It rained all day, so what can you do? Me, I mostly just did the Sunday crossword, watched some Fringe and Supernatural — both quite good episodes, actually — and wrote this with my weekly free-writing group:
“If you retire, take up hobbies or volunteer work.”
“What’s that?” asked Edgars. Haggerton had his feet propped up on the car’s dash and a reader open in his lap. Edgars tossed him his food and slammed his own door shut.
“It’s this mag,” said Haggerton. “Billie left it behind. It says you gotta plan for retirement, gotta ‘stockpile ideas to keep yourself busy.'”
“Like keeping busy’s ever a problem,” said Edgars. He pulled a french fry, sweaty with oil and cheese, from the bag. “You seen this town lately?”
“Sure, but it ain’t always gonna be like this. Get yourself a wife, a dog, get out of this place, settle down.”
“That’s crazy talk,” said Edgars. “You’re talking crazy.” He sighed, turned the ignition. Nothing but static on the scanner and radio. “These fries are soggy.”
“Those fries are always soggy,” said Haggerton. “I thought that’s why you liked them.” He bit deep into the side of his own burger. “And what’s so crazy about gettin’ out of here?”
“What’s Billie doin’, thinking about retirement? She just joined the force.”
“She’s not. But, y’know, ya gotta plan ahead. Think long-term, big picture.”
“That mag says that?”
“Nah, that’s what Billie says. Even if she makes detective, what good’s that gonna do her? But, hey, you wanna stay in this town til you’re old and gray or somebody puts a bullet in your back, be my guest.” He crumpled the empty wrapper and tossed it out his window. “Where’s my lemonade?”
“They were out.”
“So you didn’t get me nothin’? That’s hardly considerate.”
“We oughta get going. Dispatch says there was another attack over on Baker Street.”
“Sure,” said Haggerton. “Dispatch.”
“What?”
“Nothin’. It’s just…if you’re gonna start hearin’ voices again, you could at least do me the courtesy of not pretending. The radio’s broke.”
I really have no clear idea of what’s going on in this scene, and I was trying more to get the rhythm of the dialogue down than anything else. But there’s something here that I might return to.
