(This series is a collaboration with my good friend Sanchez. His ideas, I ran with it. We will see how it evolves. He has a sound concept, and characters, I'm primarily piecing it all together and seeing how it plays out. We hope you enjoy our efforts.)
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MIDNIGHT Episode 025: WaRpATH
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Caretaker Police Department... South Carolina.
"Hey Mom."
Hannah Bell yawned as her mother Stacy Bell walked in to take over at the Dispatch desk. Dressed in a relaxed manner of faded blue jeans and a black and white plaid blouse that was not actually flannel she hugged her daughter and asked what she had missed. Switching places Stacy sat down and put her purse under her desk while Hannah stretched vividly.
"Grandma tell you about the wall to the cellblock being pulled down?"
"Nooooooo! How did I miss that when I drove in?" She hopped right back up but took her cordless headset with her as she and Hannah stepped into lockup to take a peek at the wall. "They're putting it back up fast."
Behind the Bell girls, resident prisoner pain in the ass Shantel Bigelow crept from her bunk to the bars and gripped them in silence. She had yet to meet either lady since her incarceration. "Pardon me ladies? Might I ask a favor?"
Stacy turning to reply jumped out of her skin at the disgusting naked hag smiling with missing teeth. "Where are your clothes?" Hand to her chest Stacy darted her gaze toward her daughter.
"Mom? This is Shantel. She's the one who pulled the wall down."
"She... how?"
"Tow truck winch."
"That's what my boyfriend calls me. Wench! Can you go tell Esteban to bail me out?" She points out the hole with a wiggling index finger. Having seen Esteban shimmy up his ladder time and time again to pat down mortar for his assistant Clinton Biles and supervising Officer Randall Koones she missed him more and more. Biles and Koones taking turns climbing up on separate ladders to lay brick she had a cornucopia of handsome devils to wink at. With the wall going up quickly the daylight was being crowded out by progress. "I keep trying to sweet talk him, but that black buck keeps Cop Blocking me."
"Randy most likely has orders to keep you two apart." Hannah told her.
"Your daughter is such a lovely child." Shantel was in a more relaxed mood at the moment, aiming to use compliments to get what she wanted. "I have me a daughter too. Such a precious one she is."
"Oh?" Stacy smiled, "Where is she?"
"Who knows? We rarely talk since she cashed in my winning lottery ticket. Ignoring her poor mother, she is." Of course, the Bell girls did not believe her. "She bought me my fur coat over there as a parting gift. Mother's Day!"
"That was sweet of her. What's her name?"
"Roadkill. Oh, you mean my daughter? Britney Britney Bigelow Saunders."
"Britney twice?"
"I had the dog before I had her. When Britney was born, I at least named her after it. I had poor Roadkill stuffed and Britney used to sleep with her every night. One day my baby left Roadkill in our driveway, and I ran over her again."
"Aww! She must have been crushed."
"Like a pulp."
"No, I mean Britney."
"Like I said... like a pulp."
"Stop that." Stacy was becoming confused, Hannah trying hard not to laugh. "I was referring to your daughter's emotions."
"What kind of dog was it?" Hannah asked.
"Britney Spaniel."
"Oh Jesus! You're a nutcase." Stacy pulled Hannah along with her out of the cellblock. "If she's here when you work again you stay away from her." Phone ringing in the Dispatch office Stacy hurried back to answer it. "Caretaker Police Department. How may I help you?"
"Hi! My name is Britney Saunders... I've been informed you're holding my mother, Shantel Bigelow?"
"Oh! Yes! I was just talking with her actually. She told me your name was Britney. What timing!" She giggled, "Hello!"
"Hi."
"Can you believe she told me your name was Britney Britney Bigelow Saunders?"
"It is my name."
"Yeesh! I apologize, I thought she was pulling my leg."
"No. She had a morbid sense of humor. Is she... doing, okay? We haven't spoken in a number of years."
"Well, she's cranky? It's really not for me to offer an opinion Ms. Saunders."
"I understand. She's off her meds again. Let me guess, she told you I was named after the family dog."
"She did."
"Who names a pet Roadkill? Is it any wonder I don't talk to her? My childhood teddy bear was replaced by a taxidermized dog. That's just fucked up."
"Oh, my god! You're serious?"