“Lieutenant,
I need some time off.”
“How
much time off, Sergeant O’Reilly?”
“Ten
days, sir.”
“You
mean ten working days, two weeks altogether?”
“Yes,
sir.”
“When
do you want to start?
“As
soon as possible – today or tomorrow.”
“Well,
you have not taken much time off in the past. You always lose time every year
when you accumulate the maximum. What did the Captain tell you?”
“He
said he would leave it up to me, that if I needed time off to take it.”
“Did
that incident yesterday have anything to do with you wanting time off?
“Yes,sir”
“Okay,
you go on home for the rest of the day. I’ll write that up as comp time. Your
leave will start tomorrow. Relax. Take a trip if you want.”
“Thank
you, Lieutenant.”
On
the way home Willard went to Grady Olson’s for the mower. Next he stopped at
the hardware store. He bought several gallons of white exterior paint, some
turpentine, and several paint brushes of various sizes. At home he didn’t waste
time in getting into old clothes and shoes. He mowed the lawn, just giving it a
“lick and a promise”.
He
took the ladder and some tools out of the garage. Soon he was busily painting
one side of his house, beginning at the top. When he came to the tops of the
window frames he saw that the caulking was cracked and falling out.
He
went into the house, and found a beach towel. He spread that on the seat of his
car. Back at the hardware store he bought a putty knife, a wire brush, a
caulking gun and several tubes of caulking. On the way home, he drove through
the McDonald’s window, and ordered a Big Mac meal to go. He ate while he drove,
and was finished the meal, except for the drink, by the time that he reached
home.
He
climbed up the ladder and started on the first window, removing the old
caulking and then applying a bead of caulking all around the window frame. He
decided to do all the windows before continuing painting. He resealed the
paint, cleaned the brush, and put the paint and brushes in the garage. He went
around the house, caulking the window and door frames. It was dark by the time
he finished the last one. He felt really good about it. He realized how dirty
he was and how hungry he was.
After
taking a shower and shampooing his hair, he went downstairs to see what there
was to eat. He sure missed Dolores. She would have had a meal waiting for him. He
warmed a can of beef stew, put some cole slaw in a dish, put some applesauce in
another dish, took out a slice of bread, and boiled some water for a cup of
instant coffee.
He
sat at the table eating his lonely supper. Later, while watching the evening
news on television, he fell asleep in his chair. In the middle of the night he
woke up, stumbled up the steps and fell into the bed.
The
next morning, Willard eagerly rolled out of bed, washed, shaved, made the bed,
and put on his paint clothes. After breakfast, he washed the dishes from supper
and breakfast. He went out to the garage eager to get started on painting again.
He finished the first side of the house by lunch time and had completed the
back of the house by supper time. He felt very good.
Thursday,
while painting the other side of the house, he ran out of paint. He went back
to the hardware store, and bought several more gallons of white exterior paint.
The floor of the front porch had once
been painted. Most of the paint had worn or peeled off. He bought a gallon of
dark blue deck and floor enamel. Then he decided that when he was finished
painting everything white that he would paint the window frames and the door
frames dark blue. He bought a gallon of exterior gloss enamel in dark blue. Dark
blue, he decided, was appropriate for a policeman’s house.
After
a quick lunch, he started painting again. He finished the side, and started on
the front before it was too dark to work.
Friday,
he finished the front of the house and the front porch and then painted the
porch floor with dark blue deck and floor enamel. He had part of a roll of
yellow crime scene tape and he used that to block access to the front porch.
The
tape reminded him that he had not seen anyone from the department since he went
on leave. Well, he really didn’t care. However, he wanted to know how Corporal
Butcher was doing. He went inside, got out of his paint clothes, cleaned up,
and put on his good clothes. He went to the hospital and asked for Corporal
Butcher’s room.
The
corporal was in bed. His leg was in a cast and in traction.
“Corporal,
how are you doing?”
“Good
evening, Sergeant. I’m pretty good for the shape that I’m in.”
“Corporal,
I’ve gone over it in my mind. I don’t know what we could have done differently.
As my partner pointed out to me, we couldn’t be sure that they could understand
English. I told him to turn off his engine but he ignored me. Until he roared backwards
into my patrol car, then pulled out into traffic, and hit you in the process, I
couldn’t be sure that he wasn’t an innocent farmer up here on business.”
“Don’t
blame yourself, Sergeant. We both knew what we were signing on for when we
became cops. Depending on what the doctor says after this cast comes off, I may
not be a cop much longer.”
Willard’s
heart sunk and emotion rose up to his throat.
“Why did it have to happen
to a young man like this? Why not an old
tread like myself?”
“Are
you married?”
“I
was married; I guess I still am technically. A couple weeks ago, my wife told me that she
was leaving, and was going to file for divorce. She said that my job kept me away from the
home too much. My hours and work schedules are always changing. She said that she wasn’t going to put up with
it any more. She went back home to her
parents in Forrest City.”
“That
is a cruel coincidence. My wife left me a couple weeks ago. I heard from her
Sunday night. She’s in Chicago.”
“Cruel
coincidence is right. Thank you for coming to see me, Sergeant. I haven’t had
any visitors except a couple other State Police troopers and officers.”
“Good
luck, Corporal.”
On
Saturday, Willard painted the garage with a fresh coat of white paint, and he
had time to put a second coat on the porch floor.
On
Sunday, he went to North Little Rock and took the Sunday brunch cruise on the riverboat. From there he went
to the Old State House and walked through the exhibits there. From the Old
State House he walked down to the River Walk, and went into the first place
where he heard loud music. He ate a leisurely meal, wished that he could have a
beer with it, but he had a long drive home. He settled for an espresso coffee.
On
Monday, he painted all the window and door frames dark blue. When he was
finished the house really looked nice. He sure wished Dolores could see it. Tomorrow
he was going to take pictures of it. If Dolores gave him an address the next
time that she called, he would send the pictures to her.
Tuesday
morning when he woke up, he thought,
“I still have eight days leave. The
Lieutenant mentioned taking a trip. I think that I’ll go to Baltimore, rent a
car, go to the places where Dolores and I used to go. I can go by her old house
and take pictures of it, and go by our high school, and take pictures of it.”
If
Dolores were still here, she would know how to go on the computer and make
reservations. He decided to call Beverly.
“Beverly,
this is Willard.”
“Willard,
I don’t know how you found me at home at this hour. Normally, I would be at
work at this time. Today I just decided to take the day off.”
“Beverly,
I wanted to ask you to do something for me.”
“What
is that?”
“My
nerves have been bad. I was in two situations at work and then with Dolores
leaving, I’ve been strung out. The Captain suggested that I take some time off
work. For the first week I painted the outside of the house. I still have a
week left. I decided that I want to go back to Baltimore, drive around and see
some my old haunts.
“Would
you make me a plane reservation from Little Rock to Baltimore leaving on this
Thursday and returning the following Tuesday; a motel reservation for Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights, and a cheap economy car from my
arrival time until my departure. I’ll give you my credit card number so that
you can make the reservations for me.”
“That’s a mighty tall order, Willard, but I’ll
do my best. You be at the phone at 6:00 PM tonight and I’ll call you. Now give
me the credit card numbers, the expiration date, the security code on the back,
the name on the card, and the address where your credit card bill comes.”
Willard
gave her the information.
“Okay,
you had better start packing. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
Willard
went upstairs. On the bed he began to make six piles of clothes- Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday - six sets of underwear, six
pairs of socks, six handkerchiefs, and six shirts. He would only take two other
pairs of trousers besides the ones he was wearing the day of travel. He would
just take one other pair of shoes. He
could rotate them, wearing a pair on alternate days. He put the pile for
Tuesday aside.
He
looked in the closet and found the large suitcase with wheels and with two
shelves inside. He was pretty sure that he could fit the other five days
clothing in that suitcase and he did. He had to fold the shirts so that they
wouldn’t wrinkle too bad. He learned that in the Army.
He
went to the drugstore to buy some film for his camera.
“Are
you going to take some pictures of how nice your house is looking now,
Willard?”
“Yes.
Also I’m going to take a trip tomorrow – just to get away. I want film for that
trip.”
“How
long has it been since you changed the battery in your camera?”
“I
haven’t used it for a while. I didn’t know that it had a battery. I wouldn’t
know where it was or what kind it was.”
“Go
home and get your camera and bring it back here. I’ll change the battery for
you. Believe me, you’ll be glad I did. You don’t want to be on vacation and your
camera stop working after one or two pictures. That can happen.”
Willard
drove home and brought the camera back to the drug store. Dr. Harris opened the
camera, took out the old battery, and replaced it with a new one. Willard paid
for the film and the battery. On the way home he stopped at the Acropolis Café
and ordered a gyro to take out. That would be a treat and there wouldn’t be
dishes to wash. He would wait until Beverly called this evening before eating
it.
Promptly
at six o’clock Beverly called.
“Willard,
your plane leaves Little Rock Airport at 2:15PM. To be safe you should be at
the Airport by noon. You will have to go to the Southwest Airlines™ ticket
counter to pick up your ticket. You’ll have to show your credit card and your
driver’s license to pick up your ticket. They should give you a boarding pass
with your ticket. Then you’ll have to check your bags. Find out what gate your
plane is leaving from. Then you’ll have to go through Security. That is what
takes a long time any more.
“Your
rental car is from Enterprise™. Give them your name and show them your driver’s
license and credit card. Ask them directions from the Baltimore – Washington
International Airport to Hampton Inn™ on Redwood Street. It is a block from the
Inner Harbor. The room I reserved for you is only $90/night, BUT there is only
Valet Parking which costs $29/night. Have a good trip and take a picture of the
house we were living in when we graduated from high school.”
“Thank
you, Beverly. Thank you so much. I love you, Sis.”
“I
love you too, Big Brother.”
The
next morning at 10 AM Willard left for Little Rock Airport.
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