Tea and Secrets-Part Two
Best Buy
Saturday, December 20, 2003
1:30 PM
An iPod.
The colonel stared down at the object, still in its packaging. It was supposed to play music—that much he knew—though he couldn't see for the life of him how the thing was supposed to work. He remembered Lee when he was a teenager and he'd bought him a hi-fi—the mechanics of that had seemed pretty straightforward. But this—so many buttons and that tiny screen.
Would Jenna know how to use it? She probably would, the colonel reasoned. Weren't all kids supposed to be tech savvy these days? She'd probably love to have one of these—providing she didn't have it already, of course.
The problem was that he just didn't know—especially when it came to kids and teenagers. That was why it had been a hell of a lot easier to just take Lee to the store and let him pick out the present he wanted. And a lot easier to just send Jenna a gift card. But now—
"Can I help you, sir?"
The colonel looked down to see a young dark-haired girl, wearing a blue polo shirt and a nametag that identified her as 'Melody, Sales Associate.'
"Yes," he told her. "I'm trying to find a present for my great-niece and I'm afraid that I'm not sure what to get."
"How old is she?" Melody asked.
"Fourteen—but she'll be turning fifteen soon."
"And what kind of stuff is she into? Movies? TV Shows? Computers? Cameras? Phones? Gaming?" Melody barked out the choices in a rapid-fire fashion, reminding him of a military training instructor from his Academy days.
"I—ahh—" If his head could spin he was certain it would be spinning now. "I'm afraid I don't know," he managed finally. "She has a cell phone with a camera, but she doesn't spend an awful lot of time on it."
"Any hobbies?"
Hobbies—there had been dancing, but that was when she was younger—Jenna had told him that she liked geology but he had a feeling that this store didn't carry anything in that line. "I don't know," he said again. "I'm retired military, you see—I've only settled here recently." Melody said nothing in reply—the look on her face suggested that she thought he was from another planet. "I was thinking about this." He showed her the package.
Melody's face cleared. "Oh that's the third-generation iPod with the all-touch interface. How many GBs would you like with that?"
"GBs?" the colonel repeated uncertainly.
"Gigabytes," Melody said. "We have the 20 GB and the 40 GB models available. How many songs do you think she might load onto it?"
He was about to tell her that he had no idea what she was talking about when a familiar voice interrupted him—he turned to see Mrs. Murphy, standing beside him.
"What's the difference in price?" Mrs. Murphy asked.
"About fifteen dollars," Melody replied.
"I see," Mrs. Murphy nodded. "And how many more songs does 40 GB allow you to download?"
"About 5000 more than the 20 GB," Melody said. "Depending on the size of the songs."
"Well—in that case, I'd like the 40 GB model," the colonel told her.
Melody smiled. "I can take care of that for you right away, sir."
"And we'll have a gift receipt for that as well," Mrs. Murphy added.
SMK SMK SMK SMK
"I really have to thank you," the colonel told Mrs. Murphy as they walked out into the parking lot. "I'm afraid that I didn't have the faintest idea what I was buying in there—or even what language that girl was speaking."
"Well teenagers can be hard to buy for—believe me, I know," Mrs. Murphy said. "That's why I usually get my Patrick a gift card and let him buy what he likes."
"To tell you the truth, that's what I usually do for Jenna," The colonel popped open the trunk of his car, putting the Best Buy bags alongside the other bags. "But this is the first Christmas that I'll be spending with my nephew and his family—I guess I just wanted to make it special."
"That's understandable," Mrs. Murphy replied. "And I'm sure Jenna will love the new iPod—oh dear—would you look at that?"
"Look at what—oh." the colonel's gaze followed Mrs. Murphy's finger and then he saw it—his two front tires—two flat front tires. When had that happened? His tires had looked just fine this morning. One tire he could've dealt with on his own—but two—his heart sank. Mrs. Murphy put a hand on his arm.
"Listen—this is not a problem," she said. "Do you have roadside assistance?"
He had to think for a minute. "I think so, yes."
"Then you can call them on my cell phone—and we'll have a nice coffee why we're waiting," Mrs. Murphy said. "How does that sound?"
"Sounds wonderful," the colonel said. "And I have to thank you again, Mrs. Murphy."
The woman's smile widened. "All part of what the Veteran's Aid Society does, Colonel Clayton."
SMK SMK SMK SMK
Starbucks Coffee
2:15 PM
"Here we go then," Mrs. Murphy placed the cup in front of him. "Two sugars and no cream—just the way you said you like it."
"Thank you," the colonel said. "It's not a cappuccino or anything like that, right?"
"No." The woman shook her head firmly as sat down beside him. "Plain old Colombian coffee— that's my favorite."
"Well, great minds think alike," the colonel replied, taking a sip. Slightly bitter, he thought—but not bad—maybe he'd visit Starbucks more often in the future. "You have to let me pay you back for the coffee, though."
"Not at all," Mrs. Murphy smiled. "It's my treat, colonel—at any rate you need something warm while waiting for the auto club."
"Yeah." The colonel took another sip—it really was a pleasant brew—very pleasant indeed. "So tell me—how did you get involved in all this?"
"Well, I was retired," Mrs. Murphy began. "I had been with the post office for twenty years or so—saved up a tidy sum, as they say. But the idea of retirement didn't exactly appeal to me." She paused. "I guess you could say that I still felt I had a lot to contribute."
"I know the feeling," the colonel said. The idea of retirement hadn't exactly appealed to him either—he liked to be busy—the idea of just sitting there watching TV or puttering around the garden hadn't exactly been appealing. "So you thought you'd volunteer?"
"Ahh—well that's the funny thing—I guess you could say that I stumbled upon it accidentally."
"Accidentally?" he repeated.
Another smile. "Exactly. I was at home and one of the volunteers came to my door—she was bringing a meal to my next-door neighbor but she was frightened of his dog—I helped her out and that was that." She paused. "I know that sounds a little strange."
"No, not at all." The colonel replied. Mrs. Murphy looked at him rather strangely—he hastened to explain. "My nephew's wife—she sort of came into her profession the same way—as an accident." He stopped himself from saying anymore—shouldn't have even started down that road to begin with, and part of him wasn't quite sure why he had. Mrs. Murphy continued to look at him. "Sometimes the best things are the ones we just stumble across."
"Isn't that the truth," Mrs. Murphy said. "You know, my sister and her husband bought an RV—they spend their retirement traveling to different places. I always thought that sounded quite nice."
"Not me." The colonel shook his head. "Had quite enough of that in the Air Force, thank you."
"Still, there must be places that you enjoyed—that you'd like to visit again?"
"Sure, a few places." He began to feel warm inside as he spoke; warm and relaxed. "There was Fort Walton Beach, in Florida—nice area—good fishing all year round."
"Sounds lovely," Mrs. Murphy agreed. "What base is that near?"
"Eglin Air Force Base—though it's closer to Valparaiso."
"Was that a nice base?" she asked him.
"About the same as all the others," the colonel said. "I remember that Lee once told me that if you've seen one base, you've seen them all."
"Lee? That's your nephew, right?"
"Right, Lee."
"Surely there must have been something—I don't know—special about the base?"
Special? Part of him thought that was a strange question, but at the same time he found his mouth opening to answer her. "Well it is assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command Air Armament Center."
"Really?" A flicker of interest in her eyes. "What can you tell me about that?"
"It's responsible for developing, acquiring, testing and deploying air-based weapons."
"Like missiles?"
"Yes, missiles—and other things." He needed to stop; he realized. Stop before this got out of hand—only his head felt so strange—fuzzy—at that moment a man holding a clipboard and wearing a hat with an Auto Club logo entered the shop, looking around. The colonel felt relief flowing through him.
"Excuse me." He stood quickly. "I'll just deal with this."
"Yes, of course." For one moment he thought he'd seen anger flickering in her eyes but just as quickly it was gone—replaced by a bright smile. "I'll be waiting right here."
SMK SMK SMK SMK
"I don't understand," the colonel said. "You're telling me there's no tire damage?"
"None at all," the man from the auto club replied. "No leaks—nothing like that—looks to me like someone just let the air out of both of your tires while you were in the store."
"Who would do something like that?" he asked.
The man shrugged. "Dunno—kids, probably—probably just bored and looking for kicks."
All this trouble because some kids were bored—silently the colonel thanked God that Jenna was nothing like that. "So after you put air in them and they should be fine, right?"
"Good as new," the man grinned. "Shouldn't take but a moment or two, Colonel Clayton."
"Thank you." The cold air felt good against his face, clearing his head—the strange fuzzy feeling he'd had in the coffee shop was starting to disappear. At that moment he spotted Mrs. Murphy, walking towards him across the parking lot.
"You didn't come back," she explained breathlessly. "I guess I was a bit worried. So, what's the problem?"
"Well it looks like someone let the air out of two of my tires," the colonel told her. "Once they're inflated there shouldn't be any problems."
He could see the shock in her eyes. "But who would do a thing like that?"
"Lord only knows—kids, probably. I can't thank you enough for staying here with me—I only hope I didn't throw off your schedule too badly."
"Not at all." She patted his arm. "I enjoyed the company—and thank you for the enlightening discussion."
"You're very welcome." What had they discussed, exactly? He couldn't quite recall. It had been pleasant though—that much he did remember. "Hopefully I'll see you again soon."
"Oh yes," Mrs. Murphy replied. "You can count on that. Have a very good day, Colonel."
SMK SMK SMK SMK
From the safety of her own car Mrs. Murphy watched as the colonel slowly pulled out of his parking space. He should be all right for driving, she thought—she had been careful not to give him too much—the man would be useless to them dead. At that moment her cell phone rang; she picked it up and flipped it open.
"Murphy speaking."
"How did it go?" he asked. "Did you get anything?"
"A little," she replied. "I'll be putting it all in my report. I'm afraid we were interrupted before I could get too far, but he had an excellent response to the drug."
"Well that was the main objective of this little exercise," he told her. "Now your next objective is to get him somewhere alone—where there will be no interruptions."
"No problem, love." A small smile played over Mrs. Murphy's lips. "That shouldn't be any problem at all."
TBC