Zack Smith was returning to his dorm when his cell phone rang.
The 19-year-old jock fished the phone from the front pocket of his workout shorts.
"You've got the Zackster!" Zack said into his Razr cell phone.
On the other end of the call, his uncle smiled at the brash and confident way his nephew always answered calls.
"Zack, it's Uncle Bryan," he said.
As Zack walked down the halls of the dorm, many of his friends, fellow jocks like himself, greeted him loudly despite the fact Zack was trying to hold the phone tightly to his ear.
"It's great to hear from you," said the 6'2" tall college freshman.
"Listen, Zack, I am going to be sending you a package," Bryan said.
"What's that?" Zack said into the phone.
"A package," Bryan repeated. "You'll be getting a special delivery, and I just wanted to make sure you keep an eye out for it, and be very, very careful when it arrives."
"Sounds mysterious, Uncle Bryan," Zack said.
This time, it was Bryan who could not hear well because of all the background noise and conversations taking place around his nephew in the crowded dormitory.
"Can't hear you really well," the scientist told his nephew.
Zack ducked into his dorm, but there was very little peace and quiet. Two of his friends were sprawled on a sofa watching a game on a small TV set placed on a rickety wooden stand.
They greeted him enthusiastically, until Zack gestured wildly to show them he was trying to listen to a call on his phone.
Zack ducked into the bathroom, which was cluttered with socks and underwear, still on the floor where he had dropped them prior to showering. He did laundry about once a week, when his supply of fresh clothes began to deplete.
He spoke into his phone again. "So, what's in this package?"
Bryan considered telling him the truth, but even as the words almost left his mouth, he changed his mind. "I don't want to spoil the surprise," he said.
"Well, Christmas is over, and it's not my birthday," Zack said. "You do so much for me, you don't really need to send me anything."
"You may get a kick out of this," Bryan said in a dreamy, hopeful tone.
Zack, for lack of a better place to sit, put the lid down and used the toilet for a seat.
"When does it arrive?"
"I am having it sent Overnight Express," Bryan answered. "You should see me...uh, you should get it tomorrow."
"Can't wait," Zack said as he stared down at the dingy bathroom tiles. Suddenly, to his disgust, he saw a cockroach crawl from beneath his discarded boxer-briefs.
He slowly moved his right leg and lifted his sneaker over the unsuspecting bug. He brought it down over the roach, which met its demise with a satisfying crunch.
"Gotcha," he muttered.
"I didn't hear you," his uncle replied on the other end of the call.
"It was nothing," Zack said. "Just had to take care of a little problem."
"Well, look for that package," Bryan said. "And please, be very careful with it."
"No problem," Zack said.
"I can't emphasize enough..."
"Don't worry," Zack said smoothly. "I won't let anything happen to my surprise."
Bryan smiled in relief, glad he had called his nephew. "That's what I wanted to hear," he said. "Bye, Zack."
"Bye, Uncle B.," Zack said.
He snapped his phone closed and slipped it back into his pocket. Still seated, he tilted his leg and looked at the crushed remains of the filthy roach.
"You won't bother anyone again, sucker," Zack said, chuckling. He reached for some tissue paper and cleaned most of the remains from the rubber sole of the sneaker. The tall, muscular jock stood, lifted the seat off the toilet and flushed the tissue and bug remains. He frowned as he watched them swirl down the drain and out of sight. Not much got on the big jock's nerves, but he hated bugs with an almost irrational zeal.
"I wonder what's in that package that has Uncle Bryan in such a state," he said aloud. "Well, guess I'll find out tomorrow."
In the meantime...
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