Next - Second Chances

CHAPTER 8

Sundays were Nolan’s favorite day of the week.

If he was working, it was definitely the calmest day of the week. Not that patrolling a town the size of Madison was too much of a hardship. But on Sundays the craziness went down a notch.

If he wasn’t working, then he got to have a lazy day, watching football, have a few beers with his friends, go to the lake for a BBQ or a hike, or sleep in with a book and get up only to take a piss or grab a sandwich.

The lack of an agenda was what made it the best day of the week. Guilt-free, agenda-free day of joy.

At least that was how he sold it to his partner, Mike, who was telling him all about his plan during their shift the night before. He was taking all five of Reggie’s foster kids to a historical town fair, followed by swimming at the lake with a picnic.

Mike had been dating Reggie for almost a year and they were disgustingly adorable. They invited him round for BBQ’s to Reggie’s home where she lived with the kids, and more often than not Nolan ended up manning the grill, due to Reggie, and her foster partner Yvonne’s aversion to cooking, or, in his opinion, cooking well.

It was always a good time though, and he rarely passed up the opportunity to join in. Today, however, he told Mike he needed a dead day to recharge after 4 long shifts, and a severe lack of good s*x. He hadn’t shared that last bit aloud, but it was certainly part of the reason.

The dry spell was annoying him more than he cared to admit. Mike was used to him being out most of his free nights and sampling whatever was on offer. He didn’t come back to work with crude stories of who or how he f****d, but there was usually a smile that told a thousand stories.

Lately, though, his smile wasn’t quite what it used to be and Mike noticed. He had tried to eke it out of him, but Nolan resisted and brushed him off. He wasn’t ready yet to admit it himself, he certainly wasn’t going to lay it all out for his friend.

Nolan rolled over in his bed and grabbed the book he was halfway through, but before he could get comfortable and start reading, his phone rang. Nolan picked it up to see who was calling and was surprised to see Mike’s name and goofy smile on the screen.

He clicked connect, then half sat up, elbow on the pillow, phone to his ear.

“Mike, what’s up?”

“I need your car.”

“What?”

“We were going to take Reggie’s car and mine to the fair, but the seatbelts in the back of hers are broken, and I won’t drive with three loose kids in the back. Can I take yours?”

“Yeah sure, have at it. You have the spare keys?”

“Yeah, I’ll drive her car round to yours and swap cars for the day.”

“Fine, I don’t plan on going anywhere though.”

“I’ll leave her keys in your letterbox just in case.”

“Ok,” Nolan said.

He hung up the phone and got back to reading. Almost half an hour later he heard the sound of a car pulling up outside his house. A door opened and closed, then another door opened and closed before another engine started, and then two cars pulled away. Nolan rolled over onto his other side and kept reading.

By lunchtime, his stomach was growling louder than he could ignore, so he kicked off the blanket and climbed out of bed. He wandered into the kitchen but found the cupboards bare except for some stale oatmeal. He contemplated eating that but the image of a juicy burger popped into his head and he changed his mind.

Nolan showered and dressed, then grabbed his wallet and phone and silently thanked Mike for leaving Reggie’s car. He climbed in and took a moment to reacquaint himself with it, smiled at the piles of kids' toys, shoes, and various sports paraphernalia in the back, then pulled away from the house in search of his burger.

His mind reeled through all his options and he decided he wanted a cold beer to go with his burger. He thought of the roadhouse bar just outside of town and decided this was the perfect destination, but just after he pulled off the ramp onto the highway, the car engine made a weird clanking noise, then stuttered and spat before the car stalled.

“s**t,” Nolan cursed.

He steered the car onto the hard shoulder and tried to start the engine again, but it didn’t react. He pumped the pedal, turned the key, and changed gear. None of them worked.

“s**t!” he cursed again as he climbed out of the car and lifted the hood.

Smoke and steam billowed out, and he wafted his hand to clear it away. He tried to see if it was something obvious, but he was never good with engines. He didn't really know what he was looking for, so he stepped back from the car, pulled his phone from his pocket and searched for a towing company nearby.