out of our lives forever, I quickly walked over to the Element, unplugged the extension cord, picked up the dirty towel, wrapped the cord around it, threw it into the back along with the traffic cone, pushed the lumber back into place, slammed the rear door and hatch, closed the hood, and was ready to drive awa y 28 seconds after I had turned away from Lily.
Just then there was a tap on the passenger-side window. A Mister-Rogers-looking man, just closing the door on his 1970s era Monte Carlo made a rolling-down motion ( old school ), so I did, feeling my heart and respiration rate pick up a bit.
“ Everything work out?” he asked.
It took me a second to parse out his meaning .
“With your car … you looked to be having some car troubles, everything work out?”
I smiled, nodded, turned the key, and when it ( thankfully ) started, said, “Yup, everything worked out pretty well … thanks!”
We nodded at each other and I drove off.
Gas ‘n’ Go, Star Lake, 1/22/2013, 2:47 p.m.
I drove just under the speed limit all the way to Watertown, got off of Route 81 long enough to find a Walmart dumpster that I loaded with all of the leftovers of the stuff that I’d bought in the last few days. That done, I went inside to use their bathroom and load up on a bit of road food in the form of protein and caffeine ( beef jerky and coke, not feeling the need for fats or carbs after my donut-tastic breakfast ), and then got back on the road heading North and eventually West, back into the Park … back into the woods … back home.
I stopped at the Gas ‘n’ Go in Star Lake, certain from past experience that I would be able to get cell service when parked at the pump, gassing up. I dialed the number of Mickey’s burner phone.
“Tyler! I’ve been going nuts all day! Tell me you’re OK!” He shouted into the phone, not even noticing that I was calling from a different number.
“Easy Mickey, you’ll run out of exclamation points.” I said, “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to get home before calling you ( a slight exaggeration that he wouldn’t understand, but that I felt I could be excused for ). You’re off the hook with Lily and Shane, it’s as if the video never existed. Nobody got hurt ( not 100% true, but he didn’t need to know ). You can head home whenever you want. What you tell Anne and the girls is entirely up to you … if you asked me, I’d advise you to say that you were mugged, which you essentially were.” I stopped talking to let him in, knowing that by now he’d be waiting.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking during my imprisonment at the Airport Radisson, and I have decided to go with what I call the ‘Mugging-Plus’ explanation. The girls will hear that I was mugged, and beaten, and woke up in the hospital. Anne will get the full story.” I cringed as he finished.
“Mickey … the full story could involve some significant trouble for me, and maybe even for you if absolutely everything came out. Don’t get me wrong, you do whatever you think/feel is right, but it may bring some substantial headaches for you and Anne … and me.” I was surprised to find that I wasn’t lying when I told Mickey to do what he thought was best.
“That’s sweet of you Ty, but by the full story, I meant that Anne gets to hear about my screw-up and Lily, not what you may, or may not, have done to get me out of trouble. My plan in that department is to tell her nothing about the proposed extortion, just leave it at drugged infidelity and a mugging.”
“I still think it’s a lousy idea, but you’re a much better person than I am, so it must be the right thing to do.” I replied, to which he chuckled … as he always did when we talked about my not being exactly the same species as him.
“I assume that you will have some loose ends to tie up in Syracuse with the police and hospital and maybe some of your colleagues? If you tell me ahead of time, I
Just then there was a tap on the passenger-side window. A Mister-Rogers-looking man, just closing the door on his 1970s era Monte Carlo made a rolling-down motion ( old school ), so I did, feeling my heart and respiration rate pick up a bit.
“ Everything work out?” he asked.
It took me a second to parse out his meaning .
“With your car … you looked to be having some car troubles, everything work out?”
I smiled, nodded, turned the key, and when it ( thankfully ) started, said, “Yup, everything worked out pretty well … thanks!”
We nodded at each other and I drove off.
Gas ‘n’ Go, Star Lake, 1/22/2013, 2:47 p.m.
I drove just under the speed limit all the way to Watertown, got off of Route 81 long enough to find a Walmart dumpster that I loaded with all of the leftovers of the stuff that I’d bought in the last few days. That done, I went inside to use their bathroom and load up on a bit of road food in the form of protein and caffeine ( beef jerky and coke, not feeling the need for fats or carbs after my donut-tastic breakfast ), and then got back on the road heading North and eventually West, back into the Park … back into the woods … back home.
I stopped at the Gas ‘n’ Go in Star Lake, certain from past experience that I would be able to get cell service when parked at the pump, gassing up. I dialed the number of Mickey’s burner phone.
“Tyler! I’ve been going nuts all day! Tell me you’re OK!” He shouted into the phone, not even noticing that I was calling from a different number.
“Easy Mickey, you’ll run out of exclamation points.” I said, “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to get home before calling you ( a slight exaggeration that he wouldn’t understand, but that I felt I could be excused for ). You’re off the hook with Lily and Shane, it’s as if the video never existed. Nobody got hurt ( not 100% true, but he didn’t need to know ). You can head home whenever you want. What you tell Anne and the girls is entirely up to you … if you asked me, I’d advise you to say that you were mugged, which you essentially were.” I stopped talking to let him in, knowing that by now he’d be waiting.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking during my imprisonment at the Airport Radisson, and I have decided to go with what I call the ‘Mugging-Plus’ explanation. The girls will hear that I was mugged, and beaten, and woke up in the hospital. Anne will get the full story.” I cringed as he finished.
“Mickey … the full story could involve some significant trouble for me, and maybe even for you if absolutely everything came out. Don’t get me wrong, you do whatever you think/feel is right, but it may bring some substantial headaches for you and Anne … and me.” I was surprised to find that I wasn’t lying when I told Mickey to do what he thought was best.
“That’s sweet of you Ty, but by the full story, I meant that Anne gets to hear about my screw-up and Lily, not what you may, or may not, have done to get me out of trouble. My plan in that department is to tell her nothing about the proposed extortion, just leave it at drugged infidelity and a mugging.”
“I still think it’s a lousy idea, but you’re a much better person than I am, so it must be the right thing to do.” I replied, to which he chuckled … as he always did when we talked about my not being exactly the same species as him.
“I assume that you will have some loose ends to tie up in Syracuse with the police and hospital and maybe some of your colleagues? If you tell me ahead of time, I
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