* * * * * * *
Oh no oh no oh no. Benny’s mind raced about like a cyclone, a whirl of thoughts and ideas, swirling too fast for him to capture one and focus on it. The bright sun outside the hospital had reflected too harshly on everything. The people milling around inside the emergency room had been too loud and too colorful and too busy. It was all too much.
Thankfully, he was home. Home, where
he could see all his things and relax. Now that structure was restored to the
front of the house, he had been able to move back in. He went into his kitchen
and poured himself a glass of milk. Milk was soothing. It was white, a blank
slate to calm his brain.
Skip was shot. Skip.
Shot. The words kept rolling around. Skip could be scary.
Actually, all policemen were scary. He didn’t see Skip, or any of the police,
often. Still, there was a leaden feeling to his insides, all the way to his
toes. Skip was hurt, and some of the policemen were dead.
Dead, like my mom. I miss
her so much. I miss watching TV with her and the smell of her cooking. I wish
she was here to tell me what to do.
Willem
had
told him to give blood, but that was out of the question. Doctors and needles
made him want to pass out. Of course, so did talking to police most of the
time. Benny waddled from one room to the next, his dress loafers making soft clicks on the wood floor.
I should give blood but I
can’t give blood. His
brain buzzed in agitation again, and he started talking to himself as a way to
focus.
“Skip needs help. How can I help him?”
Benny ambled up the stairs to his
room, and looked at the Matt Helm posters on the walls surrounding his round
bed, an original from the movie set. Every night, he went to sleep dreaming he
could be like the man on the poster. Matt was sure of himself, just like Dean
Martin. He knew how to do practically everything. He could drink and gamble and
play golf. Sometimes he even played golf for charities.
Benny stared up at Martin, smiling,
surrounded by beautiful women. What would Dino do?
An idea sprouted, a tiny idea. Benny
wanted to grow it bigger, but he didn’t know how. He knew who could grow it,
though.
Picking up the phone, he dialed his
friends, the Nickels. * * * * * * *
How is Dino going to help Benny out? Want more? Your copy is waiting for you, in either Kindle or Paperback.
1 comment:
Benny is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters...glad to see him get the chance to grow in this book.
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