Frank's
evening is shot to hell when he finds out that Ralph Penwarren is
missing from his room and off wandering around, no doubt causing
trouble. Frank had told him to stay in his room, because he'd caused
so much trouble during the day. Getting all the spare staff members
he can find, Frank divides them into search parties. He's paired up
with a young orderly named Matthew.
"So,
who is this guy?" Matthew asked.
Frank
explained to him who Ralph Penwarren was.
"Oh,
him! Yeah, what a prick. Friend of mine was out for a smoke. The old,
fat guy's out there, right? Wouldn't give him a light. Like butane's
gold or something. Billy went most of his break without a smoke. Had
to hotbox it."
"Yet
another reason I gave up smoking," Frank replied. "Has he
completely alienated the entire staff?"
"Just
about. I've heard people bitching about him all day. I'm on a double,
Matt explained.
"I
wish I knew how he got out. I can't believe no one spotted him."
"Prolly
waited until the guard left and took off. I know you had a guy
outside, but a man's gotta piss sometime, dig?"
"Yeah.
He should have had someone relieve him first."
"Well,
if the fat guy was bribing other people, maybe he bribed the guard
too? I mean, it's possible, right?"
"That
had crossed my mind. I hate to think one of my people would do that."
"Dude,
we all have a price. I gotta admit, some guy offers me a hundred
bucks to look the other way so he can sneak out, I'd think about it."
"What
if he offered you another hundred to get him in his mother's room?"
"No,
man. I wouldn't want my kid going through my shit. Hell, I don't want
my mom going through my shit, dig?"
Frank
chuckled, nodding. "I dig. Me either, as it happens."
"You
worried about your porn stash?"
"I
got some interesting books when I was in India. I don't think she'd
appreciate them much."
"How
about your girlfriend?"
"Don't
have one of those at the moment."
"I
heard you were seeing the new shrink."
"I
took her to lunch."
"And
breakfast and she fixed you dinner. So, you tap that?" He held
out his knuckles for Frank to bump.
Frank
gave him an evil eye. "You in the habit of taking a woman to bed
that you just met?"
"No,
man...."
"Neither
am I."
"Sorry,
dude. That whole ADHD problem, makes me talk too fast for my brain to
keep up."
"I
have the same problem sometimes." Frank stopped walking at the
end of the hall, just before they started down the stairs. "If I
were a mean spirited, antisocial sociopath, where would I
go for fun?" He looked left and right, shrugging exaggeratedly.
"Oh, I dunno," he said in a high, kid type voice. "Gee,
whiz, Unca Frankie! I think I'll go to Disneyland!"
The
young orderly laughed. It echoed down the stairs. "Come on,
boss. He's not that bad, is he?"
"He's
a murder victim waiting for a killer," Frank replied as he
headed down the stairs.
"Damn.
I thought he was just some mean, old, fat guy."
"He's
Satan's Hell Spawn."
A
strange sound filtered up from the ground floor. Frank held up his
fist, using battle signs instinctively. He gestured to the kid to
stay where he was and headed down.
©
2015 Dellani Oakes
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