"oh, no, sidney. why did he do this."
"he said he's was looking for you, that you might have
something that belongs to him. he was so scary carlee, his eyes were
wide and he just looked crazy. i told him that i hadn't seen you in a
week and he called me a liar, hit me right here." he pointed to
the back of his neck. it was bruised.
"my god, sidney, i'm so sorry, i feel like it was my fault."
"no carlee, no, it wasn't, i knew you would feel that way,
that's why i didn't want to tell you."
i hugged him even tighter. "how long ago did this happen?"
"a couple of minutes i guess, not very long ago." i
looked around, but didn't see him. sidney got to his feet and grabbed
my hand, we walked around the grounds, looking.
"how did he break your watch sidney?"
"something hit my wrist, something in his pocket maybe."
"where's your dad?"
"with the hippos i think."
"do you know where i can make a phone call?"
"my dad has a cell phone, that's his jeep, over there" i
didn't know the number of the police station, so i dialed 911.
"emergency." a man quickly said.
"can you give me the number of the police station?"
"what!!" he shouted.
"i need to get in touch with the police."
"then you need to call information lady, don't you know it's
against the law to dial this number for something other than
emergencies?"
"this is an emergency, a killer just hit my friend and is
somewhere at the zoo."
"do you want me to dispatch the police?"
"i don't know, i need to talk with a policeman first."
"oh, alright, i'll connect you." he was pretty civil
actually, and i appreciated that.
"district four, seargeant riley speaking, how may i help you."
"seargeant, i need to contact officer lissell stacey, do you
know if she's on duty, or how i can contact her, it's very important."
"i know stacey, and let me check. no, she's not working today,
her home number is unlisted."
"i have to reach her, it's very important."
"is it police business?"
"yes, it is." i said.
"we can send someone else."
"no, it has to be officer stacy."
"what is your name miss?"
"carlee mccord."
"ok, hang on, i'll see what i can do."
"who's officer stacey?" sidney asked.
"a friend of mine sidney, she's a policewoman and knows leroy."
"carlee?"
"oh lissell, thank goodness, i'm at the zoo, leroy just
assaulted a friend, told him that i have something of his."
"i'll be right there, you all go to the concession area. eat
something, i won't be long."
sidney and i did just what she said. i bought each of us a tub of
popcorn and a coke. we sat on a bench and waited.
as we munched sidney asked, "what does officer stacey look
like carlee?"
"she has long red hair and is very pretty."
"will she be wearing a uniform?"
"no baby, this is not a working day for her."
"will she be packing a gun?"
"maybe, i'm not sure honey. you know sidney, a man told me
this morning that i didn't know very much about the real world and
it's discomforts, and it kind of insulted me, but he was probably
right, and i really don't care. i wouldn't have had anything like this
happen to you for the world." he looked at me, with eyes so very
much older, he rubbed my arm and put his hand in mine.
he smiled and said, "don't worry carlee, it's going to be ok.
there's officer stacey." it was, i suppose sidney recognized her
by my description.
"carlee." lissell hugged me.
"lissell, this is my friend sidney." she shook his hand.
"any friend of carlee's." she said. sidney smiled.
"carlee said you were pretty and had long red hair."
"carlee, have you told anyone else about this event?"
"no, just you lissell."
"what about seargeant riley, or the dispatcher at 911?" i
had to think.
"no, nothing about sidney or leroy."
"good, now why did you tell riley that you needed me?"
"i just said it was important that i contacted you, and he
asked if it were police business and i said yes."
"but you didn't mention leroy?"
"no, names never came up."
"it's important carlee."
"no names lissell, i'm certain."
sidney explained all the details to lissell. he was quite thorough,
showed her his watch.
"i'll replace that sidney, i know a guy downtown who will
replace that crystall in a jiffy, and check out the rest of the watch."
"gee, i didn't know the police department did stuff like that."
"only for carlee's friends." she replied. we all smiled. "now,
let's go to the crime scene, we have to secure the area."
we led lissell to the place that leroy hit sidney.
"now let's all look around very carefully, look for anything
that leroy may have dropped, or fell off of him when he hit you."
we looked, but we couldn't find anything.
"would you block off this area with yellow police tape if you
were working lissell?" sidney asked.
"sure would sidney."
"do you have a gun?" lissell gently raised her tee shirt,
the handle of a smith and wesson revolver was revealed. sidney's eyes
lit up. "golly."
we walked all around the grounds, no leroy. lissell took me aside.
"i hate this carlee, your little friend is so nice, if i see
that bastard i will shoot him, and i promise you that."
"should we introduce the evidence we have now?" i asked.
"no babe, we can't yet, sidney will have to file a complaint
first, then if we're lucky, they might issue a search warrent. if they
do that, then we can. but not until. frankly, we would do as well to
kill the son-of-a-bitch ourselves."
"what are the chances that they'll issue a warrent even if
sidney does file a complaint?"
"a little better than slim to none." she exclaimed. "of
course, you could reopen the case carlee, you could contact the
bowling green police and tell them what has happened here." that
was a thought. i could do that, but right now killing him ourselves
appealed to me.
"come on guys, let's drive to leroy's house, maybe we'll beat
him there."
sidney whispered in my ear, "i'll have to ok it with dad."
"go then sidney." i replied.
"he's cute carlee, and seems very nice."
"he really is lissel, and i hate it that he got involved in
this mess."
"carlee, you do believe now that leroy is evil, i mean that he
killed those two in bowling green and probably grey."
"yes, i do believe that lissell, i hate it that it will take
time to arrest him, especially after today."
"i know babe, the laws delay."
sidney came running back, he was so excited. "i can go guys, i
can go!!"
"alright!" lissell said. we walked to her car, it was a
standard black and white with a blue light on top and louisville p.d.
written on the side. sidney was elated.
"a real cop car! does everything work?"
"it's checked out thoroughly every other week. wouldn't do if
it wasn't working properly."
we proceeded to st. james court. no sign of leroy along the way.
lissell parked in a shady spot near the park, about a half a block
from leroy's house. we waited. sidney was more interested in the
buttons and knobs on her dash panel than he was leroy.
"look, up ahead." lissell said. leroy was running down
the street, his black overcoat swaying in the wind. he was huffin and
puffin, getting it. "son-of-a-bitch, let's get him!" she
said.
"wait lissell, not yet, let's do things right, let's file the
complaint first."
"of course you're right carlee. i quit thinking for a moment.
she drove downtown, to police headquarters. the three of us got out
and walked inside; the building was scary to me, but sidney didn't
seem to be afraid. lissell talked with an officer at the front desk,
then motioned for us.
"miss mccord." the officer nodded.
"i'm riley." he was very pleasant, just like on the
phone. "you have police business little buddy?" he asked
sidney. sidney looked up at me with big blue eyes.
"tell him that you do sidney."
"yes sir."
"then step in and follow me." sidney looked up at me
again.
"just tell them what leroy did to you baby, it's all right.
we'll get your watch fixed after we're through here." i smiled at
him.
"will they arrest leroy lissell?"
"probably, with his police record they most likely will. he
assaulted sidney and that's what they'll charge him with. that's not a
felony with no furthur intent, but leroy's smart enough not to use a
public defender in this case."
"why?" i asked.
"frankly because they're tired of leroy and people like him,
he knows that. this is the first violent charge against him, and he
will hire an attorney. we have to get your evidence to the proper
people while he's in custody. we can't wait."
"gosh lissell, maybe we should take the stuff back to his
place."
"would you go through that again babe?"
"yes, if it would help." she smiled.
"you're very brave carlee, but i don't think that will be
necessary. there's a dectective, very high up, that i'm going to
contact, we'll know how to proceed after we talk. this is less than a
shot in the dark babe, we were pissing in the wind until you recovered
the evidence, we could do nothing without it, now, it's possible to
put that bastard where belongs. i'll ask for a search warrent."
"officer stacey," seargeant riley called. lissell ran
over to talk with him. then she picked up the phone.
"miss mccord," an officer said as he walked my way. "miss
mccord, did you witness the assault on sidney?"
"no sir, i arrived a few minutes afterwards."
"was the boy upset?"
"of course he was, he was crying, and he spilled his popcorn,
the crystal of his watch was broken."
"do you have something that belongs to mr. van cleeve?"
"no, i don't officer." i truthfully said.
"thank you miss, we're almost finished."
"hey charles."
"hey lissell, you look different today."
"listen carlee, i made that appointment, i'll have seargeant
riley drive you and sidney back to the zoo. please have his watch
fixed, go to bernsteins on broadway, ask for sam. i've already spoken
with him." she said. "i've got a lot of work to do for the
next two or three days. wish me luck." she smiled. i kissed her
on the cheek.
in a while, sidney came out, followed by seargeant riley. he look
fine. he ran to me and put his arms around me.
"you ok sidney?"
"i'm fine carlee."
riley explained that he was taking us back to my car. i thought of
how nice it was of lissell to arrange this, plus getting sidney's
watch repaired. seargeant riley was nice too, he was probably in his
forties, nice looking, and extremely helpful.
"gosh, your car has more stuff than lissell's." riley
smiled. he stopped beside my car which i pointed to, tipped his hat
and thanked us.
"we need to talk with your dad sidney."
"it's supper time for the hippos carlee, he's very busy now."
"i'll bet he is, hippos are verrrrry big."
"and they get verrrry hungry." he smiled. i started the
car, a giant puff of smoke.
"hey sidney, when i was a little girl, my dad read me a story,
every night, about 'puffin' billy,' billy was a train, and got into
some real messes, sort of like us."
"is that what you like about the puff of smoke carlee?"
"yeah, i wish we could ride on a train."
"me too." he scooted up right beside me. bernsteins was a
small shop at ninth and broadway. the store front was unimpressive, it
looked like a pawn shop. a bell rang as we walked in.
"yes," a very fat man answered.
"we're looking for sam."
"sam, oh sam!" he called. "hmmm, i must be sam."
he smiled.
"we were told that you might be able to fix this watch sam."
"yeah, lissell told me that you might want me to take a look
at the watch. bambi huh, not very expensive, hmmm."
"can you fix it mr. sam?" sidney asked.
"mr. schlemile" he corrected. "well, maybe, yes, i
may. can you take it off?" sidney obliged. mr. schlemile looked
it over carefully. "hmmm, your name is sidney, no?"
"my name is sidney, yes."
"well sidney, this is a very special watch, very special, some
magic in it you know."
"magic?"
"sure, bambi may grant you a wish."
"what should i do, i mean, how do i ask it?"
"like this. bambi, tell me where i might find a crystal that
would completely fit this watch." mr. schlemile held the watch up
to his ear. "alright." he said. sidney was fastinated. mr.
schlemile walked to the back of the store. he returned shortly with
the watch, as good as new. "thanks to magic sidney." sidney
gleamed.
"what do i touch to ask it to grant my wish mr. schlemile?"
"his tail sidney. just touch it and ask your wish."
sidney looked seriously as he took the watch. he was so intense, and
so cute.
"bambi, i have just one wish, for carlee to marry my dad and
live with us, i've asked god, and he didn't do anything, please bambi,
please help me." i almost cried, so did sam schlemile. i bent
down and held sidney tightly.
"oh sidney, what a nice wish."
"it's all i ever wanted carlee. dad's nice, and he likes you a
lot."
"i know baby, i know he's nice, and i love you very much
sidney." and i didn't know what else to say.
"and i hope his wish comes true" mr. schlemile said.
"what do we owe you sam?"
he smiled. "you've paid miss. anytime anyone makes an
afternoon for me, then payment is paid in full. plus, i hope you all
will be very happy." he said.
"you're a very nice guy sam"
"nope, just a sentimental old fool, now go, i have things to
do."
"he was nice carlee." sidney stated.
"yes, he was, let me see your watch. wow, just like new."
"would you like to make a wish on it?"
"would love to sidney, but not right now. we have to make a
stop." i headed toward andy's store. andy was sitting out front
with a friend. must be a slow day. the little girl beside him was
beautiful, it had to be nikki, andy couldn't deny her being his
daughter.
"hey guys." i said as we got out.
"carlee, i'm so glad you stopped by, this is my daughter
nikki. say hi to carlee and..."
"sidney, my new boy friend." i answered. andy smiled.
nikki was older than sidney, a few years, she was blondish and very
cute. we sat down beside them and i lit a cigarette. the kids were
talking, sidney was shy.
"so what have you two been doing?" i asked.
"catching up mainly." andy said as he put his arm around
her.
"she's very pretty andy." he smiled.
"you have to come over carlee."
"i will, are we zillionaires yet?"
"no, but the day isn't over, the race is at 3:00."
"carlee, will you buy nikki and me a coke?"
"sure sidney, let me get my purse."
"no carlee, i'll get them." andy said, and walked into
the store. the kids looked perfect together, nikki was a head taller
than sidney, but they made a handsome couple. when andy returned, i
told him about leroy and the police.
"he has to be stopped carlee, you did the right thing."
"i was so scared andy, what if sidney really got hurt, i'd
never forgive myself."
"you should do what your friend suggested and call the police
in bowling green."
"lissell said to wait until she finished talking with her
detective friend, that he would map out the plan."
"is leroy in jail?" he asked.
"i don't know andy, i just don't know."
it looked like sidney and nikki were enjoying each others company.
a lot of smiles, and some giggles. "they play nice together."
i smiled and said, "so do we babe." andy said as he laid
his hand on my knee. "come over tonight andy, the house is empty,
everyone's gone."
"i'd love to baby, and maybe i can, i'm not sure." i
talked to nikki for a while. she was very nice, extremely ladylike,
she seemed to like me. i announced that we had to go, terry would be
worrying.
"oh please don't go carlee, i'm just getting to know you."
nikki said. she hugged me. i smiled.
"i'm sorry baby, i'll come and see you, tomorrow maybe."
"i'd love that." she was so polite.
andy said, "i have a friend who will be listening to the race,
i'll let you know."
# "great, cross your fingers."
i really needed to see pork pie, there was a lot of unfinished
business about the pictures. i knew that i needed to get sidney back
to the zoo though. "what did you think of nikki, sidney?"
"she's very nice carlee, kind of sexy, but not like you."
i smiled,
"so i'm now a sex queen." i replied.
"oh, absolutely." that's a popular word in our vocabulary
today, i don't like it very much. when we arrived at the gate, i
stopped and talked with the guy at the ticket office.
"muthafuckers run you off madam, they smell too bad?"
"no, not that, just had to leave suddenly." he was black,
had rings on every finger, both ear lobes were pierced and bizarre
things hung from them, i'm certain that his dick was pierced too. i
started to ask him, but thought better about it. "may we come
back in?"
"suit yourself lady."
"do you know leroy van cleeve?" i took a chance and
asked.
"the king of cool, sho i know him, everyone knows leroy."
hmmm, this was interesting.
"may i ask your name?"
"me, i'm dewalt johnston, they call me 'second-to-none' at the
downtowners." i didn't pursue this any further, terry was walking
down the hill.
"sidney!" he shouted.
"i'm ok dad, went with carlee." he wasn't happy looking.
"get out of there sidney, i've been frantic."
"i'm sorry terry, it's my fault, i wanted to find you before
we left, but sidney said that you were very busy."
"umpa said someone hurt him." i was startled. "umpa's
a clown carlee, he works with the monkeys."
"oh, ok." i said. we told terry about the incident, and
about the complaint that sidney filed.
"i should have been notified." terry said. i knew he was
right.
"i'm very sorry terry, really i am, but i was so upset."
terry grabbed sidney's hand and walked off. sidney looked back, tears
in his eyes.
"carlee!"
"it's alright baby, it'll be fine."
my ears burned. i was so embarassed, god, what was i thinking of.
"did that fool hit you madam? terry the turd."
"no dewalt, he didn't. he was just mad, that's all."
"he's an ass hole madam, and that little boy is so nice.
you're carlee aren't you?"
"yes, how did you know?"
"well, fo' one thing, the little one just called you that. fo'
another, i've heard the king mention you."
"leroy?" i asked.
"yeah, leroy." i hugged him. "dewalt, have you
ever known of leroy being violent?"
he wiped my tears. "now madam, i don't put nuthin' past leroy,
he's a man for all seasons. but don't worry your pretty little head,
second-to-none ain't gonna stand for nobody hurting you." i
smiled and thanked dewalt.
i drove back home, i was exhausted. i lay down on the bed; dewalt
liked me, lissell and i might even need him, i thought. i dozed, the
phone woke me at seven pm. "carlee. we have problems." it
was lissell. "can we come over right away?"
"we?"
"detective zimmerman and myself."
"yes, of course." i answered. they arrived in less than
half an hour. detective zimmerman wasn't what i expected. he wasn't a
day over thirty, heavy set, dressed in a blue serge suit and a bright
red tie. we got right down to business.
"carlee, your covert invistigation was fine," he said. "the
material you retrieved was exactly what we needed to put mr. van
cleeve behind bars for a very long time." i smiled at lissell.
we'd done good. "frankly, without it, he would be a free man."
"you have him locked up?" i asked.
"yes, for the moment, and i have men all over the country
following leads you all provided us. there is one problem though."
"yes?" i asked.
"the material you present us is not legal material, the law's
funny carlee, in fact, it will be considered inadmissable in court and
a mistrial will ensue, unless...." i looked at lissel.
"unless what?"
"mr. zimmerman wants us to return the evidence to leroy's
apartment carlee."
"oh shit!" i said.
"i'm sorry carlee, it's the only way. we can look through his
apartment in a few hours, we have a bench warrent, but our guys must
find the evidence or leroy goes free. do you understand?"
"no, i don't." i was frantic.
"look lissell, i just can't involve myself in this any longer.
you and carlee work it out, and call me when it's done."
"thanks harry, and i will, one way or another." lissell
said, as detective zimmerman left. lissell hugged me tightly. "oh
baby, do you understand all this?"
it felt nice in her arms. "i don't like it, but yes i do
lissell." she kissed me. "the dynamic duo must strike again,
but i'm not feeling very dynamic."
"he's scum carlee, dangerous scum, if we hadn't have gotten
the evidence, he would be free to kill again, if we don't get it back,
he'll still be free."
"alright, i understand, really i do. what do you want me to do
lissell?"
"first i want you to undress carlee."
i thought that lissell wanted to make wild, passionate love with
me, but what she really wanted was for me to put black clothing on
again. fifteen minutes later, i was beside her in the car, holding the
evidence that i had taken from leroy's apartment on that dreadful
night a few days ago. "this time it's earlier carlee, we have to
be even more careful."
"couldn't we wait until later?" i asked.
"i'm sorry love, they'll want to exercise the warrant before
ten tonight." st. james court was lit up like a fucking christmas
tree.
"what in the hell is this, open house in queersville?" i
asked.
"now, don't worry about the fruitcakes, just do like you did
before carlee, you'll do fine." lissell discreetly parked her car
about a block from leroy's. i had the stuff i had taken from leroy in
a brown paper bag. when we reached his house, lissell motioned me
around to the side, and i slipped down the yard and found his window
easily this time.
"good evening officer stacey." i heard.
"evening pete." i heard her say.
"what kind of business do you have down here tonight?"
"just looking around mae."
"making it safe for all us sexually challenged muthafuckers."
"now, that's enough out of you razzy!" i heard her shout.
"enough out of you bitch!" he shouted. "goddamnit
we're tired of you all fuckin' around here, it ain't none of your
business what goes on here!" oh, lissell was in trouble, i could
tell. but where did that leave me.........
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