. That bolstered her confidence level.

She made a promise to herself that she was only going to use after work, no using at work. She went to work the next day and it seemed like the day was never going to end. Once home, she found some time to herself to give herself a shot and felt the sweet nectar going through her veins once again. Yes, this was the way life was meant to be lived.

A couple of days later, Glenda's boss called her into his office. A man named Jim Blakely, who lived at 1205 Main Street, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 17055, was missing a very important letter and her boss was wondering if Glenda had seen it. Glenda told her boss she had delivered all the mail that had been given to her to deliver. After looking deep into Glenda's eyes, the boss told her to go ahead and take her route for the day. He would tell Mr. Blakely that sometimes these things happen, mail gets lost sometimes.

Glenda left her boss's office sweating bullets. This demanded relief right now, it couldn't wait until after work. She took her Post-Office vehicle to her house, and went inside. Isaac looked at her questioningly. She told him she had left some Post Office keys in her bedroom, and walked by him and hands shaking, got her dope and left the house again.

On a side street, Glenda stopped the vehicle, made sure no one was watching, tied off and took a nice shot. Ohhh, Mother of God, blessed relief. No more worries about Mr. Jim Blakely, 1205 Main Street, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 17055. He would just have to do without his $70,000. He didn't deserve it anyway, being fool enough to let someone send it to him through the U.S. Mail.

Yes, Glenda was back. The unseen devil called "Addiction" smiled to himself as he rubbed his hands with glee at the thought of stealing Glenda's soul once again.

Copyright © 2007 Jennifer McKernan (Luna)