"When You Can't Just Walk Away" XVI
by Myra Love
  Article # 477 Article Type: Weekly Serial

I saw three of the Razors spread out in the corner booth when I stepped into the deli. From across the room, I could tell Fogger was edgy. Jeremy and Mike just looked disoriented. Sean was missing. I wondered whether the police had stopped him after all and found the gun on him.
After about half an hour he walked in. “Okay,” he snarled, “which of you jerks ratted on me?” He stared from Fogger to Jeremy to Mike to me and back to Fogger again. A muscle in his cheek twitched. “My father locked the gun in his desk and hid the key,” he went on. “We’re royally screwed.”
I tried to keep my face from showing relief. Sean’s lip curled into a sneer. “Was it you, Mike?” he said, his voice trembling. “Did you just happen to spill the beans about our plans to your cousin in the state police?”
Mike glared at Sean. “No way!” he said. “I haven’t seen Joey in over a month and I never talk to him on the phone.”
“ What about you, Jeremy?” Fogger said in a conversational tone. “Did you say anything to anyone?”
Jeremy shook his head vigorously. “I didn’t say a word about our plans. Cross my heart!”
Both Fogger and Sean stared at me. I made myself laugh heartily. “You guys crack me up,” I said. “What do you think? Who could I tell? My father who only communicates with God? Or my mother who’s too scared to say boo to a blade of grass? Give me a break!”
“ What about the post office lady?” Sean asked with a nasty grin.
“ I tutor her kid, not her,” I replied.
Sean looked at Fogger. “That leaves you, big guy,” he said.
Fogger shook his head. “No, it leaves you. Maybe you’re all talk.”
I remembered what Andy said about setting Fogger and Sean against each other. I took a deep breath and relaxed into the booth.
“ Maybe we can get another gun,” Mike piped up.
Sean snorted. “Yeah, sure. Maybe Joey will sell us one.”
Mike shrank back into his seat. “It was just an idea.”
“ A dumb idea just like all of yours!” Sean snapped. He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “I just want to know who the rat is.”
“ Maybe there isn’t a rat,” Jeremy suggested. “Maybe your father realized you’d gone off with the gun the other day.”
Fogger shrugged. “Maybe so. But that still doesn’t solve our problem. We had a plan for tomorrow night and now it’s shot to hell.”
I cleared my throat. “You never really said what the plan was,” I ventured.
Fogger nodded. “That’s right.”
“ Well, we can’t come up with an alternative way of getting the job done unless we all hear the original plan,” I reasoned, trying to sound as if I wanted to do whatever it was Fogger and Sean had decided on.
“ What are you talking about, Buzzard?” Sean asked. He could barely keep the irritation out of his voice. “We’re screwed.”
“ Maybe not,” Fogger interjected. “Maybe we can still get our hands on the gun.”
“ I’ve tried breaking into the desk,” Sean said in a morose tone of voice. “It’s like Fort Knox.”
Fogger scratched his head. “The other alternative,” he said, emphasizing the word with a wink at me, “is to find the key. There aren’t that many places he could have hidden it. Your house is pretty small, and you don’t have a shed or a garage.”
Sean grunted. “True, but he could have taken it to work with him.”
“ Yeah, right,” Fogger said. “He could have left it in his non-existent desk in his non-existent office. Use your brain, Sean! There’s no place he could leave it at work.”
Sean’s father sold siding and his only office was his van.
“ Maybe he hid it in the van,” Jeremy suggested.
“ I checked the van,” Sean answered. “If it’s not on him, then he hid it in the house.”
Fogger nodded. “Okay, so we search the house.”
Sean rolled his eyes as if he were amazed at this stupidity. “He’s home watching TV.”
Fogger smirked. “If he’s watching TV, he won’t be watching us, will he?”
Sean shook his head. “And my mother and sister? They won’t be watching us either?”
Fogger cleared his throat. “How about tomorrow morning?”
Sean shrugged. “I don’t know. He has jobs most Saturdays, but he doesn’t start until afternoon. Usually he goes out around one.”
“ And the ladies?” Fogger asked with a sneer.
“ My mother and sister are supposed to go shopping and then visit my cousin. They’ll be out from around noon until it’s time to cook supper.”
“ Which is?”
“ Five or five-thirty, I guess. My father comes home after seven.”
“So we have four hours,” Fogger said thoughtfully. “We’ll have to have everyone on it though.” He looked from Mike to Jeremy to me, waiting for our nods. “We’ll meet at here at one.” He looked over at Sean. “Call me on my cell once the coast is clear, and we’ll take it from there.”
Everyone nodded, and we left the deli. I headed home to call Andy. I was sure he would want to know the latest even if the plan was still taking shape. Andy didn’t pick up, so I left a message. When eleven o’clock came around and he hadn’t called back, I gave up and went to bed.

It was almost noon on Saturday when he finally called back.
“ Thanks, Buzz! You’ve been a big help,” he said. “I think everything is under control now.”
“ But we’re going to Sean’s house to look for the key,” I protested.
“ What key?” Andy asked, sounding a little impatient.
“ The key to the desk where Mr. McCabe hid the gun.”
Andy laughed. “We have the gun, Buzz. The chief told him we’d put a safety lock on it for free. He didn’t particularly want a safety lock, but the chief convinced him that having one would make it harder for anyone to go after him legally if the gun fell into the wrong hands.”
“ Huh?”
“ If a kid got his hands on the gun, he’d have a hard time shooting himself. And if he did somehow, the lock would prove that Mr. McCabe had made a reasonable effort to keep the gun from harming anyone.” Andy sounded very pleased with himself.
“ But that’s not the problem here,” I protested. “Unless the safety lock is so hard to open that the Razors can’t do it, what’s the point?”
“ The point is that the gun is in our hands, not Sean’s,” Andy retorted.
“ Yeah, but for how long?” I argued.
“ Long enough to stop anyone from getting shot with it tonight,” Andy replied. “I have to go. Thanks again, Buzz.”
I slammed the phone down. What a crock! The gun would have to go back to Mr. McCabe someday. When it did, Sean could get his hands on it, and the Razors would be back in business. I thought about phoning Miss Carswell to complain. I looked up at the clock and it was half past noon. In a half-hour I’d meet up with the guys. What the hell! I thought. Then I picked up the receiver and dialed Miss Carswell’s number.
She didn’t pick up. I was surprised how panicky that made me. I took a deep breath and tried again. Still no answer. I’d have to figure this out on my own, and I wasn’t sure I could. I sat down in the living room and tried to imagine what she would say. I was pretty sure she’d tell me not to go to the deli to meet up with the Razors, but I felt I had to or face another beating. I shook my head and got up to go.
I was scared Sean would figure out that I had ratted. But I was also curious about how Sean and Fogger would deal without the gun. As I put on my jacket I could feel my heart beat fast with excitement and anxiety. I started for the door and was just about to open it when my father’s voice stopped me.
“ Son,” he said warmly, “I need to talk with you.”
When I faced him, I noticed that his eyes weren’t focusing. He looked scared. I felt impatient but also a little sorry for him. “Can it wait until later?” I asked gruffly.
He shook his head. “No, it can’t. Your mother is going to drive me to the hospital in a few minutes. I can’t see anything out of my right eye.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s sit down,” I said as gently as I could.
He settled on the sofa, steadying his elbows on his knees. I sat down on the chair across from him.
“ I want you to take good care of your mother if something happens to me,” he said. “Promise me!”
“ Of course I will,” I replied, feeling irritated. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
“ Promise me anyway,” he demanded.
“ Okay, I promise,” I said. “But nothing is going to happen to you.”
He shook his head. “I heard a voice in my dream telling me to prepare to meet my savior. I have a brain tumor, son.”
“ You don’t know that,” I countered. Don’t expect the worst.”
He smiled at me, and I was surprised at how kind the smile was. Was this my father? Maybe he did have a brain tumor. I looked at the clock. It was ten to one.
“ Was there something more you wanted to say to me?” I asked him.
He shook his head again. “Your mother will be back this evening. She can tell you what my room number is. I hope you’ll come to see me in the hospital.”
“ Dad! They might not keep you. You’re probably fine.”
He smiled again. “I know you don’t want to believe it, son.” He sighed and his eyes teared up. “I didn’t want to believe it when my father died either.”
“ YOU’RE NOT DYING!” I shouted at him. I felt myself turn red and immediately lowered my voice. “I mean, I’m sure there are lots of things that could be causing your eye problem, and most of them aren’t fatal.”
My mother walked in with a small overnight bag. “Has he given you his message from the Lord?” she asked me. “Not everyone gets a death warning. I’m impressed.”
I wasn’t sure if she was serious or sarcastic. Her face was totally closed.
“ God works in mysterious ways,” she said, and I decided she was serious. I rolled my eyes and nodded.
“ Well then,” she added with a faint smile, “we’ll be going. There’s stew in the refrigerator. You can heat it up if I’m not back in time for supper.” She grabbed my father by the arm and said, “Up and away, old man!”
He got to his feet and turned to me one more time. “I love you, son. God bless.” And then they walked out the door.
It was five to one when I left to meet up with the Razors. I could have jogged to get there on time, but my ankle still hurt too much. Besides I was in no hurry. If they left for Sean’s house without me, so much the better! My father’s unexpected illness gave me a perfect excuse for being late.
As I walked down the street I realized that his illness gave me a perfect excuse for not showing up at all. But I didn’t turn around. Though I was nervous, I really wanted to know what would happen next.

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