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eat here by ruth maloney m 1991 j- l ibiii vfpfl 1 1 ini llpm i3 n wmmm pprjpp b mm m i it had been a long day for some reason and i was glancing at the clock again five minutes to freedom for two whole days the phone rang and i picked it up with a sinking feeling hoping it wasnt some emer gency that would keep me late hi its quitting time oh thank goodness its marg meet you at the eat here sign remember turn left on to hwy 47 and right into the parking lot at the eat here sign ive gon that way before and never noticed a sign like that are you sure its hwy 47 north i asked yes im sure i was just there last night and the food is fantastic you are gonna love it see you in a minute she was so cheerful and full of energy it sort of spilled over arid made me feel a bit brighter i hope my spirits pick up over a good meal ive hardly eaten all week trying to tradeoff diet system so i can have anything i want for supper tonight gee im really starting to feel better already i turned off the lights locked the door and headed for the car it had been just beautiful when i came in this morning but it was obvious the weather was changing drastically i flicked on the radio and pulled east towards hwy 47 the radio was busy telling me a rain storm was on its way with possible sleet and later freezing rain with high- winds i had no coat no rain hat and a pair of open toed spike heels on maybe it will hold off till i get inside the restaurant at least i hoped the rain was making it diffi cult to see one of the wind shield washers was crooked and kept throwing the water across and up the lights from the heavy traffic coming towards me were reflecting back with an awful glare too and i was tired and hungry i pulled off the highway into the first eat here sign and parked as close to the door as i dared i grabbed a newspa per and held it over my head as i ran for the door trying to hop over puddles i caught my heel in a crack and pitched forward face down into a puddle as i struggled to my feet my heel snapped off and i feel again this time on both knees my nylons were torn my knees bloody and i was cov ered with dirty water with my head down and my view partially covered by my soggy hair i staggered to the door and pulled on the door handle but the door didnt give i turned it this way and that and pulled harder but no go i started banging on the door and when nobody came i looked in through the glass inside were people standing around holding drinks and talking as i peered in a uniformed doorman was signalling me away from the door- 1 tried the door again rapped on the glass and then put my hands together in a praying gesture he left his station which was at the end of a small entry way about six feet from the door he walked towards me mak ing a flapping motion away from his body towards me meaning get away from the door i couldnt believe this was happening to me i tried to speak to him through the door and he shook his head and put his cupped hand up behind his ear this guy was a master of non verbal communication i opened my purse to look for a 10 bill to influence him into letting me use the bath room at least suddenly two big burly uni formed guys grabbed each arm and sent my purse and its contents flying i was so shocked i almost fainted as my knees buckled and my head flopped to one side unfortunately my mouth landed on the hand of the guy holding my left arm i instinc tively sunk my teeth in while thinking i hope this guy doesnt have anything conta gious he let go so quickly i went to one knee which broke the hold of the other bruiser while i was down there i made a quick grab for my keys did a fast turn and start ed to run for my car i didnt get too far though and my feet were treading air just what in heavens name do you think youre doing lady he growled biting an officer is assault running away is resisting arrest what are you going to try for next just put me down i hollered let me go i swung my foot and caught him in just the right spot arid he let me go all right but this time his partner hung on for dear life i flung myself around flail- jng my arm and caught a fin- ger nail in the corner of his eye he put one hand up to rub his smarting eye and i was loose again this time i made it to the car and just go thee door locked in time they were pounding and rocking it back and forth when it finally started i drove away with them hanging on as long as they could and calling out the mt disgusting and untrue lan guage you have ever heard i was shaking so badly i could hardly drive i was bleeding from some where on my head my right hand was swelling already from being squeezed and twisted my clothes were torn and partly off of me and soaking wet what a mess and all i wanted was a sandwich and a coffee i was sure marg said to rrieet her at the first eat here sign going north god only knows what hap pened to her that was when it hit me that i had to go to the police because marg might be being held or something worse by these guys they must be imposfers they couldnt really be police officers talking and acting like that i headed home to phone because even in the state i was in i knew nobody would believe me looking like this once home i pulled off my clothes ran a quick shower and cleaned up i pulled a long sleeved full length warm dress to cover as muchof the damage as possi ble slicked my hair back into a clip and finished with a pair of black boots ready now to do battle i called the police station i told my story to the person that answered the phone i told my story to the detective that called me back i told my story to the policeman that came to my door two hours later he said lets go have a look shall we have you got your gun i asked him and do you really know how to use it dont get smart he snapped out we went to the police car still pouring rain and starting to sleet a little i was glad of my warn ken- mare cape and kid gloves i started to direct him to the restaurant but he curtly reminded me that he did know his way around i said thats not a nice way to talk you know to which he replied look lady give me a break will you i said that that was all i had wanted when i pulled into that place on the way we had to stop at two different accidents i was sitting in the back seat of the police car like some crimi nal instead of an innocent vic tim i was i if never think the same about people i see in the back seat of a police car again we seemed jo be taking so long i mean did he think these people were going to wait for him to arrest them at that restaurant they could be a million miles away by now i was nervous tired and sore and really mad all at once a stretch limo all sleek and white went by us at well over a hundred kliks and almost wiped us out as he cut in front he had to hit the brakes and we started to slide all over the road the radio cracked on you gonna have some fun now mightyman me and my little lady is watching you in the mirror we gonna watch you craaaash how did thatslimy thing get on this radio he mut tered as he pulled the wheel steadily this way and then the other until we were straight again i was impressed with this man he called in his location and reported the incident and the license number someone will pick them up further south and they wont be making a penny tonight thats the only way to hurt them i pointed to the driveway just ahead of us and said that was the place i could see the back of the cardboard sign now flapping in the wind and almost com ing off the pole thats a new posh club theyvejust built in there its memberships costa fortune 1 think youve got the wrong place he seemed to be driving past it no i hollered thats it it really is im not likely to ever forget it am i i said as i patted my slightly swollen knees we pulled in right up to the door he wasnt going to get his boot shine spoiled the two guys came right oyer and started talking some old dame looking like a real tramp tried to get in here earlier the first one said but why so rough if she was just an old tramp my driver said the doorman said she was looking in her purse and we thought maybe she had a weapon the second one said we just each took an arm to move her along and all hell broke loose he said shaking his head and crossed his legs she actually got away and we never even got her license number it was all covered with mud or something i leaned forward and tapped on the glass can we at least go in and look for marg i pleaded im half sick with worry well all right but you stay right with me we dont want any more trouble do we he scowled the boys here were just doing their job you can see that i think if youll let it pass theyll let it pass right he nodded at them and then at me which i supposed meant it was all settled like it or not okay they said in unison i suppose i said we walked over to the door v as the doorman opened it up for us with such a warm smile it made me madder than ever at the end of the entryway you could view the entire din ing room at the far end was an arch way with flowers and a ban- ner the small band started to play at the same moment that i read the banner and saw marg heading towards me with a big bouquet of flowers happy birthday sheila happy birthday to you what took you so long to get here for heavens sake