Chapter 7: The Dark Building
Sherlock opened the door for me and I climbed in, him following behind. I looked at him, biting my lip, waiting for him to scold me for running away. Instead he pulled off his hotel hat, wiped off his fake mustache and sat with his hands steepled under his chin and his eyes closed. I watched him for a moment and then asked "Are we going to meet my mother?"
His silver blue eyes flipped open and he looked at me. However he did not answer my question, instead he asked one of his own. "Are you hungry?"
I stared at him, ready to say no when my stomach grumbled. Sherlock took that as a yes. "Take us through one of those American drive-through things." He said waving his hand. He then resumed his position with the steepled hands and closed eyes.
"Which one?" The driver asked. I stared at my father but he never replied, so I decided I would.
"Can we go to McDonald's?" I asked. Mum never took me to McDonalds. She did not like junk food. The only time I was ever allowed to have McDonalds was when I was forced to go on those blasted play dates with Alicia. I waited for my father to say no, but when no reply came I watched anxiously out my window for the golden yellow arches. My stomach grumbled again and I looked at the time on the dash. It was already 6 o'clock and the sun was basically set. No wonder I was so hungry.
When we pulled up to McDonald's I decided to push my luck. "Can we go in?" I asked longingly looking at the play structure.
"No." My father replied, not moving from his stance. I sighed and sat back as the car pulled up to the menu board.
"What d'ya want?" The driver asked.
"A Chicken McNugget Happy Meal please, with fries and chocolate milk!" I looked again at my father and said to the driver a bit quieter "and a McFlurry. M-n-M please." I knew that with my mother I'd never get away with that, but my father didn't seem to care. The driver ordered my food and pulled up to the next window. I turned to Sherlock, "Aren't you going to eat?" I asked him.
He opened one eye and looked at me. "I don't eat while I'm working. Digestion slows me down." He said and then closed his eyes again.
The driver passed back my food and I scarfed down my Chicken McNuggets and fries and had started into my McFlurry when we arrived at an odd building. There were no lights on the outside or inside of the building, and no light in any direction as far the eyes could see. "Cut the headlights." Sherlock told the driver who immediately obliged. He turned to me and looked sternly into my eyes. "I need to go inside to gather more data." He told me. "Stay here. Do not leave." Then he turned to the driver again. "Don't let her out of the car for any reason. She's clever. Don't let her fool you." He glanced back at me and said "I mean it. Stay put. The last thing I need right now is having to chase you around." With that he jumped out of the car and walked towards the dark building.
I sat there in silence with the driver for 15 minutes, me eating my food and the driver watching for the return of my father. Finally after all of my food was gone I started to get bored. What was he doing in there? And where was my mum? It was almost 7 o'clock now. She had been gone all day. I wondered if she was back at the hotel looking for me, but I knew in my heart that she wasn't. Last night when she had put me to bed, she had hugged me a little bit too tight I suddenly remembered, and I had seen a tear on her cheek. I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them tightly. I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to think about any of this. I wanted to be back at my house, in my bed, cuddling with Dolly.
I picked up my toy from McDonalds, looking for a distraction. It was a small toy Nerf gun with two round discs as bullets. I pointed it at the roof of the car and shot it. The driver glared at me through the rear view mirror. I shot the window and it bounced back and hit me. I picked up my bullets and loaded my gun again. This time I shot the back of the driver's seat and he jumped and shouted out "Bloody hell! Knock 'at off, would ya?" I sat quietly for a moment before reaching to retrieve the bullet again. Then I held out my gun again and hit the rear view mirror. The foam circle bounced off and hit the drivers cap. "Knock it off you little demon." He told me, rolling down the window and throwing my ammunition out.
I glared at him, fingering my little gun and last bullet. I was quiet bored and tired of waiting now. Then I got an idea. "Uh-oh" I said and started to wiggle around in my seat.
The driver looked in the rear view mirror, glowering at me. "What?" He barked.
I looked at him with innocent eyes again. "I have to go potty." I said, really starting to dance around. He cussed and looked around, hoping to see my father I am sure.
"Uh. Can't you hold it?" He asked, glancing anxiously into the darkness. "There really isn't anywhere for you to go." I shook my head, doing my best to look innocent. "Bloody hell." I heard him cuss again. He got out of the car and looked around with a small flashlight. While he was doing that I tried to open my door, but it was locked. I sighed and then thought of something.
I climbed over the front seat and opened up the door. I reached out and grabbed my circle toy and went to climb into the back, but I accidentally knocked his cup over into his seat. Just as I climbed back into my seat he yanked open the door and got in. "You're gonna hafta hold it." He told me grumpily. Then a look of confusion crossed his face. "What the? Oh hell. You didn't pee in my seat did you?"
I laughed and then bit my lip. "No. But I accidentally spilt your drink. I'm sorry." I told him, unleashing the full power of my silver blue eyes on him. He cussed under his breath again and did his best to stand up in the car and mop up the mess with some napkins he had up front.
It was 7:30 when my father came back out. He opened up the car door and told the cabby to drive in an out of breath voice. As we drove away there was an explosion in the building behind us. I jumped up to turn around and watch, looking at my father momentarily to see him simply sit in his usual steepled hands, eyes closed manner. Only this time, his shoulders hung a bit more and he looked almost sad. I turned around and sat down again, dropping my toy gun, no longer feeling like playing games.