Thursday, July 16, 2015

Mennonite Swoon


Continued from Clueless Mennonite

The giant officer went to the other room to call George while I held my breath, thinking that it would help for him to be home. A few times I almost passed out, so I took a breath and held it again. About twenty minutes later the officer returned with a smile on his face.

“Anna, you are lucky to have a friend like George. He is one-of-a-kind; after my conversation with him I feel confident that you will be safe with him.”

“I’m glad you say that. I think so too. When I first met him I thought he was the crazy one and Mark was the normal one. How am I supposed to know which people I can trust and which ones I can’t?”

“You wouldn’t believe how many people have this dilemma and find themselves in the same predicament.”

I didn’t really get what he was saying and wondered, “When is all of this going to be over?”

“What about my cousin’s car? It’s still at the factory.”

“We will have to give it a thorough inspection before it will be safe for you to drive again. We will let you know when that is done. I explained to your friend George that there will be a few officers at the apartment building keeping an eye on things until we make the arrest,” he said.

“Okay.”

He handed me a card with his name and phone number on it and said, “If you remember anything else about Mark or what happened, please call me.”

He opened all the doors for me as we headed back to the undercover police car. On the way to my apartment, the police officer was all serious and just concentrating on driving again. He wasn’t saying anything, so I thought would ask him questions.

“Have you ever arrested someone just for being stupid?” I asked.

He laughed and said, “Oh Anna, believe me, I have wanted too, many times, but that is actually against the law. If someone did something stupid and if that stupid thing was against the law, then yes, I have.”

“Once in a while I think that my aunts and uncles might be right, I often doubt my decisions. Many times I have thought that I have either made the best decision ever or the stupidest mistake of my life. I am trying so hard to figure out which one it is,” I told him.

“I’m sure it can’t be easy for you, but what happened here today has happened many times before. And please know that none of it was your fault, Anna. I can’t go into any of the details, but we have been investigating this person for a while now. After the stunt he pulled today, we have enough on him to put him away for a long time.”

When we arrived at my apartment building he parked the car on the street in front of the building. There were two police officers standing by the entrance, one on each side of the door.

“I will have to go into your apartment and get the tape from your answering machine. It will be part of the evidence. Would you be able to let me in?” he asked.

“Okay,” I said.

I opened the door to my apartment. I asked if he could stay for a little while so I could change, wash my face, and brush my teeth. He said, “Absolutely, Anna, take as long as you need.”

I went to my bedroom and quickly changed into a dress I got from Bree’s sister. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. When I came out, the officer was on the phone talking to someone. When he saw me he hung up the phone and asked if I was ready to go and if I was okay.

“I’m not sure if I am okay,” I replied.

“Could you give me the keys to your cousin’s car?”

I gave him the keys and we walked over to George’s apartment. The officer knocked on the door. When George opened it, it smelled amazing in his apartment -- I could tell he had been cooking.

George shook the police officer’s hand and said, “Please come in.”

I walked in toward the lizard’s cage as George stayed at the door, talking with the officer for a few minutes. I just stared at the lizard in a daze as I realized that their voices started to sound like an echo from a distance. I suddenly felt cold and tingly going all the way down to my toes. I heard footsteps echoing toward me. I turned around and caught a glimpse of George.

When I opened my eyes I saw George’s lips moving slowly, then I heard the sound of his voice whispering, “Welcome back, Anna.” I was laying on the couch. He had one hand under my head and the other holding a wet cloth on my forehead.

“I got to you just as you were going down and I caught you. How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” I replied.

“I hope you’re hungry, I cooked dinner for us. You want to try and sit up?”

“Okay.”

He took the wet cloth off my forehead and helped me up to a sitting position. I still felt a bit weak and lightheaded. I just leaned back on the pillow and stayed there for a while.  George went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water and sat down beside me as I drank it.

He was doing everything he could to distract me from thinking about what was happening. He didn’t ask me anything about the police or what had happened. He was doing a really good job of keeping my mind off of it. Every time I started thinking about it he would say something funny and made me laugh.

George put the same gray pillows on the floor by the coffee table that we sat on the last time I ate there. He went to the kitchen and came back with two plates of food, sat them on the coffee table, and said, “Okay, Anna, let’s eat. I am starving.”

I just slid off the couch on to the floor and wiggled myself onto the pillow as he went back to the kitchen and brought us each a little bowl with watermelon cubes. He put them on the table and sat down.

I bowed my head and said my prayer. When I looked up George was waiting for me patiently with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other, with a smile on his face.

“I hope you like mushrooms. You don’t have to eat them if you don’t. I thought I would give this meal a shot -- steak with mushrooms, roasted baby red potatoes with rosemary, and watermelon for dessert.”

“I have never tasted mushrooms before. This will be another first for me,” I said.

I took a mushroom and put it in my mouth, chewed it for a while, and said, “Mmm, they are really good. I like the taste.” I ate all the mushrooms on my plate, one baby potato, and a few bites of the steak.

“Thank you, George. This is the best meal I have had since the quesadillas at GT’S in Port Stanley on my birthday.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” he said and winked at me.

I took the bowl of watermelon, looked for the seeds then looked up at him. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Anna, I picked them all out for you,” and winked at me again.

I blushed as I thought, “Dios mio, how long am I going to have to stay here with him?”

When he finished his watermelon, he got up and put my favorite Alanis Morissette CD on. I carried some of the dishes to the kitchen sink, started the water, and put the dishes in. He brought the rest of the dishes and set them down on the counter. He grabbed a towel and started drying what I had washed.

As the song “Hand In My Pocket” started playing I tried so hard to concentrate on something else so I wouldn’t cry. But the tears just rolled down my face into the dishwater.

George took the plate from my hands and put it on the counter. He dried my hands off and didn’t let go as he threw the towel on the floor. He pulled me right up against him, leaned against the counter, put his arms around me and hugged me really tight. He said, “It’s okay, Anna, just let it all out.”


I cried through the whole song and took a few deep breaths, as I lifted my head I saw that his shirt was completely soaked from my tears.

“I’m sorry I got your shirt all wet. Did you have any plans? Oh no, did I ruin your weekend?”

“Anna, it’s just a f#cking shirt, don’t be sorry, it’s okay. Since I hadn’t talked to you in a while I was actually going to ride my motorcycle to the factory and visit you during lunch break.”

“Oh, okay, that would have been really nice.”

The phone rang. He went to answer it. He didn’t say much, he was just listening. I walked over to the window to see if the police were still there. They were walking up and down the sidewalk talking into their radios as it was getting darker.

I went and lay down on the couch, closed my eyes and all I could see were flashing lights from the ambulance, fire trucks, and police cars. George came, sat down on the couch beside me, picked up my feet, and put them on his lap.

He started rubbing my feet as he told me that the police still hadn’t found him but they had a lead that they were following.

“I just can’t believe this is happening. Do you think I am going to get fired?” Click here to continue reading my story.

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