Barely Legal

108

Donnie missed the news on TV. He’d avoided anyplace showing the local news, not wanting to be sitting there when his mug shot came on. He was sure someone would notice the resemblance. So he never saw the news that the police had a new suspect in Yvette’s murder case. He thought he was still on the run from a murder rap.

Donnie dyed his hair. His beard wasn’t working for him, at least it wasn’t coming in fast enough, so he bought a box of hair dye at Duane Reade. He bought red dye, probably a mistake. Whether it was the consistency of his hair or he just didn’t do it right, it came out blotchy, which was most unfortunate. He looked like the front man for an unsuccessful rock band.

He also bought a pair of glasses. He was going to get sunglasses, but he figured that would look suspicious. He was at that stage where he was second-guessing everything. Glasses would be a disguise, but sunglasses would be a dead giveaway.

He found a rack of reading glasses in the drugstore and chose a pair with the largest rims and the weakest prescription. The pair he chose were of dark black plastic, and allowed him to get around without actually walking into walls. They still blurred his vision, which made it harder to spot imaginary dangers.

His money was running out, but he kept on the run. He just stumbled on with his red hair and Elton John — sized glasses, the Mr. Magoo of all burglars, a nearsighted circus clown.