Unexpectedly, Milo - Matthew Dicks [69]
Yes, he could place his hands on the wheel.
No, there weren’t any weapons in the vehicle.
No, there were no drugs in the car.
Yes, he could present his license and registration.
No, he had not been drinking.
Yes, he could step out of the car.
This is where honesty stopped being easy.
Complicating the situation was a second police officer, a red-faced, blond-haired man at least six inches taller than Milo who had been standing opposite his partner on the passenger side of the Civic. Milo hadn’t seen the man until he had climbed from his driver’s seat and was standing outside the car, trying to keep his back to the house in case Christine or Thick-Neck Phil emerged from within. It was then that he also noticed the police cruiser parked about four feet behind his car, its lights thankfully off.
Yes, he told the officer closest to him, a short, wiry man with what Milo thought were the hairiest knuckles he had ever seen. He had been sitting in his car, watching a video on his camera’s view screen.
Yes, he told the second officer, whom Milo now liked decidedly less than the first. He had been crying.
Yes, according to his driver’s license, which he had not changed since moving out, he lived on this street, just four houses down from his present location.
“Do you still live at home, sir?” Hairy Knuckles asked. The man was wearing a badge displaying his name, but in the dim light, Milo could not read it.
“No,” Milo said, surprised at how quickly the cop seemed to be catching on. “I’m separated from my wife right now. We’re working on getting back together.”
“What’s on the tape?” the second cop asked, still on the opposite side of the car and behind Milo. Suddenly sandwiched between two cops, Milo flashed back to Freckles and her own interrogation back in sixth grade. She must have been terrified that day.
“Sir? Did you hear me?”
Milo turned to answer. Holding on to the truth like a life preserver, he said, “It’s a video diary. Like a confessional.”
“Is your wife on the tape?”
“No. It’s another girl.” Milo tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, which wasn’t very.
“Sir, does your wife know that you’re sitting here, outside the house?” Hairy Knuckles had asked this question, forcing Milo to turn again. He was starting to become unnerved by the barrage of questions from both sides.
“Not unless she’s the one who called you guys.”
“Nope. A neighbor called. Reported seeing a guy sitting in his car. You can imagine how nervous you might make someone, just sitting here, right Mr…. Slade?” The cop had looked back at Milo’s driver’s license in order to recall his last name.
“Sure, but I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“Just keeping an eye on your ex-wife. Right, Mr. Slade?” The second officer again. Officer Unfriendly, Milo dubbed him in his mind.
“She’s not my ex-wife,” Milo said, the most forceful words out of his mouth so far. “We’re separated, but we’re getting back together.”
“Right. But that’s what you’re doing. Keeping an eye on her. Correct?” This was Hairy Knuckles, smiling in way that Milo did not entirely trust.
“Sort of. She had a guy over the house today. It was probably nothing, but she … I wasn’t sure. She wasn’t clear about who he was and why he was over the house. I just wanted to find out what was going on.”
“Mr. Slade, I need you to turn around and put your hands on the hood of your car, so I can pat you down for weapons. Okay?”
“I don’t …” Milo said uncertainly, but before he could protest, his body had turned and his hands had planted themselves as instructed in what seemed to be an act of conspiracy.
“Mind if we take a peek in your car, Mr. Slade?” Officer Unfriendly asked while his partner finished checking Milo for weapons.
“I guess not.”
The peek in the car turned into a full search of the vehicle, including the trunk, which led to an awkward question about the half dozen jars of jelly nestled in a box on top of the spare tire. Unable to honestly explain their presence, Milo was finally forced to abandon the truth.
“They were