“I can’t believe we made it,” winced Jesse as we got off the plane and took our first step on American soil in over two weeks. I agreed with Jesse, and thanked my lucky stars our injuries weren’t fatal. Jesse was still holding on to his left arm in an attempt to dull the pain. I scratched at my own head bandages, and checked my gut, which stopped bleeding only a few hours ago on the plane. It still hurt, but the drugs from Doc Samson were not only keeping me from constantly gasping in pain, but also giving me a goofy grin. That grin was perfect for the press, which greeted the two of us before we could really even savor the fact that we were back from London.
“Come on guys, give us a break – we just got here!” I tried pleading with the mass of reporters, cameras and flashes. Multiple microphones rushed towards our general direction and I think one even hit Jesse in the chin. Jesse was pissed – he didn’t have the same painkillers I did and wasn’t as calm. Several not so friendly policemen eventually escorted the two of us as if we were not so visibly injured. We were lead into some kind of dark holding room with a very obvious two-way mirror. Jesse and I looked at each other, mentally preparing for whatever was gonna happen next. Just one more challenge, I thought, and then we’d be home. A man introducing himself as Detective Chad Paige walked up to us casually and lit his cigarette. The smoke hung in the room, visible from the single floodlight.
“Look Paige, I can’t tell you everything that happened to us - what we did in London and why we look this way. So you can stop wastin’ our time and let us go home.” I resented the time we were wasting with this cop, and just wanted a warm bed. Jesse didn’t say anything, but spit on the ground at Paige’s feet.
“Look guys, I’m not here to bust your balls too much. I just need a few answers, then you guys can go home to your fish, dogs, and pretty little girlfriends. I know how you guys had a great time in London – but that was a given, wasn’t it guys? But how well did you actually carry out your plan to see and do things while you were abroad? Oh, and boys – be as specific as possible.” This guy was really startin’ to get on my nerves. What kind of question was that?
“What kind of question is that? Are you asking if I got to see Big Ben, eat fish n’ chips, and walked around an outdoor market? Well of course I did those things. And it was a piece of cake; not only did we go to an outdoor market, but I went to three, and got a new coat at one of em. How did I do it? Well I got off my ass – oh, excuse me, I mean “bum” – and actually went out and did that. We basically got to do what we wanted. Every expectation I ever had was met.” Jesse gave me a nod of approval for the canned answer, and I let Paige sit with that for a moment. Detective Paige took out his cigarette for emphasis. It was like this guy thought he was in a movie, and his act was getting old. His tough guy act did not impress me, and of course I was growing impatient.
“Alright, so you got to see the sights you wanted… but you boys would actually have to go out of your way to not see these things right? Ya don’t seem like the types that would stay in your rooms and watch BBC all day. So I’m unimpressed. How about your classes? What did you think of those?”
“What do you wanna hear, man? I went to class every day like I was supposed to – that’s what I was there for. Sure there was plenty to write, but I was gonna do that anyway so my folks could know what I was doing. Not a big deal, right? It felt like a real class, and we were graded like such. I can’t speak for Jesse, cause he was in a different class, but I had a great time in English.” Jesse stared off into space, recalling the strange journey he had in an art class. For that time in his life, he vowed never to speak of again. Paige realized he shouldn’t push that particular question on Jesse and stopped for a moment.
“Anything…interesting, or unexpected happen to you boys in London?” Paige said, eyeing our visible wounds. This was a tricky part – we couldn’t exactly tell him what happened to us, but we looked far too battered to say a dumb excuse like “we fell”. Our London-based adventure, challenge, and sacrifice was forever a secret. We were not about to reveal anything to this chump.
“Yeah, the most interesting thing we did was probably visit the Tower of London – it had a whole bunch of history behind it, and we saw the crown jewels. I was actually surprised how much I appreciated the crown jewels. You should really go sometime Paige, ol’ chap!” Jesse finished with a wink. Paige was furious. He knew how powerless he was in getting anything out of us, and lawfully had to let us go soon. There was really nothing for him to do.
“Fine, guys. Fine. Just get out of my site – and don’t ever go to London again.” He flicked his cigarette and it arced right behind Jesse’s ear. I stood up first and opened the door for Jesse. Paige stayed in the room, and we never saw him again.
“That nosey sonofabitch was a real pain in the ass, man.” Jesse was particularly peeved with the flicked cigarette. I was just glad to be out of there.
“Hey Jesse, don’t worry. It’s over. Let’s go home, I know you have a goldfish that needs feeding.”
“All I wanna do is go to sleep. And I think you should probably go to the hospital… stab wounds are kinda serious. I don’t know what Doc Samson gave you, but you know he’s not a real doctor right?”
“Yeah, I know.” I didn’t really care. I just wanted to go home and rest for days on end. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll feel good enough for the next journey. I think it will be about time to visit London and those damned gypsies in a few months…but this time, we will be ready.
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