Steve pulls her away from the wall and then slams her back into the wall with his question, “Answer me you little wench! Why did you do that? Why did you lie to me?” Sally let’s out a small whimper each time her back makes impact with the wall. Steve's hands are shaking.
Sally gapes open her mouth like a fish trying to speak; maybe even trying to get air flow by this point. “Please…stop.” She says. “All I wanted was the story. I’m only trying to under…” her voice trails off and I can’t understand what she is saying anymore. I finally come around the corner the rest of the way and come into full view. Steve doesn't see me, but Sally does. She locks eyes with me and tries to say something but her effort is in vain. Steve is squeezing too hard.
I have to stop him! I open my mouth to say something but another voice shouts out before mine does.
“Freeze! Drop the lady and place your hands above your head. Do it, now!”
Oh, my good gracious! The cops have arrived. They must have heard the shouting and ran from across the street. Steve's face loses all color, and he lowers Sally down to the ground. He releases her neck, raises his hands above his as ordered, and backs away from the wall. Sally grabs hold of her own neck and takes in a deep breath. She coughs a few times, and then begins to cry.
“Get down on your knees, place your hands behind your back, and interlock your fingers. Do it, now!” the officer orders. Steve does it without hesitation. The officer approaches slowly. He has his gun in his hand, with fully outstretched arms; focused, perfect, and leveled. He circles around to the backside of Steve, and never takes his eyes off of him. He keeps his gun aimed at the back of Steve’s head as he comes closer. He removes one hand and signals for the other officer to come over. The second officer also circles around to the backside of Steve. He then grabs hold of Steve’s interlocked fingers and lifts up until he rises to his feet. Steve lets out a small whimper of pain. I wonder how bad that hurts. I interlock my fingers and give them a little squeeze. I wince a little from the small amount pressure I could apply. I can’t imagine what kind of pain that Steve just went through to get him to stand up. The first officer backs up a few steps to allow the second to have full range. The second officer applies the handcuffs to Steve and holds on to the chain links that connect the two cuffs. He then leads him away to the patrol car. Sally is weeping loudly with her knees to her chest, as the other officer makes his way over to her. He kneels down next to her and speaks softly, but I can’t make out what’s being said. I see her nodding her head at times, and then I see her shake her head at other times. Sally stands up and walks with the officer back to the ambulance that’s on site. The paramedics tend to her with haste.
With Steve now secured, the second officer looks at me with a pointed finger, and motions for me to come over to him by the patrol car. I obey and make my way over to him.
“Did you witness any of the events that occurred here today?”
I just nod my head.
“Wonderful. Can you tell me about it?” he asks.
I hesitate for a moment, because I’m beyond embarrassed about my stutter. Secondly, I’m still in shock as to what I just saw Steve do. I need to answer him soon, because I don’t know of too many patient police officers. Despite my social pitfall, I’m going to give this my best effort.
“M-m-my name is Elverson Luther S-s-s-Spaid. I s-s-saw Steve standing o-o-on the s-s-side of the…”
“Ok. Stop.” Thank you. “I don’t have all day, sir. Is there a way you can tell me without your mouth hitting speed bumps?” he folds his arms across his chest tightly. I shake my head to say no.
“Well, would you be willing to fill out a written statement?”
“S-s-s-sure. I w-w-would-d-d be hap-p-py…”
My guess is in that moment, the officer finally noticed my still blood-shot eyes and the slight shake in my hands. With all the stuttering as well, I can only assume that he thought I was on a controlled substance.
“Well, that’s great. I’m afraid this would be a useless exercise. There’s no chance that you would be considered a reliable witness. Carry on, sir. We don’t need you here.” the officer says. Both of them get into their car and drive away, taking Steve with him.
The paramedics put Sally on a stretcher, and load her into the back of the ambulance. One of them says to me, “Not to worry, sir. We’ll take good care of her for you.” He closes the back door and they leave. I am left standing alone in the alley between the two buildings that leads to the street.
Useless. I am useless. I’m too old, too fat, and too slow. I speak in speed bumps. I have nothing to offer anyone. I’m willing to do what anyone wants. I think I’m being helpful, but it turns out to be hurtful. Why can’t I do anything right? It seems like the only things I do correctly anymore is eat and sleep. I need to get out of here. I need to seriously get of this place, and go somewhere different. I think if I did that, I could hit the proverbial reset button and start fresh. Start where nobody knows who I am. A clean slate! Yeah! That’s it! That’s exactly what I need: a clean slate. I need a new atmosphere, with new surroundings, new people, and new places. As a matter of fact, I’m going to the church now to tell Jeffers the news that I think will benefit us both.
I should get dressed in something more presentable than sweats, though. Do I have anything in my closet that I could wear? I try to remember, but I am having a hard time. I wish I had some change of clothes with me. That would make this a lot easier. Mainly, because I don’t want to go back home right now. Wait a minute. There’s the alteration shop down the street, and Mei Ling should have my black pair of pants ready by now. I think I’ll go pick them up. Besides, I desperately owe her an apology for how I treated her.
As I sit down in my car and give it a start, I see the news van speed off. A small part of me thinks that I need to follow him. Maybe I could convince him to erase the footage he took of Steve and Sally. I don’t think it would do a whole lot of good. He would probably yell at me, or call me names I have heard a thousand times over, or simply scream and run. Quite frankly, I don’t have time for that. Television news stations and reporters alike will tell you that tragedy, murder, and mayhem make the best stories. As the old adage goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” It’s a shame that good news doesn’t sell. You don’t hear many stories on TV nowadays about kittens being born, or people doing good deeds, or weddings. Those are all good things! Not enticing enough to make the headlines though. Maybe, but that’s none of my business.
I put the car in gear and drive off at my usual speed. I briefly glance down at the radio, and look back up to keep my focus on the street. I let out a sigh. It was a good radio, but it shall never be played again in this car. It’s as stubborn as I am, if not more so, and I don’t want to continue to fight with it. I may even pay the money to have it removed or possibly even a new one installed. It’s laughable, I know. The new radio would probably be worth more than the car itself. It’s an old Geo Metro, for crying out loud. However, I don’t think that upgrading the radio in this car is a good idea. Nobody that I know of would ever in their right mind upgrade a Geo Metro. It just doesn’t happen.
When I get to the traffic light one block away from my destination, I can see something attached to the front door of the shop, and it is flapping gently in the wind. I wonder what it could be? The light turns green and I pull forward, signal my turn, and pull into the parking lot. I park my car, get out and start walking up to the front door. As people pass by on the sidewalk, they glance up and laugh at the sight in front of them, before moving on with their lives. The reason for the laughter is hanging from the front door of the alteration shop: my pants. I’m going to guess that our last conversation didn’t go over very well. I’m feeling very embarrassed right now. Having my pants hang on the front door is very absurd. I really need to apologize to her.
The lights are off inside the shop. This is odd because she’s normally open today; especially now that it’s around lunch time. I feel a pant leg brush ag
ainst my face. I shake it off and look up. Oh, dear God in heaven! My pants have been hung on the door with a knife! I try the door; it’s locked. I try knocking loudly, but nobody answers. I move over to the window, place my hands and face up to the glass, and look inside; that way the glare from the sun won’t affect my vision. I think that today’s weather is misplaced with how the events of the day are going. There is a gentle breeze, one cloud in the sky, and the sun is directly overhead. Some would say that this is perfect picnic weather. I agree. This is perfect picnic weather if you lived anywhere but here in Los Pobres. Rather, I think the weather today should be like it was a couple of days ago: dark and stormy. That pattern of weather turmoil would fit the scenario that I am looking at to the letter.
I scream loudly. I bang on the window. I drop to my knees and cry. Mei Ling is swinging by her neck from the cross beam that separates the front room from the back office. A chair is on its side on the floor just a few feet away, signifying that she was standing on it at one point. Her cat is sitting there gently pawing at her foot wondering why she isn’t coming down. I can’t do this. I can’t look at this.
I get up and grab the knife and pull it loose. As the pants come off the door, I drop the knife to the ground. The back of the pants crumples like paper. Well that is weird. Why is that? I turn the pants over. Oh, I see why now. There is a note of paper that is sewn into the pants. The note is addressed to me.
Dear Fat Man,
I have no nice words to say to you. You were last person I expect to hear unkindness from. I have nothing left. All I had remain was hope, and you take away. Door is locked. I have only key. Tum Tum will starve, because only I feed him. Take stupid pants elsewhere. I no fix for you anymore. Instead I fix all problems. Good bye.
Mei Ling
No! NO! I bang on the window some more as I cry harder. This isn’t fair! This isn’t right or ok. Why do sweet people like her have to think that the only solution is death? I don’t understand! I can’t believe that I was the cause of this.
I really am useless.
That’s it. I have to leave this town. I’m sure that Jeffers will understand me wanting to leave. I gather my wits and my pants, then head to my car. I stop and turn around. If I leave that knife just sitting there, then someone is either going to use it on someone else, or turn it in to the police station. It has my fingerprints all over it now that I pulled it from the door. I walk back over, place my pants over the knife, and quickly pick them back up again, concealing the knife safely inside the pants. I unlock the trunk, throw them inside, and quickly close the door to the trunk. A sharp exhale and some choked back tears…it’s done. Now, it’s just a short drive to the church.
It should have been a short drive, but with the thoughts of today’s events swimming in my mind, the drive to the church is exceptionally long. All of the encounters I have had with Mei Ling flash through my head, be they good, bad or indifferent, they all flood my head from the archives of my memories. I can’t shake them out. I just let them be. With each one that passes another fresh stream of tears flow from my eyes. It seems like they have become wells that never run dry.
When I get to the church parking lot, there are a lot of cars there. I don’t remember plans for any kind of a meeting. Did I miss something? I get out of my car and walk inside, down the hallway to Jeffers’ office. From the hallway, his voice and two others can be heard from inside the office.
They are laughing mostly, but then I hear the unmistakable voice of Jeffers, “With that fat moron out of the way, we can take this church in any direction we want. The congregation won’t know any different. Of that I can assure you. Spaid is useless to me. His stutter is embarrassing. His lack of hygiene is disturbing. He’s a total disgrace to the church. Do either of you have a different opinion of him?” I hear nothing from the other two, which I can only assume means that neither has come to my defense. “Fantastic. Gentlemen, I thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing you regularly here every Sunday. We just need to find a way to get his lazy hide out of here, but more importantly out of this town.”
I stand frozen in the middle of the hallway. I don’t know whether to cry some more, remain motionless, or run and hide somewhere. Let’s face it…the “run and hide” option isn’t going to happen. I lack the action movie hero agility to pull off anything like that. If this were a gameshow on TV, the buzzer would have gone off and I would be out of time. Speaking of which, times up! My indecisiveness made the decision for me: I just stood there. The office door opens, and two younger looking guys step out. They immediately notice me standing there looking stupid.
They both snicker a little, and one of them says, “Guess you won’t have to wait too long because Mr. Jelly Roll is already here. Your ears must have been burning, fatso. Mr. Jeffers is waiting for you.”
Great.
“I can smell you already, Spaid. You might as well roll in here now.” taunts Jeffers.
I walk to the office, as the two other guys walk past me and leave the church. As soon as the church door closes behind them, Jeffers begins yelling. “Well look at you! I didn’t realize that today was St. Fatty’s day. Apparently, I missed the memo to dress in green sweats to celebrate the occasion. Are you going to stand there waiting for a parade to come by with free candy for you? Or are you going to stop day dreaming and get your useless mass in here?”
I feel light-headed, and I can feel my pulse racing. I don’t feel good at all.
“It occurred to me that based on the events of this past service, and the services prior to, I have a serious topic that needs to be discussed with you.” Jeffers says. I raise my hand.
“Are you kidding me? Why is it that you feel like you need to raise your hand like you’re in school? It’s completely pathetic! Now, what is so blasted important?”
“I-i-I have something t-t-to s-s-suggest.” I say.
“Fine. Out with it then.” Jeffers places his head in his hand, propped up by his rested elbow on the table.
“I w-w-would like t-t-t-to propose a thought, or n-n-notion.” I say.
“For crying out loud, Spaid. If you’re going to give me a stutter monologue, then I don’t have time to sit here and listen to it. I’d rather spend my time reading a copy of an instruction manual in Japanese about how to put together an entire entertainment set.”
“C-c-can you read J-j-Japanese?” I ask.
“No, you idiot! That’s just a… never mind. The point I’m trying to make is that you take way too long to say something. So, I think I’m going to take back my offer of letting you speak. I’ve had it. I’m done listening to your winey complaints. I’m sick and tired of hearing how the world is going to hell in a hand basket, according to your perspective! I don’t want to hear any more of your useless babble. Do I make myself clear?” he screams at me.
I nod my head.
“Good. So here is my proposition for you. I hate you. I want you out of this church. If I had my way I would have you out of this town. However, whatever happens to you after today is none of my business. After you leave my office, I never want to see your pathetic lard factory in here ever again. You stink. You’re overweight, and your attempts at simple communication are absolutely embarrassing. That’s why I think it’s better for you and for all of us if you just leave. If you refuse my offer, I will kill you. I will not hesitate. I’m a man that gets what he wants, and I have no trouble removing the obstacles that are in my way. So, with all of that being said, what do you think?”
Is he a mind reader? For once, we seem to be on the same page…except for the death threat part of it. I reach for a pen and paper, and Jeffers watches every action I take like a hawk watching a kitten scurry under a farm house. He smiles out of the corner of his mouth, and places his fingertips together. With the stationary in my lap and simply write the words, “I accept.”
Jeffers lets out a huge laugh as I hand him the pad of paper back to him. “I didn’t think it was going to be this easy! I was certain that
you were going to cry your eyes out again and beg for mercy, or something stupid like that. Very well then. You may leave. I can’t say that it has been a pleasure working with you, because it really hasn’t. So, without further ado, get out.” Jeffers stands up and thrusts a pointed finger towards the exit of the building. You know, a normal employee would have time to at least gather his or her things from the office and clean out the desk. Not me. To be honest, I really don’t care. What I need to do now is start thinking about packing, travel plans, and destinations.
I leave his office, and walk down the hallway. Yes, I’m extremely sad. Yes, I feel extremely useless. However, right now, I get to go prepare for a clean slate. Maybe I can even find a new catholic church that will just accept me for who I am. I already have all of the necessary gear and training to be a priest, so I have that going for me.
As I exit the church doors for the last time, I gaze up to the sky. The weather is nice. There’s a gentle breeze. It’s perfect picnic weather. You know, I think this day might be a good day after all.
Pain racks through my entire body as I’m hit over the head with something very hard; something metallic based on the muffled clank sound. I grab my head and stumble down the stairs, crashing onto the sidewalk. My vision is a bit hazy, but I can recognize the two young guys that had just left Jeffers’ office.
“Time to go for a little ride, fatso.” the first one says. They both laugh.
I feel them pick me up and toss me into the back of their car. I hear doors slam, and the engine fire up just as my vision fades to black.
13
Load Up and Move Out
Fate Of The Dragon Page 17
