CAR CHASE part one

I had just gotten to my home in the old east side of town. In the winter, I'm never home in time to see the setting sun. But today, I basked in the gray-orange glow that played off my house and the branches of dead looking trees. The air was warm, and I drifted to spring in my mind. It was full of color and I could feel the dirt in my hands as I planted the. . . BEEP!

The phone rang. It was my boss, I need to take the film he had just finished shooting to the lab for processing. "They're on the way to the office. And could you send out that e-mail to our Las Vegas client?" he said.
"I'm not at the office. I'm at home."
"Well, you've got to go back!" He called out.
"Are they still on location?"
"Yeah, they might be. Call Dumbo."

Dumbo isn't his real name, but it's the name I gave him after a list of offensives (CLICK ON Fig. 231). A series of events make up the cake, and I was about to experience the bitter icing.

I called Dumbo. I could hear him loading the equipment as he talked via his bluetooth.

"I'll be there in six minutes." I said.
"Hurry man, I can't wait. I gotta go."
"But you're still there right?"
"Yeah," He emphasized each word. "But - I - Got - To - Go"
"I live down the street. Just wait. I've got to get the film and the mag."
"Can you take this stuff back to the office then?" He asked in a bright voice.
"No I can't. I got to do my own stuff. Besides I'd have to get my van."
"Huh. Thanks a lot." He said sarcastically.
I thought, 'You idiot, you're getting paid to do that. It's your job.' Out loud I said "I'll be there soon."
"Hurry man I got to go."He insisted.
I said. "I know. You've got to go."

I drove down the streets. I came to the light before my turn to the location, when my phone rang.
"Hello."
"Hey man where are you?" Dumbo asked.
"I'm less then 30 sec away."
"Hey I can't wait, I got to go."
"Just wait there. I'm turning the corner now."
The light had turned green I was approaching the turn.
"I already left."
"Well, turn around right now!" I insisted.
"I've got to get to the bank and cash this check."
I turned on to the street.
"What street are you on?"
"I'm on Main"
I was on Main.
"No" he said "I just turned on Elm."
I looked down the street and I did indeed see his car turning on Elm.
"Come back now! Do not leave."
"Hey! I can't. Just follow me to the bank. It's down the street."
"!@$#%@%" I thought.
He continued. "My girlfriend's in the hospital."
I have a soft spot in my heart for hospitals, as I'm sure everyone does. Last year my mom had a bicycle wreck outside my home and I found her as I went out for a walk. She was lying on the street, her hip broken. A friend of my wifes' daughter had just died of cancer, and my own son had just broken his leg. Add in my fear of needles and nearly passing out in the emergency from a kidney stone when I was 19... well, like I said, everyone has stories of hospitals.
So, I fell for it.



NEXT: Read how our hero deals out justice as the Car Chase continues.

CAR CHASE part two

I drove to the other side of downtown to meet him where he told me the bank was. I was pissed, and the 5 o'clock traffic gummed up every street. My hands ached from gripping the steering wheel in anger. I neared where he said it was.

"Hey I'm at the corner where's the bank?"
"Oh uh it's actually down the street at Hines and Coit right where you get on the Tollway."
"Great I'm like five blocks from there. Don't leave I'll be there."

This is #$!%$ing ridiculous. I'm out chasing this guy like he's driving a white bronco.

I turn the corner. I'm at the light where Hines curves to head to the bank. I can't actually see the bank yet. but it's there. The phone rings.

"Hey man, where are you?" It's him, Dumbo, and I know where this is going.
"DO NOT LEAVE!" I yell. "I'm right here in less then a minute I will be in the parking lot. As soon as this light changes."
"I can't wait man." (He really talks like this too. Full of nice ez going phrases that are totally betrayed by his evil heart and tense voice)
"Do not leave that parking lot." I say as the light changes. "30 seconds."

"What?" falls out of his mouth and into my cell phone.

I hold the phone out and speak angrily into it like a microphone. From the car next to me it must look like I a cop calling in back up.

"I am 30 seconds away from the pulling into the !@@@$ing Bank. Stay right..."
"I'm gone."
"Turn around now!"
"I'm on the toll road."

I'm speechless. I use the bank parking lot to u-turn.

He continues. "My girlfriends in the hospital. I've got to get this check signed so I have to go to the office first. I have to go."
I rub some of the venomous hate off my face and calmly and authoritatively say. "Turn around right now and bring me the film. I need the film and it will only take a few minutes."
"No I can't. I can't wait."
That's it. I loose it.
"I'm calling the boss right now and I will make sure that you never work for us again. Drop off that stuff and get your check signed and frame it because that's the last one from us you'll ever get."
I hang up and call my boss.

"Boss that idiot, Dumbo, wouldn't give me the film. I want you to fire him right now!" I went on to explain in explosive detail the car chase and how he lost the keys and how he lied about knowing how to dub tape." My boss interrupted me.
"Its Dumbo calling me right now." He said.
"Well figure it out with him. I'm going home."
2 minutes later my phone rings. I answer and hang up before Dumbo can say anything.
Dumbo calls again. I decide I better answer. He can bing the film to my house.

"Hello Dumbo"
"I'm at lovers and the tollway. How long will it take you? I'm only going to wait 5 minutes."
"You're an idiot if you have anything to say to me have the boss call and tell me." I hang up.
I call the boss.

"What the hell is going on with Dumbo?"I say.
"Yeah he said he pulled over he's waiting for you."
"He's like 20minutes from me I'm almost home."
"He'll wait."
"Dumbo said the exact opposite. He said he'd wait 5 minutes or he's leaving. That's nuts. I'm going home. I'll take the film tomorrow. I've already spent an hour chasing him I'm not going to do it again."

And I haven't. I went home. But my boss had to go let him into the office because it was locked and he had lied about loosing the key. Just recently he was hired again and wrecked the truck that we use when traveling.