Waking up, thinking about something that you can't remember, is unsettling. Is Alzheimer's getting to me? Who knows?
After taking the usual pills, I walked around the park, avoiding getting anywhere near Maria's. I met Caroline again on the way back. We chatted, but she was preoccupied today, too.
Instead of going to the patio, I made my own coffee, along with some bacon, eggs, and toast. I was cleaning up when Steve came over. He knocked and came in. I offered him some coffee, but he said he just stopped by to make sure I was all right.
"I'm fine. I have to see my ex this evening, but I have an attorney that's going with me because something is up. She wouldn't be pushing so hard for this meeting for nothing. She advised me we were through Monday and had cut off my cell phone and the bank accounts. It's just weird. She didn't get to serve me with her divorce papers and faked the service so hers would be first. That might cause her some grief, but who cares."
"Well be careful with her. If you need legal help, let us know. We know some good attorneys."
"I'll be fine, I'm just nervous over it, that's all. I'm headed over to the cart shop to see if there is any warranty stuff. If there isn't, I'll check with R&D. I think I know of another older lady that could use some help. I'll go there too."
Steve was nodding, "You're doing great. What you did for Maria is really nice. Juanita told me about Maria's offer and your insistence that she only cook for you. That was nice. I don't know whether I would turn down that cute little girl."
"Steve, I take a lot of medicine and none of it is good for a man's ego, if you know what I mean. What would I do with her?"
"Play my friend, play."
"That would be fun, Steve, but I would just want more and I wouldn't be able to have more."
Steve walked out and said, "Where's the new cart Crystal painted up for you?"
I took the key and opened the shed. "I couldn't stand leaving it out overnight. It's too pretty."
Steve laughed and said, "I'll see you at lunch."
There were four carts in the warranty area, so I did those real quick. There was nothing much to fixing the problems and two of them just had bad bolts. From there, I checked with Dennis and he really didn't need me. I went over to the park and drove up to the trailer that had an old Ford Thunderbird in the driveway. The body looked good, but it was faded real bad. The tires were all up and looked like they had good tread. I had walked by before and the hood had been up, so that's why I was here.
A very heavy older lady came to the door.
"Hi, I'm Mark Robins. I like to help folks that may need some car repairs. Is your Thunderbird running okay?"
"The lady smiled and said, "No, it doesn't run at all. It usually won't start, and when you do get it to started, it won't go. The transmission may be gone."
"How about I look at it, unless you're going to have it towed off instead of fixing it?"
"I can't afford another car right now and I can't afford to fix it. I'll get the keys, you're welcome to try."
She brought me the keys and I turned the key trying to start it to hear the starter solenoid sticking. I had to get on my back, but I whacked the solenoid with a wrench and went around and turned the key. It started right up. While I let it warm up, the transmission was whining as if it didn't have any fluid.
When the engine was warm, I checked the transmission dipstick and it was dry. I told the lady, "I'll be right back, I am probably not fixing it yet, but I'll get it running enough so I can get it to my place and work on it."
"You've already done more than my son and son-in-law. The neighbor fellow tried to help too, but it was beyond them."
I went to the parts store in my cart and bought a bunch of transmission fluid.
Back at the park, I poured the max amount of tranny fluid into the car, then started it and let it run. When it was warm, I put it in gear and it slid right into gear. I said I would be right back and drove the Thunderbird to my trailer.
I walked back and gave the lady my telephone number, then drove my cart home.
It sure would be nice to have a lift. Hmmm, they have lifts at the truck shop. I wonder. Well, I can do this one here. But first, I jumped in the cart and drove over to the truck store and went to the parts counter. I asked the parts guy, "I see guys in jumpsuits. Where can I get a couple?"
"You can buy them here, but we sell them retail. You can buy them over at the factory store at wholesale. Last, you can borrow a couple off the uniform rack, bring them back dirty, and get a couple more."
"The uniform rack is for me."
I stopped, "Oh say, what kind of strings would I have to pull to use one of those lifts"
"Since you seem to know what you're doing, none. You might get hooked into helping on another job, but bring whatever it is over and use the little lift. We hardly ever use it."
"Thanks, I'll remember that." I went to the rack and got two bright orange coveralls and rode back to the trailer. The car was still running so I slid underneath to see what was leaking. That was easy, there was a crack in the transmission pan.
I dropped the pan. It wasn't caked with crud and only had a few metal shavings. Instead of going to the parts store, I called since I figured this would be a special order item. I was right, and they said I would probably only find one at a junkyard and only if I was lucky.
I cleaned the pan until it shined then ran over to the truck body shop where they put the bodies on. I had the pan in my hand when I saw Crystal. I wolf whistled and she spun around. I walked over to her grinning and showed her the pan and said, "I need someone to weld this or for someone to lend me a straight arc."
Crystal smiled and pointed at a nice Lincoln arc welder setup in the corner. I took the pan and using tools on a nearby bench pounded it out flat and smooth then looked over the rods to find the right kind for good steel.
I put the pan in some clamps and grounded it, then turned up the welder. Using the gloves that were on the machine and the hood that was on the bench, I drew a bead along one side of the crack. I shut everything off and looked at it. I turned the pan over and clamped it. I drew another bead on that side. With everything shut off and put away, I used some grinding tools to smooth the weld. I could have used some better rotary tools, but these guys probably didn't weld that often. I finally got it smooth on both sides. On the way out, Crystal wanted to look at my work. She nodded in approval. I had to stop at the parts counter for a sheet of gasket material.
I cut the material out and bolted the pan back up. I checked all around to make sure nothing else was damaged. I did the usual checks, then ran over to the parts store for the parts for a tune up, oil change materials, the starter solenoid and more transmission fluid.
It was getting to be noon, so I washed up, changed clothes, and went to lunch. Crystal was there and asked if I was done for the day. I told her that I changed to be clean for lunch. Steve laughed, "If you're working on something, come like you are. We work out here. Dirt washes off."
I thanked him for the info and said that next time I would come in coveralls.
After lunch, I pushed to finish the car quickly. I drove it to the lady and knocked on her door. I handed her the keys and said, "Everything works, I checked the air and it works too."
She came out of the house and all two hundred fifty pounds hit me. Wow, she was a "big one." When she finally calmed down, I asked her what her name was. She said, "That's right. I was so rude I didn't even tell you my name. I'm Katherine Spencer. I've lived out here for a long, long time."
"Well, Katherine Spencer, your car is ready to take you somewhere. The car is in really good condition. It needs a paint job or some wax, but it runs good now. The transmission pan was cracked and the fluid leaked out. The starting problem was the solenoid. I tuned it up and changed the oil. Like I said, it runs great."
Katherine said, "You know I bet that happened at the shopping center. I ran over one of those parking bumpers and it scraped the bottom of the car. I backed up but the damage was probably already done. Well, thank you, Mark, isn't it?"
"Yes, Ma'am. If you know of any other folks like yourself who need help, let me know. I'm happy to help them out."
I walked back to the trailer, stripped, showered then sat at my computer in my shorts to check e-mail. There was nothing new. I didn't think I would need any money, but I counted my cash. I still had almost three hundred dollars. Just to be on the safe side, I put two hundred in my checkbook in the desk and kept a little over a hundred in my money clip.
Should I dress up or wear jeans as usual. Why not jeans? I wasn't trying to impress anyone. But then Sarah was coming, so I decided on khakis. It was getting toward five, so I dressed and was ready to go. I had called Sarah this morning and we were going to meet at Publix near the house. I would leave the Bronco there and ride with her. That would work.
I wanted a drink but thought better of it. Guess I was ready. I drove at a reasonable speed over to the Publix and parked. About ten to six, Sarah showed up. She said, "I talked to a friend of mine who is in the Sheriff's department and I have a hint of what's going on. They're cooking up some kind of charge against you and the cops are going to arrest you. Do you still want to go through with this or run? After the last time I had someone go to jail, I'd say run."
I was sick, almost to the point of wanting to throw up. I said, "I haven't done anything to get arrested for. Anything that I'm charged with is bogus. Please know that, Sarah, and help me if you can. I'll need a criminal lawyer. Maybe you know one that's good."
"I know a couple, but I'll be there to get you out tonight. Let's go get this over with. If I have to, I'll call in some federal favors. You'll be fine."
We drove up to the house to find the grass still needed to be cut. Oh well. A strange car was in the driveway, but I didn't care. It might even belong to her friend.
I rang the doorbell and Judy answered the door becoming surprised and alarmed that I had brought someone. I introduced them, "Judy, this is Sarah Perkins, a friend, and someone to represent me tonight and witness what happens. Sarah, this is Judy, my wife, or soon to be ex-wife."
We walked in and Judy led us to the kitchen where a tall guy, a lot younger than me, was standing. He had a superior look on his face with his head back, looking down at me.
I asked Judy, "Who's this?"
Judy almost sneered, "Someone to keep you in your place."
Turning to Sarah, "What do you think, this isn't going well, should we leave?"
Judy turned sweet, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that. This is Steven Barts, a friend of mine. He's here to kind of watch out for me."
Judy turned to the guy and said, "Why don't you serve us some wine, Steven?"
I don't drink wine often. Judy knows that. Steve brought out a couple of wine glasses already poured and placed them on the table in front me and Sarah. He went back into the fridge and brought out two more wine glasses and set one in front of Judy and one for him. They each took a drink but Sarah and I just sat.
I asked, "Why did you shut off my cell phone. I used that a lot. That was a good service."
Judy said, "We'll get to that."
"And what's with the shutting down the two bank accounts. The business account is mine too."
"I'm fifty one percent owner of the company, even though I didn't do anything. I can do with it what I want."
Sarah rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
"Drink your wine, Mark, it will relax you."
"I gave up booze, Judy, the doc said no more of any kind of alcohol. A bottle of water would be fine. I'll go get it. Do you want one, Sarah?"
I jumped up and went to the garage refrigerator. I noticed a Kawasaki rice rocket in the garage. Oh well. I brought two unopened bottles of water out and handed one to Sarah. I moved the two glasses over to Steven and Judy without touching them.
Judy said, "You know that I know you like to look at pictures of little girls, very young girls. You know that's wrong."
"Judy, you know I've never been interested in kiddie stuff. You and I used to watch stuff like deep throat and you used to like that guy Jeremy or something like that, but that's the only stuff we've ever watched."
She came back with, "You read those nasty stories about little kids all the time. I know you do. You even downloaded a lot of them and pictures too."
"What's this about, Judy? You know I've never done any of these things. Sure I've looked at pictures on the web before, but not kids. I read stories too, but no kiddie stuff. As a matter of fact, a lot of them don't even have any sex in them. You know I can't do anything with the medication I take. It takes the fun out of even thinking about sex. You sure haven't tried to encourage me, that's for sure."
"How could I after you accused me of having an affair?"
I put up my hands in protest, "Yeah, I shouldn't have accused you of having an affair with Steven, and here he is."
Steven over reacted and jumped up knocking his chair over, "Are you accusing her of something bad?"
I smiled, "I don't know, Steven, is sleeping with you something bad, will she catch something from you?"
That might have been going too far. He swung at me, but I ducked and tugged his arm so he sprawled across me and the table, knocking the full glasses of wine over on Judy.
Judy jumped up and I pushed Steven off me. He regained his feet and stood there with his fists clenched, trying to figure out what to do next. He didn't have to worry, the cops came in the door without knocking or requesting permission. The lead suit was showing his badge and looking at me, he said, "You're under arrest for child pornography. We have your computer that is full of nude children pictures. Stand up so we can search you."
I stood and said, "Let me empty my pockets and give what I have to my friend."
The cop said, "Just empty your pockets and I'll take what I want. Get up."
A second suit asked Judy and Steven, "Did he assault you? Do you want to file charges?"
Before either could answer, I said, "This man tried to hit me and I ducked. He fell across me and knocked over those two suspicious glasses of wine. I'd like to have the glasses analyzed to see if there was something funny in them."
Judy began crying, "You just won't do what you're supposed to do. You were supposed to drink that and be all mellow so these policemen could hear you confess. You always mess up my life."
The first suit said, "That's enough, Ma'am, you shouldn't say anything else."
I asked the policeman, "Did you find what you wanted in my pocket stuff?"
Judy said, "I have it, I didn't get a chance to put it in his wallet."
The cop again said, "You should be quiet, Ma'am, what you're saying is being heard by his witness."
"Sarah, take everything but my driver's license so I have an ID, and keep them for me, okay?"
Sarah said, "Could you describe the exact charges to me?"
"What's it to you lady. Are you going to try to bail him out?"
"I think you should tell him exactly what you are arresting him for."
The second suit said, "We are arresting him for being in possession of child pornography. However many pictures he has on that computer we picked up is how many charges there are. Come on let's get him out of here and to Orient road."
Sarah followed us out making a call on her cell phone.
There were television news trucks outside and several people with microphones came running up to me and asked, "Did you rape any little kids, did you take pictures of little girls, did you dope little kids and have them perform sex acts with you?"
The news people were everywhere. The cops took their merry time getting me out to a squad car and kept my hands pulled back so my head would be straight. Everyone would see my face on the eleven o'clock news. I did notice Sarah stayed out of the cameras. Smart girl.
Judy came running out of the house waving some papers, "I have to give these to him, stop, he has to have these, these are the divorce papers, he has to be served."
The suit said, "Give them to someone who cares. He sure doesn't."
The cop in the plain car pulled away with me in it while a marked car followed him. I looked to see Sarah following both.
At the jail, I went through all of the searching and fingerprinting, then was turned out into a big room with a lot of other people. My first thought was, I'm hungry. My second thought was, I wonder how they did whatever it is they did?"
About two hours later, they called my name and brought me to a room where I stood while they photographed me before leading me to a counter where Sarah and a few other guys were. I recognized the one man as the guy who had been at the pool with Steve. He was the one with fake leg. People were listening to him. Another man was saying, "This is federal jurisdiction if he used the internet to obtain child pornography from another state. I want this man released into our custody as we will charge him separately. I demand to be provided with all evidence that has been collected so my specialist can analyze the content."
The guy who had been with Steve said, "I think it's time you call the Sheriff. If you do not call him this instant, I will lock this jail down, do you understand?"
The guy at the desk nervously dialed the phone while we watched him.
"Sheriff, there are some federal people here demanding some things. They say if they don't get what they want they are going to lock the jail up. Can they do that?"
"Yes Sir. Yes Sir. Yes Sir. The arresting officers are Carlton and Brown. Yes Sir. You should call them; they will do what you order."
The man hung the phone up and brought out some papers and had the people sign them. The man handed them an envelope with my driver's license in it. The man that had been with Steve said to me, "I'm Chuck Johnson, Deputy U.S. Marshal and this is Frank of the FBI. We are taking you to a Federal Judge to be arraigned. Do we need cuffs?"
"No Sir, I'll be very good."
We all left the building. Outside Sarah asked my two captors, "Should I get a criminal attorney to represent Mark?"
Chuck said, "The judge will do what I ask. The problem is the news people are going to spread this all over the place. Mark is not going to be safe anywhere."
The FBI guy, Frank, said, "Chuck, get some deputies over to the Sheriff's station that has that evidence so we can get it into the lab. We need to analyze it quickly so we can prove or disprove this guy's guilt. There is too much funny stuff for this to be real."
Chuck said, "Yeah, I know. It really stinks. Ah, let's get to the judge then I'll stash you someplace, Mark. I think you're going to be a witness."
I didn't know what he meant, but I did know I wouldn't be welcome at Steve's with a kiddie porn charge hanging over me. I probably will never live this down.
Sarah said, "I'll go with you to the arraignment and see what they do with you. Please know that I will help you all I can. This is the craziest divorce I've ever handled, and I've handled some doozies."
We drove to a home up in old Carolwood where I was introduced to a Federal Judge who had a Federal Prosecutor with him. They read all the information and the Judge asked me, "Did you do this stuff?"
"No, Sir."
"How do you plead Mark Robins? Guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty, your Honor."
"Okay, these are serious charges but there are people that believe you are not guilty. Of course, you are innocent until proven guilty. I will release you on you own recognizance. If you have a passport, you must give it up. You may not leave this state and you must remain available for questioning. Since you are not represented by an attorney tonight, you need to get one. Do it, these are serious charges."
Chuck Johnson said, "Judge, I believe this man is a witness to several serious crimes and feel he should be housed as a protected witness. I need your authorization."
The judge took a form and wrote some notes on it and signed it. He handed it to Chuck and said, "Lock him up," he paused, as he smiled at me, "in a nice place."
The judge had one final word, "Mr. Robins, you've found a bit of gold in this. I hope you repay those in kind for the faith they have shown."
"I will try, your Honor."
Outside the house, Sarah handed Frank something and said, "You can't use this in court but this is a recording of everything that went on in that house tonight." Sarah handed Frank something wrapped up in napkins. "This is the glass they were trying to give Mark, but it was spilled when the Steven guy tried to hit Mark. Check to see what was in it besides wine and check that guy's prints. He's too much of a slime ball to not be on file."
Chuck laughed, "Now you're playing detective. I love you, Sarah, you're great. You take a case pro bono and look what all you've done. You should get a medal."
Sarah said, "It's your fault. You made me enough money so I can do this stuff and enjoy it. I'm practicing law."
Chuck and Frank took me downtown to the Federal building where we first went up to the Marshal station then down to the FBI. The lab guys there asked me if I minded if they took my fingerprints again.
"Of course not."
They did it on some kind of screen without ink. They did all five fingers and the palm of each hand.
Frank then said, "He's yours now, if he's a witness. Hide him."
Chuck and I went back upstairs where he made some calls before we went downstairs and across the street to a nice hotel, where we were met by another deputy. Chuck shook my hand and said, "Be good here. We've sent a man out to search and stay at your trailer to watch it. If there is anything there that we should know about, tell me now."
"There's a couple of hundred dollars in my checkbook in the drawer where my computer is."
"Do we have your permission to search your house and your computer?"
"Sure. The key to the shed is on the wall by the door; I have a test computer on the bench. Oh, Steve Sharp might want his cart back. Let him have that. Tell him I'm sorry all this happened, but I didn't do any of it."
Chuck said, "I don't think you did either, but you don't have to convince me. This is the kind of thing where you're guilty until we can prove your innocence. It's not right, but that's the way people look at a crime like this. That's why I'm stashing you in this hotel. Go with this guy and we'll bring you some more of your clothes. Relax, but if the lab guys need you or an agent wants to question you, go with them and answer honestly. Have a good night. I never know when I have to leave town, but I'll stay in touch."
We shook hands and the man left. I did feel better about everything now that that was over.
We went to the top of the hotel where another man said, "You don't get the special room. We have someone in there waiting to leave for somewhere else. You get a nice suite though. Have you eaten tonight?"
"No Sir, I'm starved."
"Me too, I'll order us something. Want a beer with supper?"
"Sure, I'd kill for a drink though."
"Look in the bar in the room. Don't get drunk, they frown on that."
The suite was nice. There was a couch and chair plus the bar and a nice TV. The sliding doors opened to a patio with a hot tub. Wow, first class.
I didn't look any farther. I found a glass and ice, and followed by a search that turned up some kind of fancy British gin. I poured a big glass full. The gin was good. A few swallows later, I was feeling better. I carried the drink as I explored the bedroom. The bedroom had a big king-size bed, another TV, a nice bathroom, and a big closet with nothing in it. Actually there were a couple of robes in there.
I shut all those lights off and sat in the living room area and turned on the TV. One of the channels had the ten o'clock news, so I watched that. When the news came on, the lead story was me being led out of the house. They never did say that I was suspected of anything. They said I was caught with hundreds of child pornography pictures. I wonder where the pictures were.
The detective that was the mouthy one told the news lady they had caught me dead to rights and had all the evidence. He said I had attacked my ex-wife and her friend, and would probably have assault charges, too.
That's when it hit me. Not one time did anyone read me my whatever it was rights. The ones that said everything you say will bite you in the ass and if you can't afford an attorney you get some drunk junky to defend you. No one did that. I didn't say anything anyway but this whole thing is like a circus. There were lots of clowns.
The deputy came in, wheeling a cart. He said, "Eat in here. With the other room filled, I have to eat out at the desk. Sorry I can't stay with you. You should stay in the room since we have a sensitive person over there. I'll come get the cart later, enjoy."
I pulled off one cover and found a salad. Great. That requires another gin. I did that and enjoyed the hell out of it. The next discovery was a great looking rib-eye steak that was still warm. I ate the steak, the potato with the fixings, and the vegetables down to the last morsel. I considered licking the plate, but that would be too much. There were some more covered dishes. One was a roll and another was a big piece of banana cream pie. I cracked the beer in the ice bucket and enjoyed the pie.
I watched the eleven o'clock news and it was the same. There was a shot of Judy, with Steven holding her, as the cops led me away, how dramatic. This reporter said I was a suspect and didn't convict me yet.
The clock was catching up with me. I was sleepy. Time for bed. The bathroom revealed some toothbrushes and sample toothpaste. I hung my clothes up, brushed, washed, and lay in bed. I fell asleep with the TV playing.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious