chapter 141

word count: 2075

when 7:00 rolled around,, and big bob still hadn’t made it home for dinner,, his mother,, mama rigatardi,, knew something was awry.. it was,, after all wednesday,, and wednesday  was manicotti night in the rigatardi household.. her bobby would never miss his mama’s manicotti.. 

as mama rigitardi continued to pace the kitchen floor,, she tried his cell just one more time.. if he didn’t answer this time she was going to have to call the dump owners and have them go over there and see if everything was alright.. she would have gone herself,, but papa rigitardi (god rest his soul) had always believed a woman had no place behind the wheel of a car,, and thus mama rigitardi had never learned how to drive.. 

ordinarily this wouldn’t have posed a problem.. in fact mama had rarely, if ever,  had reason to question papa’s judgment on that subject.. it had never been necessary for her to drive. she had always had papa to drive her anywhere she wanted to go,, and then after his passing,, her youngest,, bobby was still at home (at the tender age of 42) and he picked up right where papa had left off as her sole source of transportation..

tonight however she was wishing she could just drive over to the dump and see what was keeping bobby herself..  she hated to call the dump owners,, after all her bobby was relatively new on the job,, and previous to this position, he had been out of work for quite some time.. 

jobs were not always easy to come by for a man that stood 5’10” and weighed in at just over 450 pounds.. although his intentions were always good,, more often than not,, his body would fail him when it came to being able to actually perform the duties involved in one such employ or another,, and inevitably,, bobby would be let go.. this job at the dump, however,, didn’t require a whole lot of maneuvering about,, and it was mama rigitardi’s hope that at last her bobby had found a job he could hold onto.. 

when bobby failed to answer his cell phone, yet again, mama had to go against her own better judgment and call the owners of the dump.. although she knew she might be jeopardizing his job,, she also knew her son,, and something was just not right.. mama felt she had to take the chance,, after all her bobby’s safety had to come before anything else..  

so reluctantly mama dialed the number bobby had attached to the kitchen wall just above the phone..  the phone rang about four times before she was connected to an answering machine.. now if there was one thing in this world mama rigitardi had never gotten a handle on,, it was speaking to an answering machine.. it just didn’t make any sense to her,, that the voice on the other end of the line was a not a real human being,, after all,, how could they be talking to her if they weren’t there??

“hello??” mama rigitardy spoke to the voice on the machine.. there was no greeting forthcoming,, in fact the man on the other end of the line never even hesitated,, he just kept right on talking..

“hello!!” mama spoke loudly this time,, maybe he was hard of hearing??

still no response.. the man on the other end of the line was rattling on about,, “if you feel you have an emergency situation after hours please contact the new albany police department at…” he was talking way too fast for mama to get something to write the number down,, but it didn’t matter she knew the number to the police.. 911..

mama pressed the hang up button on the old princess style wall phone that still hung in the rigitardi kitchen,, and then proceeded to dial 911..

‘maybe this is better,’ she thought to herself. maybe the dump owner would never even know she called,, and therefore her doing so would pose no threat her bobby keeping his job there..

“911, what is your emergency??”

“hello??” mama asked hoping she would get a response this time.. 

“yes ma’am, what is your emergency?”

“well i am not quite sure if it an emergency or not,,” mama began to explain to the dispatcher. “you see, my son bobby,, well he works at for the new albany refuse disposal company and well..”

“ma’am, excuse me,, what is your emergency?? if you do not have an emergency please call your local non-emergency number…” the dispatcher cut her off and started firing off some numbers..

“well it might not sound like an emergency to you,,” mama rigitardi cut in, “but i assure you it is an emergency to me!! as i was trying to explain to you, my bobby never came home from work tonight.. he is usually home by 5:30 and it is now nearly 7:30 and he is still not home!! i have tried his cell phone and…”

“ma’am!” the 911 dispatcher interrupted her yet again, “ma’am how old is your son?”

“what difference does that make,, no matter how old he is he is still not here,, and he should be!!”

“ma’am this is a police emergency line.. if you have a non-emergency situation,, which it sounds to me like you do,, please take down this number,, have you got something to write with?”

“if you would just listen to me,, i wouldn’t need anything to write with!!” mama was clearly frustrated at this point. 

“couldn’t you just send someone over to the main dump located on the old county line road to see if my bobby is ok?”

the dispatcher finally gave into the fact she was clearly getting nowhere with this woman,, and in effort to open the line in case of a real emergency,, she pacified mama rigitardi by saying, “yes ma’am.. yes ma’am, i will send a car around to the main disposal facility and have them do a welfare check.”

“welfare??” asked mama thoroughly confused at this point. “i didn’t ask you for welfare,, i just want someone to go check on my son,,  and he doesn’t want welfare either, didn’t you hear me say he works there?”

“ma’am, i said i would send a car right over there. do you want an officer to make a follow up call or visit after they have completed the check?”

“yes!!” mama rigitardi exploded into the phone.. “that is exactly what i want.. someone to go check on my son,, and have him call his mother!”

the dispatcher went on to try and get mama’s name and number,,  but she kept insisting bobby already had her number and she just couldn’t understand why the dispatcher would need it since bobby already had it.  

at long last the distraught dispatcher finally put an end to the call,, and went on to place the call to the non-emergency line herself,, requesting a welfare check on the disposal companies main facility.. 

when at last the officers arrived on scene, it was well after 8:00.. the dump was not well lit and it took them a few minutes to locate the office/trailer.. there was no light on in the trailer,, just a strange bluish white glow emanating from the only window in the trailer, the window on the door.. 

the two uniforms flashlights in hand started to approach the trailer.. 

big bob,, afraid it might be the two thugs that had put these gall dang handcuffs on him earlier in the day might be returning,, didn’t say a word.. his arms had long since gone totally numb,, and his hands,, having been deprived of circulation for hours on end, were freezing cold. if it was them,, he wanted them to know that he posed no threat so they would remove the handcuffs before they did some irreparable damage.. 

bang! bang! bang!,, one of the officers thumped his flashlight on the trailer door as he announced himself.. 

“new albany police!! is anybody in there??” the officer bellowed as both he and his partner unholstered their guns,, and prepared for a forced entry.. 

“i’m here!! i’m here!!” big bob called out in gratitude as the officers entered the dimly lit trailer, guns drawn..

“don’t shoot!! don’t shoot!!” big bob called out when he saw the blue white glow of the monitors reflecting off the officers poised weapons.. “i work here!!”

as one of the officers turned the overhead lights on in the trailer and called in the status of the call on his shoulder mic,, the other listened to big bobs accounting of what had gone on earlier in the day.. as soon as his identity had been verified,, the officers followed big bobs directions,, located the key to the hand cuffs and at last released him.. 

“oh thank god!!” was all big bob could say,, as his numb arms dropped limply to his side,, and he felt the hot rush of fresh blood begin circulating once again into his arms..  

“we’re gonna need to see the tape,, the one those two thugs looked at before they took off and left you here like this..” the taller of the two officers informed big bob,, who was momentarily so engrossed in the fact that the feeling was returning to his arms that it took a few seconds for the officers request to register.. 

“the tape!” the second officer said with a distinct air of authority in his voice that jolted big bob back into the reality of the moment.. 

“oh yes,, of course,, the tape..” he said, as he tried without success to reach up with his still numb arms and rewind the tape that had long ago turned to snow on the monitor..

“here let me help you.” one of the officers jumped in and hit the rewind button,, as the other  took a seat on the desk,, a little too close for comfort for big bobs taste,, but he knew he was in no position to complain.. 

once the tape had been rewound,, and restarted,, bob admonished the officers to fast forward the tape to the point where the boys he had run off earlier in the day were visible on the tape.. 

“there!! right there!!” big bob yelped when he saw the boys finally appear on the tape.. “slow it down,, this is the part they were interested in.”

the officers slowed the tape just as erik was lifting the sparkling object up to admire its reflection in the afternoon sun..  

“now hold on a minute,"  big bob stated, “not that boy, but , ok stop it right there!! that’s the boy they were interested in.. they said it was some guy named buzz millers son?? once they recognized him,, they just took off and left me here.. i coulda lost my arms..” big bobs voice trailed off, as one of the officers,, the one that had freed him from the gall dang handcuffs,, radioed something in.. 

something about a detective miller,, and how he needed to contact him right away.. within a matter of minutes the officer was on his cell phone, connected to this detective miller and he was explaining the situation to him..

“so they recognized your son from the tape detective miller.. is your son there with you now?” 

“oh, i see..” responded the officer to whatever was being said to him on the other end of the line.  

“well is there any way you could contact them,, these foster parents,, and check on your son’s safety?”

as the officer continued his conversation with the unheard voice on the other end of the line, big bob spoke up. “is there any way you can call my mother.. it’s not like me not to make it home for dinner,, and i am sure she is worried sick...”

before the officer could respond to big bobs request, the officer that had been on the phone with buzz leapt into the conversation..

“that was miller.. he’s gonna meet us at this address.. you all right buddy?” he asked big bob more or less perfunctorily than out of any kind of genuine concern.. 

“we need you to lock up here,, and then meet us at the station house.. detective miller has a couple of questions for you..”

“but dinner, “ big bob responded weakly, “those guys ate my lunch,, and i haven’t had my dinner yet.."