8. Deliberations of The Mind's Jury ("Thanks, Kim.")

Friday night.
William opened the door to his apartment and entered. He closed the door and leaned back against it. He was out of breath, just like his last trip to the bookstore. But this time there was also an anxiousness - as if he was carrying some sort of contraband. He stood there until the thudding of his heart in his chest settled a little. Between that and the uneasiness in his stomach that started again at the second encounter with Angelica, William thought that he now had a small insight into what a heart attack must feel like.

After what seemed like a half hour, William felt as though he could move again. He sat down in front of the couch and emptied his pockets, placing the items on the floor in front of him, in the order which Angelica had given them to him. He unfolded the piece of notebook paper and spread it out on the carpet. To its right, the black velvet box...the white candle...and the scroll. He then clasped his hands together, his chin resting on his thumbs, his index fingers extended, gently tapping his lips, the rest of his fingers interlocked, his elbows on his knees, his legs crossed indian-style.

William read "The Rules" over and over again.

"Clear your mind and heart of EVERYTHING EXCEPT:"

"She must be kidding," William said aloud. With all the mystery Angelica surrounded the items with when she gave them to him, she had to be certain that now nothing else was occupying his mind. He tried everything to rationalize this as just her form of pomp and dramatics to present him with an inexpensive bottle of cologne or some other trinket. For all he knew, the "scroll" might be nothing more than a letter of infatuation. No matter what he tried to apply to brush away the mystery, one thing that Angelica told him continued to break in and smash his logic:

"If ya break even one of the rules, the rest doesn't mean diddly."

William continued to look back and forth slowly over the items. Everything was very clean, as if it had just been purchased. This further clouded the "street person" concept of Angelica. The only thing "street" about her were her clothes. So it was with the items. No dirt on anything. The only thing that looked "worn" was the scroll - the same sort of worn as the paper with the image of Kim Possible that Angelica had given him on Wednesday. The paper with The Rules looked as if it had been hastily ripped from a three-ring binder - but other than that... It looked as if Angelica had only folded it for the first time before presenting it to William. The penmanship was impeccable. A "street person" most likely wouldn't have access to a desk or table to sit at, with the proper posture to be able to write this perfectly. The ends of the string used to tie the box and the scroll were cut neatly - not like they were broken by pulling the string apart. The candle didn't have a mark or scratch anywhere on the wax. It was almost as if no one had handled it before he picked it up.

William wanted to curse Angelica for being so mysterious.
William wanted to unrwap the box.
William wanted to open the box.
William wanted to unwrap the scroll.
William wanted to light the candle.
William wanted to EAT The Rules.

The rising sun began to peek from behind the building across the street. William decided that eating breakfast sounded better than eating The Rules - and then at least some sleep. He couldn't tell if the feeling in his stomach was just hunger - or the continuing uneasy feeling he'd had since Wednesday - or the beginning of an ulcer. An ulcer at 20. Lovely. If it was an ulcer, he wouldn't know whether to thank Marcy or Angelica.

William took in a long breath and let it out slowly through puffed cheeks. He stood up, removed his coat and threw it over the chair, and went into the kitchen. After making cereal and toast, Wiliam returned to the living room to eat, still looking at the items lined up on the floor. He then placed the cereal bowl on the table next to the couch, and laid down. He was still looking the items over when sleep finally overtook him a bit before 9.

Saturday night.
William awoke shortly before 6 in the evening. His eyes opened to the items on the floor as his first image. He didn't even bother to entertain the cliche "It wasn't just a dream" thought.

William wondered if sleeping during the day would affect work, and vowed to sleep more tonight to get back on schedule. He switched on the TV to the local news. The first story was about the event at the Shoreside Hilton friday night, and a short piece on the new member of the Board of Regents at Meridian Insurance.

Marcy.

William had actually forgotten all about the party to celebrate Marcy's achievement. I had my own little party, he rationalized. He gathered the items from the floor and placed them on the table next to the couch, in the same order. He then took the cereal bowl and went into the kitchen, taking a hamburger patty from the freezer and sliding it into a skillet.

William checked the online cable guide to make sure there wasn't another Proud Family marathon, and flipped to the Disney channel for this evening's episode of Kim Possible. Tonight she was to battle "The world's most dangerous golfer." while simultaneously trying to deal with a takeover of the cheerleading squad by Bonnie. In his "other" life, William would ask Wade about Angelica, and what meaning there could be to the items she gave him and the mystery she shrouded them in. No such luck here. The local college campus might hold some answers, through the forensics lab - but it was Saturday evening, and the college would be closed until Monday morning - after the Sunday night deadline spelled out in The Rules.

There it was again. The out-of-nowhere rationalization in William's mind that there might actually be some truth to The Rules. "If ya break even one of the rules, the rest doesn't mean diddly."

William took advantage of the commercial to turn his hamburger and get a bun out of the breadbox, putting it on a paper plate and adding some lettuce and a slice of tomato from the fridge. He peeked around the corner at the TV, and the commercial for the bookstore was on again. :::Come to Bound Dreams...and give your wishes wings....:::

"Or a blue stocking cap?" said William. He then gave a "pfffft" and returned to the stove, stabbing his hamburger with a fork and sliding it onto the bun. He threw the fork into the sink, retrieved a bottle of Coke Classic from the fridge, and returned to the couch to watch the rest of the Kim Possible episode. He glanced once more at the items laid out on the table, then turned his attention to the TV, just as Kim had pointed out to Duff Killagan that his "super grass" had dandelions:

:::See every one of these little cottony things? They're seeds - every one of them.:::

:::Aye....so?:::

:::So make a wish...:::

This stopped William right in the middle of taking a bite of his hamburger. "Et Tu, Kim?" he said at the screen in a low voice. He slapped the half-eaten burger down onto the plate and the plate onto the table.

William lay back on the couch just as Kim uttered the line in the episode:

:::You know? Suddenly...I couldn't be happier for you.:::

William looked at the screen. "Thanks, Kim," he muttered in a half-sarcastic tone, and clicked the "off" switch on the remote. William rolled over on the couch, facing away from the TV...and fell asleep just after 7.

to be continued...