'You heard your mother,' he cried. He had his fists clenched and was waving them at me. 'Get out of our house!'
'Dad. Come on-'
'You're not welcome here! Get out!'
He took a step towards me and I just shook my head and left the room and kept walking until I was out of the house. When I got to the curb I sat down. As I waited for the police to show up, 1 looked over the photos that I had grabbed. I had only been able to pick up six of them. Still, it settled me down to look at images of Melissa and Courtney as they smiled shyly at the camera.
The cruiser came quickly. It's not every day in Bradley you have shots fired at a residential home. The siren turned off and Bill Wright and a younger cop that I didn't know got out of the car.
Bill stood for a moment and peered at the two broken windows before addressing me.
'What happened here?' he asked.
'Someone took a couple of shots at me from outside. The first shot missed me by inches.'
Bill turned his gaze back towards the windows. 'You called for an ambulance. Is anyone hurt?'
'I pushed my parents to the floor after the first shot. I think my mom might've broken her hip.'
'It was just you and your mom and dad inside?'
'Yeah.'
Bill turned to the younger cop. 'Mike, go inside and see how they're doing. Take their statements, and also, give the station another call, make sure an ambulance is on its way.'
The younger cop, Mike, gave me a funny look before leaving us. Bill stood awkwardly for a moment and then looked back again towards the house.
'The ambulance should've been here by now,' he muttered under his breath. Then to me, 'Did you see anything?'
'No. After the shots were fired I ran outside, but whoever did this was long gone.'
'Any idea who might've shot at you?'
'No idea. As I told you, I didn't see anyone.'
Of course, that wasn't what he asked. Annoyance disturbed his long narrow face. He turned to stare at me for a few seconds before looking away. In any case he let it drop.
'Why were you waiting outside for us?'
'My parents didn't want me in their house.'
He nodded as if that made perfect sense. He asked, 'You haven't looked around for shell casings, have you?'
I shook my head. I dug one of the bullets out of the bedroom wall. It looks like a seven millimeter. I left it on top of the dresser.'
'I'll see if I can find any casings.'
He took out a flashlight and started searching the ground. I watched as he walked back and forth. After a few minutes he found one and held it up with a pencil. At that moment an ambulance pulled up. Two EMT workers jumped out of it.
'You took your time coming here,' I said.
Neither of them bothered to look at me. One of them told me they left as soon as they got the call. The other one addressed Bill. 'What do we have here?' he asked.
'An elderly woman might've broken her hip.'
Without being asked, I told them that my mom was sixty-three. The EMTs ignored me and opened the back of their ambulance and took out a stretcher. Then they made a beeline to the house, leaving me and Bill Wright alone. I just sat and stared at him. Eventually, he flinched under it.
'You were holding up the ambulance,' I said.
He pretended not to hear me.
'What were you hoping for?' I asked. 'That I had gotten hit and would bleed out before help could get to me?’
‘I don't know what you're talking about.’
‘Bullshit.'
He turned and glared at me, but it was forced and unnatural. Then he looked away. We stood silently for what seemed like minutes before he muttered something about me waiting where I was. 'I'll be right back,' he said.
I watched as he walked away, his gait self-conscious. He was about to enter the house, but he backed up to let the two EMTs out. They held a short conversation before he slid past them and went inside.
The stretcher the EMTs were carrying was empty. As they were loading it into the back of the ambulance I asked how my mom was.
'I think her hip is badly bruised, but not broken,' one of them said to me.
'Shouldn't you be taking her to the hospital?'
He shrugged. 'If they don't want to go, you can't make them.'
The two of them finished loading up the ambulance and then drove off. I sat for another few minutes on the curb and then stood up and got into my car. While I sat there I thought about the police holding up the ambulance on me. When I had called, I had spoken to the switchboard operator, and she had probably relayed my message to the desk sergeant, Schilling. It had probably been his idea. Still, I was sure Bill knew about it. As I thought about it, I realized I didn't care. Just as I realized I didn't care that my parents had thrown me out. Let them all do whatever they wanted to. As soon as I could, I'd be out of Bradley. Then none of it would matter.
I had my eyes closed and head tilted back when there was a short rap on the driver's side window. I opened my eyes and saw Bill leaning over, frowning. I rolled down the window.
'You weren't planning on driving off, were you?'
I shook my head. 'I was just waiting here for you.'
'That's quite a mess in there,' he said.
I didn't bother answering him.
He waited for a few seconds, realized I wasn't going to say anything, and then continued. 'Your parents claim you have photos that belong to them. They want them back.'
'They're pictures of my kids.'
'They say they'll file charges against you if you don't return them.'
'Let them.'
'If that's what you want.'
He started fingering his handcuffs. He had them half slid off his belt before I stopped him.
'This is ridiculous,' I said. 'I'll go in and talk to them.'
He shook his head. 'They don't want you in their house. Why don't you hand me those photos. It would be a pretty stupid thing to have to arrest you for.'
'Yeah, it would be,' I agreed. 'Especially since if I was brought in tonight, I'd make a stink about that ambulance being held up on me. Someone might actually care about it.'
I could see his eyes dull a bit, but he didn't say a word. I let out a lungful of air. 'Why don't you go back in there and tell them that if they want I'll give them their pictures back, but if I do, I'll also be driving to Albany tonight so I can take my Own in the morning. Let's see what they say to that.'
Bill's mouth twisted into a smirk as he shot me a disgusted look, but after a ten-count, he turned and went back into the house. When he came back he told me I could keep the photos.
'You need anything else from me?' I asked.
He shook his head, his eyes as lifeless as glass.
'I've got a duffel bag with my clothes in there. It's in my bedroom. You want to accompany me while I go in and get it?'
"They don't want you in there.' I could see in his eyes the last thing he wanted to do was run another errand for me. It just about killed him, but he gritted his teeth and told me to wait where I was while he went in and retrieved my bag for me.
As he went back into the house, I got out of the car and stretched. My muscles ached and I was dead tired. As I stretched, Bill came out of the house with my duffel bag. For a moment it looked as if he were going to hand it to me, but as I reached out for the bag he dropped it at my feet.
'About your being shot at,' he said, 'here's a suggestion. Why don't you get in your car and keeping driving 'til you get someplace where somebody gives a damn?'