Clouds encircled Todd as they did the day. His mind was even cloudy. Should he have called for help? Should he have stayed and made sure they got there? Should he hit the gas pedal even harder making even more miles between him and all the lies and games that had only contributed more to his inner defenses? A loud burst of energy from Todd’s Jag only proved that the car and the master were one in the same.
Todd: I’m so outta here. The only thing I care about is Shorty and I can get her through this. She hates Blair as much as I do now and there’s no going back. The sooner I can get to Shorty, the sooner I can forget. I’ll build my world around her now, until…
Todd’s thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He laughed at the things his money could buy. Spending that extra two hundred dollars on a music chip that allowed his phone to play the theme to Jaws instead of a typical ringing phone made him pat himself on his back for his cleverness.
Todd: No one that would ever call me would be doing so except to in some way be trying to cut me off at the knees. This song reminds me that the world is full of only sharks.
Todd ignored the phone. Caller ID had identified it as Charlie Briggs. Not much Briggs had to say to him today could possibly matter. Had Blair given the hospital his number in case of emergencies? He knew her emergency. He knew her game. No way was he falling for this one.
Todd: News! I’ll listen to the news. The news is my life too. I’ll turn the Sun into the superpower I always new it could be. I don’t have to be behind my desk whirling in my chair. Have I ever told you about the Sun?
Todd’s new friend looked frantic and nervous sitting perched next to him in a purposely gilded cage. Todd’s attempt at replacing Moose was a valiant one, but this was no Moose. He’d even gone so far as to name this one Moose as well.
Moose: Pizza Sauce.
Todd: No, clam sauce.
Moose: Pizza Sauce.
Todd: Damn you, clam sauce!
Moose: Pizza. Pizza. Pizza!!
Todd: Fine! Anything at this point to shut you up!
Moose: Not nice.
Todd: Yeah, well, you’re no Moose.
Moose: Loose as a Moose.
Todd: Don’t try to get on my good side now.
Moose: Dark side, good.
Todd: Well…there might just be hope for you after all.
Moose: Shut up!
Todd: You shut up.
And with that, Todd reached over and covered Moose’s cage with a cover. And for now, that was that. Todd turned the radio on to the National News. He didn’t care for NPR, but unfortunately, going through the mountains toward Canada, it was his only option.
Announcer: Headline news at the top of the hour. Four men held up the San Diego Bank and Trust this afternoon, but were caught because of their own stupidity. President Bush had a huge victory on Capitol Hill this afternoon with his Patient’s Bill of Rights and this just in…the unidentified woman found in Northern Pennsylvania last week has been identified. These stories, plus weather and sports coming up on this station after a word from our sponsors.
Todd: (talking toward the radio as if it were interactive) Clint, Kevy, Johnny and Bozo. Who else could the four buffoons be? (He chuckled to himself. He knew it wasn’t them, but it was nice to daydream.) They probably left the big, tall guy in the car for the getaway. And knowing Asa, he said, ‘let ‘em go down. They’re not getting me!’ (He laughed again to himself. The thought of the Buchanans in their own jail was a pleasant thought for the day.)
Suddenly, Todd screeched his car to a stop. There he sat on the lonely side of the road. As the rain poured down and covered his Jag with a solid, soaking rain, so too did the feeling of dread, fill every bone in his body, every ounce of his blood. It literally curdled. Slowly he felt his lips forming the words aloud…
Todd: Unidentified…Woman…Northern…Pennsylvania. (His head lowered.) It’s over Shorty. Blair has won. She’ll surely get custody of you now. But at least my days of lies are over. Now everyone will know the truth. Or at least THEIR version of the truth. My life is over.
Todd turned the radio off. He couldn’t bare to listen to anymore. So his time for freedom was short. His mind was a twisted, tormented mass of mixed up emotions. He had always known it would only be a matter of time before they found her.
Todd: Should I go on to be with Shorty for whatever time is left? Should I just turn myself in now? Should I …
Todd’s jumbled thoughts were interrupted again with the “Theme To Jaws.” But this time, it scared him.
Todd: There’s no rule that says I have to answer my phone. I can ignore it. I ignore people all the time.
Todd reached down and turned his cell phone off. He would have no more interruptions. Whatever Charlie was up to, helping the cops locate him, trying to convince him to turn himself in, it just wasn’t going to work. Not now. Not when he was this close to Shorty. He thought about making a mad dash to Shorty, snatching her up and whisking her away to Canada and from there, some out of the way country that had no extradition treaties with America. But his guilt for what he had caused Tea to do and his love for Shorty soon nixed that idea.
Todd: They both deserve better from me. Everyone will think the worst of me. If I run, they’ll know I did it. If I stay, they’ll know I did it. Maybe I should just end it all now and be done with it.
Todd’s curiosity got the better of him. He had to know the details of the story.
Todd: (aloud toward the radio) Maybe it wasn’t even Tea. Women are disappearing all the time. Mistresses of Senators and Congressmen, Interns, lonely desperate wives…maybe it was someone else’s body they found. (Todd instantly turned the radio back on.)
Announcer: Ms. Delgado was taken a week ago to Seaside Memorial Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island to undergo specific forensic testing. More details as they unfold in this late breaking story.
Todd’s phone rang again, but this time it went straight to messaging and unbeknownst to him. Charlie was trying to get Todd to do the right thing, but it was nowhere near what Todd thought it was. Todd got out of his car and was immediately hit with stinging rain and powerful winds. He walked through the night storm, worthy of its company and fury. Todd ran recklessly through the rain, uncertain of his destination but confident that he was where he belonged. His heart ached for her. His soul was reaching out through the storm to be closer to her, even if it was only her body they now had possession of.
Todd: Teaaaaaaaaaaa! (He looked up to the Heavens.) Teaaaaaaaaaa! Why?? Why did you do this to me? Why did you do this to us? Teaaaaaaaaa! Teaaaaaaaaa!
He fell to his knees gripping the muddy earth below him, screaming in the agony of a love lost, a love fully unknown.
Todd: I needed you, Tea! I wanted you. (He bent his head down and fell into the wet, mucky dirt. He pulled the dirt in all around him, surrounding himself with a surrogate Tea. As he pulled the mud closer and closer, enveloping his body with its warmth he could only manage a muffled breath.) I love you, Tea. Why couldn’t you love me? Never mind. That’s easy. (Sadly, he lifted his body away from the mud, removing it swiftly and briskly from his body as if removing her away, pushing her away again. He raised his fists and his voice to the clouds, the rain pounding on his body and his face now with only one answer to the question of why she couldn’t love him…)
