Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the Parti Poodle here once again to introduce Chapter Eight of my story. The Maltese and I are joyful because we now have a mowed lea outside, and we do not have to work our way through the tall grasses. This is marvelous and we feel a certain freedom and contentment because…

I was getting lost. Very lost. I was getting very lost in the tall grass. I am Tucker and I am a Maltese.

Yes. It was embarrassing. I hung my head in shame because of you.

I cannot help it I have short legs and my line of sight is low to the ground. Everywhere I looked was green.

Yes, well, I should also mention that there are brown bunnies out in the meadow as well. The leader’s name is Bernard and his is most antisocial. Every time I go over to introduce myself, he hops away.

That’s because you are scary.

I most certainly am not. I just wanted to introduce myself.

I think you are very scary…

Anyway, please enjoy my story. Amusez-vous!

What I Found in the Trunk

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Chapter Eight

It was midnight when Gary and Rusty pulled the Buick up in front of the cabin. It was a log structure located up on the hill overlooking Soap Lake. The interesting thing about the lake was it was so full of minerals no one ever drowned in it. Everything seemed to float to the surface.

Bennet came around the corner of the house and stood under the floodlights. He was head to toe covered in the rich black mud wearing only his swim trunks with shocking pink hibiscus flowers on them and Maui Jim sunglasses. “Hey, Gary,” he said. “Who’s this guy?”

“This is Rusty,” Gary replied. “He’s our nightwatchman at the dealership.”

“What’s he doing here?”

“We had a little run in with those guys and thought it would be better if we both came here.”

“Nice to meet you, Rusty,” Bennet said holding out a mud encrusted hand.

“Likewise,” Rusty said not shaking it. “What’s that junk you’ve got all over you?”

“Dude, that’s the mud. It’s awesome for your skin. This place used to be a tourist attraction decades ago. It has the highest diverse mineral content of any body of water in the world. People would come here from all over to heal their skin because the mud and the water are so loaded with minerals.”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“This place is a ghost town.”

“Well, we still get tourists, but it never really took hold. Probably because it gets so cold in the winter. But during the summer this paradise turns into a stone’s throw from heaven. I love it. I can come here, chillax, do this full-on spa treatment. It’s mondo dope.” 

“Rusty’s from Oregon,” Gary said. “He’s never been to Soap Lake before.”

“Bummer. Well, welcome, Rusty. Come on in and take a load off. I’ll just go over to my outdoor shower and rinse myself off.”

Bennet trudged off and Rusty turned to Gary and said, “He does know it’s the middle of the night, right?”

Rusty and Gary entered the small cabin. The place was remarkably homey. It had a fireplace with a rug, a kitchen, a bookcase filled with books and a couch, recliner and rocking chair. The two men plopped down on the couch.

“How long are we going to have to stay here?” Rusty asked Gary.

“Long enough for me to figure out what to do,” Gary said.

“Maybe we should get to work finding this Rune girl. She’s the one who got us into this predicament. I mean this is a seriously messed up situation.”

“Well, it’s bad but I think we can deal with it.”

“No. This is messed up. You need to figure out what this Rune girl stole from this Durwin guy or it’s just a matter of time before these criminals figure out where we are.”

“I was thinking we could find a way to make an agreement with Durwin and his buddies.”

“I don’t see Durwin as the make an agreement kind of guy.”

“Maybe I can figure out a sum of money to buy him off.”

“It doesn’t matter what you offer that guy. Whatever Rune took from him is worth more.”

“It’s kind of odd he didn’t care about either the house key or the ring.”

“Maybe he doesn’t even know what they are. Maybe Rune just threw them in the box when she took off.”

“Maybe. But why?”

“My dudes!” Bennet announced strolling in wearing a pewter colored robe and shaggy wet hair. “So, can I get you guys some tea?”

“I’m a coffee guy,” Rusty said.

“Oh, okay. I can make you an espresso.”

“Triple mocha.”

“Fresh out of chocolate syrup. I have to get some from the store in the A.M.”

“Fine. A triple latte.”

“One third base for Rusty. You up for tea, Gary?”

“Sure.”

“Awesome! Your barista to the rescue.”

Bennet went over to the kitchen and filled a teapot with water and put it on the stove.

“What kind of coffee you got?” Rusty called out to him.

“Dude, its these totally sweet beans from Guatemala. They are so awesome; they must be flown out in a private helicopter. Word is some of these whirlybirds get shot down. That’s how awesome the coffee is. They don’t want the beans leaving the country. They’re like a national treasure or something. I mean this brew is going to totally rock your world!”

Rusty turned to Gary. “How’d you meet this guy?”

“We’ve known each other since grade school.”

“Wow.”

Bennet ground the Guatemalan beans in his burr grinder. “I hope you like whole milk, Rusty. It’s packed with enzymes. I totally dig enzymes. They are super great for the digestive track and brain tissues.”

“I can’t eat enzymes,” Rusty said.

“Seriously?”

“No. Just make the coffee, Bennet.”

Rusty took out his cell phone. “How’s the reception here? Do you get any?”

“We absolutely get reception here, dude.”

“Hand me Rune’s credit card, would you, Gary?” Gary pulled the small strong box out of his blazer and handed it to Rusty. Rusty took the card and began surfing on his phone. “I can find out where the last purchase on this card was made.”

“It could have been weeks ago,” Gary said. “Maybe longer.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“You guys want some cookies or something?”

“Yes,” Gary said. “I’m starving.”

“You should have said something. I’ll make you a nut butter sandwich.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s no problem, man.”

“Got it!” Rusty said.

“Really?” Gary asked.

“The last purchase on that card was yesterday early morning right before she sold you the car.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. An Amtrack ticket.”

“To where?”

“I guess we’re going to have to find out.”

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first four installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist! and Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE ASSISTANT (2019)-Hulu

Firstly, I must explain something about this film. On Rotten Tomatoes the 229 critics who reviewed it gave the movie 92%. The audience gave it 25%. The critics are correct. What is disturbing is the great divide. Are audiences becoming more and more incapable of intelligent film viewing? Are they too incompetent to recognize a villain which they cannot see? This is a quiet and highly disturbing film reminiscent of The Conversation where we feel the presence of the villain who is always looming but never on screen. He hangs in the air like a disease corrupting everyone around him yet is never vilified…except by the one person who recognizes him for what he is. Jane (Julia Garner in yet another stunning performance) is a graduate from Northwestern. Highly intelligent, hardworking, and introverted she has taken a job at a successful New York production company in hopes of becoming a producer herself. But the company is run by a psychopathic rapist tyrant who nobody stands up to or for that matter wants to. Jane is his assistant but, and this is important, he bullies her but never sexually assaults her. Here’s why: A study was done in Nigeria once to look at who joins fraternities, and the results were eye-opening. Fraternities are made up of psychopaths, suckers, and grudgers. Psychopaths essentially run the fraternity, suckers enable them, and grudgers resist the psychopaths. Grudgers are the smallest group in population and outnumbered. Psychopaths are drawn to suckers seeing them as targets (both female and male) and see grudgers as obstacles as opposed to marks. Grudgers are intuitive and pick up quickly on the evil in charge whereas suckers become victims and/or minions. Jane sees her boss for what he is but must face a conglomerate of suckers who either fall prey to him or work to keep him in charge. Jane is called smart both by her boss and HR and told at one point she is “not his type” or in other words she’s not enough of a sucker to end up on his gruesome casting couch. A great touch is Jane must constantly clean up the room with said couch. Jane is constantly in conflict with her drive to succeed and her ability to recognize the company is totalitarian. The question is what if anything can she do about it?