The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 1 - Police Pants For Charlie Charlie hates shopping. He especially hates shopping in the big mall. But today he has no choice but to tag along with his mom. “You need some new pair of pants, young man,” His mom told him as they entered the mall’s double doors. “Your pants are getting a bit too tight, I see. Look, you’re finally gaining some weight. Maybe you won’t be so scrawny anymore.” His mom continued as she pinched his waistline, proving that Charlie had been gaining some weight. “Mom! Stop that. It’s embarrassing!” Charlie whined as he walked with his mother from one store to another. “I don’t need new pants, these are fine,” Charlie protested. Inside a big department store, Charlie’s mom scanned through the racks looking for the perfect pants for him. “How ‘bout this dear?” Charlie’s mom held up a pair of charcoal gray pants. Charlie shooked his head. “No, not that one. I want tan or navy blue, just like the cops. His mom continued to look through the rack. “I’ll be right back, Mom!” Charlie hollered as he headed towards the jewelry department. He saw two kids from his school, Eddie and Brian. “Troublemakers,” Charlie mumbled to himself. He followed the kids as they looked through each jewelry case, smiling at the friendly clerks who work behind the counters. “Don’t go too far Charlie! You need to try these on!” Charlie’s mom yelled out. Everyone in the store heard her. Everyone, except Charlie. Charlie hid behind the hat rack, still investigating what Eddie and Brian were up to. He had known them since first grade and never really liked them. The two had been very successful in covering up their crimes. Back in first grade, Charlie caught Eddie and Brian stealing a little girl’s Barbie lunchbox. Charlie tried to tell Mrs. Green that it was the two boys who stole it but without any proof, it was his word against theirs. The two boys got away with it and Charlie had to stay after school. He got in trouble for NOT minding his own business. From that day forward, he was skeptical of the two boys’ whereabouts. He branded them as troublemakers and they branded him as a nosy, busybody who is just out there to ruin their fun. There were other instances Charlie knew about. In second grade, Eddie and Brian took Mrs. Hatfield’s Science test and sold the questions to some kids for fifty cents. They made a whopping five dollars. Mrs. Hatfield did catch them but they never got in trouble for it. Their parents talked Mrs. Hatfield into letting them pay back the fifty cents to each student. They were also allowed to take a different test three days later. Eddie and Brian could fool just about anyone especially when they look like sick little puppies when caught red-handed. They would apologize with droopy and teary eyes and the grown-ups tend to be quick in forgiving them. These looks just made Charlie sick in his stomach. He couldn’t believe how Eddie and Brian could trick just about anyone into believing that they were good boys. “Someday, I would prove that these boys are nothing but trouble,” Charlie would always say this to himself. He was always sure that someday the truth would come out. Eddie and Brian seemed to have a way with words and with people. Many grown-ups liked these boys. They wear nice, clean clothes. They used the words “Sir” and “Ma’am” too often. The girls at school thought they were cute. This made Charlie even sicker in his stomach. The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 2 - Those Trouble Makers Charlie’s parents seem to like Eddie and Brian too. It’s probably because they were the spelling champions of the school for two years in a row. Their fathers liked to golf together on Sunday mornings while their mothers would volunteered in the community church. Everyone in Woonsocket liked them. Everyone, except Charlie. Every year, the two families would invite all the residents in Woonsocket for a big pool party. Everyone would come. Everyone including Charlie’s parents. But Charlie stayed home. He knew better than to hang around with Eddie and Brian. He knew they were troublemakers. Two years ago, Charlie’s parents forced him to come to the party with them. “C’mon sport, live a little!” His dad said to him. “Don’t be such a party pooper, son.” Charlie’s dad continued. Charlie went with his parents to the party. He was just sitting at the corner of the pool, paddling his feet in the water when Eddie and Brian both pushed him into the pool and left. They didn’t know that Charlie couldn’t swim. He flapped his arms up and down until a little girl screamed, “Mommy, mommy, that boy is drowning!” Soon enough, three stocky men jumped in the pool and rescued Charlie. He had grown dizzy and coughed out so much water that his parents had to take him home. He looked over to the side of the house and saw Eddie and Brian laughing their hearts out. He gave them a deep look of warning as his mother walked him to the car. They continued to laugh at him. Eddie and Brian were both well behaved around everyone, especially around girls. But Charlie knew better. He had seen them get away with things for so long. He believed in his heart that someday, he will get them straightened out. “They will pay for what they’ve done. Someday, they will. And I will be right here watching the whole thing,” Charlie would say this over and over to himself. Charlie continued to watch what Eddie and Brian were up to. They talked to the jewelry clerk of the store. They cracked some jokes and she giggled. They continued to talk to her. Finally, she turned around and helped a paying customer. Brian winked at her while Eddie snickered. At that moment Charlie couldn’t believe his eyes. He knew that Eddie and Brian were scums but he didn’t know that they would stoop this low! He looked keenly at the two boys who had just succeeded in stealing a gold bracelet off the counter. Amazed at what he had just witnessed, he walked closer and the two boys spotted him very quickly. “Stay out of this one loser,” Eddie warned Charlie. “Go home Charlie, you weren’t here. You didn’t see us and we didn’t see you.” Brian walked closer to Eddie. “You will get caught, you stinking thieves!” Charlie replied. “Not if you don’t tell,” Brian said as he shoved Charlie towards the hat rack. Charlie tried to keep his balance but failed. He fell on the floor with all the hats and scarves right on top of him. The two boys laughed and ran off. Charlie stood up and to his surprise, the store security, a big and bald man, stooped right over him. “Uhm…Sorry. Uhmmm but I’m here to report a stolen property. I mean, I just witnessed some boys stealing a bracelet from the jewelry counter.” Charlie responded as he tidied himself up. “Charlie, is that you?” Oscar, the security guard recognized him. “Still clumsy after all these years, huh.” He laughed out loud. “Uhm yes, I mean no! Those two boys pushed me! Brian Woods and Eddie Whitaker – they pushed me!” Charlie tried to explain. “Who? Oh Charlie, you have quite an imagination. Why don’t you run along son before you get yourself in a much deeper trouble.” Oscar gave Charlie a stern look of warning. “I mean it. I’m in charge here and before I have to escort you out, you better leave.” Oscar continued. “Charlie?” Charlie’s mom hollered from the other end. Charlie looked at Oscar with dismay and ran off. Oscar watched him run. Intimidating kids was his specialty. The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 3 - Just a Matter of Time “I told you Charlie, no more tall tales, alright?” Charlie’s mom hollered to him as he sat in the back of her old Buick. “It isn’t a tall tale mom, I really saw them steal that gold bracelet!” Charlie whined back to his mother. He stared out the window as she screeched her tires out of the parking lot. The afternoon was a bit warm as the golden glow of the sun perched over the horizon. The landscape seemed to glisten as the sun started to coast to the west to prepare for another beautiful sunset. Busy people walked by, crossing the little streets, as they headed back to their cars before dark. Charlie’s mother hated the crowds the most. She hated the warm weather. But more than anything, she hated the fact that Charlie had always fibbed about the truth with her, especially the truth about Brian Woods and Eddie Whitaker. She had always wanted to be in that high-class social group of those two boys’ mothers, Mrs. Elaine Woods and Mrs. Mary Whitaker. Sure, she had gotten invitations for their usual big parties in town. The fact that the entire Woonsocket was always invited didn’t make her feel any special. She wanted to be in that group, where all the women hung out with both Elaine and Mary. She wanted to join them in their little tea get-togethers, their Tupperware parties, their cosmetics jubilee or just their private barbecues just with close friends on a cold and crispy autumn day. She wanted to belong in that high-end social group. She wanted so much to belong that she would deny and ignore what her son had been telling her for many years, that Eddie and Brian were the instigators of Woonsocket’s mysterious petty thefts and that they were the culprits of the unfair treatments against the town’s good-hearted, smart fellows like her son. Every time Charlie would talk about the two boys, she would get mad at him. She didn’t know what to believe. Deep inside she knew that her boy could be right. But with Charlie running around town, all clumsy and silly with his highway patrol attitude and tough cop persona – she couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed of him. Oh, she loved him deeply and she had been a great mother to him, reading books to Charlie when he was a little toddler and playing with him in the park. She would go the extra mile to get him his favorite dessert: apple cobbler. She would even go along with him to buy him the latest fake cop badge out there, or maybe a silver buckle for his cop uniform or the vintage posters of his favorite cop shows from the olden times. But she couldn’t help wonder why Charlie couldn’t excel in sports like football or even basketball. She couldn’t help but wish that he would go home with straight A’s or be the school’s president or something. She wanted to call her friends from the neighborhood or from the parlor about what her own son had accomplished. But instead, she would hear giggles and hushed comments about how weird her son was, how ridiculous he looked with his cop uniforms, how he would walk around clumsy, knocking down everything he passed by. How she wished he would be different. Charlie kept quiet in the car. He never expected his mother to believe him. As far as he could remember, he had always told the truth. But the truth never did set him free. The truth had always gotten him in so much trouble. Besides, his folks never believed him. Sometimes he still feels like he’s two – his parents still worry about him, reprimands him about tall tales when all this time, he had been open and honest to them about everything. “They just don’t understand.” Charlie would say to himself, his way of reassuring that he was still doing the right thing. After all the things he had shared with his parents and after all the times that they neglected to believe in their only child, Charlie was still loyal and dedicated into someday uncovering the truth about Eddie and Brian. “It’s just a matter of time,” he would say to himself. One might think that trying to unravel the truth about these two boys would be frustrating and futile. But to Charlie, he had managed to look at it as a “game.” And in Charlie’s game, there is only “one winner”, in just “a matter of time.” He smiled as he looked out the car window. “It’s just a matter of time, ladies and gentlemen, just a matter of time.” He snickered softly and smiled. The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 4 - Charlie In Trouble Again “What are you so upset about?” Charlie’s dad hollered at his wife. She stamped her feet and headed into the kitchen. “Your son thinks that Eddie and Brian did a horrible thing again. Why doesn’t he just let up on those two boys? Is he jealous of them?” She almost screamed as she grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge. Charlie’s dad just continued to watch football as she mumbled and groaned in the kitchen, getting ready to cook dinner. Charlie walked up the stairs with the department store bag in one hand. “Charlie! Why are you getting your mom upset again?” Charlie’s dad stopped him immediately. He turned down the volume of the television set and walked over to the stairs. Looking up, he hollered at his only son. “Why do you say bad things about those boys? You know they are good boys. Their fathers are good buddies of mine.” His mean eyes stared right at Charlie. “You mean golf buddies, you have nothing else in common with them except golf. I don’t exactly call that deep friendship.” Charlie responded back but not with a tone of anger or frustration but rather with “as a matter of fact” tone. Charlie’s dad didn’t take his comments well. “Those are good boys, you ought to learn from those two. Are you jealous of them?” Charlie’s dad inquired with sarcasm in his voice. “Heck no, Dad!” Charlie frowned at his father. He hardly showed dismay towards his old man except when he starts his usual sarcastic and cynical remarks. His eyebrows came together and continued to frown at his father. The sunrays plummeted from the hallway window upstairs and didn’t let the old man catch his frown. He squinted and looked at the bright light where his son was supposed to be standing. “Well, if you’re certainly not jealous of them then stop talking bad about them. This town doesn’t need another gossip, you hear?” He looked at his wife when he said the word “gossip”. Everyone knew she’s guilty of this vice, probably the guiltiest of all. “Yes, dad.” Charlie obliged himself to answer back just to get his old man off his case. Then he closed his bedroom door and felt the whole world was against him. The only safe place he had ever been was his bedroom where he could think out loud, complain and grumble without anyone stopping him. Behind those closed doors, Charlie felt safe to be himself, to be a dreamer. He looked at his posters on the wall. He turned his television set on and threw the department store bag with his new pair of pants in it on the floor, right next to the hamper. “I don’t know why he would say those things about those two bright boys.” Charlie’s mom yelled out from the kitchen as if her husband was 5 miles away from her instead of 5 yards away. “I think you’re right dear, I think he’s jealous of those boys. Do you remember when he was 5 and you would go fishing with him down the lake? You guys had the best times back then. Now it seems like you’re on each other’s throats.” She slapped the beefsteaks with some salt and pepper then dunking them in her secret sauce. “What do you mean, we?” defended her husband. You guys were the ones fighting when you got home. Keep me out of this one, alright?” “Yeah, yeah but you know, you should take him fishing soon just like old times. Maybe he needs that father-son bonding I hear about. Will you take him fishing soon hon?” Her hollers slowly turned to sweet requests. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. I just don’t think it would help the boy. He’s got something against those two boys and fishing ain’t gonna help him. What he needs is a good kick in the rear.” With his bedroom window open, Charlie could hear his parents talk about him in a demeaning fashion. It wasn’t the first time he heard them talk behind his back and he knew it wouldn’t be the last one. The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 5 - Uncle Mel is Coming “He’s such a loser!” Charlie’s mother screamed as she hung up the phone. “Huh? Who?” Charlie’s dad inquired. He got up from the couch knowing that dinner will soon be served. He could smell his wife’s beefsteak and mashed potatoes and the not so freshly baked corn bread from last night’s dinner. It’s okay that it’s not fresh. He loves his wife’s cornbread. “Who’s the loser?” He inquired some more, prying deeply for more information. “Your brother Mel! He said he’ll be right over to pick up Charlie for a quick ride in his meter cart.” Charlie’s mother served her husband with a mount of her mashed potatoes and a generous serving of the beefsteak. He grabbed a handful of the cornbread and started eating. “Charlie! Dinner!” She screamed as if Charlie was outside the house, maybe five blocks down. The whole neighborhood must’ve heard her. “Mel’s harmless. Don’t let him bother you!” Her husband reassured. “It’s just that Charlie idolize him so much because he walks around here like he’s some kind of a big shot! Now Charlie got this idea that he should hang around his Uncle Mel. I just don’t want him to follow his uncle’s footsteps. After all, giving out parking tickets ain’t exactly rocket science!” She sat next to her husband at their old oak dinner table in the kitchen. “It’s an honest living, dear. At least he has a job.” Charlie’s dad dabbled on thick honey and butter all over the cornbread and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. “He gives your son too much to think about as far as law enforcement. Your son should hang out with you and learn the cattle business instead of going out riding in some parking meter cart!” She continued babbling as Charlie stepped into the kitchen, pulled out a chair and started eating like his father. Thick spreads of butter and honey on his cornbread served him just right. He ate his beefsteak like it was his last meal. Charlie’s mother just watched her son gorge down his dinner. “Your Uncle Mel is coming here soon. He said he’s going to take you for a ride in his fabulous cart!” She said it with such sarcasm then she laughed. Charlie didn’t say anything. He knew his favorite relative was coming over. He knew because he called his uncle from the upstairs phone. He couldn’t help but tell someone, the only one who would believe him. He talked to his uncle about seeing Eddie and Brian steal the gold bracelet. He talked to him about how no one believed him and how the security guard didn’t believe him either. He talked to him about how the surveillance camera in the store was blocked when he saw the boys take the bracelet. He told his uncle about everything. But he didn’t say another word about it to his parents. He knew that they would only claim that he’s lying. He’s not upset at them. He actually understood their points of view. How could one compete with those rich, perfectly trained in deceitful little lies boys? They had been conning people in Woonsocket for years! Charlie on the other hand had been so good in being clumsy, knocking down things and sometimes people. He had been looked upon as weird, strange and odd kid. How could anyone believe him over those two well-poised boys? He inhaled his food some more. He enjoyed eating his mother’s cooking. Just like his father, he really loved her cooking. Even though there wasn’t much of a friendly conversation at their dinner table, not much of a family bonding going on – what made their dinners special was the fact that his mother cooked well and dinners were always special in his house, so special that even Uncle Mel knew when to call and when to stop by. He loved his sister-in-law’s cooking as well. The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 6 - The Plan “Thanks for that wonderful meal!” Uncle Mel tipped his hat off to Charlie’s mom and opened the door for Charlie. Even though he didn’t get along much with her, he continued to be cordial and pleasant to her – for Charlie’s sake. After all, Charlie was the boy he never had. He was so fond of the boy ever since he was born. Uncle Mel never got married. He came close once into marrying Ellen. He was so in love with her. But someone told her that she was too good for him and that she looked too pretty that should go to Hollywood to be a famous star. So after five years of courtship, she left Mel and went off to California. He never heard from her ever since. Ellen’s mother told him once that her daughter was still a waitress just waiting for that big break. “So Uncle Mel, what’s your plan? You told me you have a plan!” Charlie was excited to hear about his Uncle’s solution to his very grave problem. “You’ll see son. You’ll see.” He started up the parking meter cart and went off. At 5 miles per hour, they didn’t get very far. He parked on a sidewalk by the gas station and told Charlie to wait. Few minutes later, out from the gas station’s restroom, came out a man wearing a security guard uniform, all decked out with the jacket, hat and the badge. Charlie seemed amused. He had to be. The man was his Uncle Mel. He looked at him closely as he opened the passenger door of his cart. “C’mon Charlie, we’re going for a ride in a bigger car.” Uncle Mel smiled at him and walked on over to a close-by parking lot of a discount supermarket. He walked over to an actual security patrol car and opened the passenger door for Charlie. Charlie was amazed. He couldn’t believe he was in a security patrol car! It was almost like a cop car. Almost. “Wow! Uncle Mel! How did you pull this off?” Charlie’s eyes widened with excitement as his uncle started the engine. “Gotta have connections, Charlie. Gotta have connections.” Uncle Mel swerved down from the lot to merge onto the main road. “Just don’t touch anything, okay? My friend let me borrow this for a favor I gave him not too long ago. I don’t want him to get in trouble if you started messing up some of these buttons.” “No problem Uncle Mel. What’s your plan?” Uncle Mel just snickered. He didn’t say anything for a long time and Charlie didn’t ask anymore. He trusted his uncle. They drove in a nice neighborhood of the town. Charlie was familiar with the place. He got a bit nervous. The beefsteak in his full stomach started to turn cartwheels and suddenly he felt dizzy. Seeing that the kid was troubled, Uncle Mel started to calm his nerves. “Don’t worry. You don’t even have to see them at all. I’ll take care of everything, alright?” “I don’t know about this Uncle Mel, I don’t know about this.” Charlie’s eyes started to squint. He was dead scared. “Yes? Can I help you?” The house help answered the door. “Yes hi, my name is Officer Schlepkingster and I am the chief security officer at Lanes Department store. There was a minor incident at the store today, nothing major and I just need Mr. Brian Woods to corroborate on something. Would Eddie Whitaker happen to be in the house too?” Uncle Mel’s authoritative voice and posture scared the maid. She was a little woman who had been in the Woods family for years. She opened the door wider and let him in. “The two boys are in the den playing video games. I will call them right now sir.” “Thank you!” Uncle Mel tipped his hat off and gave her a wink. She smiled so sweetly at him. She wasn’t scared anymore. She turned around and smiled. She smiled because she had never met such a gallant man in all of her life. She also smiled because she had been watching those two boys do such devious things and perhaps, just perhaps this was the time she had been waiting for. Her eyes were filled with excitement as she went into the den. Charlie’s heart was beating so fast. He didn’t know if he should just take off and run towards his neighborhood. The neighborhood kids outside seemed to be staring at him and he didn’t know exactly why. They skateboarded up and down the street, passing right by him, looking right into the patrol car’s window. Charlie felt intimidated. “Yeah, what do you want?” Brian walked in the entry hall with Eddie, like twins stuck on each other’s shoulders. “What’s up old man?” Eddie was just as rude. “Hey fellows. I know that you were at Lanes today. I also know that you tried to cover the surveillance camera. But guess what, there’s another one that you didn’t see that got the whole thing. I can show it to your parents and to the whole population of Woonsocket and to CNN and MSNBC and Fox News. Or you can admit the whole situation right now and promise to hand in the stolen property in the store to the manager tomorrow, right when they open. What do you say?” The two boys looked at each other and whispered to one another. The maid just watched the two with a slight grin on her face. The grin was for the boys but the sweet smile was for Uncle Mel. “Alright, alright, that’s all we need to do, man?” Brian’s glassy eyes looked right at Uncle Mel’s. “First of all, it’s sir to you. You call me sir.” Uncle Mel looked at them and fear subsided in them. “Yes sir.” They chanted together. The maid snickered but stopped as soon as the boys heard her. “Second of all, see this?” Uncle Mel pulled out a mini cassette recorder. “I want both of you to take turns and speak into my recorder. State your name, address, your parents’ complete names and how sorry you are for stealing the bracelet.” “Yes, sir. Okay sir.” The boys obeyed. Uncle Mel got both statements. He couldn’t believe he pulled it off. For the first time in his life, he felt liberated and he couldn’t wait to tell his favorite boy. “Well, what happened? Did you get in trouble? Are they taking your parking meter license away?” Charlie’s questions boggled down Uncle Mel. “Oh you with little faith.” Uncle Mel pulled out his cassette recorder. He played it for Charlie and Charlie was filled with excitement. He patted his Uncle’s shoulders and felt good. “You did the right thing about reporting it to me. So it’s only right that you take this to Lanes right now and have those stuffy store managers and clerks and security officers listen to this. I’ll wait for you outside.” Charlie did exactly what he was told. He was even impressed with himself for not stuttering which usually happens when he’s nervous. He did everything right and the store manager was very thankful for what he did. He went over to one of the clerks and talked to the young lady briefly. Then he walked over to Charlie and handed him a $50 gift certificate. “Here’s a little something for helping us recover a $250 bracelet. Good job, kid.” Charlie went home. He was content. He went to bed so pleased with himself and slept like a baby. The Adventures of Charlie The Cop Charlie Goes To The Mall Chapter 7 - The Headline “Charlie! Phone!” His mom was screaming. “It’s your Uncle Mel!” “Thanks mom, I got it from up here!” Charlie yelled back. Without even a hello, Charlie picked up the phone. “So Uncle Mel, what’s up?” “It’s field day my boy, pay back time, party time!” Did you get a hold of the newspaper yet? Uncle Mel was feeling ecstatic. “No, why?” Charlie seemed confused. “Well, read it and enjoy it. I’m buying 5 more of it when I get to work. Frame it! I told you I have connections. I told you.” Uncle Mel kept the conversation short. Charlie was anxious to see what the paper says. “Mom! Where’s today’s paper?” He ran downstairs as fast as he could. “Must be outside still, why?” His mother looked at him with great curiosity. “Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?” “Not now, mom.” Charlie ran outside and dived into the steps to pick up the paper. He ran upstairs and read it with his pounding heart. Charlie read the headline: “TWO PROMINENT BOYS CAUGHT STEALING AT LANES” “Wow! They made the headlines!” He read on and the article stated Brian and Eddie’s names, their parents’ names and everything that they said, word for word in Uncle Mel’s recorder. The writer mentioned that they could be getting some time in the Juvenile Hall and some community service if the store decided to press charges. Charlie’s name was mentioned 5 times as the store’s hero and Charlie gloated with pride. But to Charlie, just the truth being out was enough for him. He took something from his dresser drawer and ran back downstairs. “Here’s for you Mom.” Charlie handed his mother the newspaper and she decided to read it right away because the headline just gravitated her towards it. Then Charlie handed her something else. He gave her the gift certificate that the manager rewarded him with and told her to get something nice for wear. Tears of joy came down her face as Charlie’s dad walked in the kitchen. What’s going on?” He looked over and Charlie’s mother explained to her husband everything that had happened. In a few minutes, their phone started ringing off the hook. Friends, neighbors and even people who used to ignore them called them and congratulated Charlie. The whole town was talking about Charlie for weeks. Charlie is still clumsy. He still looked odd to people. But he certainly made a good impression to everyone in Woonsocket. Charlie enjoyed all the attention he’s been getting. But to him, he was just doing his job.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:24:25 +0000
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