"River ride
It had to be nine at night. I checked the time on my cell phone. Nope, one thirty in the afternoon. I knew that, but the dark sky hoodwinked me. I kept thinking that with every group of teenagers that exited the building I’d spot the one that belonged to me, Cindy, my daughter. She was probably somewhere practicing her major, socializing. She would be a great public relations worker some day.
A crack of lightening followed by a clap of thunder sent Scruffy, my occasionally timid terrier, into a tailspin, something that is literal with dogs. He hated this weather. I loved it. "I
Love A Rainy Night" kept going through my head. I wish I could carry a tune and remember stanzas to songs I adore, but alas, musical talent isn’t in my DNA, it wasn’t passed down to me or anyone else in my immediate family, I realized as Scruffy sent out another yowl.
The next flash of God’s light revealed what I’d been waiting for, Cindy. She was walking a guy to the bike rack, talking nonstop. He worked at our favorite pizza hangout, Dan; I think his name tag had said. He was listening (I assumed) nonstop. I never saw his lips move, but he did have the opportunity to shake his head, once or twice.
Cindy finally shrugged and looked around for me. I wasn’t hard to find as I was the last vehicle left. Dan swung his legs over a bike and took off over the terrain. Smart, he doesn’t have to deal with the traffic, just people angry about his damaging their yards, that is if they could catch him! I’d like to see those leg muscles, wow, look at him go.
“You should have offered that young man a ride,” I stated.
“Oh, why didn’t I think of that?” Oh, oh. Some boy didn’t succumb to her charms; this was going to be a rocky ride.
Cindy climbed into the back seat with Scruffy so she could brood over a lost conquest.
Lightening, thunder, barking, whining. The cycle repeated, this time Scruffy leapt over the back seat, jumped down to the floorboard at my feet, and tapped the gas pedal with his paw. His eyes said, ”take a hint lady.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “Scary little dog.” Scared little dog was more like it. He had more sense than me sitting out here in a rain storm not moving towards safety.
The downpour started off by splattering the windshield. Even with my high beams on if it wasn’t for the perpetual lightening I wouldn’t have been able to see the road. Was it really only two o’clock P.M? The roads were disappearing under a layer of liquid, mixed with leaves and other signs of an inconsiderate civilization.
When the weather is intense I usually prefer to drive in quiet, hands tight on the steering device, my back ramrod stiff, hiding, unsuccessfully, nerves on the verge of panic, so I reached to turn off the radio that was announcing a recent burglary at a local fast food place. Not my problem.
A car sped by throwing buckets of water over my car momentarily obscuring my view. I missed the curve ahead and slid into a river of churning disaster. This was a good time to panic. Scruffy, who’d been barking wildly until now decided it was time to shut up and kiss his….back end…goodbye.
The car bobbed up and down, pushed by the current, bouncing off of tree trunks and river bed rubbish until it got trapped by a damn of junk. Thank god for inconsiderate civilization. Cindy and I tried desperately to free ourselves from our new submarine.
Hands reached into my window and tugged on my arm, assisting me through the opening. Four paws jumped on my back and; using my shoulder as a spring board Scruffy leapt into the air, missing the bank by inches, and splashed into the muddy torrential death trap. I got a view of a hairy head dipping up and down as it was hurtled further out of reach then out of sight.
“Scruffy! Oh, God, Scruffy!” I wailed as rain sloshed over my face and flooded my mouth, chocking me. I no longer loved a rainy night! Cindy was pulled out after me with a horrified expression on her face.
“Where’s scruffy?” She cried looking down river. “We’ve got to find him!”
“He’ll be okay, baby, that dog’s a survivor.” I tried to lie to myself as much as to Cindy. I didn’t believe me, I hoped she did. There wasn’t a blessed thing we could do for Scruffy right now except to pray and hope. As we searched the distant river bank for signs of our little buddy the head board from someone’s discarded bed slammed against our car, shifted its precarious position and sent it sailing out of sight.
I turned to our hero, Dan! The boy from school and our waiter at Pizza Paradise!
“Thank god you happened by when you did!”
“Happened by, I heard your screams for help! I couldn’t believe anything could be heard over the caterwauling of this storm!”
Cindy and I exchanged looks. We hadn’t screamed for help. We hadn’t even had time to realize our dilemma as fast as everything happened, but now it was obvious we had been in deep….manure.
“You guys are in shock, come with me!” Dan ordered, taking charge with his testosterone and steering us uphill. Up a muddy rain soaked hill. Through soggy trees that offered no protection from the downpour. My shoes stuck deep into the earth and made a sucking noise with every step I managed. I could hear Cindy sobbing behind me. Oh how we had loved that little fellow, despite his eccentricities. Not had, do, we do love that little fellow. And we will always love him. We’ll find him, I persuaded myself.
We made it to a rickety cabin someone had built centuries ago and had long abandoned through death. It appeared someone had been squatting in it I realized as we entered and shook droplets the size of grapes off us. There was a kerosene heater present that had my name all over it and Cindy and I fought for dominance in front of the warm blaze. She’s fifteen, I don’t have to baby her anymore, it’s a fight for self survival now, I thought as I sneezed once, twice three times.
“Let me in, Mom!” Cindy wailed giving me the hip move.
“Here, take those clothes off and wrap up in these blankets.” Dan ordered.
We exchanged more looks; Cindy was not about to get undressed in a room with a teenage Lancelot, not her choice, mine! I certainly wasn’t going to ask her what her wishes were!
“Oh give me a break!”Dan moaned stepping into another room, a room whose wooden walls had several gaps. Yea, I was about to believe an adolescent boy! I watch TV. I know a thing or two about teenagers and what I don’t know, well I can just imagine!
After Cindy and I shed our wet attire (except for our undergarments), spread them out in front of the kerosene burner, and wrapped up in fleece blankets I peeked through one of the many breaches in the wall only to see Dan stuffing some money from his bulging pockets into a tin can that held more of the same green leafy currency. I pulled back swiftly before he caught me spying on him. Why would he have money here of all places. I contemplatively ruminated on the situation (those were two of my Reader Digest words for the month, good huh?) An abandoned cabin? Or his hideout? No, his home, I realized. Bedding in the form of a sleeping bag, food stuff on shelves, food wrappers on the floor, school books on a small desk, rather on a wooden slat held up by a piles of bricks, all indicated this was home. Also, clothes were spread out hither and thither in the style of male decorating.
Dan came back to the room and started fixing some hot cocoa over a grill. He caught me observing him and averted his eyes.
“This is just a hidey-hole I spend time in to give my parent’s a break.” He offered. No eye contact. Yea, right. Poor kid. What about the money? The burglary at a fast food place! Wasn’t that a pizza place they named. Wasn’t it the one Dan worked in? Oh, my gosh! Cindy and I are practically naked with a thief. Is this the same as being in bed with bad company? Oh, hurry up and dry out, I mentally shouted to our clothes.
Cindy was ready to go on a man hunt (er, dog hunt) for Scruffy the minute the rain let up and there was no holding her back. I couldn’t blame her; I was just as concerned for his well fare as she was, but more concerned for ours.
We followed the trail back to the river which was slowly shallowing out (not a Reader’s Digest word, but it fits for me). Cindy in search of Scruffy. Me in search of my car and cell phone. I needed the police and only I knew what trouble we were in. I hadn’t had a moment alone to confide in Cindy.
Well there was our car, window deep in sewage that polluted the once pristine river (well it was pristine centuries ago before man got here!)
“Nice going mom, at least we had this car for six months!”
“Hey, no fair, it wasn’t my fault this time!” Boy was I touchy about my driving skills, or lack of.
No way was I going to swim out to the wreckage and ferret out my purse.
“Scruffy!” Cindy bellowed, startling me and reminding me of our primary mission. No answering shout, er, bark.
“Whose there!” Someone yelled in the distance.
“Scruffy?!” Cindy answered back.
“Cindy, that’s not scruffy,” I explained patiently to my delusional off spring, though I wouldn’t be surprised if that mutt could communicate using the English language. I called out, “Over here.”
Two well dressed men came into view, carrying a duffle bag. Clean cut young men, nice. Maybe they had a cell phone, if I could just ask them nonchalantly to call 911 because we had a thug here, ready to be sent to juvie hall. Hope the reward would cover the cost of a new car. The newcomers had flooded out their engine in a swamped road dip and were trying to find their way back to civilization. Their phones had been incapacitated in the deluge also. Great.
As Dan and Cindy travelled further down the embankment seeking out doggy prints I confided in the two newcomers, “I believe this guy robbed the Pizza Paradise this afternoon.”
“What makes you think that?” The tallest guy asked.
I divulged all my suspicions in as much of a whisper as I could muster, pleased to have the protection of these strong looking young men. Their eyes widened when my scoop culminated with the bundle I saw Dan stuff into a tin can filled with more of the same.
Dan and Cindy back tracked to my little group.
The shortest guy reached into his jacket and pulled out a ….is that really a gun? Wonderfu;l that was better than a phone. I felt much safer now. I grabbed Cindy to my side.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“It’s alright honey; these guys are going to take care of everything.” I confided while Dan’s eyes popped out of his head.
“All of you, back to the cabin!” Tall Man ordered.”
“Let’s just go to the police.” I suggested, "They have a station down that way.” I waved off to the west, east, north. Oh, heck, I waved to the left. The police station was that way.
“No, you all come with us,” Short Man said, casually waving his weapon about.
“Mom, what’s going on?”Cindy repeated, clinging to Dan who was slowing maneuvering her behind him, presumably to safety. Yea, after the first shot and he falls, who gets to protect the damsel in distress then? Such a last effort show of bravado.
“Your mom just told us how we can diversify our portfolio. Stock from pizzas and now from this guy here. Now move it!” Short Man shoved me with his free hand. Oh, I hate being pushed around.
Suddenly an enormous wet bat dropped out of the sky and latched on to Short Man’s wrist with razor sharp teeth, causing him to release his revolver to the ground with the most painful howl I’ve ever heard. Dan and Tall Man lurched for the pistol. Somehow my foot got in Tall Man’s way sending him face down into muddy leaves. Dan stood up a winner with the trophy. Yea! Or Yikes! Would he use that on the foolish woman who nearly got us killed by jumping to conclusions?
A police helicopter came into view and hovered over us, “Drop the gun and raise your hands!” Bellowed down to us. Tall Man swung the duffel bag into the nearby foliage.
Our hands shot up. Shot up. Good play on words. Instantly police swarmed the vicinity handcuffing suspects and questioning the others. They had received a tip about the thief’s getaway car being located nearby.
The wet bat was now prancing about my feet as I shrieked for help, “Get this thing away from me!”
“Mom! That’s scruffy!” Cindy exclaimed, scooping up the filth plastered love of our lives. After a time of frenzied face lapping, he leapt from her arms and dragged Tall Man’s duffel bag to the police who found lots of dough inside, and not pizza dough.
As it turned out it wasn’t the Pizza Paradise that had been robbed, but Pizza Palace, and the money that Dan had was hard earned working cash he was saving for a better life. The life he had now, he explained, held a father that was a drunken…donkey (or something like that) and a mother that was a cheap…loose woman (or something like that).
I couldn’t apologize enough to Dan, though he claimed he understood and forgave me. He was guided by the police to an organization that helped kids in his situation and could provide running water, electricity, and a dormitory like room for him till he graduated from high school. And he was always going to be welcomed at our home.
After we were deposited at our house Cindy asked, “How do you suppose Scruffy fell from the sky like that?”
“He must have…., well, he could have…maybe…Shoot don’t ask me! That dog has always been strange!”
Scruffy serenely eyed me as he was being petted by his two friends who had pulled him to safety and thrown him like a football at Short Man. The same two friends who had called for Dan to come to our aid and used my (dead) cell phone to tip off the police. The very two who had guarded Cindy and me from our births yet we never aware of. Thank God for invisible friends, er... gaudian angels!.
