Clarence (part 2 of 3)

Clarence

“That doesn’t make a lick of sense, lady,”

Clarence

Interstate 13 was cleared of debris where the horrible accident had occurred.  He and Mary had pulled to the side of the road weeks ago when they were going south instead of north.  They volunteered to help with the investigation of a collision between a semi-truck and a sedan.  They had pulled over because they had suspicions that there had been foul play.  They met a police sergeant, Officer Torque, that was more of a jerk than a suspect but who also volunteered his services similarly.  Mary, Clarence, and Torque argued to the commanding investigator that the collision was no accident but murder.

Clarence thought of his son, Donny. He would have to deal with difficult situations like that. “Do you think the world is a better or worse place now?” Clarence asked Mary.

“Worse,” she said and laughed low.

“Why?”

“Everything,” Mary answered annoyed, as if the question was painfully obvious. “Crime, politics, and even music.”

“But we now have better crime scene forensics, all senatorial elections are electronic, and music is free here. I think Newtopians take a lot of that for granted,” Clarence argued.

“You don’t get it. It’s still controlled by the same people,” Mary said dismissively.

“That doesn’t make a lick of sense, lady.”

“Yes because-” she began.

“No,” Clarence interrupted, “No, because it was never the European Illuminati, overpowering theocracies, or even the Grey People.  Newtopians have had no owners. Slaves only to themselves,” Clarence said decisively.

“Exactly,” Mary said loudly towards the dashboard while squeezing the steering wheel. “Newtopians will always hear that noise echo and never know what it means. If they’ve had no interruptions then it is only their own pride or crime or whatever that’s keeping us back.”

“I don’t know,” Clarence despaired. “I just don’t know what to do. I am afraid of the world Donny is growing up in.”

“Yea,” Mary agreed automatically.  He watched her face as she tried to build up and express some thought of encouragement.  He liked how she winced at the thoughts she considered.  He found himself admiring the inner conflict she was experiencing: she strongly felt pessimistic about the world but would also relentlessly reevaluate that for him. “I mean, Donny has a great dad. He has a great mother and sister and brothers.  There are many good things going for him.  He’s safe and you are helping the world be a safer place.”

Clarence was warmed by her attempt to make him feel better. He was reluctant to agree to her compliment but then he thought of the massacre in the Sam’s town woods. “Yea, that made me think about the World Worshipers and Coarse.” Coarse had been the leading officer combating the Worshipers in Sam’s town until the massacre. The multi-agency team was forced to evacuate days later when thousands of Worshipers arrived.  Coarse had warned Newopian officials that it would happen but his credibility was gone. That means there is still a battle going on. Clarence began to think,  I am on the right side. And I need to do everything I can to protect my family. Will they come to Nearport where my family lives? How can I know that if we don’t know why they came to Sam’s Town?  

Selection from Old Swimming Hole by Steve Roll at steverollart.com