My pilgrimage journey led me down the Via Dolorosa and into the precincts of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I stopped for a moment at the Unction Stone, under its canopy of votive lamps and prayed, and then made my way to a bench near the sepulchre shrine. I watched as a Franciscan led a group of Catholic worshippers in their devotions. His ministry finished; an Orthodox priest followed suit. Divided by denomination, but united in faith we all focused on our Lord and His sacrifice. Jointly pilgrims, but better still – brethren.
Tammy mused, “It will all be clear tomorrow.” What was that supposed to mean? What especially frustrated her was the ambiguity of the statement. Harriot was like that, always speaking in cliches or half-truths. She was her best friend though and decided it would – well – have to wait till tomorrow.
What Tammy didn’t realise was, that if she knew what tomorrow’s revelation would hold, she wouldn’t want to have a thing to do with it.
About 9 AM, Harriot arrived outside of Tammy’s parent’s house and tooted the car’s horn. “Hurry up,” she shouted as Tammy made her way out the door with a half-eaten slice of toast clenched between her teeth.
As Tammy settled into her seat, Harriot said, “Glad you chose to join me.”
“Choose? You still haven’t told me what this is all about.”
“Soon,” Harriot said waiving a dismissive hand.
About ten minutes later they arrived outside a pawn shop. “Take this and put it on,” Harriot instructed as she handed Tammy a long red wig and a pair of sunglasses. She then donned a similar get-up and got out of the car. “Come on, Mildred” she said in a loud voice so that bystanders could hear the name.
Tammy followed her into the shop as Harriot bee-lined to the counter and drew a pistol. “Show me that ring display box,” she demanded. As the clerk slowly placed it on the counter she grabbed a rather tiny diamond solitaire from the box and handed it to Tammy. “Now Mildred, let’s go.”
The two backed out the door and jumped into the car and sped off.
“What the . . . ” Tammy began.
“I needed to get my engagement ring back,” Harriot said.
“But what was it doing there in the first place?”
“Donny hocked it to pay a poker debt,” Harriot explained, taking a hard left at the next intersection.
“Why didn’t you just buy it back?” Tammy said in a panicked tone.
“And where am I going to get 150 from?” Harriot said bitterly.
Tammy stuck a her hand into her purse and brought out four 50s. “Dah.”
“Oh um, Do you think they will overlook our Thelma and Louise thing?”
“Our? Your!” Tammy challenged. She hated it when Harriot spoke imprecisely.
Kieran was greeted by a cheery, “Isn’t it a wonderful morning?”
“I suppose so,” he muttered. “I’m Kieran Wilde. I’m here for a Nine O’Clock.”
“Please have a seat and fill in your details,” the receptionist chirped, handing him a clipboard.
This over-the-top positivity was starting to do his head in. This was the dentist’s office, surely it was against some code somewhere to be so bubbly with the drill only meters away.
A few moments passed and a gowned and masked figure appeared at the door. A voice reminiscent of a rusty hinge being forced open said, “Mr Wilde, you’re next.”
That’s more like it, Kieran thought to himself as he arose and approached his impending doom.
They just stood there, staring at each other. Neither Romeo or Juliet could get their heads around the fact that the other had faked their death. Now ten years on it was clear a simple break-up would have been easier.
The kids were having a great time at the playground until an escaped gorilla from the local zoo rushed into the park and up the climbing frame. A general panic ensued with parents and nannies frantically whisking away their charges. James Taylor was left alone in the sandbox, and with no one coming to his rescue, he ducked under the sliding board. The park was empty except for the aforementioned gorilla and little James, who was now trapped under the slide. He began desperately digging a hole with his sandbox spade through which he planned to make his escape. Unbeknownst to Jimmy the ape was at that very moment making its way up the ladder of the slide. The beast’s great weight caused the board to tip into the boy’s excavation dumping the gorilla into the hole with the slide dropping down on it. When the authorities arrived they discovered the trapped animal and the child still with his sand bucket and spade in hand. He was from that day onward known as Jungle Jim.
Money, clothes, food. Everything she needed for a quick getaway, or so she thought. It all started to fall apart when she reached for her phone.
Phone, where’s my damn phone, she mused in a panic.
She ran back upstairs and checked the bedside table. No phone. No charger, she observed to herself.
“Charger,” she said aloud and ran back down to her carry-all. She hurriedly unzipped it. There was the charger, but still no phone.
She rushed to the kitchen and checked the table. There was no phone there either. ”Where are you?” she nearly screamed in frustration. Think Evie, think. ”Bathroom,” she said under her breath.
She rushed to the bathroom and found it on the mat where it had fallen next to the toilet. She shoved it into her jeans pocket as she hurried back to her bag. She roughly tugged at the zip to close it only for the zipper to rip spilling some of the bag’s contents on the rug. She dropped down to her knees to stuff them back in the bag only to see a pair of familiar shoes in front of her face.
“Evie, what are you doing?” David asked.
“Um,” was all she could come up with, wishing she had some sort of Plan B.
Padre's Ramblings 