Shelter from the Storm
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Zoe is 4. This takes place right after the Christmas story with the garbled Christmas carol lyrics a few chapters back. enjoy!
This story has [rather obvious] movie quotes, see if you recognize them?
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It Wasn't My Fault
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[Ranger]
It was a suddenly warm day, the usual January thaw in Jersey. I ended my meetings a little early, and went upstairs to a blessedly silent apartment. That serenity lasted about five minutes—my peace and quiet was soon shattered by the arrival of my wife and daughter.
Oh well.
"Daddydaddydaddy!''
''Hi, baby.'' I gave my daughter a hug and kissed Stephanie hello.
''Daddy!''
''Yes?''
''I am giving up ballet! No more baby ballet shit for me.''
''That's a quarter in Uncle Tank's new cussing jar,'' murmured Steph.
Zoë ignored her. "I am going to learn kickboxing! And tae kwon do at the Mini Masters Dojo !"
I looked at her for a few beats. In my admittedly limited experience girls took ballet forever. I know I still pay for Julie's lessons and I'm pretty sure my sister in law Jilly still takes classes now and then. Good cardio workout, good for posture and so on, she'd told me.
I raised an eyebrow.
?
And looked over at Stephanie.
Poor Steph. Looks like she'd met up with the famous garbage truck again, though I'd heard nothing from the comm room.
Steph blew out a sigh and said, ''Don't ask."
''I'll tell, I'll tell.''
''Zoë, no one likes a tattletale.''
''But mommy!''
''Okay, go ahead.''
''Well...school got let out early because a pipe broke in the girls' bathroom. It is so cold out that it froze. Then when it got warm this morning, it exploded... Why did it do that, daddy?"
''Let's get a beer and sit down,'' I said.
''I get a beer, daddy?''
''No.''
We got comfy in the living room. Ella produced drinks and apples and cheese. The girls kicked off their shoes and proceeded to tell me about their day.
''Mommy picked me up and since grandma and Granny M weren't home I got to help mommy and Auntie Lula chase skips.''
I must have frowned a little.
Stephanie said, "It was just Bobo Jankowsky. He was arrested for shoplifting, no weapons, or...''
''And a list of priors a mile long?''
''Well yeah.'' Steph shrugged.
''Go on.''
''We drove out to Hamilton County, Bobo lives on his mama's tomato farm. We knocked at the door and...''
''I'll tell! Wham! Bobo zoomed out the attic window! He has a zip line, daddy. It was so cool. Then we chased him.''
''Lula was yelling about how the guy's a maniac, she was all upset because the zip line went over a gully and into the woods,'' said Steph.
''Auntie Lula ran through the mud in her Via Spigas, her bestest shoes!—yelling, I'll get him! Send a maniac to catch a maniac. And then he got to a field full of mud and, and, and, old squishy nasty tomatoes, eeew!—and he jumped on his mom's tractor and tried to speed away! But mommy chased him with her new Jeep...''
''I'm glad I had the armor plates installed,'' I mumbled, mostly to myself.
''Yes! Because his mama shot at us! With a shot gun,'' Zoë told me happily.
Now I know I was frowning.
Stephanie caught my look. "Yeah, I thought I was history too but she was shooting up in the air,'' she told me. "Then the tractor got stuck in the mud. Bobo took off down the highway, on foot. As soon as Mrs. Jankowsky towed us out of the mud, I followed his trail. He'd run all the way to the Big Gas Depot truck stop. Hijacked some lady's Toyota at the pumps, I guess she was in the bathroom or something. But Bobo is not a good driver—or he has thing for mud...''
''And?''
''Somehow he rolled the Corolla down another ditch, tires spun, he rolled the car. By then the NJ State troopers were on the chase, and well, we took him down. Easy peasy."
?
''Auntie Lula kicked the crap outta him!''
''That's another quarter, Zoë.''
''I don't have any quarters, mommy. I have seashells.''
''Okay, five seashell fine.''
''Three?''
''Fine! Three seashell fine. Anyway the cops weren't happy. They told me What the hell happened? We're police officers! We're not trained to handle this kind of violence! And then they all stood there in the ditch and laughed.''
Zoë added, "The fat man in the funny hat and mirror glasses told someone on his radio that All of a sudden, this car turned into a cannoli. And the fat woman kicked the—you know—outta the poor sucker who was driving. That was Bobo, daddy, the poor sucker. [Is sucker a bad word?]''
"[Not in Jersey.]''
''Then the fat guy said, Send an ambulance.''
"While we waited, I cuffed Bobo, and showed him the capture papers..." said Steph.
"Auntie Lula told us afterward that she was a good kicker because she plans to maybe someday take kickboxing or tae kwon do. And I said, Me too, me too. Okay, daddy?"
''We'll talk about it tomorrow, baby.''
... ... ...
later...
''Stephanie...''
''I know, I know! When the chase started my whole life flashed in front of me. I thought ...''
''Babe, there's many a day I live in dread that your life force will be prematurely terminated."
"So to speak."
"Right, terminated, so to speak. We don't talk about it, you do what you need to do. I understand that, babe.''
''Ranger...''
''But please promise me you won't ever take Zoë on the job again.''
''I'll try.''
"Try hard."
the end of the story, series tbc