word count: 1773
after detective robert simmons, robbery division, and his rookie partner,,
timmy lang finished up what had been a most unfruitful interrogation of the two
now visually exhausted morman missionaries,, who they surmised had done nothing
more serious than being at the wrong place at the wrong time when it came down
to their involvement with the princess diana diamond,, he informed the booking
sargent that the two of them were free to go..
as was his usual, the booking sargent,, who was never in a
hurry to do much of anything,, lollygagged about the desk,, making small talk
and eating donuts before he even bothered to start the release paperwork on the
two forlorn boys.
meanwhile,, enos and jacob did their best to stay huddled up
in a corner of the holding cell nearest the sink/commode combination,, and as
far away from the great unwashed as possible,, no longer out of a sense of fear
for their lives,, but rather because the air in the cell had become
significantly odoriferous since their arrival that afternoon and they were
finding it hard to breathe without gagging.
the once cold austere steel and cement holding cell had fast
become crowded, sticky, and humid.. the stench of piss and vomit and anything
that may have had the notion to fall in between the two of them,, hung like a
green oily cloud that hovered dauntingly just above their heads..
they spoke very little,, but maintained taught eye contact..
and it was evident from the looks that passed between them,, that this would
indeed be the last time they found themselves in such a position..
as yet another set of heavy footfalls and the tinkling of
keys approached the cell,, the two were caught quite off guard,, when the
matron called their names,, and admonished them they were free to go.. anxious
to get out of the vapid stench that had come to surround them, ,they silently
followed the matron to a changing booth,, where each of them was handed a
numerically coded brown paper bag that held what was left of their personal
possessions..
the sense of relief they had just begun to allow themselves
to feel when the realization that whey were in fact going to be set free
quickly turned to utter desperation,, as they realized, that over the course of
the previous day’s events they had not only lost track of their suitcases, but it was evident that their only remaining
suits of clothing were their once immaculately pressed missionary black and
whites,, and due to lack of proper handling by the disinterested detention
department, even they were wrinkled
beyond recognition..
despite the fact that both of them knew only too well that
if they were seen by any of their morman brethren,, dressed in the disheveled
fashion in which they now found themselves,, they would be sternly
reprimanded,, both boys proceeded to dress.. each of them spit shined their
shoes with the jail issued jumpsuits,, since that seemed to be the only part of
the ensemble they had a chance at salvaging,, and motioned to the waiting
matron who’s eyes had remained diverted as they dressed that they were ready to
go..
with a brief stop at the release desk to sign some
paperwork,, they were sent back into the now dark night,, alone,, quite broke,,
and with nowhere in particular to go..
jacob was the first to break the silence.. “there is no way
we can board a flight looking like this.. if we arrive at the mission dressed
like this, we will be written up and reported for sure.. and that is not how i want to start out my
service record..”
“i know.” gloomed enos,, “and we are already more than a day
late?? what do ya think we oughtta do??”
jacob dug deep in his pockets,, collecting up a couple of crumpled dollar bills and some
change he had left after the rental of the seedy motel room last night and the
ever so fateful cab ride this morning.
“how much money you got??” he asked enos,, who was already
following suit and going through his own pockets.. “i got $17.00 and some
change…”
“34,35,36,” enos counted aloud. “i got $36.00 and a
pocketful of quarters i was gonna use for the video games in the airport..
that’s it.” enos answered solemnly as his mind drifted off to the 20 some odd
hour flight they had still faced here and their missionary assignment in
indonesia that still lie ahead of them.
“i’m starving.” jacob confessed almost ashamed to mention it,,
as if somehow or another hunger was a just form of punishment for all he had
put the two of them through over the course of the last two days..
“me too!!” chimed in enos,, as his eyes spied a dairy queen
just around the corner at the next intersection,, and his empty stomach began
to rumble..
“we could get a little something to eat at that dairy queen
and see if we can’t come up with a plan from there..” he offered feebly,,
seeing as how he had no better suggestion..
“alright.. but keep it small.. we are gonna need every cent
we have to get a cheap motel room with a phone so we can check on the next
available flight,, and a washer and dryer, so we can do something about these
clothes before we can go anywhere.. “ jacob instructed him,, as enos just nodded
silently in agreement and the two of them headed up the road toward where it
joined the crossing highway..
as they approached the dairy queen they were pleasantly
surprised to see a dank,, somewhat over run motel situated directly across the
four lane highway that ran in front of the dairy queen.. as if in cue the two
of them let out a collective sigh..
maybe somebody up there still liked them after all..
***
elliot had found it necessary to escape out the bathroom
window,, as his brothers were playing star command in their shared bedroom.. as
he landed in the bushes directly below the window,, and scraped his way out of
them and onto his feet,, he realized he only had about two dollars to his
name.. he wasn’t gonna get very far on two dollars.. he had hoped to go to the
game room to pass the time till he was sure his mother would have grown tired
of waiting on him to return (she had never been one to be kept waiting) but
with only two dollars in his pocket that was no longer an option.. instead he
opted to sneak through the backyards of the neighboring houses and head toward
the bus stop. worst case scenario,, he could take the bus to the end of the
line,, and then play dumb and convince the driver he had missed his stop and
therefor had to continue on the round trip until he got back to his designated
stop..
“after all,” elliot assured himself,, “no bus driver was
gonna just drop some little kid off in the dark in a strange neighborhood just
because he missed his stop the first time around..”
it didn’t take long for the number 10 bus to come to his
aide.. he boarded,, took a window seat toward the back of the bus,, slouched
down in his seat,, so the driver wouldn’t notice him there until it was too
late,, and settled in to watching the bright lights as they filtered in through
the dirty tinted windows of the dimly illuminated bus..
about ten minutes into the ride,, elliot spied the familiar
red and white sign of the dairy queen,, the very dairy queen he and adam had
hung out at back in the day when they both found it necessary to hide from
their perspective parental units.. without further thought,, he tugged on the
bell cord,, and the driver let him off just in front of the well-lit dairy
queen.
as soon s his feet hit the pavement,, he realized he only
had one dollar left,, as he had paid the other one to get on the bus.. he knew
that was not enough for a hot dog,, or even a small cone for that matter,, but
thought to himself maybe the kid at the counter would let him slide if he did
his very best dumb little lost kid impression.. what the hell.. it was worth a
try.. even if it didn’t work out, he would still have a dollar left over to get
himself home when he thought the coast would be clear..
elliot approached the counter sheepishly,, noticing the only
other patrons were a couple of guys in rumpled dress clothes munching on hot
dogs and a shared bag of chips in the corner.. that suited him just fine.. he
wasn’t really in the mood for conversation anyway..
“welcome to dairy queen, “ the pimple faced clerk at the
counter greeted him amicably enough. “what can i get for you??”
“i wanna hot dog.. with everything..” elliot said quietly,,
making sure to use his most innocent sounding little kid voice..
“ok,” said the clerk as he touched the keypad on the
register, “that will be $1.25.”
elliot pulled out his dollar,, and laid it on the counter..
he then proceeded to rumble through his pockets as if he was searching for the
additional quarter. “well i know it’s in here somewhere..” he mumbled as he
continued to check and recheck the pockets of his loose fitting trousers..
the pimple faced clerk quickly became agitated,, and spoke
in a louder than necessary tone of voice. “well you either got it or you don’t.
which one is it??” he prodded elliot impatiently…
the tone of his voice did not go unnoticed by the two
rumpled mormans as they both turned to see what the commotion was all about..
“it’s just a quarter,” elliot pleaded “can’t ya just give it
to me for a dollar?? i’m awful hungry..”
“no i can’t, “ the clearly incensed clerk barked back at him
as he slammed the cash drawer closed with a bang.. “now i am gonna have to call
my manager for a void!!”
“hey!hey! not so fast there young man,,” enos rang out
across the tiny restaurant as he quickly approached the counter.. “here’s the
dang quarter.. give the poor kid his hot dog..”
Oooooh, worlds collide!
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