Chapter Twenty-Two

(Hey, y'all!

Man, oh, man. Things are getting really crazy for me because I have finals for school and Christmas is almost here!

Speaking of Christmas, there are some people in this world who either don't have anyone to celebrate the upcoming holiday, the warm clothes, a roof over their heads, enough money or food. Try to take one day off and help somebody have a good holiday. Believe me; your deeds will really make a person's life have a big difference.

Fun Fact:

When Beatrice says that the Witch puts the 'ugh' in 'ugly', that line was actually a reference to another Wizard of Oz movie, The Wiz. It's a pretty good movie.

Anyway, here is the chapter that you have been waiting for.

Enjoy the story and life as it goes!

-imaginarytoon1)

Tommy:

Before Greasy met Beatrice, he was one of the most feared Toons in Toon Town, along with the other members of the Toon Patrol and the other toon weasels that have been known to scare other Toons. That's what Smarty told me and Cressida (He used a couple of malapropisms in the sentence but I'm not going to repeat any of them.). What even surprised me the most was when Smarty told us that Greasy was a serial killer before he joined the Toon Patrol and Cressida was also very shocked to hear that.

"Is that really true?" I asked.

"Yes, Thomas, it's 'chew'." Smarty replied.

"But if he was a criminal, how did Greasy join your patrol?" Cressida asked.

Wheezy found us talking while we walked and looked. He jumped in as soon as Cressida was finished with her question.

"*cough, cough, cough!* Greasy knew us before he became a serial killer." Wheezy replied. "We met during our years in high school and Greasy dropped out before he completed his first semester of being a junior. 'Money troubles', he says, 'and I'll try to figure out to find a good time to see all of you again'."

"And just like that? Greasy just left?" Cressida asked.

Wheezy inhaled on his burning cigarettes and blew out a cloud of smoke.

"Yeah. *cough!* Then, after our remaining high school years were over, Boss decided to form the Toon Patrol. 1935 was when our patrol was formed. Two years after that, we've been hearing about women, both human and Toon, getting murdered by consuming arsenic and the name that Greasy called himself back then was 'La Sombra', or 'The Shadow', when he committed those crimes. We didn't know that it was him who committed those murders." Wheezy inhales on his cigarettes and blows out a cloud that took the shape of a pistol. "Finally, Greasy got himself on the front page of the newspaper and at first, Boss was shocked but he figured that Greasy could be useful in our patrol. Three months later, Boss got Greasy out of jail and Greasy immediately agreed to the idea of joining the Toon Patrol. After our big reunion, Greasy began to think about the last girl that he murdered and sometimes at night, he would wake up in a cold sweat and act like he's actually talking to her. I helped Greasy get rid of the thoughts of the murdered girl and he immediately went from a lovesick weasel to a silent second-in-command officer who continued to have his ways of talking and messing with women."

"Whoa." I said.

"Greasy 'strayed' like that for a while until he saw Beatrice at the Acme Factory." Smarty said. "He wasn't being himself."

"Yeah." Wheezy coughed. "All he began to think about was Beatrice herself. At first, I thought that Greasy was acting like he was in love but as you, Valiant, and Beatrice began to look for Acme's will, I realized that Greasy was very serious about being in love with Beatrice and he tried to take every opportunity during the interactions with Valiant to try to convince Beatrice that he really does like her and she should like him back."

"That never really worked out, huh?" Cressida asked.

"You could say that."

As soon as Wheezy said 'that', something that was ten feet away from me catches my attention.

It was something in red and I knew that it looked very familiar.

I took off running towards the thing in red and I picked it up after I was close enough.

"Fahrenheit 451." I whispered.

Then, I noticed a tear mark on the cover and I realized that the cover was made of cloth. I peeled off the cover as I heard Smarty, Wheezy (who was coughing and wheezing as he ran), and Cressida were running towards me.

"What's that, Tommy?" Cressida asked. "A book?"

"No, it's not a book." I replied. "It's my dad's journal."

"Why is your dad's 'kernel' in these woods?" Smarty asked.

"My dad gave Beatrice his journal before she left the house. He told her in sign language that in his journal, he wrote down something that was meant to be kept in secret until Beatrice and I were old enough to understand. I think Greasy, Flasher, Slimy, Sleazy, and Penelope should come over here because this is probably something that we're going to discuss as a group."

…..

Greasy:

As I continued to look, my worrying began to increase minute by minute. I can't find muchacha anywhere in the woods and I'm so worried.

What if she's bleeding to death somewhere in these woods? I thought. What if someone picked her up and began to torture her? What if we never find muchacha?

Then, I began to think about the other things that muchacha told me about. I began to recall her telling me about being called a 'bad luck penny' by her mom, how she thinks that she's not good enough, and when she kept everything to herself when she found out that I was a serial killer.

"Oh, muchacha." I said to myself. "You deserve to have better life than being called a 'bad luck penny' by your mother. I wish that I can say that to you if I can find you somewhere in the woods. I really do! I also want to say that I love you and I want you to love me back! I know that deep down, you really do love me!"

Then, I realized something else.

"Muchacha," I said as if I was actually talking to her, "I've been thinking about what you told every member of the Toon Patrol, including me, about being remembered as something. I even began to think about Doom and his plans on the freeway. Ever since I got out of jail with Boss and the others after the sleepwalking incident, other Toons, except for the rabbit, keep saying that we should've been dipped. Do you think that everyone, even I, in the Toon Patrol deserved to be dipped? You're smart and kind. I want an answer from you because it seems that you're one of the only people who can understand us."

I immediately stopped talking after I heard Wheezy calling for me, Slimy, Flasher, and Penelope.

We all took off running. I know that something is about to be discussed and it must be very important.