Liberation, Chapter 2

CLUMMP!!!!

The dull, reverberating sound of boot-on-cheap metal bench extracted Daniel from the warm clutches of sleep and brought forth an even warmer greeting with an irate cell-mate.

A mid-afternoon dose of "Wake the fuck up!" met Daniel's ears, his extreme irritation from being woken compelled him to look his assailant in the eyes with a demeaning zeal.

His nemesis for the moment stood in front of him, looking down at him through a mess of greasy hair. "You're in jail now, you do NOT get fancy meals, you do NOT get to drive fancy cars, and you do NOT get to SLEEP!" Daniel started to stand up, but the man put his hand on Daniel's chest and pushed him backwards into the wall, after which Daniel fell back to the bench. Daniel turned his head to look back at the large, hairy man and was greeted with a thick wad of spit. His face tightened with rage in response and he stood up, and grabbing the man by the shoulders, tried shaking him... or something. The man simply let his torso weave back and forth, and allowing his head to sway back and forth in opposition to his torso.

This continued for a good 15 seconds or so before Daniel stopped. With his face tightened and his hands on the man's shoulders, he opened his eyes to look at the immovable lummox in front of him, who took only a moment to laugh in Daniel's face, "heh-heh... hm-hm-hm-hm-hmph... ya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...." Daniel stood there, dumbfounded, "shhhitt..." he quipped as he threw his hands in his pocket and walked away to the back corner. Sat back down, Daniel brought one leg up to him and brought it close to, leting out a large but silent sigh, looking up at the concrete ceiling.

Three hours passed and the unmistakable chink... chink... chink... of keys mashing together drew closer to Daniel's cell. An officer stopped in front of the cell, picked out one key from the rest, and placed it in front of the keyhole; both Daniel and the large man looked to the door. "Okay you two, I'm only lettin' one of you two out." The officer held up his free hand and pointed with the index finger to Daniel. "You, come on over here," the officer said as he thrust his finger at Daniel from across the cell. Daniel did as he was instructed, slowly standing up and walking calmly to the cell door, engaging his cellmate in a three second stare-down before turning his head forward and walking out of the cell and following the officer down the sunlit hallway; the burly-sounding words "twat biscuit" reached from behind the cell bars and found him from around the corner.

"Mr. Emerson," the officer started, "you're being released on grounds of insufficient evidence against you. You may collect your belongings and arrange for transportation to escort you from the precinct." Daniel scratched the back of his neck, "what about my car, officer?" He asked in a complacent tone. "Your vehicle has been impounded in the Kaylant Auto Park, the standard fee for vehicles impounded for under twenty-four hours is $187.50 if you were not aware." Daniel's eyes rolled for a brief second before he resumed his slow, uninterrupted march, but everything seemed to catch his attention; chain-link fencing shadows from the windows, the way some of the floor tiles were more yellow than the others... This was the first time he had been inside a cell block. "What's your name, officer?" Had had asked out of nowhere, almost out of impulse. "My name is Officer Hengrin. Everybody around here knows me as Chuck." Daniel shot him a nod in response. "Do you have kids?" A pocket of silence spaced his response, "I do, actually. Two young boys, six and seven." Officer Hengrin's eyes lit up as he spoke. He turned and looked at Daniel over his shoulder, "You?" "Nah, kids aren't my thing. They're cute I guess, but I wouldn't be able to stand the shouting and running around the house." Officer Hengrin, now looking forward, remained doing so. "I get that, I felt the same way at first, but that changes once you get to see them in that delivery room. They're something else entirely, kids." Officer Hengrin couldn't help but smile, but it soon came to and end as they rounded the last corner on the left. "Mr. Emerson," Officer Hengrin began, "in this room you may claim your belongings. A telephone will be provided to you to arrange pickup if you do not possess one yourself, all of that aside, I wish you a good day and I hope to not see you often." Officer Hengrin stood with his back to the corner, straight-faced and official. Daniel walked past him, giving him a silent two-fingered salute and turned the door handle, walking into the claims office.

Daniel scanned the room, finding a rather good-looking, early twenty-something sitting at the desk to his left with curled auburn hair and light skin. "Good afternoon, sir. What's your name?" The young girl beamed her not-so-perfect white teeth and Daniel, who smirked slightly and met her hazel eyes with his own. "My name is Daniel Emerson, you should have a cell phone, a brown leather wallet, and some keys waitin' for me." His speech style mimicked that of the young girl, who replied with a brief, contrived chuckle, "Just one minute, Mr. Emerson." The girl stood up and turned to the cabinets to her rear, while Daniel leaned against the grate of the empty station behind him and crossed his arms, looking to different points across the room as if they were numbered. He heard the sound of high heels on a plastic step-stool, and he faced forward to catch the back of the young girl's black skirt, which quickly turned into the back of a pink blouse, which turned into the back of her head, and then to her face, where she beamed those same not-so-perfect white teeth at him again and set a blue tub down on the desk in front of her and pushed it to over to Daniel. "Here you go, a phone, a wallet, and some keys. Have a great day Mr. Emerson." Her teeth retreated and left two happily-pursed lips in their wake, and Daniel took his belongings, told her "thank you," and turned to the door at his right and entered the main lobby of the Florida Highway Patrol precinct. He reached for his cell phone and began to dial, when a sudden, "hey, no cell phones in the lobby. Take your call outside," hit him from behind. He walked to the double glass doors in front of him without turning around before pressing the send button, the adolescent windmill palms were a welcome sight after his collective six hours in the precinct.

A dial tone sounded in Daniel's ear three times before it ceased and made way for a voice familiar to him. "Hello, Bradley Tzernich speaking." Daniel replied in an unconcerned tone, "good afternoon Brad, you're not gonna believe where you're gonna pick me up from." Bradley responded with, "I'm picking you up from somewhere? What if my car just got stolen and I'm stranded in the middle of a swamp?" Daniel replied coolly, "Who would steal your car in a swamp, Skunk Ape? Why would you be in a swamp in the first place? Are you dropping off a body or something?" Bradley replied in a composed manner, "not quite... kind of... what's it to you?" "I need to know because you need to come pick me up from the Florida Highway Patrol precinct off of the Sea Oak exit. If you're doing something illegal, they're gonna know, karma you know?" "Karma my ass, karma's for fourteen year-olds with exceptionally poor eating habits." "Are you gonna pick me up or not? I need you to take me to the impound lot." "Sure, why not. You're in luck I don't have any clients scheduled right now or I'd come down there just to leave you on the side of the road." "Whatever, your clients would tag along with a four-pack of tallboys just to sit and gawk." Brad took a moment to reply, "damn, you got me. I'll be there in thirty." Having suffered defeat, Bradley hung up his phone, Daniel in turn, did the same and sat down on the curb.

Twenty-seven minutes later, a silver 2009 Saturn Outlook turned sharply and smoothly into the drive-around in front of the Florida Highway Patrol precinct and the passenger-side window rolled down. "Hey man, what's up?" Daniel stood up, walked over, and climbed into his friend's car, closing the door and sticking his arm out the open window. Bradley looked over at Daniel through his pitch-black aviator sunglasses. "What'd you do? Did you finally snap and take a school bus hostage?" He put the car into neutral to rev the engine before taking off. "Sure did. Those little bastards didn't know what was coming." As soon as he was out of the precinct's parking lot, Bradley kicked his Outlook from 20 to 60 in five seconds flat, Daniel was taken aback. "What the hell man, you're in front of the Florida Highway Patrol precinct." Bradley looked over at Daniel, those fat lards aren't gonna do anything, it's not like they have an active patrol car in the lot itself." Daniel forgot about it quickly and lowered the back of the passenger seat. "I hope you don't mind, a large, angry man thought I was a CEO or something and wouldn't let me get any sleep," Daniel said as he shut his eyes lightly and let the sounds of the road place him under their lethargic spell.

Simple Poem

Four lines outline the boundaries,
and four lines determine the height.
There are two doors available to me;
one leading to hope, and the other to the bathroom.

I choose neither of these,
for I find comfort within my bounds.
These things, those familiar sights
Provide me with comfort.

Four walls that surround,
One door that can lead me away from here,
and a comfortable bed to lay upon
when I grow tired.

I am here for the night,
so leave me be.
I'll be fine in the morning,
so worry not.

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