The first rays of sunshine
gently touched upon the rooftops. There was a light haze present among the streets, an occasional breath of the wind carrying the refreshing scent of the century-old pines. A large chubby water tower stood proudly above all else, white with huge blue letters reading "The Queen City".The town sleeps, unknowing of the crimes that have tainted its streets.
- "Good morning, ma'am! We'd like some donuts!"
The store's door flew open and the gang immediately occupied all the space in front of the counter. The saleswoman didn't even have enough time to flip the little sign on the door from "closed" to "open", yet, she knew that these three were coming anyway - they always do.
- "We are out of donuts, guys. Would you like something else, perhaps?"
Those words have triggered some bizarrely uneasy silence among brothers, who all seemed to be staring at the woman in disbelief. Some moments later, Jeff - the guy in the big cowboy hat twice his head size - decided to speak up.
- "S'cuse me? No donuts? But…we came in so early… Screw those police officers, they must've bought ALL of them this time around…"
He crossed his arms on his chest with a face full of animosity towards St. Louis county police. The two other younger brothers followed suit. The saleswoman, on the other hand, just lets out an irritated sigh.
- "Look, we have some other pasties if you want. Those are just as good as donuts."
- "No, ma'am, you don't understand the traditional significance of us sharing a donut before practice."
- "Uhuh!"
- "Yeah! It is called "bonding time", and we haven't ever missed one before today!"
- "Yah, look, you want us to be both sad and hungry now?"
As the boys pressed onwards the poor gal threw up her hands into the air.
- "Okay-okay, what do you want? I was being honest, no donuts, not even for the
policemen."
- "Really? How come!"
- "I don't know! We buy donuts from a local bakery, and we keep them in a freezer. I opened the freezer today and they were all gone."
- "Wha-a-at!?"
The three kids looked at each other in surprise and then proceeded to interrogate the saleswoman, who was unlucky enough to get caught inside their little game.
- "Did this ever happen before?"
- "Well, uh… Yeah. Every night since last Sunday a few were missing each morning, no doubt. But today it was especially bad since all the donuts were gone. I suspect that one of our workers treats himself from time to time, but…"
- "This is ridiculous! How dare he!"
- "I am not sure, that would've been too nasty of him to do… Seriously, I have no idea,
but if you guys insist on getting donuts so much you can just wait till midday, I will ask
Jim to go fetch me some."
Jack, who had already accepted the fate of not getting his snack early, opened his mouth tosay something right before Jeff cut him off, adjusting his fancy black felt hat.
- "Oh no, ma'am, that simply won't do. Whoever stole those donuts... has embarked on the warpath against us."
Everybody in the room gasped, even the teeny-tiny grey mouse who was just running through the store, minding its own business.
- "And so, we're gonna get him. And we're gonna teach him."
- "Oh, but how exactly are we gonna do that, Jeff?"
- "Ah… Well, we'll figure it out. Thanks, ma'am, we are off. Tomorrow that dirty criminal will surely be behind the bars, serving his sweet time, mark my words! And we'll be served some sweet donuts. What a sweet revenge…"
- "Jeff, you're gonna get diabetes."
Trying to bargain with those guys was just a waste of time and the shop owner knew that. So she didn't even bother trying to prevent whatever atrocity those three were planning to commit. They were going to do it anyway. She just prayed that the store would stay whole.
The day has passed quite uneventfully. The ball and a bat, pants covered in some dirt and grass, someone got hit in the face - the usual. But as soon as the dark arrived it was the real deal.
- "Psh! What are you idiots doin'?"
Susan peeked from the window at the boys who were quietly making their way out of thehouse in the middle of the night. The moon glowed high in the sky, illuminating tens or evenhundreds of tiny feather-like clouds with its magnificent silvery shine. It was perfect weather for three near-sighted teenage boys to play sheriff.
They hid in the bush near the store, waiting patiently for someone to approach it and be served justice right after.
- "You think he'll show up?"
- "No doubt."
- "How can you be so confident?"
- "I have a sheriff hat. Trust me, Stevie."
Jeff peered at his brother smugly, but then the smaller one snatched the hat right off his head.
- "Ok, now I am the boss. I suspect that it was that worker who stole the donuts, so we probably should look from the side of the exit. Just in case he stays late and then goes sugar-crazy."
- "Nah, that's too obvious. Any fool would come up with that."
- "Then what do you propose, smartypants?"
- "I think that it was mister Sovka. He is, like, a fairly dislikeable figure already, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was him who stole the donuts."
- "But why, in the name of mother Maria, would our principal want to steal some pasties from a shop?"
- "He wants to make us suffer…"
- "Guys, quiet! Someone's here…"
Jack grabbed both of his brothers together by their hands and sat down into the bush, only his nose sticking from the wall of green leaves. He wasn't lying - there, was some shady figure hanging around the shop. The person was slouching heavily, groping each door and every window. Then there was a faint clicking noise and the blinding light filled the street.
- "Hands up! Virginia city police!"
Steve jumped from the bush barely keeping the hat from flying away by his hand. The three ambushed the person, cornering him to a brick wall. A man in his 50s with a fluffy grey mustache didn't quite expect such a turn of events to say the least. He hugged the wall, hands up in the air.
- "Wha-wha! Hey! You are not Virginia city police! You're buncha kids!"
- "How dareth you disrespecteth the law like this, sir!"
- "Give up! We know who you are!"
The man shook his head, leaning against a wall.
- "And who am I, dare I ask?"
- "Uh… A dirty criminal!"
- "A donut stealer!"
- "A mustache man? What? Why are you looking at me like this?"
There was a huge golden badge on the shirt of the suspect. It read "security guard". He shook his head again, twirling the side of his mustache with his fingers.
- "I don't know where you got that from. I work in here."
- "So what? That doesn't automatically make you innocent! What did you do at the store so late into the night anyway?"
- "I could've asked you the very same question, lad. I, personally, forgot my jacket there and came to retrieve it."
- "Prove it!"
- "Why should I prove any-..."
The three gave the man a death stare.
- "Fine. But then you have to promise to get lost."
- "Okay, old man. But not until justice is served."
- "Oh, dear…"
The boys walked into the store, and sure enough, there was a jacket lying on the counter. The guard picked it up and displayed it for everyone to see.
- "See, I told you. Now go home, you have no business going around on your own at such late hours."
The store's lights were once again switched off. The quiet settled among the streets of the sleepy Queen city… However, the gang didn't give up, not yet. Going home with nothing on their hands was not an option.
- "What a bummer! So it wasn't this guy after all…"
- "Told you, Steve! It's mister Sovka, I am sure of it. He is just waiting for the perfect moment… Like a creep."
- "Nonsense… That must be another staff member. You can't get in without those keys, you know? Or else there would be broken glass or something along those lines."
- "Okay, then… Maybe it was the shopkeeper herself! She seemed to be so anxious when we started asking 'bout the donuts… She surely knows more than she's willing to tell us. Whaddaya think, Jack?"
- "Oh yah, well, that sounds more like it to me."
And so they waited. And waited… And waited some more. The sun was already coloring the sky bright red and yet they still anticipated the arrival of the criminal.
- "Look. I am out. Dad's gonna skin us alive if he finds out that we were missing all night long."
- "What! Come on! The thief is gonna be here in a blink!"
- "I am telling you, Jeff. I don't like trouble."
- "Steve's a traitor."
Suddenly something clicked inside Jack's head and he pushed Steve to the ground.
- "Thinking of leaving us behind… That must be no coincidence. And you making those theories up is just a trick to deceive us… You are the real thief!"
- "What! Don't be fucking dumb!"
- "You always stood out as suspicious to me!"
- "That's because you are friggin' stupid! Get off me!
- "No, I am not doing that."
- "Okay, okay. But how can YOU prove that you aren't a thief! You didn't do shit to investigate!"
- "Because I am not a thief."
- "No, you are!"
- "Then you are a thief too!"
- "Oh, maybe Jeff is a thief as well then!"
- "He is an honest sheriff…"
- "I have his hat!"
- "You stole it. Proves my point. Oh, where is he by the way?"
While the endless bantering was taking place, Jeffery heard some weird noises coming through a black exit of the store. Naturally, he got his ass off the ground and went in to take a look. When he returned he had something in his hands that immediately ended all the fighting and cussing.
- "We got him, boys."
That morning, after miraculously escaping their dad's holy wrath, brothers gathered around the counter of the store once again.
- "Good morning, ma'am!"
- "Good day… You are here for donuts, right? We aren't short on those today, you surely must've scared that someone to death, I reckon."
- "Oh, no, not at all! Actually, we have her with us right now."
- "Really!? And a girl at that… Well, I at least hope that she feels sorry."
Jeff bends to the ground and then picks up something heavy and quite furry. Striped tail. Long dark paws. It had a wide snout with two bead-like black eyes and a glossy wet nose, which sniffed the air with great curiosity.
An enormously big and fat raccoon. It also had Jeff's cowboy hat on top of its head for some reason.
- "Wow! We don't allow pets inside the store… God, where did you even find one like…"
- "It is the criminal."
- "What? No."
- "I tell you. She has these handy paws that can pick any lock. Also, I suspect that one of your security guards used to feed her out of pity."
- "That's ridiculous…"
- "Eh, don't call Jannet ridiculous! She is just misunderstood… and hungry."
The raccoon cuddled inside Jeffery's arms as he was petting it. It really seemed to enjoy his company, becoming somewhat hostile if anybody else tried to touch it.
- "Alright… Well, at least any donuts won't go missing anymore. Would you like some?"
- "Sure! 12, no more, no less!
- "Coming right up!"
The saleswoman went to get the donuts, but returned quickly, empty-handed.
- "Oh, no… It seems like they are gone again! Just… vanished into the thin air while I was packing!"
- "Don't worry about that. Here. Thank you and have a nice day!"
- "Umm, okay… Goodbye, I guess…"
The store owner scratched her head, completely dumbfounded, as the group set off with a bag of donuts magically appearing in their possession.
- "You can have one, you little rascal."
No comments:
Post a Comment