chapter 147

word count: 2011

although trudy had only been with the sisters for a little over a week,, they had seen a marked change in her demeanor.. her edges were softening,, just slightly perhaps,, but it was easily visible to their wizened eyes, as they watched her transformation playing out before them.. 

no longer did she protest going to mass every morning, she attended vespers every night, and even her lackadaisical attitude toward doing her fair share of the work around the convent,, seemed to have settled into something that was quickly becoming routine.. 

sisters esther and rebecca were especially proud of the progress they saw in trudy.. after all they had been responsible for bringing her here,, and each day she proved beyond a shadow of a doubt,, that they had made the right decision. 

it truly came as no surprise,, when over dinner one night,, in the presence of all the sisters, trudy made known her burning desire to call buzz,, ‘you know just to make contact,, just to confirm that he would still be waiting for her’ when she completed her course of rehabilitation here with the sisters..

sister esther was the first to speak up after trudy made her desires known.. 

“well,, seeing as how we know you will one day leave us,, and when you do,, we would like to think that you are going to a safe, secure place,, where you will be loved as we love you,, i really cannot see that it would do any harm..”

“well it would of course be a supervised contact,, would it not?” sister therese interjected,, seemingly out of genuine concern,, and not at all wishing to interject a dark cloud of distrust into the conversation.. 

“well of course, “ sister ruth answered. “i for one would be more than willing to accompany trudy to the nearest phone,, and oversee the outcome of such a venture..” 

“well then sisters,, let us take a vote.” sister rebecca said as she stood up, as if in an official capacity.. 

“all those in favor of trudy making contact with this suitor of hers in effort to secure her place in the secular world when she is ready to leave us,, please say ‘aye’..”

a resounding “aye!!” rang out amongst the sisters,, who all had glorious smiles of glowing approval,, accept perhaps sister martha,, but she was well known for her pessimism surrounding any break from the norm.. 

“well it is unanimous then!!” exclaimed sister rebecca just beaming with pride..

“now sister ruth has already agreed to accompany trudy to the quick shop,, where surely ahmed will be so kind as to allow us to use his cell phone to place the call.. who will volunteer to accompany sister ruth,, and our trudy on this excursion??”

sister therese piped up, “oh please let me, sister rebecca,, it has been ever so long since i journeyed outside the walls of our little haven..”

“well then i believe it has been decided..  i see no reason why sisters ruth and therese should not accompany our trudy to the quick spot directly after we conclude this meals clean up,, as that should have them all back here in time for vespers,, and i think trudy’s mind will be ever so much more on her prayers, if she has this desire of hers satisfied beforehand..” 

with that the sisters joyously concluded their meal,, quickly saw to it that the kitchen was left sparkling,, and the left overs had been dutifully delivered to abraham and sarah,, before they huddled along the path in the front of the main house and sent the trio off with a chorus of well wishes.. 

as they walked the dirt road between the convent and the convenience store,,  trudy was eagerly playing over the conversation in her head,  as she would like to have it transpire.. so caught up in thought was she that she spoke not a word the whole walk.. the sisters respected her privacy ad remained silent as well.. 

before they knew it the three of them were entering the quick shop,, only to find ahmed on his stool behind the counter avidly texting away.. 

“good evening to you ahmed!!” sister therese chimed as the three of them approached the counter..

finally, ahmed hit send and looked up at the three women..

“oh no you don’t!!” he called out after he saw trudy was among them.. “not you again!! you nearly had me shot,, or at best arrested the last time you were here!! go on now,, you,, you,, woman!! move on!!”

“dear ahmed," sister ruth spoke to him in a calming voice. “i assure you we will have none of that this evening..  please do not be so quick to judge our sister trudy,, as she has made great progress over the period of time she has spent in our company,, and has proven herself to be much changed since your last encounter with her.”

finally trudy spoke up, sheepishly, “hey, ahmed,, really,, i am sorry about the other night.. you see i was just so, so frustrated,, so confused.. but the sisters here have been helping me with deal more appropriately with my emotions,, and if you could find it in your heart,, i really wish you would give me another chance.. what a ya say??”

ahmed’s facial expression was seen to visibly soften as he heard trudy speak..  she did sound calmer,, she wasn’t so pushy,, and after all the sisters were here to keep an eye on her. 

‘what harm could it do??’ he asked himself as sister ruth spoke up and advised him that the reason they were there was so that trudy could place a call,, if he would be so kind ,, on his cell phone,, to secure a place for herself in the secular world when her time with the sisters was completed.. 

a bit warily,, ahmed handed his cell over to sister ruth, who in turn handed it off to trudy.. 

“do ya think i could have just a little privacy?” trudy beseeched them,, as she stepped off to the far side of the counter nearer to the newspaper racks.. 

“why certainly..” the sisters responded in unison,, as each of them pretended to busy themselves with other things, so as to assume a posture of not eaves dropping on trudy’s call,, although both had every intention of doing just that.. 

trudy anxiously punched in the number of buzz’s cell..  a look of disappointment came over her,, as she heard her call transferred directly to voice mail.. 

“i’ll just try another number, if you don’t mind.” trudy announced as she was already half of the way into dialing buzz’s home number.. 

“huh!!” trudy sighed aloud in dismay,, when there was no answer there either,, and her call ended up once again with a recorded message.. 

“oh, that’s right, “ trudy explained as he made a last ditch effort and dialed buzz’s private line at the precinct, “i had forgotten he told me is lovely house keeper, mrs. dunn, had taken ill and was in the hospital.. she must not be home yet.”

“detective miller’s office.” a breathy female voice answered what trudy knew to be buzz’s private line at the precinct.. nobody but nobody was supposed to be answering that line but buzz.

“who is this??” trudy nearly barked into the phone,, although she tried to do it under her breath so the sisters would not over hear.. 

“ i believe a more appropriate question would be, who is this?” a somewhat sarcastic priscilla volleyed back,, her tone quickly cutting through any resolution trudy may have had to handle this call with some degree of dignity..

her composure dissipated like so much steam as trudy barked loudly into the phone,, no longer caring who could hear her.  “where the hell is buzz??” she demanded. “and just who the hell are you??”

with the situation quickly escalating into something they had not prepared themselves for,, both sisters therese and sister ruth, rushed to trudy’s side.. 

“remain calm..” sister ruth admonished her in her most soothing voice.. 

“we are here for you..” sister therese interjected,, although  she could tell by the flare in trudy’s nostrils and the veins protruding from her neck,, that their pleas were falling on deaf ears.. 

trudy roughly pushed the sisters aside, and headed toward the door leading to the parking lot..

“hey, get back here with my phone!!” ahmed called out after her.. “see!! i told you she would cause trouble!!” 

“everything is under control.” sister ruth tried to assure him,, although she knew her reassuring statement was less than accurate.. 

once safely outside the door,, trudy,, true to form,, went for the jugular..  “who the fuck are you and what the hell are you doing in buzz’s private office answering his private line!! i demand to know!!”

“now,, now,,” priscilla replied an obvious air of condescension in her voice.. “you must contain yourself..”

trudy totally oblivious to the fact that not only the sisters,, but ahmed had joined her in the parking lot, cut her off at the pass, “answer me god damn it before i come down there and beat it out of you!!”

“oh my!!”  an obviously shaken, sister ruth whispered to sister therese, “what on earth have we done?”

priscilla, knowing she had the deck stacked in her favor refused to back down. “once you have identified yourself to me in proper fashion,, i would be more than willing to answer those questions for you,, but not until.”

“this is trudy!! trudy hunt!! i’m buzz’s girl!! now who the hell are you??” trudy was near hysterics at this point.. 

“very well then,,  ms. hunt,, i am priscilla, priscilla normandy,, and i-  am detective millers house personal keeper.”

“his what??” trudy demanded. “what  the hell happened to mrs. dunn, she didn’t die or something did she??” trudy asked,, maybe just the slightest bit hoping he answer was yes.. 

“no,, no, mrs. dunn had an unfortunate accident,, and will be laid up for a period of time recuperating.. i am mrs. dunn’s niece, and i am looking after detective miller in my aunts absence..”

“well that still doesn’t explain what the hell you are in buzz’s office, and answering his phone, no less!!” trudy continued to bark into the phone..

“well as it turned out detective miller had an affair of a personal nature,, and he required my services..”

once again trudy cut her off, “ and exactly what kind of services are you providing the good detective?? you fucking…”

“oh dear!!” exclaimed sister ruth in the aftermath of the f-bomb. “what should we do?”

an inflamed trudy, threw the cell phone at ahemd, nearly clocking him in the head with it, before it fell to the asphalt and splintered into a million jagged pieces.. 

“get your keys ahmed, we’re going for a ride!!” she thundered as she strode toward him aggressively.. 

“and don’t try givin’ me any shit either!! in case you haven’t noticed, i am in no fucking mood!!”

ahmed,, knowing he had little or no recourse since he had no way of placing a call to anyone who might have been able to come to his aid,, rifled through his pockets.. 

“here," he said as he nervously turned the keys over to trudy, not wanting to insight her any further. 

“you go,, you just take the car.”

trudy snapped the keys out of ahmed’s hand, jumped into the only car in the parking lot,, a late model honda civic,, and without so much as a glance back at the terrorized sisters, burned rubber out of the parking lot.. 

“oh my.. oh my..” sister therese repeated over and over as she and sister ruth stared at each other in ultimate disbelief over what had just transpired before them.. 

“what on earth are we going to tell the sisters??”

“the sisters, nothing!!” a clearly unraveling ahmed cried out, as he waved his arms furiously in the air..

 “what is going to become of my car!!”