Eighty-six
Hand in hand, Wally and Kali walked up the path to the front door of Marty's house.
"I'll swing back here at 8:00 p.m. to pick you up for dinner. Is that enough time?" Wally asked politely. He was getting excited with the plans that were forming in his head.
"Yes, I just need to hop in the shower and change into some fresh clothes," Kali answered. She turned to face him directly. "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," he said smiling. "We're going someplace very special!" he replied excitedly.
"Hmmm, you have me intrigued," Kali murmured, leaning against him. "I'll be ready at 8:00. Just don't be late," she teased.
"Late? Me? impossible!" Wally answered, smiling from ear to ear. He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her into a deep kiss.
Suddenly the front porch light came on, illuminating the startled couple in what seemed like one million watts of brilliant light.
"Hi Wally! Glad to see you brought my niece back home in one piece!" Marty called out.
"Uh, yeah. Right." Wally answered.
"Want to come inside?" Marty asked, holding the door open wide.
"No thanks, I've got to run home and change, but I'll be back in an hour to pick Kali up," Wally answered.
"Oh?" Marty asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where do you think you two are going on a school night?" he said in a parental tone of voice.
"I don't have any classes tomorrow…" Kali began.
"Well, DAD, if you must know, I have a very special, romantic evening in mind," Wally said, his eyes twinkling mischievously at Kali, "But, that's all I'm saying." Wally folded his arms across his chest.
"You sure you want to go with this Casanova?" Marty teased.
In answer to Marty's question, Kali stepped closer to Wally and wrapped her arms around him. "Absolutely," she replied confidently.
Wally pulled Kali closer and affectionately kissed her on the top of her head.
"Guess that's that then," Marty said, disappearing back into the house.
"I'd better get going," Wally said, hating the very thought of leaving her so soon. But, if things go as planned, he reasoned, tonight would be a night to remember.
After saying their good-byes, Wally hopped into his car and peeled off down the street, anxious to get home and change.
He weaved his way in between traffic, dodging cars and switching lanes, desperate to get home. Horns blared at his wild driving, but Wally was determined to get home and back to Kali as soon as possible.
It wasn't a long drive, but there was more traffic this evening than usual. He had just shifted back into the right lane when it suddenly came to a standstill. All the traffic in the passing lane, on his left, continued to speed by. "Isn't that just the way it goes," Wally grumbled, shaking his head.
Growing impatient, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel glaring at long line of red brake lights on the cars ahead of him. Glancing to his left, he spotted an opening between cars in the next lane and jerked the steering wheel hard to claim his place.
Success! He was moving again! He smiled and sighed with relief and triumph as he whizzed past the line of the unmoving cars on his right. He cheered to himself, thankful for his quick reflexes.
As he approached the nearing intersection, he saw the reason for the stagnated traffic. There had been a car accident in the intersection and the police had placed road barricades and detour signs directing traffic down another road.
Wally sighed, turning his steering wheel, directing his car down the detour street. This detour was taking him in the opposite direction of his apartment. He would never make it home and back to Marty's house in time, he realized. What was he going to do now?
Wally continued following the detour signs taking him farther and farther from his apartment and Marty's house. With each turn, he grew more frustrated and angry. Annoyed, he glanced as his watch and shook his head angrily. It was 7:15 p.m.; he now had less than 45 minutes to get home, shower, change clothes, and get back to Kali. He didn't have time for the delay this traffic was causing and taking this circuitous route was not helping any.
Another five minutes passed while Wally's car sat, third in line, at the next traffic light. He watched in agony as the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again….
"Now what?" he groaned. "Why aren't we moving?" he asked, straining his neck to see what was holding up the traffic.
From where Wally sat, he couldn't see anything unusual at the intersection. Did the driver in the first car fall asleep or something? he wondered, rolling down his window and sticking his head out.
Hanging halfway out his car window, Wally tried to get a better look at the road ahead of him. From this angle, he could make out a police officer standing in the middle of the intersection, talking into his police radio. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the line of traffic waiting at the light.
Why didn't he signal for the traffic to pass? he wondered, as he watched the police officer chatting away.
Growing more impatient, Wally decided to exit his car and have a chat with the officer. As he opened his car door and stepped out of his car, his right foot slipped out from underneath him. Lying on his back, in the street, he stared up into the dark starry sky. "Why, me? Why?" he asked aloud.
"Got a problem, buddy?"
Wally saw the dark silhouette of a man standing in the street beside him. The bright headlights shining into his eyes from the cars behind the man made it impossible for Wally to see this man's facial features.
Wally slowly rolled over onto his stomach and unsteadily rose to his feet. "Ow. Ow. Ow," he said in pain.
"Need some help?" the man asked, slipping an arm around Wally.
"Uh… no thanks, I got it," Wally said uncomfortably, limping away from the man.
"Okay…" the man replied cheerfully, disappearing into the darkness.
What's with that man? Wally wondered, looking in the general direction the man had disappeared.
"Is this your car, sir?"
Wally spun around. "OW!" he muttered under his breath, shifting all his weight to his left leg. He must have sprained his ankle, he realized, bending down to rub his sore ankle.
"Sir?"
Wally looked up to see who was addressing him.
Standing in front of him was the police officer he had spotted talking on the radio in the intersection.
"Yes?" Wally replied, standing up, being careful not to put much weight on his sore ankle.
"Is this your car?" the officer repeated, pointing to Wally's car.
"Yes it is officer," Wally answered, noticing that there were no longer any cars in front of his.
"May I see your Drivers License?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh, officer, that's okay. I can get in my car and move it…"
"Your Driver's License?" the police officer repeated.
Wally sighed and reached for his wallet, but it was gone. "That man stole my wallet!"
"Sir?"
"The man who was just here stole my wallet!" Wally exclaimed. "Did you see him?"
"There was no one here."
"I was JUST talking to him! Didn't you see him?" Wally insisted.
"What did he look like?" the officer asked dubiously.
"I don't know…" Wally answered, realizing he had seen nothing but a dark silhouette.
"Right. Please move your car off the road, sir," the officer commanded, directing the line of cars behind Wally's to go around Wally's car.
Wally glanced at his watch. It read 7:30 PM. "Officer, I'm in kind of a hurry…"
"Good, then you won't take too much of my time," the officer shot back.
Wally gingerly stepped into his car and pulled it off the road.
"Step out of the car, please," the officer requested, standing in the beam of the headlights, directly front of Wally's car.
Wally sighed and stepped out of his car.
"Your Driver's License and Car Registration, please," the officer said, filling out a traffic ticket.
"I told you, my wallet was stolen!" Wally repeated sternly.
"Driving without a license and without a car Registration…" the officer said, jotting Wally's license plate number down.
"I have the Registration in the car," Wally replied annoyed.
"May I see it please?" the officer said without looking up.
"Just a minute," Wally responded climbing into the car and retrieving the information from his glove compartment.
"Here you go, officer," Wally said, handing the Registration over to the officer.
The officer copied the information from the Registration and handed it back to Wally.
"Have you been drinking, sir?" the officer asked suspiciously.
"No sir."
"You're not walking straight. I think I'll give you a breathalyzer test," the officer said, walking to his patrol car.
"I have not been drinking! I twisted my stupid ankle!" Wally shouted after the policeman.
Either the officer did not hear Wally or did not care because he proceeded to his car for his breathalyzer machine.
"Oh great! For crying out loud!" Wally yelled, angrily stamping his sore foot. "OW!"