Chapter 16 Let's Call Him B.O.B.

 

It was fully dark when we reached Kon-Tiki Sands. Mae didn’t slow as she pushed her walker through the automatic door and headed for home.

“Maybe I should stop by her condo tomorrow,” I said. “Check up on her.”

Tiare said, “Nah. She’ll get over it. She always does.”

“She probably just needs to pee,” Sylvie said. “I know I do.” She took off at a near-run.

“Me too,” Kaulana said as she sped her scooter down the walkway. “Aloha!”

“It is past my supper time,” Francesca said.

Violet and Coralee made their excuses and disappeared, leaving Esther and I alone.

“Want to help me write up the report?” I asked her.

“We gotta write a report?”

“Tonight there isn’t much to report. Nothing to notify the police about. But I think it’s a good idea to keep a written record of what happens each time we patrol the neighborhood. Something that seemed insignificant tonight might turn out to be important later.”

“Makes sense.”

Romy’s door opened and he leaned out. “Ladies, how’d it go tonight?”

“I think it went well enough, for our first time out,” I said. “We covered several square blocks.”

“I was a little worried when you weren’t back by seven. Pearl’s killer is still out there …” He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.

I said, “As long as we all stick together we should be fine.”

“There’s safety in numbers,” Esther added.

Romy gave a nod. “You’re probably right about that, but you still shouldn’t be out after dark. Did you see anything unusual?”

I exchanged a quick look with Esther. “This neighborhood’s all new to me. There are things I never saw in Manhattan. It’ll take some time before I know what’s the norm around here.”

“A car alarm went off,” Esther said. “We spoke with the owner and he thanked us for patrolling the area.”

“Good job, ladies. You just be careful out there. By the way, the police took down the crime scene tape today. I drained the hot tub to clean it, so it’ll be closed for a while, but the pool will be open tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” I said, wondering if anyone would ever use the hot tub again.

I unlocked my door and we left our shoes outside, Hawaiian style. Esther hurried in and fell to the couch with a great sigh, stretching her legs or in front of her. “Hooooeeee. I am done for. That’s the most I’ve walked in ages.”

I lowered myself to the other end of the couch. “I walked a lot in New York—I had to. But my knees aren’t as young as they used to be. Soon as I catch my breath, I need to ice them.”

“You got ice packs in your freezer?”

“Just frozen peas and broccoli.”

“I’ll get those for you.”

“I can do it—”

“No, no. You sit and rest yourself. We gotta take care of your knees because you’re the Team Captain. Without you there’d be no Neighborhood Watch.”

Grunting, she used the armrest to struggle to her feet, and headed for the kitchen. “Got any kitchen towels?”

“Second drawer.”

She wrapped two bags of frozen vegetables in towels, brought them to the living room, and placed one on each of my knees.”

“You’re a godsend, Esther. Thank you.”

“No problem. You got anything to eat? After all that talk about food, I’m starving.”

“You’re welcome to anything you find—but the peas and broccoli are taken.”

“You just sit here. I’ll make us some tea and put together something for us to eat.”

More than ever, tonight I longed for a cold glass of Chardonnay, but I wanted to be respectful of Esther’s beliefs.

Esther rummaged in the fridge. “You don’t got much in here. It’s no wonder you stay so skinny.”

I’m a far cry from skinny, but supposed the term was relative and accepted it as a compliment.

There was barely room for Esther to turn around in my tiny kitchen, but in no time she’d set the table with two mugs of hot tea, sliced olive bread, a block of sharp white cheddar cheese, and a bunch of purple grapes. “Okay. Come and eat!”

I hobbled to put the vegetables back in the freezer and slid into the chair across the table from Esther. “This is perfect. Thank you.”

“No problem,” she said, buttering a slice of bread.”

I ate some grapes and a wedge of cheese, then put my dish in the sink. “Go ahead and keep eating. I’m going to start working on the report.”

I brought my laptop to the table. After skimming the instructions in the Neighborhood Watch Handbook,  I created a Word document titled Neighborhood Watch Report. “I’ll write a short paragraph about the car alarm incident.”

“You don’t have to say it was me that set it off, do you?”

“No. I don’t think that’s really relevant.” I typed a couple of lines, briefly describing what happened. “Okay. Next, it says I need to describe any unusual activity we may have witnessed.”

“Define unusual.”

“Something you don’t see every day?”

“There definitely was that.” She grabbed a Neighborhood Watch brochure and fanned her face. “Whew.”

“It has been a hot night.” I read aloud as I typed, “Person or persons involved: one male. Name: unavailable.”

“I don’t like calling him unavailable. I think we should name him.”

“Name him?”

She nodded.

“What would you like to name him?”

 She thought for a moment. “Let’s call him Bob.”

“Bob?”

“For boy oh boy.”

“Got it. B.O.B. Age?”

“Young enough to be our grandson.”

“I’ll write early thirties. Race?”

“He looked like a Pacific Islander.”

I typed it. “Hair?”

“A long, thick wavy ponytail …”

“Long, curly pony tail. Complexion?”

Esther let out a deep sigh. “Sweet milk chocolate.”

I stopped typing and eyed her for a moment. “Seriously?”

“Sorry.” She closed her eyes and prayed, “Dear Jesus forgive me for the unclean thoughts I was about to have.”

“I’ll write tawny. Clothing?”

“Tight blue jeans that hugged his thighs … and then … oh Jesus …” All of a sudden Esther didn’t look so good.