Episode 26 Todd's road trip

Todd leaves Marie again. He takes off suddenly north to Bagley where the family farm is located.

Todd grabs his clothing bag and a few other things from the apartment and rushes out the door early on a Saturday morning in late September 1992. Todd is excited for a change in situation. He's been staying with his cranky wife Marie for the last few months and things have not been going well.

Marie spends all her time working, cleaning, and sleeping! And, she has no interest in sex. She seems to have a problem with everything that I do.

Todd and Marie shared a great deal of passion and had a lot of fun early on, but getting married seems to have ruined things. It's like Marie is stuck in first gear and she's never happy! I need a break from her! She probably won't even notice me gone. I just left without saying anything, but I think she was still sleeping.

Meanwhile, Todd likes to keep busy and can't stand staying home when it is much more exciting to go out at night and enjoy the nightlife while still young enough to do so. Besides, everyone needs to unwind and let off a little steem.

Todd is heading to Bagley to the family potato farm. There he can work without having to answer to anyone. He's been working this farm his whole life and no one can run the equipment like Todd. Todd's parents own the farm and they've always relied on him to be around as much as possible to help with running things. Since Todd's parents are getting older, having Todd around assures them that the upcoming harvest will be a good one and things will get taken care of.

Todd heads out in his rusty ‘84 Oldsmobile Ciera for Bagley this warm late summer morning with a six pack of beer in a cooler on the passenger seat. He wants to get to the farm early enough in order to get settled at home, and getting away from Marie is only a bonus. Todd also looks forward to visiting his favorite hangouts in his hometown.

Todd starts driving north on HW 169 and then on HW 371. He hopes to get to the farm before evening. As Todd gets on HW 2 in Bemidji he can't help but to want to pause for a drink or two right after lunch. Todd stops in Bemidji at Bar 287 on Front street.

After Todd enters the bar, he notices how busy the place is and he takes a seat at the bar. He orders a drink and settles in while chatting with a few people nearby. Todd loves this bar as he's been here many times. The waitresses and bartenders are all great looking! Todd starts talking loudly with a couple that is also seated at the bar. He tells them of his family's potato farm and how long they've owned it. Then after a while, Todd and another man start to play darts toward the back of the bar. They make a $50 bet on the eventual winner. Todd is thrilled to finally complete the board and win the bet!

After a few hours of Todd finishing off a full pitcher of Michelob and a few tequila shots, he decides he better pee then hit the ground running. “It's time to get a move on!” Todd loudly announces to anyone who's interested. Todd then walks unsteady to the men's room to do his business.

Another man who is sitting quietly at a table in the bar with a baseball cap on and a hoodie follows him there. Without a word, the man quickly comes up behind Todd and slams Todd's forehead into the ceramic tile wall behind the urinals. Three times. An unconscious and bleeding Todd falls backward while still peeing. The man quickly blocks the bathroom door with the steel garbage can and pulls Todd's limp body into a bathroom stall. He sets him on the toilet, closes the stall door so that it's latched, wipes up a puddle of blood from the floor, and leaves quickly before anyone else can walk into the room.

Robert casually, almost nonchalantly, walks out of the men's room at Bar 287. “Problem solved.” He says quietly to himself. “Now, I've got the three hour drive home.”

It's thirty minutes before anyone notices that there's a dead body lying in the men's bathroom stall.

Reviews

[Sara Mercury]

Ouch!

I'm sure the murderer left behind too much evidence and DNA... he's going to get caught if the homicide detectives are vigilant...

I see a good episode of Law & Order here.

Great job with the story development. I do have a tip, though. In the places where your characters are thinking to themselves, it might read better if you italicize the inner dialogue. Just a suggestion.

Kudos!

[Ballpark Frank]

I agree and see what you mean with the italics. I can't figure that out. I might need to try another word processing program.

Thanks for reading. That's awesome of you.

[Sara Mercury]

What program are you using? Perhaps I can help...

[Ballpark Frank]

Google docs. I really need to do something

[Sara Mercury]

I love Google docs. I use it too. I cut from Google docs and paste into Writers' Cafe. You can select your text in Google docs and put italics on it.

[Ballpark Frank]

I already do just that. In Google docs, everything is correct. But when I copy and paste the italics disappear.

[Sara Mercury]

Oh. Isn't there a select and italicize option on Writers' Cafe in the edit process?

[Ballpark Frank]

Hmmmm. I had checked and didn't see it. I'll check again.

[Samuel Dickens]

I thought you were going to devote this one to Todd and leave Robert out, but oh, contraire! Robert's brazen, murderous behavior can't always go unnoticed. (We hope)

[Ballpark Frank]

Robert will eventually face consequences. Thanks Sam for your continued reading