Busted

Mel walked in the door, straight to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.  Shit was about to go down and she was going to watch with a pint of Hazed & Confused in hand.  Appropriately armed, she almost bounced to the front porch and plopped down on the stoop to enjoy the show.

Mel heard a noise to her right and looked back to see Mrs. Jenkins emerging from next door.

“What’s all this ruckus about, dearie?”

“Come sit with me and embrace the madness!”  Mel smiled at Mrs.Jenkins, indicating the space next to her. “Kyle Grouse has finally been caught at his own game and now he’s going to jail!”

“What on earth happened?” Mrs. Jenkins asked, as the two women watched investigators remove a 55-inch HDTV from the row home across the street.

“I guess someone tipped off the police that he was conning helpless old ladies. The cops were waiting for him outside the gift store where he’s been working that poor Mrs. Givens for weeks. It looks like they got a search warrant.”

Mel felt the slightest pang of remorse as she watched a canvas print of “Storm in Harvest“ made its way to the police van. I really should’ve figured a way to salvage that before this mess went down. A honking horn brought her back from her thoughts and she realized a mini traffic jam was forming as everyone craned to see what was happening.

Mrs. Jenkens reflected, “Kyle’s daddy was always making those kids help with some scheme or another. I guess Kyle let his past define him.  Such a shame… Oh Melanie, look! They are taking him away!”

A smile curled on Mel’s mouth as Kyle was marched out of the house towards a waiting squad car. She made sure that when he glanced up at her, she was calmly meeting his gaze. No one tries to screw me outta my half. She savored a spoonful of cold, creamy yumminess as Kyle was pushed in the squad car and taken away.

Source: Wed Stories: A Change of Circumstances