the door and we waited, and sweated. Fifteen minutes later the vacuum cleaner shut off, and a minute later we heard the office door close. I peeked out. The office was dark again, the cleaning lady had gone. We stumbled out of the closet. The vacuum cleaner started up again in another office. We opened the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. Willey closed the window.
"What rotten luck," Willey said. I started down the ladder, Willey was right behind me. The ladder slowly swung down into the garbage, and I hopped off.
"Help," Willey said. "Get me down from here." I turned around just as the ladder was going back up with Willey's foot attached. Willey was hanging upside down by the time I wrested his foot free. I went down into the garbage on my back, with Willey on top of me.
"Get off," I said. I pushed him off and rolled onto my stomach as I slid down the pile of garbage. When I hit the bottom I laid there catching my breath. Suddenly I was blinded by a bright light. Damn ! I was trying to shield my eyes when I heard a voice behind the light say, "Portable seven to the station. Send the wagon to the alley behind Hilda's Hungarian Restaurant. Two drunks wrestling in the garbage and causing a ruckus."
From behind me I heard Willey say, "Oh shit." I should have known Willey's hair-brained idea would end badly. Willey was still thrashing around behind me. My mind was racing, trying to come up with a reason for being there. I looked up into the blinding light and said, "Excuse me, officer. I can explain . . . just then the booze and the fear caught up with me and I barfed all over the cop's shoes.
The cop said, "Sonofabitch." I decided not to say anything else.
Chapter Four
THE CELLBLOCK LOOKED like something out of an old Bogart movie. We were held overnight with three other drunks, and a large, bearded man who stared straight ahead and kept saying, "I'm gonna' kill Lucy." I didn't sleep all night. I was worried Mountain Man might change his rant to, "I'm gonna' kill those two stinky guys in the corner." We each had a metal bunk with an inch thick mattress. It was like trying to sleep on a sidewalk. My back would be out for a week. Willey snored like a champ all night long. I promised myself I'd strangle him when we got out of there--if we ever got out of there.
The next morning we were brought before a cranky old judge. He leaned over the bench and asked us, "If I put a hundred dollar fine on each of you could you pay it?"
Willey and I looked at each other. "I could pay it by the middle of next month," I said.
"That's what I thought. Get out of my courtroom and clean up your act. And don't come back," he warned, as Willey and I scurried out of the courtroom. I think he might have done more except we smelled so bad. I didn't talk to Willey all the way back to the park. I couldn't wait to get home so I could get out of those smelly clothes and get some sleep.
****
The next morning Willey woke up with a stiff neck. He knew it was caused by laying on that hard bunk in jail. He felt a little tired from last night's ordeal. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink, what with Barney snoring and all. He walked out to his carport and picked up the pile of smelly cloths he had dumped there the night before and walked over to Barney's shed to use the washer and dryer. Willey didn't have that luxury.
Willey thought about the night before. Too bad they hadn't found any damning evidence against Flaherty. And then getting caught! Willey knew it wasn't his fault his foot got stuck in the fire escape ladder. If Barney hadn't insisted they get
"What rotten luck," Willey said. I started down the ladder, Willey was right behind me. The ladder slowly swung down into the garbage, and I hopped off.
"Help," Willey said. "Get me down from here." I turned around just as the ladder was going back up with Willey's foot attached. Willey was hanging upside down by the time I wrested his foot free. I went down into the garbage on my back, with Willey on top of me.
"Get off," I said. I pushed him off and rolled onto my stomach as I slid down the pile of garbage. When I hit the bottom I laid there catching my breath. Suddenly I was blinded by a bright light. Damn ! I was trying to shield my eyes when I heard a voice behind the light say, "Portable seven to the station. Send the wagon to the alley behind Hilda's Hungarian Restaurant. Two drunks wrestling in the garbage and causing a ruckus."
From behind me I heard Willey say, "Oh shit." I should have known Willey's hair-brained idea would end badly. Willey was still thrashing around behind me. My mind was racing, trying to come up with a reason for being there. I looked up into the blinding light and said, "Excuse me, officer. I can explain . . . just then the booze and the fear caught up with me and I barfed all over the cop's shoes.
The cop said, "Sonofabitch." I decided not to say anything else.
Chapter Four
THE CELLBLOCK LOOKED like something out of an old Bogart movie. We were held overnight with three other drunks, and a large, bearded man who stared straight ahead and kept saying, "I'm gonna' kill Lucy." I didn't sleep all night. I was worried Mountain Man might change his rant to, "I'm gonna' kill those two stinky guys in the corner." We each had a metal bunk with an inch thick mattress. It was like trying to sleep on a sidewalk. My back would be out for a week. Willey snored like a champ all night long. I promised myself I'd strangle him when we got out of there--if we ever got out of there.
The next morning we were brought before a cranky old judge. He leaned over the bench and asked us, "If I put a hundred dollar fine on each of you could you pay it?"
Willey and I looked at each other. "I could pay it by the middle of next month," I said.
"That's what I thought. Get out of my courtroom and clean up your act. And don't come back," he warned, as Willey and I scurried out of the courtroom. I think he might have done more except we smelled so bad. I didn't talk to Willey all the way back to the park. I couldn't wait to get home so I could get out of those smelly clothes and get some sleep.
****
The next morning Willey woke up with a stiff neck. He knew it was caused by laying on that hard bunk in jail. He felt a little tired from last night's ordeal. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink, what with Barney snoring and all. He walked out to his carport and picked up the pile of smelly cloths he had dumped there the night before and walked over to Barney's shed to use the washer and dryer. Willey didn't have that luxury.
Willey thought about the night before. Too bad they hadn't found any damning evidence against Flaherty. And then getting caught! Willey knew it wasn't his fault his foot got stuck in the fire escape ladder. If Barney hadn't insisted they get
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