| General Fiction posted April 30, 2024 | Chapters: |
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A trip to Arkansas
A chapter in the book What We See
What We See - Chapter 39
by Jim Wile
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.
| Background A high school teacher wrongly accused of sexual assault reinvents his life. |
Recap of Chapter 38: Alan interviews a new assistant who gives an impressive performance of his skills. He will most likely hire him after checking his references.
At home that evening, he tells Ginnie that he found out Warren might be at his brother’s house in Arkansas. Ginnie devises a plan to see if he’s there and finds out that indeed he is, in a phone conversation with his brother in which she impersonates a porn star. Though she tries to talk him out of it, Alan tells her he’s determined to go down to Arkansas and get his hard drive back.
Chapter 39
This morning, I called the references Andrew Olafsen had given me. Both his previous supervisor and his landlord spoke very positively about him. I called him up and told him he had the job, and he agreed to come to work at 9:00 next Wednesday. He was a godsend because I have fallen quite far behind at work without an assistant.
I worked until 3:00 today, when I closed up shop. I had a few errands to run before the trip tomorrow. The first stop was a firearms store in Grantham, where I purchased a blank gun and some blanks. A blank gun looks and sounds close enough to a real pistol that it should pose a threat if needed. I have never owned or fired a real gun before and didn’t relish the thought of actually shooting someone. I’m hoping, should the need arise, that just the threat of a gun will be enough to accomplish my goal of getting the hard drive back.
I also got an oil change and gassed up the car to prepare for the long car ride tomorrow.
It was 6:00 AM on Saturday morning when I left for Arkansas. Ginnie had gotten up with me and made me breakfast while I packed a small suitcase. If all went well, I planned to spend only one night there in Arkansas before heading back home tomorrow.
After breakfast, I hugged and kissed her goodbye, and she wished me luck, reminding me again to be careful. I looked in on Tommy, but he was still asleep.
I took US 31 to Indianapolis, where I picked up I-70 and then I-57, which took me most of the way to Arkansas. From there, it was US highways down to Macon. I arrived at 4:30 PM and checked into a motel, where I picked up a local map of the area and located Rucker St. I called Ginnie before heading out.
“Hi, sweetie. Just wanted to let you know I got here safely. I’m planning on heading out to Dennis Meyers’s house now.”
“Alan, you’re going to be very careful, right? What exactly is your plan anyway?”
“I’m just going to play it by ear. I won’t really know ‘til I get there and see the lay of the land. I’m not even sure he’ll be there or his brother or just what. But yes, I’ll be careful.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into, so please, please be careful, and don’t do anything rash. If it looks like it might be going bad, just get out of there and forget about it. Will you do that?”
“I will. I promise.”
“Alright then. I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll call you again tonight.”
I got in the car and followed the map to Rucker St. It was really out in the sticks, and the houses were few and far between. It took me a while to find number 22. I drove past number 10, then passed a ramshackle house with no number on the mailbox along the road. I wasn’t sure it was even inhabited by the looks of it. Next, I came to 38. I figured 22 must have been the one with no number. I turned around and drove back, parking along the far side of the road about ¼ mile from the two-track that served as the drive up to the house. I pulled the loaded blank gun from the glove box, then turned and opened the car door.
Before stepping out, I tucked the blank gun in the waistband at the rear of my jeans and pulled my T-shirt down over it. Then I got out and began walking toward number 22.
I walked about 10 steps when I heard a voice behind me say, “Hello there, Alan.”
I turned around and saw Warren standing there, holding a rifle pointed at me. Where the hell did he come from?
“So, what brings you to lovely Macon, Arkansas, Alan?”
“I came for one thing, and I know you’ve got it.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t try to deny it. I’ve got a videotape of you stealing the hard drive out of my computer. Also of you breaking into my filing cabinet.”
“So, you were spying on me, huh?”
“Yep, and the police are in possession of that tape now. You’re a wanted felon, Warren.”
“Oh, I hardly think so. All the things I took aren’t worth a whole lot unless you consider their potential worth, but I think you’d have trouble convincing the cops to care about that in light of the fact that you don’t have a patent on your little invention.”
“I know about your sale of the goods to Fraleigh Medical too, Warren. What did they give you for it anyway?”
“They gave me half a million dollars. Pretty neat for just an idea, right?”
“You’re full of shit too. I happen to know you got only 100 grand for it.”
“Well, why’d you ask then? Anyhow, it was enough to pay off my debt and still earn a nice profit. So, what do you want the hard drive back for? I know you’ve got backups of it. Something else on there you don’t want me looking at?”
“I’m sure you know the answer to that. I don’t think you’re clever enough to make much sense of it, but there are those who might be willing to buy the ideas from you like that asshole at Fraleigh did. He’s been fired, by the way. How did you happen to find a guy like that?”
“Poker buddy.”
“Ah, two of a kind.”
“Listen, not that there’s a whole lot of traffic on this road, but why don’t we take this discussion up to my brother’s house over there? Turn around now and get moving.”
He had a gun on me, so I did as instructed and started moving slowly forward along the shoulder. “How is it you happened to get the drop on me just now, Warren?”
“Lucky coincidence. I was out hunting across the street when I saw you drive by. I recognized your car, and I saw the Indiana license plate. How did you happen to find me, Alan?”
“Wasn’t that hard. I figured you were a mama’s boy and probably lived with her in Fort Wayne when you were there. She had some choice things to say about you, you know. Told me to tell you to go to hell. She’s not too fond of you.”
“Yeah, I did kind of piss her off when I emptied her bank account,” he said, chuckling.
“You know, you’ve got a real gambling problem, Warren. Perhaps you ought to quit gambling; you kind of suck at it. You ought to stick to electrical repair that you’re half decent at.”
“Gee, thanks for your advice and your ringing endorsement, but I think I’ll live the way I want to live. Keep moving. We’re almost there.”
“So, what’s your plan here? You gonna shoot me?”
“That’d make that sexy wife of yours pretty upset, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, it would. She’d probably come after you. She knows where you are too, you know?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to be here much longer.”
“Listen, Warren; how about I just get back in my car and leave. Keep the damn hard drive.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so. You tracked me down here and came all this way. What’s to stop you from trying again? I don’t want to have to start worrying about you turning up somewhere. Just keep moving.”
We’d reached the two-track and turned to go up it. “So, where’s your brother, Dennis?” I asked him.
“I think he’s at some damn hillbilly bluegrass thing this evening. Bunch of hicks down here, you know. Eat that shit up.”
“So, it’s just us, huh?”
“Looks like it. Why don’t you walk up there beyond the house and past that shed and stop for a second while I duck in there for a moment?” He kept the gun trained on me, but pulled the door of the shed open with one hand, reached just inside the door, and removed a round-point shovel.
“Alright, get moving again. Just follow that path into the field back there. I’m right behind you.”
“So, you’re going to shoot me, dig a hole, then bury me. Is that it?”
“Mm, not quite. You’re gonna dig the hole.”
(3 more chapters to go)
 Recognized |
CHARACTERS
Alan Phelps: The narrator of the story. He is a 28-year-old high school physics and natural science teacher in Grantham, Indiana in 1985.
Archie: David's orange tabby cat
Tommy Boardman: Alan's 12-year-old next door neighbor. He is dyslexic like Alan.
Ginnie Boardman: Tommy's mother. She is 30 years old and is an ICU nurse.
Artie Intintoli: Tommy's friend who also lives on Loser St.
Ida Beeman: Alan's first customer. She is a nice old lady who lives on Loser Street.
Leroy Beeman: Miss Ida's grandson and Tommy's friend.
Mrs. Dunbar: Tommy's 7th grade English teacher.
Callie Lyons: A nice girl in Tommy's class at school.
Trent Lyons: Callie's father, who is a lawyer.
Warren Meyers: Alan's assistant in the repair shop.
Abby St. Claire: Callie's cousin who is a math major with an engineering minor at Penn State University.
Harold Carmody: A patent and infringement attorney.
Wilson Fraleigh: The owner and president of the company that bought the patent from Warren.
Samuel Dvorak: Warren's former employer.
Elizabeth Meyers: Warren's mother.
Dennis Meyers: Warren's brother.
Andrew Olafsen: Alan's new assistant at the store.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Alan Phelps: The narrator of the story. He is a 28-year-old high school physics and natural science teacher in Grantham, Indiana in 1985.
Archie: David's orange tabby cat
Tommy Boardman: Alan's 12-year-old next door neighbor. He is dyslexic like Alan.
Ginnie Boardman: Tommy's mother. She is 30 years old and is an ICU nurse.
Artie Intintoli: Tommy's friend who also lives on Loser St.
Ida Beeman: Alan's first customer. She is a nice old lady who lives on Loser Street.
Leroy Beeman: Miss Ida's grandson and Tommy's friend.
Mrs. Dunbar: Tommy's 7th grade English teacher.
Callie Lyons: A nice girl in Tommy's class at school.
Trent Lyons: Callie's father, who is a lawyer.
Warren Meyers: Alan's assistant in the repair shop.
Abby St. Claire: Callie's cousin who is a math major with an engineering minor at Penn State University.
Harold Carmody: A patent and infringement attorney.
Wilson Fraleigh: The owner and president of the company that bought the patent from Warren.
Samuel Dvorak: Warren's former employer.
Elizabeth Meyers: Warren's mother.
Dennis Meyers: Warren's brother.
Andrew Olafsen: Alan's new assistant at the store.
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