If someone had wanted me dead…..

What Happened to Charlie?

©2005 by Mae Ondracek

If someone had wanted me dead, why didn’t he just finish it, instead of all this monkeying around? They’ve thrown bottles at him and sticks and taken pot shots at him. What else are they going to think of? He hadn’t had a good nights sleep in a long time and he really needed that. He sat back in his stuffed recliner, thinking he could, maybe, turn them off for awhile. He needed some sleep, and very soon he was sleeping and dreaming he was running down an alley with a bunch of guys chasing him. He ran and ran but didn’t make much headway before one of the guys yelled, “Gotcha,” and he awoke, wondering what it was all about.

He got up from his recliner and made himself something to eat. While eating, he heard something big flap against the house and he peeked out the window to see a big cart lying there. He wondered, ‘where are they getting all this stuff from,’ and he went back to the table to finish eating. He knew he couldn’t call the cops, because they would never find the people doing this. They do things and run away, do things and run away. They must be kids, he thought.

He sat back down in his recliner and everything was quiet outside. He peeked out the window and saw someone haul away the cart. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘at least that is gone,’ and he sat in the recliner and dropped off to sleep. He slept most of the night but awakened when he heard a loud bang. He looked out his window and saw some kids doing something on his front lawn. He opened the door and hollered, “Get the hell out of here!”

Those kids took off like he had hit them and he rushed down to kick everything apart. Then he went back into the house and watched from behind his curtain. They didn’t come back that morning, so he went to work.

Everyone was saying how bad he looked, wondering if he had gotten any sleep. He said he had had enough sleep and was wondering what was going on outside. He went into his office and closed the door. He couldn’t have everyone see him pacing the floor, wondering why those kids were picking on him.

There was a knock at his door and he sat down quickly, with some papers in his hands, and said, “Come in.”

It was only old Mr. Jones, and he said, “Can I come in for a few minutes, Mr. Charles?”

“Why of course, Mr. Jones. Can I help you with something?” He asked.

“No, I’d just like to talk to you, if you don’t mind,” Mr. Jones said.

“No, I don’t mind, Mr. Jones, come on in,” said Mr. Charles.

“Well, you know I’m almost ready to retire but not quite. Well, this has been going on for awhile now and both my wife and myself are getting very tired out. You see, every night someone bothers us at home. We can’t sleep,” said Mr. Jones, “They carry on with everything they can think of.”

“You mean they are bothering you folks, too? What can be the matter with the kids now-a-days,” Mr. Charles said. “I’d call the cops, but what could they do? The kids would just run away.”

“I know,” said Mr. Jones. “That is why I came to you to see what could be done, Mr. Charles.”

“Well, Mr. Jones, I’ll put on my thinking cap and see if I don’t come up with something,” said Mr. Charles. “Why don’t you have your wife go to your daughters for a few days until we get this straightened out?”

“I could do that,” said Mr. Jones, “but the wife won’t leave, not without me.”

“Then we’ll have to think of something else,” said Mr. Charles. “I’ll think about this and let you know,” and he opened the door for Mr. Jones.

He had no more closed the door, when there was another knock and when he opened it, it was Miss Smyth. “Yes, Miss Smyth, won’t you come in?” Mr. Charles said.

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Charles,” Miss Smyth said. “I really want to ask you for help, Mr. Charles. I can’t get any sleep anymore. Those kids are making noise and throwing things at the house and… it’s just terrible.”

“Now, Miss Smyth, don’t you think you’re imagining it?” Mr. Charles asked.

“No I’m not, Mr. Charles. There are kids outside all night long, throwing things at my home and making all types of noise,” Miss Smyth said. “I can’t stand it.”

Mr. Charles went to the door, opened it and asked, “Has anyone here been bothered by kids at night? Setting off sparks and making a lot of noise?”

All hands went up, which surprised Mr. Charles. He said, “Has anyone of you talked with anyone else about this?”

They each shook their heard, no, and Mr. Charles said, “You know there are only seven of us who work here and we have all been made fun of, yes, that includes me. I slept in my recliner last night, just to get away from their noise.”

Everyone waited for him to go on, so Mr. Charles continued, “There must be something wrong with this place. Why are the kids only picking on us?”

He rested and thought for a moment, then said, “We don’t want to call in the police but it looks like we might have to. Now I want everyone to put on their thinking caps and try to figure out why those kids are picking on us. I’ll be out again in an hour to see what you’ve come up with,” and he went into his office and closed the door.

After 15 minutes he heard someone hollering, “I’ve got it, Mr. Charles. Come here quick.”

He went out into the main room and asked who had found the answer, when Mr. DeSota said he did. He got up on a chair and pulled the vent down, so everyone could see, there was a pile of clothes in there. “Just like you said, Mr. Charles. It had something to do with this place and here is one of them, let’s check all the vents to see if there is more stuff in them,” and they all proceeded to check vents.

They found five more piles of clothes in different vents and thought they might have gotten them all, when Mr. DeSota said, “Did you look in your office, Mr. Charles?”

“Why no, I didn’t. We were so sure they were all out here, I didn’t think to check in there,” Mr. Charles said. “Let’s go check it out.”

After looking around in there, Mr. Charles said, “It looks like this is the only vent with clothes in it. I’m sure glad of that,” and he pulled them out, down into a basket and there was a bad culprit, a very dead chicken.

Mr. Charles said, “Phew, no wonder those kids were playing havoc with our homes. Maybe now it will stop. Who ever put these in here are in for trouble. I’ll check with the police later on, after we get this all cleaned out.”

Everyone got garbage bags and placed all the clothing and things in them. They set them outside for the trucks to pick up that evening. Mr. Charles said, “Well, if that doesn’t hold down the kids from making racket on our door step, nothing will. Okay, everyone, let’s get washed up and eat. I’m hungry.”

But no one had brought anything to eat, so Mr. Charles took orders and sent Mr. Wonder to McDonalds to pick up everything. They had a very good lunch and everyone was happy to be back to work again.