You're in luck! I managed to finish this chapter off just before bedtime last night (while battling my new kitten for rights to the keyboard). Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 11
Utterly dejected after the complete flop that was my meeting with Brandon Haze, I made my way back to Trenton and threw myself straight into tracking my latest skip. Anthony Rosetti was arrested for possession of illegal substances – pot – and charged with assault on a police officer when he resisted arrest. To be fair, the police officer was attempting to lure him to the car using the brownies found in the kitchen. Rosetti – obviously high as a kite at the time - assumed that the officer was trying to steal said brownies and responded accordingly. I'd like to agree with everyone and say he was out of line, but come on! This is a person's baked goods we're talking about. You don't mess with baked goods. Especially when the owner themselves are baked.
I sat at my computer and typed his name into Google to see what would come up in a very basic search before I moved on to the programs I'd acquired from Ranger. I felt stupid using such a broad search engine, but the moment I hit send on my request, I squashed down my concerns. The first result that came up was Rosetti's Facebook page. I clicked through to his profile without hesitation and celebrated with a mini happy dance when I found that he had basically no privacy on the page. If he posted it there, anyone could see it. And he was the type to check in wherever he went!
Scrolling through the content of his page, I started noting down the places he'd checked-in in the last two weeks. McDonald's and Cluck in a Bucket were frequent, along with the movie theatre, but others that appeared fairly regular from the quick search I did of previous posts were the video game store on Hamilton on Wednesdays, the hobby shop at the mall on Fridays, and a questionable meeting hall on the north side of town on Saturday mornings to play Dungeons and Dragons – according to his about section he was a level 23 Druid who wielded the coveted Sword of Enlightenment. Whatever that meant.
Alongside that list, I added the people he frequently interacted with online, or tagged in his posts. On a few occasions I attempted to view their profiles as well, but no one was as stupid as Rosetti. I never got more than a profile pic and hometown, which was about as useful as a tennis racket when you needed an oar.
I knew from the information Connie had given me that he was unemployed, but I'd learned enough about his routine from my Facebook search that it didn't matter that he didn't have that easy, predictable routine of going to work every day. I decided to try and catch up with him at the video store, which meat I didn't really have anything to do until early afternoon the next day.
With my plan all squared away and my notes safely in the folder with the rest of my the information I had on Rosetti, I returned my attention to the problem of getting training. Aunt Beth's inherent helpfulness in the form of an arrogant man with a limp had fallen tough and I was on my own again until I could find a suitable and affordable tutor. The Merry Men would be more than willing to train me, I knew, but that wasn't the road I wanted to take. I wanted to show Ranger that I could do it on my own, and using his men wasn't going to achieve that.
I bookmarked a couple of boot camps that worked on fitness ad strength training and sent in a few enquiries to martial arts schools that offered a free trial before you signed up. It was a starting place, and I guess, and that was better than running to McDonald's every morning and then hobbling home.
8o8
The video game store was practically empty when I entered, apart from the cases lining the walls, the oversized inflatable character in the corner, the clerk and one customer. I'd tried to dress to blend so that I didn't stick out like a sore thumb, but with no one else in the story, I was kind of obvious. Working my way through the shelves, I took in some of the most violent covers I'd ever seen and couldn't believe they were able to have these out on display. Didn't kids come in here?
I was flipping through the discount bin, wondering what was so appealing about a game where everything had corners and the goal was to build more things with corners, when the clerk approached, his nerd glasses ever so slightly askew on his face.
"Can I help you ma'am?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly on the last word.
I shuddered. If there was one thing I couldn't take, it was being called ma'am. It made me feel like an old biddy. Ma'am were the ladies at golf clubs who were actually there to play golf, or strict headmistress type women with severe French Twists in their hair and pearls around their necks. Not a woman in jeans and a sweatshirt, staring blankly at x-box cases, trying to act like there wasn't pepper spray in her pocket, and handcuffs in her back.
"I'm looking for a gift for my nephew," I lied. I didn't have a nephew, obviously, and I certainly wasn't looking for a gift for said non-existent nephew. I did, however, have a mother who would have grounded me – yes, even at the age of 37, eighteen years after I moved out of her house – for telling lies. She wasn't here to witness it, thought, so it didn't really matter. What mama don't know won't hurt her, and all that. Although, I should make a mental note to be careful where I lie, since she has eyes and ears all over Trenton.
"What's he into?" the guy asked, adjusting his glasses. "What system? X-Box? Playstation? PC? Nintendo DS? Wii?"
Wee? Really? That was a game system now? When I was a kid, the only wee's we had were the ones that were shouted as we came down the slide, the ones the littles pig said all the way home and the ones we did in the toilet. I cast my eye around, hoping I wasn't blowing my cover. "Ummm… X-Box I think?"
"Okay," he nodded, smiling a little. "You're in the right section at least. Is it an X-Box One? 360?"
"What's the difference?" I asked, genuinely curious. How could there be three hundred and sixty versions of the same gaming system?
"X-Box one is the most recent console," the guy explained. That didn't make sense to me, but then again Star Wars is all over the place as well, so I guess it worked. I put those thoughts out of my head, trying – and failing – to follow the rest of his explanation. It was a good thing I didn't need the information he was rattling off.
Eventually, I ended up interrupting him. My eyes had begun glazing over and I needed to be alert for the moment that Anthony Rosetti came through that door "I'm pretty sure he's had the same system for years, if his complaints were anything to go by."
"X-Box 360, then," he said, like he was agreeing. "Does his have a Kinect?" I stared at him blankly. "We'll just stick to regular, shall we?" he answered himself. "These are the games that apply to you. Have a look through and see if anything jumps out at you. I'll be around if you need any help."
I nodded my thanks and returned to the flipping I had been doing prior to his interruption. I worked through each of the long lines green plastic cases, pausing occasionally when something caught my eye. There were quite a few different Batman games, including a lego one.
Looking at Batman made me think of Ranger, because they were practically the same person, and that caused a bubble of anger to expand in my chest. I still couldn't believe he'd pulled the carpet out from under me without giving me a heads up. I could have gotten myself in a lot of strife and not had any back up to get me out of it. And technically, I was still flying around without back up, unless I happened to catch Tank, Bobby or Lester off shift when I was in a crisis.
Ten minutes later, when I'd managed to swallow my frustration, Rosetti finally turned up. I was so happy to be saved from the bemused glances of the clerk-nerd that I almost got my hand stuck in my pocket while making sure the spray and cuffs were ready and accessible. I'd just turned from the X-Box games, playing casual as I tracked him through the store to the back corner, when my phone rang.
I was torn. On the one hand, it wasn't every day that I was in the same room as a skip, but on the other, the phone call could be something important. I glanced at the read out. Not a number I recognised. But it wasn't overseas, so the likelihood of it being a telemarketer was significantly decreased. Rosetti seemed to be engrossed in whatever he was looking at, so I took the chance and swiped to receive the call.
"Stephanie Plum speaking," I announced.
"Ah, Ms. Plum," an unfamiliar voice greeted. "We've received an enquiry about a Tae Kwon Do free trial. Would that be for yourself or –"
"Yes," I confirmed quickly, glancing over my shoulder to check that Rosetti was still there. "It's for me."
"Excellent," she enthused. "I'd just like to ask a few questions to help us better place you in a class, do you have a moment?"
"Uh, yeah," I said. "Sure. Of course."
"Brilliant. First off, what is your age?"
"37."
"Good. Have you ever participated in any kind of martial arts before?"
I rolled my eyes, I'd put this information in my enquiry! "No, I haven't."
"Okay. No problem. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your fitness level?"
"Uhh…" This one I had to think about. I knew I wasn't a ten, but I wasn't necessarily a one, either. Ones were overweight people who got shortness of breath walking across the street. "Probably, I don't know, a five?" I hedged. It seemed about right. I was average fitness for the average, non-working-out, American. Right? Really, I had no idea.
"Fantastic. And what would you say your reasons for considering Tae Kwon Do? Fitness, Leisure, Discipline, or Competition?"
"Uh… Fitness and discipline, I gue- Shit!" The bell over the door had jingled, drawing my attention. While I was distracted by my phone call, Rosetti had apparently finished his browsing, paid for whatever purchases he may have chosen and left. Blast!
"Ma'am?" the woman on the other end of the line enquired. Uhhhhhh, why must everyone call me ma'am lately. "Is everything alright?"
A sigh escaped my lips as I hurried to follow the skip out the door. "I just-," I tried to start explaining, searching the crowds on the sidewalk for signs of my skip, but he was nowhere to be seen. Just my luck. "You know what, never mind. Did you have any more questions?"
"No that seems to be it," she assured me. "Based on your answers, our Thursday night beginner session would suit you best. The lesson starts at 7.30pm and we recommend arriving ten minutes early to ensure you're ready to go on time. Please dress in loose clothing, something that's easy to move in. If you choose to continue lessons you will be presented with a uniform upon payment of your first term fees."
"Thanks," I said, still somewhat distracted. "Thursday, 7.30pm. I'll be there."
"Beautiful," she informed me. "See you then." And she was gone leaving me with dead air in my ear and a frustrated growl rising in my chest. Why could nothing go right for me lately?
I doubt I will have another update tomorrow. And I'm going away for the Queen's Birthday long weekend, so it will probably be at least midweek before I get more to you.
