On the Bus to LA

"There you are Julie," said a chillingly familiar voice, "I've been looking everywhere for you. You were a naughty girl running away like that."

Her eyes snapped open to see the man she knew only as Crazy Jimmy smiling at her.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Jimmy?" she snapped at him, simultaneously annoyed and frightened.

""I'm here to bring you home of course," the pudgy little man said, jowls wiggling, "Have you forgotten that we were to be married next week?"

"The hell you say?" Julie replied, her anger rising, "You're bat-shit crazy, Jimmy, I never said I'd marry you."

"The other girls wouldn't tell me where you'd gone," Jimmy continued, unperturbed, "But I found out, oh yes, I found out and I followed you. Now you're going home with me."

"Like hell," Julie said, standing up and glaring at him, "I'm not going anywhere with you, so get lost, you creep."

"Oh, but I think you will," Jimmy replied with an insane giggle, "Look what I have here." He lifted his baggy shirt high enough so Julie could see the butt of an automatic pistol shoved in the waistband of his trousers. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't come along quietly I'll shoot some people, I mean it."

Julie felt a thrill of fear go up her spine, 'The little bastard has a gun and he'll cut loose if I fight him', she thought, thinking of some way out of this mess. Then she saw Karen walking toward them across the terminal. 'Oh, no, no, he'll kill her too, what can I do, please don't hurt her, please'.

"The folks'll be here in an hour," Karen said, striding up to them. "Who's this guy?"

"This is ... Jimmy ..." Karen said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "He used to come to the club where I worked, I mentioned him, remember?"

Karen raised an eyebrow, the fat little guy seemed harmless enough, but what was he doing here? Larry's eyes focused on Karen for a moment and Julie mouthed the words 'He has a gun' so Karen could see. Karen nodded and said "Well, hiya Jimmy, nice ta meetcha," and stuck out her hand to shake. Without thinking, Jimmy extended his hand, felt it enfolded in a steely grip and was thrown face down on the cement floor. Karen stepped on his pudgy neck and growled "Move a muscle and I'll snap your spine."

"Please, please don't hurt me," Jimmy wailed, "I wasn't going to hurt her. I only wanted to scare her so she'd come home with me, honest."

Two police officers, one male, one female, on routine patrol of the terminal, saw the scuffle and came dogtrotting over, hands on pistol grips.

"Is there a problem here?" the male officer asked.

"Yeah, this guy was bothering my girlfriend," Karen replied, "I think he's got a gun."

The female officer drew her pistol and pointed it at Jimmy while the male frisked him. "Here you go," he said, pulling the pistol from Jimmy's waistband, "Where'd you get this, buddy?"

"I ... I found it in an alley," the little man blubbered. "I don't know how to use it. I only wanted her to come back home with me so we could be married."

"Bullshit, he was gonna kidnap me," Julie snarled, "He said he'd shoot everybody in here if I didn't come with him. He's bat-shit crazy."

Hauled to his feet still weeping, Jimmy was handcuffed and read his Miranda rights while the female officer spoke into her lapel mounted radio. Soon, other officers appeared and took Jimmy away, crying and protesting that he and Julie were to be married.

"Nice takedown, sister," said the female officer admiringly, "Ever worn a badge?"

"Nah, ex-Army," Karen replied, "I've been shot at enough, thanks."

"We'll need a statement for the arrest report, so stop by the precinct tomorrow; if you wanna file charges you can do that too," the male officer said, handing them a business card. "We've got enough on him already, but if you wanna add to it, feel free."

"We'll do just that," Julie said, "That guy's sick in the head. He needs help."

The officers left, and then Karen and Julie picked up their luggage and went out in the early afternoon sun to wait for Karen's parents. It had been quite an adventure, but it was all worth it because they had found each other, never to part.

End.