The closest airport to Dresden was Columbus, and he knew that to be a far drive.He was going to end up stealing a wallet, as it was so that he’d have walking-around money when he got to the place.Plus, he’d need food for when he got on the plane.The ride couldn’t be any longer than a couple of hours at most, he figured, so he knew he’d not get anything to eat on this trip.That was another thing he was going to do.Make sure he had a meal on every trip he took in the event that he might get hungry on the way.Damn, but his life was going to be great.He nearly couldn’t contain himself; he was so excited to get to his new life.
He found a family trying to wrangle about seventy kids.They really only had four, but that was enough for them to be distracted.The woman had a nice-sized purse that she wasn’t paying all that much attention to, and he watched for his moment.He’d not take the whole purse, that could get him into trouble, and he’d only just started out.But he’d take her wallet that was sticking right out of the top of the thing like it was begging to be picked.
When she left to take one of the kids to the bathroom to be cleaned up, he watched the husband.He was nearly like every man he’d met that wasn’t on top of things, just as distracted as the woman had been.As soon as he was turned with his back to her purse, he walked by, picked it right out of her handbag, and continued walking.It wasn’t until he got to the bathroom himself that he looked and saw what his prize had netted him.
“Fifty lousy dollars.”There were plenty of credit cards in the thing, but hardly any cash.He even looked at the tickets that were in the wallet and saw that they were headed to Florida.With all them kids, he figured they were on their way to the park down there to have a good time.Taking out one of the credit cards, he made his way to the counter to see if he could get a ticket.
The best way to get to use a credit card was to use it fast.That way, they’d have no idea that it had been stolen as yet, and you could usually get away with it.What he’d not counted on and should have been aware of was that the counter he’d gone to didn’t have any outbound trips to Ohio, and he had to make his way down the wall of counters.It wasn’t until he was nearly with his back to the people that he’d found one headed where he wanted to go.Ohio, here he came.
He was pissed off that there were no first-class seats on the plane he was using.He’d wanted to start his life out with the things that he was going to get for the rest of his days.But he figured that he’d have it all sooner or later, and this was only a little glitch in the system of him being a wealthy man.He’d get it all back and then some when he got to his daughter’s house.He was going to have to figure out her name before getting there, or he’d blow his cover of him being a very distraught daddy who’d been away from his little girl for so long.
Laughing as he sat waiting on his flight, he was pleased as punch that he’d been able to get himself a ticket so easily.Now all he had to do was figure out a way to get from Columbus to Dresden, and he’d be there.The flight was going to be a nice short hop from here to there, and he thought about taking himself a little nap.Things were going just too well for him, and he knew it was because he’d been planning it so well.There was nothing to it, he told himself.Just get the money that he needed, and he’d be on his way.It couldn’t have worked out better.
As soon as he was boarded on the plane, he found his seat easily enough.Since he’d not checked his bag, he didn’t have to wait on the other end to get his things.Not that he had all that much.Just a few clothes and some pictures that he thought were his oldest child.Richard had four kids that he didn’t have anything to do with—they didn’t have shit that he wanted—nor did he pay any child support to them.They were on their own, was how he saw it.
He was landing in Columbus before he knew it and was on his way to his kingdom.By the time dinner rolled around, he expected to be at his kid’s house eating dinner.If not, then he was going to have to figure out a place to stay until he got to their home.His home had a better sound to it, and he was looking forward to seeing his daughter more than he ever had in his life.
“Brats all of them.”He looked over at the woman who had huffed at him.“Yeah, that’s what Isaid, all kids are brats.No matter how you raise them, you’ve been the one who screwed up all along, and they’re going to tell everyone they know about it.”
“I’m betting that you weren’t in their lives all that much either.”He said he’d been in prison most of her life.That shut her up.“I’m a good man.I had nothing to do with her over the years, and look how she turned out.Rich as they come and going to support me for the rest of my life.I think that makes me the best dad in the world.”
“You would.”He laughed.Since he wasn’t in a position to pound the woman, he just laughed at her.It made him feel good when she turned her back on him and didn’t speak to him anymore.This was the way to fly on a plane.Make them uncomfortable so that they don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore.That’s the ticket, as his grannie used to say.
Now all he needed to do was to figure out a way to contact his daughter so that she could come and get him from the airport.Or all of this would have been for nothing.He’d be stuck at the airport for the rest of his life, and then what would happen to him?But he had faith in someone helping him out, even if they didn’t know it.He’d find him another credit card with some cash this time and get there even if he had to hitchhike his way there.
~*~
Kendrick saw his last patient of the day and was ready for home.It had been a long day, made longer when he’d had to send two of his patients to the hospital for tests that were necessary for them to be diagnosed properly.
While he didn’t usually bother the hospital about tests being done, he could do most of them in his office, and the time for them to be read would be quicker.And for the elderly man named Mr.Sherman, he wanted the results back as quickly as he could get them.The man was in his late seventies and seemed to be losing weight too quickly.Not a good sign at all for anything that might be going wrong with him.
The other was for another elderly person, but a woman this time.She told him she’d been sick with flu-like symptoms for a month now and wasn’t getting any better.Like the man, he could have done the tests in his office, but they would be read by a professional instead of someone who only reads tests once in a while.He’d like to think that he was perfect, but he knew better than that.No one was perfect, not even Conri.Just as he was going over his files for the day, his office phone rang.Since it was a landline, he didn’t bother answering it so that the ladies up front at the desk could take care of it.Almost as soon as he was ready to go to the next file, Gail came back to tell him he had a phone call.
“Hello, this is Doctor Valley.How may I help you?”There was some static on the line, and he waited until it was gone before speaking again.The person on the other end was shouting something about being picked up, and he didn’t know what was going on.“Hello?”
“This is Richard Taylor.One of you married my daughter.”He knew this call was coming or something like it.“I’m stuck here at the airport because you didn’t send anyone to come and get me.Now they want me to move on, and I don’t have a car yet.”
“I’m assuming that you’re talking about your daughter, Sharon Valley?”He said that was it.Not Rachel.“No, I don’t know a Rachel.Unless you’re talking about my mother-in-law.She called today to warn my wife about you coming around.”
“Warn you?I don’t get why she’d even know I was coming around here.”There was more shouting, and he came back on the line.“Look, you didn’t send me a car, and now I’m considered trespassing.”
“Had I known you were coming, I wouldn’t have sent you one anyway.Although I figured you’d be showing up at some point.Why are you trespassing?People can usually sit in an airport for days without anyone bothering them.Or did you try something that got you into trouble?”He said that he didn’t have a way to Dresden.“And like I said, I’m not going to provide you with one either.You got yourself this far; it wouldn’t be anything at all for you to get yourself to us on your own.”
“I’m trying to be a nice guy here, and you’re not helping me at all.I want to see my daughter again.It’s been a long time, and well, I miss her.”He told him that it was a nice try.“What do youmean?I do miss her.”
“I’m sure you don’t, but let’s not get into that.I don’t know how you figured out this number, but I’m not going to be sending you a car.Money, either if that was your next question.As I said, you’ve gotten yourself this far; you should be able to get yourself the rest of the way here.If not, then that’s good too.”He asked him why he was being a bastard.“I’m not.I’m a man who plans on protecting his wife when or if you show up.This way, I have some control over when you arrive.Or if not, like I said.You seem like a resourceful man.You do what you need, and hopefully you’ll be caught at something, and that will be the end of the visit to our home.”
“I suppose Sharon is there with my daughter.”He corrected the name.“Whatever the hell her name is.I suppose my wife has her head up her ass so far that you can’t tell them apart.”
“Rachel declined to come out.Said that she didn’t have the funds, and when I offered them to her, she said she’d come out when they got to know one another better.”He asked why he didn’t offer them to him.“Because you’re thinking of coming here for a handout, and I’m not going to be giving you anything.I’ve been around for a good long time and have learned that when people like you come around, the best way to deal with them is to say no from the very start.I’m really good at repeating myself on that, too.You’re not going to get anything from us when or if you get here.”
“I’m coming by god, and you damned well will hand over what I want.Or I’ll be making trouble for you.”Kendrick just laughed and said nothing.“Laugh it up, wolf boy.When I get there, we’ll see which one of us comes out on top.I’m a man that gets what he wants, and you have something that I want.Money.And I’m going to have my fair share of it, or you’ll pay.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Richard.Or should I call you Dick?I like that better anyway.I heard that you can’t stand that shortened form of your name.”He said his name was Richard and not Dick.“I don’t care.Come on and try me.I’ve been around longer than you and know just how to hide bodies when they get in my way.”
He was sputtering when he hung up the phone.Reaching out to his brothers, he let them know that Dick was calling numbers of the Valley men and looking for someone to help him get to Sharon.He also told them how much he hated his new nickname.
“Did he say what he wanted?How the hell did he get this far in only one day?”He told him how he’d been marked as trespassing at the airport and was asked to leave.“He must have been caught at something or close to it for them to do that.I’m assuming that he wants money.Isn’t that what Rachel said he’d be coming for?”
