after the call

"Hello in the house please stay calm both of you. I have called 911 and the sheriff's car is on the way." They both looked scared to death, but I couldn't help either of them by rushing into the house. I had no idea who they were or why she was holding him at gun point. I decided that it would be better for everyone to let the sheriff's deputy figure it out.

I hung around because I was nosy. It took the deputy several minutes to arrive. I just kept an eye on the man and woman in the mobile home. When the deputy arrived I informed him of what I knew. I did not speculate on the situation in the house.

While hanging out in the yard I learned that the situation was a burglary gone terribly wrong. The man had no idea anyone was home. He certainly had no inkling that the woman in the house slept with a gun on her night stand. The trailer looked as though there was no one at home because the woman worked third shift at one of the local sewing plants. At the time the bad guy chose to enter her house the lights were all out because she was napping prior to leaving for work. The house did appear empty for sure.

The deputies took statements from me and the lady of the house. The bad guy didn't need to make a statement. He was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The only hope he had was that the prosecutor got laid the night before he went to trial. He would have to be in a really good mood to cut the yahoo any slack.

I drove the pickup back to my trailer then turned in for the night. As usual I was awake at 6am like I said before habits of a lifetime are hard to break. After I delivered the truck, I went out to breakfast. It was about 8am when I returned to the trailer. I skipped the ocean only because I wanted to talk to the park manager about the events of the night before.

"That's him. He's the one who sat outside while I was in danger." The woman from the night before turned her words away from the park manager. She directed them to me. "Why the hell didn't you come help me?"

"Well for one thing you had it under control. If I had come in there it would have just led to more confusion and the bad guy might have taken advantage of the confusion. I sat outside to keep on eye on you. If the situation had changed, I would have helped." She didn't look satisfied. "I'm sorry that's the best I can tell you."

"CJ is not a security officer. His job is to ride thought the part and if he sees anything unusual to call the sheriff. Which is exactly what he did."

"If I had rushed in there I could have gotten someone killed. Even if it was the bad guy, it still would have been a tragedy. Nobody wanted it to end any other way than how it did."

"I suppose you are right. I just felt so helpless."

"I know. You had the tiger by the tail alright."

"Lucy tells me you are a transient."

"Huh?"

"You know living in one of the trailers. You aren't going to be here too long."

"That's true. I will probably move on when her dad finishes his fishing trip."

"Well I'm off tonight, how about I fix you dinner?"

"You don't have to do that."

"I know I don't, but I would like to."

"Well I do like to eat,"

"You know where I live. How about you come over about eight and bring a bottle of wine."

"Red or white?"

"Red, something sweet please."

And that's how I got my first date in forty years.