Smith & Ronalds: A Time Of Change
CHAPTER ONE: UPROAR OCTOBER FIFTEENTH, 1996. IT HAS BEEN A FEW MONTHS SINCE THE DEATH OF THREE DEAR FRIENDS OF MINE AND CEDRIC IS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL RECOVERING FROM HIS ARM REPLACEMENT. IT IS A QUITE DIFFICULT PERIOD OF TIME FOR MY FRIENDS AND I BUT I WILL GET THROUGH IT. H.J. STONE Bloomington Police Force Station 3 was in an uproar over a new deal about to be announced on the news. Trevor Edward Smith, a sloppily dressed man, was trying to calm the situation down a bit. “Cool it everyone!” He was saying to the crowd. “This may very well be just a rumor caused by...” He looked over at a dark haired woman standing in the corner. “...Someone. But we should not panic! Just go back to you’re daily work and if the reports are true than I will inform you. Good day.” As he finished you could tell that deep inside him he was dreading what had been rumored just as much as the crowd had. The dark haired woman in the corner came up to Trevor. It is Trevor’s co-worker Carrie B. Moss. “So Mr. Smith,” She said to Trevor. “What do you think about the rumors?” Trevor looked at her angrily. “First of all: do not call me ‘Mr. Smith’!” He said. “And second of all: I am a tad bit concerned about the situation, yes.” Carrie took this opportunity to show her lopsided grin. “Well I for one will be glad if the rumor is true.” She said. Trevor looked only half surprised. “Why would that be?” He asked her. She snorted at him. “You know that I always wanted to go to Station 2!” She said to him. “This is the perfect opportunity.” After she finished her beeper went off and she rushed away. Trevor left the room. As he left he saw a tall skinny man running towards him holding a thick stack of papers. “Hey Trev!” Said the man. “Are the rumors true?” Trevor looked at him. “They are not yet confirmed. Don’t worry David.” Said Trevor. The man he was talking to was David Anthony Ronalds, one of Trevor’s best friends. “Well I sure don’t want them to be.” David said. “I would rather be a rat than work at Station 2!” Trevor nodded in agreement. Then they both spun around at the sound of a human voice. “Its on!” The voice said. “The news is on! Hurry!” David and Trevor rushed to the nearest office and turned on the TV. After waiting through half the news cast it came. “It has been confirmed that Bloomington Police Stations 2 and 3 will be merging and in the wake of this movement will come a grand project of a new super station located just off the IU campus.” The announcer was saying. “We are now going to go to Jim who was an exclusive interview with an employee of Station 3. Jim?” The newscast then cut to Jim Murphy a man with a thick and bushy beard. “Hello Ann, I am here with Carrie B. Moss an emplo...” Trevor and David looked furious. “So Carrie, how did you react to the report?” Carrie was now grinning even more than usual. “Well unlike most of my co police men and women I am very exited about going to Station 2.” She said. Trevor flipped the TV off. He had all the information he needed without having to listen to Carrie gloat on TV about how lucky she was. This was the time that Trevor was supposed to go and brief the station. ‘This is going to be fun’ Trevor thought. Trevor walked inside the lunchroom and saw that nearly all the people were now looking at him. “Hello.” Trevor said. “It has been confirmed that Station 3 and Station 2 are going to be combined into one.” The crowd all looked rather upset. “So that everyone is satisfied with there placement in the Bloomington Police Force, I will be placing transfer sheets on the desk of the office #90 on level two, and resignation sheets on the desk of Carrie B. Moss.” David, who was in the back of the crowd tried hard not to laugh. ‘This will show her not to go stomping on the name of her station on live TV!’ He thought. Trevor finished the speech and went to make resignation and transfer forms on his computer. But he was caught off guard by a familiar face standing outside the door: Dr. Hector Stone. “Well hello Trevor.” He said. Trevor smiled. “Hey Hec!” He said. “How have things been going in you’re lab?” Hector was a very smart hematologist from Indiana University. “Well not much.” He stated. “But my new students have been very enthusiastic about the study of blood. We have been working on how to differentiate blood types and on how to recognize slow blood flow.” Trevor was slightly surprised by Hector being so open about his career. He didn’t like to talk too much about it for one reason or another. “So...” Trevor began. “Are you exited about the election?” “Well I haven’t really gotten into it to tell you the truth.” Hector was about to say something else when another voice in the corner. “Hey Hector! What’s up?” It was David. Hector smiled. “The sky.” He said jokingly. David smiled back. “Did you hear?” He asked Hector. “Yep.” Said Hector. “Are you going to fill out a transfer form? I know you would hate working at Station 2.” David hesitated for half a moment. “Well...” He said. “If it is the only thing available than I guess I would accept it.” Both Trevor and Hector looked highly surprised. “What?!” They both said simultaneously. David just sort of stood there. “I thought that you hated Station 2!” Said Hector. David appeared to be very determined to change the subject. “So!” David broke in. “Who will you be voting for?” Hector and Trevor still looked rather surprised by his statement about Station 2. “Uh...” Said Hector. Trevor was now looking highly annoyed. “All right David!” He said. “Why would you be so okay about going to Station 2?” David was now getting equally as annoyed as Trevor. “If it is my only career option then yes I will take it lightly!” He said. “I for one think that transfer and resignation forms are a bad idea. We could lose half the work force by that notion!” “I was just trying to be nice!” Said Trevor. Hector began to roll his eyes. “I for one don’t think its that big of a deal if David doesn’t care about the change.” He said. “So why don’t we just talk about more important matters. Like the election.” Trevor and David calmed down. “When is it?” Asked David. Hector looked relived. “Tuesday, November seventh.” He said. Trevor nodded his head. “Okay.” He said. “See you later.’ And with that he left. David and Hector looked at each other. “Hey Tony.” Hector said. David looked annoyed again. “Stop calling me Tony please. Call me Dave or David.” Hector stepped back. “All right!” He said. “So whom are you voting for?” David paused. “Probably Dole.” Hector frowned. “I will vote for Clinton most likely.” David looked slightly surprised. “Really?” He said. “I mean... I guess I will respect your opinion and all but...” “But what?” Said Hector. David was not that quick to answer. “Well I think that he is just kind of...I mean he beat Bush and all last election...” He said. Hector frowned again. “So you won’t vote for him just because he beat Bush?” He said. “That’s a pretty stupid reason!” David looked furious. “Who cares what my reasons are?” He said angrily. “The point is that we should respect each others opinions!” Hector sighed. “Yeah.” He said. “I guess so.” Then Carrie bumped into them. “WHY IN THE FIREY HECK ARE THERE PEOPLE LINING UP IN FRONT OF MY DESK!” She yelled. David and Hector exchanged smiles and turned around to leave. But then Carrie turned them around by their shirts. “YOU SONS OF A...” And with that she punched them both square in the mouth, one person with each fist. “ Take that you sore losers!” She said, and then she stormed off. David (who’s nose was slightly bleeding,) looked over at Hector. “And we didn’t even do it!” He said. CHAPTER TWO: CHEERS November first, 1996. IT IS A TIME OF CHANGE FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN AT BLOOMINGTON POLICE STATION. THE ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP AND THE STATIONS 2 AND 3 ARE GOING TO MERGE INTO ONE. THE PRESSURE IS ON THESE HARD WORKING SOULS, AS THEY MUST CONTINUE THERE LIVE AS IF ALL WAS NORMAL. H.J. STONE. The elections were fast nearing and utter chaos was spreading as all of Station 3 was dealing with political riots and protests against just about every candidate. Feuds were breaking out as well as employees argued about who should be president. Trevor and David had to break most of the fights up in an effort to keep things cool during a quite busy month. One day Carrie was stirring things up as usual. “Who here is exited about these changes?” She said to a crowd one day while standing on a workers desk. “I for one think that it will be good for the town ounce this takes place. I make the preposition to you all...” Then a voice broke in. “Its Proposition.” He said. It was David. Carrie raised her hands. “Thank you ‘Webster’!” She said sarcastically. The crowd was confused. “That’s weird!” One voice said. “I could have sworn that his name was David!” On other days it was simply impossible to stop Carrie from stirring things up. “Who here is in favor of firing Trevor E. Smith and David Ronalds?” She said one day as she began to take all of the resignation and transfer forms off her desk and set them on fire in a tin bucket. “Uh? Who needs an officer that works as hard as he can to lighten our job force here at Station 3?” On other days it was political issues that she was trying to make a Station wide debate. “Why shouldn’t anyone vote for Clinton?” One day it was Clinton she was favoring and the next it was Dole. She did not really seem to care all that much about the election or who would be the next president of the United States, just about how to stir things up to get David and/or Trevor ticked off. “This is getting quite out of hand.” Said Trevor one day. “She is going to turn the entire station on each other!” David nodded in agreement. “I some times wish that she would be on her way home one day and out of nowhere (He then said a terrible fate that made even Trevor mad,)” Trevor was getting sick and tired of Carrie every day making a new issue to be debated. “I need to get away from this chaos for awhile.” He said. “Why don’t we go and visit Cedric up at the hospital?” David looked like Trevor had just made Christmas happen every day. “Sure!’ He said. “Want to call up Hector and see if he wants to come up with us?” Trevor shook his head. “No.” He said. “He is still teaching over at IU right now.” So with that the two of them left and got into David’s Honda Imaxa and left. Cedric was at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. About an hour or so drive from Station 3, so they decided to stop at their favorite restaurant: Silver Town Bar & Grill. The reason they chose Silver Town was that it was the crime scene of the ‘Killer Killer’ case which brought Dave and Trevor to meet several of their best friends: the late Hunri Wung, the late Sean Cook the late Robert Dickson and of course Hector Stone. Silver town was a beautiful Five Star resturaunt with a large waterfall out side its window and a mini-lake below it. The inside it was scarlet red and had golden chandeliers on the ceiling. The booths were made out of genuine red leather and the service was always the best in town. As they parked in the ‘Current Customer’ section they went inside. A short and stubby waitress was standing inside right be the registration table. “Welcome to Silver Town. How many will we be serving today?” She said. David answered: “Just us two.” The lady smiled. “All right.” She said. “Smoking or non smoking?” “Non.” Trevor said. The waitress smiled again. “Okay!” She said. “This way sirs.” They followed her. Their table was a window seat overlooking the beautiful silver waterfall of which the resturaunt was named. “My name is Samantha I’ll be your waitress this evening.” The lady said. “Can I get you two a drink?” Trevor glanced at the menu. “I will have a glass of orange juice please.” Samantha the waitress wrote it down in her notebook. “Okay.” She said. “And what will you be having sir?” David looked at the menu. “I’ll have a Coke please.” He said. Samantha wrote that down too. “All right.” She said. “I’ll be back in a minute to give you your drinks and take your orders.” When she left Trevor began to talk. “So how do you think we should deal with Carrie?” He said. David shook his head. “There is no way that you can.” He said. Then the waitress came back with their drinks. “Thank you.” Trev and Dave said simultaneously. She left again. Trevor and David both raised their glasses. “A toast.” David said. “To whoever is the next president of the United States of America!” They taped their glasses. “Cheers!” Said Trevor. CHAPTER THREE: IMPROPER SLANG NOVEMBER FIFTH, 1996. THE ELECTIONS ARE IN TWO DAYS AND PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD IN STATION 3 OF THE BLOOMINGTON POLICE FORCE. POLITICAL DEBATES BETWEEN EMPLOYEES ARE CONSTANT. THE MERGING WILL BE QUESTIONED IN A HEARING IN STATION 2 THE DAY BEFORE ELECTION DAY. AN IMPORTANT LETTER CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY AND WILL POSE A THREAT TO MY TEACHING CAREER AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY. I WILL OPEN IT TOMORROW OR LATTER. I AM NOT READY YET. H.J. STONE The tension grew as the day of the election neared. Carrie had called in sick. The entire Station was gearing up for a meeting that was going to take place at Station 2 that afternoon. It was to discuss the fate of the current buildings and if the decision should be final. Even though there was almost no hope that the decision be stopped. Trevor and David were not exactly looking forward to the sudden change. “Maybe if Carrie didn’t go and act like the people here liked the idea of merging there would be a thread of a chance but not now.” Said David. “If I had a magic lamp and got just one wish it would be having the ability to fire her.” Trevor agreed. Today they needed to find out something about Carrie that they had been curious about for quite some time: whom she held a grudge against. Cedric had mentioned that she had one a few months ago when they first met him at his office in the Evidence Development area of Station 3. David and Trevor had discussed the issue earlier. It would be a good way to get Carrie to shut up if it was an extremely private grudge that she held. So an hour later they called up Hector on the telephone. “Hey Hec!” David said to him over the phone. “Would you like to go and visit Cedric today with us?” It took Hector a while to answer and when he did his voice sounded a little nervous. “Nah.” He said. “How about you come over here?” David was sort of confused. “Uh sure.” Hector sighed heavily on the other side of the line. “Okay.” He said. “Be over here at 6:30 or so. Bye.” With that he hung up. David told Trevor about the change in plans. “Why?” Trevor asked. “What’s up with him?” David shook his head. Then out of no ware Carrie bumped right into them. Trevor stepped back. “Why are you in my office?” He asked her. She looked back at them. “Busy. On my way to the meeting.” Trevor and David looked at each other. “The meeting!” They both said simultaneously. Trevor smacked himself on the forehead. “Carrie, I never thought I would bring myself to say this but: thank you!” He said. They both sprinted out of the room. But David put a hand on Trevor and stopped him. “Wait!” He said. “We will have to call and tell Hector that we will not be able to come.” Trevor agreed. They set off back to Trevor’s office and got the phone and dialed his number. RING. RING. RING. No answer. RING. BEEP. ‘Hello you have reached Dr. Hector Stone; I am not available at the moment and would very much like it if you left a message for me after the beep. Thanks!’ BEEEEP. “Hi Hec.” David said to the recorder. “I just wanted to tell you that we cannot come to your house today, so don’t worry when we don’t show up. See ya.” He then hit the off button. “That’s odd.” He said to Trevor. “He didn’t answer.” Trevor shrugged. “So?” He said. David looked at Trevor as if he was the down right dumbest person within ten miles. “He always answers!” He said. “He has been acting awfully weird today.” Trevor was now starting to get it. “Well...” He said. “Maybe he is gone somewhere.” David shook his head. “We were about to head out the door to go see him!” He said. “He would not invite us to an empty house!” Trevor was starting to get worried just as much as David. “Well,” Said Trevor. “Let’s not worry now. Let’s get to the meeting before we are late!” With that they left in David’s Imaxa to go to Station 2. The ride was not a joyous one and conversation rarely came up, and when it did it was always about Hector and why he did not answer his phone call. Station 2 was located ten miles east of the IU campus. The reason that David did not like it was because the policemen and women that worked there were extremely ‘No Nonsense’ types. The very opposite of David’s personality. That’s why most were extremely surprised that David did not care much about it. But Trevor was beginning to understand that he did not want to just quite and then have to find a better job else ware. They were nearly there and time was pressed. Then they saw an oddly familiar silver Jeep Wrangler. It was Carrie Moss’ car. She pulled up next to them and rolled down her window. “Hey Mr. Smith!” She said. She then looked over at David. “Mr. Ronalds.” David rolled his eyes. “Mrs. Moss.” He said. Carrie rolled her eyes back at them. “So...” She said. “What are you two up to?” “What are you up to?” David said. Carrie frowned. “None of your earwax!” “BEESWAX!” Trevor and David corrected at the same time. “Thanks again ‘Webster’!” She said. With that she sped off. Trevor swore that he heard her say ‘They even correct my slang!’ as she sped away. “Trev!” David said. “Look!” And there it was: Station 2. CHAPTER FOUR: CHANGE OF HEART NOVEMBER FIFTH, 1996. I JUST READ MY LETTER FROM THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HEMATOLOGY. THE NEWS IS OF A NEGATIVE TYPE. I DO NOT FEEL LIKE WRITING IT IN THE DIARY YET BUT WILL SOON. IN SHORT: I MUST SAY GOOD BYE TO INDIANA. H.J. STONE Station 2 was a larger building than Station 3. Its roof was a large and transparent dome with small American flags on it. The parking lot was full of cheap cars. Such as minivans (David had no problem with mini vans, ‘But for a singe businessman or woman?’ He would often say about them,). Most of the spaces were filled. Most of the open ones were ‘Employees Only’ spaces. After a while of searching they finally found one. “Kind of weird isn’t it?” Trevor said. David shook his head. ‘Nah!” He said. “It should do.” They both got out of the car. The small Imaxa Coup indeed looked rather tiny in between the two far apart panted lines. Trevor kind of wondered about it for a minute but after wards forgot about it. As they entered the hallways of Station 2 they noticed that it was considerably quieter than Station 3’s chaotically busy work ways. They eventually came across a door that said: MEETING ROOM (WARNING: IF NOT PART OF MEETING DO NOT ENTER!). They entered the room and saw many familiar faces: Bob Pattison, one of the best cooks David and Trevor have ever known, Mulan Wung, the sister of the late Hunri Wung, Wallace Gundman, a security guard at the case file bank, of course Carrie B. Moss, and to their pleasant surprise: Cedric Madison. There were several people that they did not know. Trevor just read their ID tags: ‘Ella Begri: Station 1’ ‘Derek Georgeton: Station1’ ‘Joe Webb: Station 3’ ‘Kristen Beau: Station 2’. They went on and on. Then Trevor’s eyes went back to Cedric. ‘He must have gotten out of the recovery room early’ He thought. Cedric was looking a lot healthier now that he had a new arm. Cedric also looked a way that not Trev, not David, nor anyone had seen him in a long time: completely happy. The head of Station 2, Garry Knorr, stood up from the table. “Welcome!” He said. “Trevor Smith!” Bob Pattison said from the crowd. “Trevor Edward Smith!” Trevor smiled. “Bobby!” Bob ran up to Trevor. “How you been since I last saw you?” He asked. Trevor shrugged with one shoulder. “Okay I guess.” Trevor had not seen Bob since the ‘Killer Killer’ case at his ‘Welcome Home’ party from the hospital. He, as mentioned before, was an excellent cook. Trevor knew never to start to talk to him unless you are prepared to talk for hours. “Hey I got a joke for ya...” Bob was saying. But Garry cleared his throat loudly. Bob then ‘Ceased Fire’. “Oh,” He said. “Got to go!” He then went back to his seat. Trevor and David then found their seats as well. Cedric, Bob, Carrie, and Dave and Trevor all took a stand ounce. Then the Station 2 people had their say as well. At the end the decision came down to a vote. The head of Station 2 stood up. “All those in favor of combining Station 2 and Station 3 raise their right hand please.” He said. Carrie raised her hand as expected. There were five people representing each Station (2 & 3) And Carrie s vote made the decision final. Station 2.3 was about to be made. Dave, Trev, and all the people from Station 3 (except for Carrie who was doing a victory dance on her way back to her Jeep,). David and Trev went back to the Imaxa, David got in. But Trevor remained out side starring in horror at the windshield wiper. David was confused. “What?” He said. He got out of the car and looked at the windshield, and then (with the same horror on his face as Trevor,) pulled a small piece of paper off the wiper blade: a parking ticket. “Oh my...” David said. “...I parked in an ambulance space! It’s a wonder I wasn’t...” Trevor looked be hind the car. “Towed off?” He said. A large tow truck was taking David Honda Imaxa away. “NOOOOOOOOOO!” Screamed David. Trevor was in shock. He looked over at Carrie’s Jeep to see her barely being able to stand up she was laughing so hard. He was about to go and punch her as hard as he could when, to his surprise, was Hector Stone. “Don’t worry about Carrie.” He said. Trevor was looking rather confused at Hector. “Carrie is not the only thing I am worrying about.” He said, pointing at the same time to David, whom, at the time, was chasing the red tow truck down the street with his arms waving. Hector rolled his eye and chased after David. Trevor followed. “Tony stop!” Hector yelled. David stopped dead in his tracks. “I thought I told you not to call me Tony!” He said. “I am sick of all this stuff! Carrie wins her fight, we loose! You stop speaking to me! AND MY FRICKIN’ $2500.5 CAR IS TOWED OFF TO WHO KNOWS WERE!” David paused to let the information sink in to their heads a bit. “To top that:” He continued. “Everyone is mad over who become president and we and half the Station fight about it! What in the heck is the world coming to?” As he finished Carrie Moss rushed over to them. “I am sorry guy's!” She said. “I will go in right now and change my vote!” She then took time to hug all three of them one at a time. They all stood there in shock. ‘What a change of heart!’ Trevor thought. She then went inside to find Garry. She came out with a smile on her face. “No more connecting now my friends!” She said. She then ran off and got in her Jeep, but David stopped her. “Hey Carrie!” She turned around. “What?” She said. David smiled. “Thanks.” She smiled back. “My grudge is now gone!” David cleared his throat. “What grudge?” He asked her. “Against you and Trevor for taking both of my dream positions at Station 3!” She said. Then she sped off. David grinned and then turned to Hector. “So why are you here?” Hector frowned. “I got a letter from the School of Hematology. I am transferring to California.” He said sadly. “I won’t see you for quite a while I am afraid.” David and Trevor were severely shocked. “What?” Said David. “But you...” Hector shook his head. “Sorry David.” He said. “My Plane leaves tomorrow. Before the election’s. I have to go.” Trevor could not believe it. “I’ll see ya buddy.” He said. Hector came up and gave both Trevor and David hugs. Trevor looked at Hector. “You have been a very good friend Hector.” Said Trevor. “Thanks for the fun!” David gave Hector a high five. “See you Hec!” Hector smiled. “You too David.” David smiled back. “Call me Tony.” He said. With that Hector, one of David and Trevor’s best friends left in his car. All the sudden David didn’t care about car towing or tickets or Station merging. He cared about his friends. You just have to be grateful for what you have as long as you have it. From now on David would count good things that he had, not bad or imperfect things like not being able to do something or a job change or a car loss. There were more important things in the world: friends and family. CHAPTER FIVE: ELECTION DAY NOVEMBER SEVENTH, 1996. I HAVE JUST GIVEN DAVID AND TREVOR THE NEWS ABOUT MY TRANSFER TO CALIFORNIA. THE STATION CONNECTING PROJECT HAS BEEN CANCELED AND THE ELECTIONS ARE TOMORROW. I WILL MISS INDIANA AND THE FRIENDS I HAVE HERE. H.J. STONE David sat at his desk and looked at four trophies: DAVID ANTHONY RONALDS, SWORDSMANSHIP AT ITS BEST and DAVID ‘TONY’ RONALDS: FASTEST BLADE IN FENCING and David two favorites: TONY RONALDS: WINNER OF SCHOOL FENCING TOURNAMENT and SENIOR FENCING CHAMPIONSHIP: TONY RONALDS. Hector returned the two trophies to David. He remembered it like yesterday: Trevor and Hector coming to his door and yelling ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!’ and unveiling the two lost trophies. He would miss Hector a lot. They had known each other since high school and were like brothers growing up. He was the only child of Grace and Noland Ronalds and had no one to talk to all the way through Grade School. It was not until he met Hector at Mark Hanks High that he saw the reason people had friends. He used to think that friendship was over rated. A big farce. He was a shy kid in school, hardly ever talked to anyone at all except his teachers, which were the only people in school he could talk to at all in a way without getting teased. Hector and him were both on the M.H. fencing team and both did well. David was the superior though. Winning four trophies in two years. Over the years Hector and David sort of went their different ways and never saw each other for a long time. Until the ‘Killer Killer’ case were Hector was assigned as the case hematologist. They have remained close for the past two years. Until now. They part their live ounce more and go their separate ways. He then heard his doorbell ring. He ran to the door and opened it. Nobody was there. He looked down to see a small brown book tied with a tan rubber band. It had a note on it saying: Dear David, from your pal Hector. He looked at the front of the book. It said: 1996: A YEAR OF CHANGE. By Hector Stone. David flipped through the page of it. It was his diary. Each page had the date on the top and at the bottom of each entry was the initials H.J. STONE. It covered every thing from the deaths of three of their friend to the news of the merging Stations. All the way down to Hector’s letter arriving in the mail. He read it for hour and hours taking in Hector’s vivid descriptions of the difficult times that had come to pass the past year. It seemed to David that Hector had a natural talent at writing. His entries were like brilliant works of art as they described sadness, happiness, or some ware in between. After he started to get tired David went to bed and woke up the next mourning to notice that his alarm was not buzzing. He looked over at it. It read 9:45. He had missed Hector’s plane! He had gotten so into Hector’s Diary that he forgot to set his alarm. He cursed under his breath and hastily got ready to go to the elections. He drove there as fast as he could and went inside as fast as he could. When he was next in line on one of the voting machines he went inside and closed the Curtin. There were three large red buttons and one large gray poll. Each red button represented a party: Democrat, Republican, or Green Party. He took off his Colts hat and put it on the post of the machine and thought about whom would Trevor want him to vote for. Then he had an idea. He put his finger on the button that he wanted to vote for, not Trevor or Carrie of even Hector. Him. He came out of the booth with a smile on his face. Trevor was yelling for him. “So whom did you vote for?” Trevor asked. David smiled. “The one that I wanted to.” He said. As Hector said ounce in his diary: DAVID GOES ON ALL OTHERS OPINION, NOT HIS OWN FEELING ON THE CHOICE THAT IS LAID TO HIM. WHEN IT IS HIS DECISION WHAT WILL HE DO? David had taken Hector’s advice and done his thing and did not brag about it. Hector was gone; a new or perhaps old president was to be elected. CHAPTER SIX HECTOR’S ADVICE The next day he went back to Station 3 with a new outlook of life. Carrie walked by him. “Hey Dave!” She said. “Whats up?” David smiled. “Not much.” He answered. “Maybe you Trevor and Cedric and I can go to Silver Town tonight.” Carrie nodded. “Sounds great!” She said. “By the way! Who won the presidential race?” David shook his head. “I don’t know.” He said. “I fell asleep before I could see who.” Neither of them knew. He clocked out and went up to Silver Town. As he pulled in he saw that everybody else was already there. He went in to see that they were all eagerly awaiting his arrival. “What is up with you guys?” He asked them. David almost imagined them putting halos on their heads. They smiled at him. “Sit down.” Trevor said. He did so. “None of us know who won the election.” Said Cedric. David shrugged. “So?” He said. Carrie grinned. “So...” She said. “We won’t you to be the first to know along with us.” She then flipped on the TV. “Here it is.” Bernard Shaw appeared of the set. After about fifteen minutes he finally mentioned the election. “...Bill Clinton has been re-elected as President of the United State of America...” Some of the table said: “Oh No!” Some said: “Oh yes!” But David sat quiet. Not saying a word. “He told all of them why. They laughed. “Were would you get an idea like that from?” Carrie said. “Not that it’s not a good one, but for you!” He told them of Hector’s diary. “Wow!’ They said. The rest of the day was a good one. Friends, new and old, sat together and got along thanks to Hector. It was as Hector had said, a time of change for: Smith and Ronalds.
Copyright © 2004 Patrick Collins |