CHAPTER XV: LIFE GOES ON...

We had a good supply of bodies in the refrigerator, and no idea why.

They only keep for so long you know.

Another slow patch seemed to have arisen and I for one had mixed feelings about it. Personally, I think it is the not knowing that is the worst. Will he/she strike again? When? Who? How? The only thing even remotely assured was the how. That has been consistently a given so far...or so we thought.

Meanwhile, Rob and I sorta kinda in a way settled back into a routine of sorts. He to the precinct and now me too each day...he out doing sleuthy stuffies and investigatey thingies, and me...with spots of being out and about doing reporter stuff, rounding up dirt on the locals etc. But you can only cover gardening news just so much. Even in our small corner of the world that gets old...and with nothing happening on the murder front, we had kind of gone lax about my bodyguard detail, and that was ok with me. It was getting to be a real pain, and I didn't feel in jeopardy in the least.

Summer was in high gear and so we could add swimming in the pool each day to our veddy crowded shed-jewels to be sure. The twins love our pool and so do their friends and so do we...so every night and on weekends, there was a fairly good-sized crowd of misbehaved goofies hanging out and the pizza makers just LOVED us not to mention the coke guy and the curly fries makers and...oh HELL yes. Trail mix for the masses and boy was clean-up a thrill, not. My housekeeper was increasingly less and less amused.

Rob and I are cheap drunks and most of the rest are not old enough (except for those two 27 year olds still in fourth grade), so it was sober good times. Just as well, I do not flourish well when inebriated. Bad enough sober.

Yep, it was a quiet and pleasant summer. No more murders (that we knew of) and just fun and mundane good times, and thus like I said we pretty much got all complacent and shit.

Then August hit, and the start of school for the twins (freshmen year too at college...WHOOP WHOOP) and their first year of driving for real in their very own vehicle (every morning I call all over town to apprise them that THE TURRIB TWO'S are coming). This was (maybe a mistake to be sure) their present from us for their high school graduation. 

A Mustang. A bright yellow Mustang GT, mind you. A BRIGHT YELLOW MUSTANG GT CONVERTIBLE, mind you). I did get a real tingle/giggle seeing their faces light up when we brought it home and told them it was theirs. (To drive at least). Rob and I stood out in the driveway watching them...it was as they say 'priceless'.

 Yes they would be commuting and my hair may never relax. I do have to admit though...they do look cute in it. (Albeit dangerous).

Ahhh. College as in University college. (Hardly seems possible). Dylan wants to be a rocket scientist and Drew wants to be a rocket, so that should work out well. LOL. Which is an improvement over last year when Drew wanted to be a scientist and Dylan decided he would be a lab experiment. Whew, these two. Or the year before when Dylan wanted to be a drummer, and Drew a drum, OR...ok, you get the idea. Togetherness thrives among the twin set.

CHEF, FOOD GROUP. 
BANKER, IRA. 
MECHANIC, ENGINE. 
DATA PROCESSOR, DATA MINE.
HEART SURGEON, SCALPEL.

There for awhile, I was sure they would become surgeons so they could be cut-ups for real, lol, but no.
No question though. These two are endless combinations of fruit and loop.

Actually neither of them know what they want to do except they both want to study computers which is definitely a good thing...and hardly unusual.

So anyway, summer was ending and while it was still warm you just know fall ain't far behind.

CLOSE CALL:
One night in very late August, Dylan was studying at the house, and Drew had gone over to the high school to meet up with some friends and shoot some hoops and shit.

He was by himself changing in the locker room when he glanced in the little mirror in front of him and saw a hand with a large knife in it bearing down on him. He immediately dove down, spun around, and as he rose came up with a steel-toed boot right in the crotch of the assailant. OUCH!

The guy dropped like a rock, screaming and retching (and damn where is a good camera when you need one) or so Drew said and he immediately started hollering for his friends who came running.
"Hey, one of them said, what's going on?"
"Asshole just tried to kill me."
"What?"
"Yeh," Drew said as he dialed 911 on his cell, and then us...while the friends kept the assailant subdued.

How would you like to have 6 star athletes sitting on YOU? (Ummm, depends. LOL.)

Needless to say, Rob was beside himself and Dylan about sprung a gasket. We made it to the school in record time. Oh yes we did.

We got there and Dylan went lickety split into the building hell bent for leather, RUNNING down the halls toward the gymnasium, where he found his brother and ENGULFED him. Screaming sorta and crying, and...

Drew joined in and Rob signalled me to let them be and we went on in into the locker room where Sgt. Barton had found six, count 'em SIX of Drew's friends holding down the assailant who was protesting loudly. So cute. Like he had a choice.

"HEY, you fuck, that was my BROTHER you tried to put down, and I am a cop so you're skating on thin ice, asshole."

Got real quiet all of a sudden, as Rob stood over the creep and spewed but...

Knowing that it would be a nono he refrained from grabbing or touching him. I don't know if I could have been so restrained in the same circumstances...and I was struggling not to dropkick his sorry butt, BUT...

My first thought was that we had hit paydirt, that this JUST HAD TO BE the cereal with bananas murderer in chief. I whispered as much to Rob, who pulled Sgt. Barton aside and repeated that.

Would have been nice.
But, as it would turn out, our cereal miscreant has maybe an evil twin? Relative perhaps?

FUCK!
Turns out he just moved here two weeks ago sent to live with a cousin from his home in Kansas and had quite the reputation out there for being a not so nice asshole. Too hot there evidently, so sent to the hinterlands while the situation cooled. REALLY? NO SHIT.

So, while we still had our brother and brother-in-whatever, we did NOT have our killer.  Least not the serial one. 

CRAP!
This clown was gonna go up the river so to speak for a good stretch, and then it seems he was wanted back in both Kansas and Nebraska for some of his not so bright antics...and when we was done with him, back he'll go. AWWWWW.

Imagine that at twenty-two, his life was pretty much a pattern of jail and short periods of freedom and then back to jail and...what a life. Were it me after the first time or two I would have thought to myself...
"Hey, this crime thingy ain't working out. Maybe I should just get a job."

Ok, maybe but now...my question was WHY?
WHY DREW? 

Seems or so he said, that he just wanted to scare Drew...and then rob him. Said he looked like a kid with money.

FUCK!
THAT'S IT. NO MORE ABERCROMBIE AND SNITCH FOR THOSE TWO.

LOL.

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER XVI