Displacement Day

CHAPTER 1 - ALL IS WELL

     It was a normal Friday morning, but something made Darren's stomach knot up just a little. Darren felt a little anxious; maybe it was the creepy white van that crept down his street early that morning. Darren put that silly thought aside and went to his first food pickup of the day. The first delivery of the day was two #5 lunches from Tiger Moon. The delivery address was less than a mile away. The address belonged to a couple of regular customers. The young couple seemed like indoor people - with pale skin, no furniture on the small second-floor balcony. They'd been there for at least eight weeks, which was enough time to settle in, so he concluded they were indoor people.

"Focus," he told himself as he pulled up to the second of three lights on his way. With a cop watching, it was time to mind his driving behavior. He'd only be on the job for five hours, then he could study. 

 He made his delivery and returned to his car just as another order came in. This was at Honest Burger, the newest restaurant in town. Allegedly pretty good, Darren didn't eat out; he couldn't afford to. On the way to make that pickup, his phone dinged again. A glance showed Chloe's number. This delivery went to Allison Whitney, the wife, and coreligionist of hard-ass Sergeant Whitney of the combined metro police force. The instructions would ask him to leave the meal on the table out front, he guessed. That was standard for the Whitney household. 

Darren wondered if it was because of their religion that Allison was reluctant to interact with an unrelated male without her hubby around. He'd have to investigate that. Weren't the Whitney's Free Will Baptists? He was right about the drop-off instructions, which he checked as soon as he arrived. Darren noted that Allison was looking out the window, so he waved. She waved back. Darren got in the car and sighed, hating the slow day. But he had a class at 2 and needed over 30 minutes to make it there from his current location. He made his delivery and sent Chloe a text message.

 ****

       Darren rushed out of the building and into his car as soon as the lecture ended. He wanted to enjoy this fine spring weather with Chloe as soon as possible. On the edge of town – he could literally see the "Welcome to Ridgeway" sign just off Highway 5 – someone had planted a stake in the ground. Another was across the street. He saw the van next. An old white panel van with tinted windows all around had been parked next to an abandoned barn. Darren guessed that every rural county had at least one falling down barn and one falling down farm house per 100 people. Something like that. 

Darren drove on with his mind on Chloe. They hadn't see each other since last Saturday night thanks to work and school. Darren pulled up to Chloe's apartment right about on time. He saw her looking at him from her living room window. She smiled and stuck her tongue out. He waved back and gave her a few seconds to come out, which she did. "Thank God its Friday," she exclaimed as she approached the car. 

She got right in the passenger side before Darren had a chance to open reach over and open the door. They kissed briefly. "What a fucking week! I had to finish off the social psychology project for my useless teammates and I have to work from 8 to 5 tomorrow."

They pulled into the Satellite Diner parking lot about two minutes later. The nice thing about a small town was that everything was a few minutes away, pretty much, at least if you had a car. And they still had a couple of good local restaurants. They had to wait for a table, behind a young Hispanic couple with a baby. Darren rubbed his belly. "I am so looking forward to this." "I can tell babe. You mentioned it twice on the way over here. But it does smell great in here" She looked around the restaurant at the signs and relics of Tennessee's agricultural history, Darren guessed. 

"What's good here?" He shrugged. By this time, it was their turn to be seated. "The turkey and stuffing is awesome. So is the chicken chili." They studied the menus in silence and ordered. Chloe wasn't feeling bold, so she got a chicken salad with fried chicken strips. Darren took his own recommendation and got the turkey with dressing. "I'm already thinking of signing up for another term in the Guard." "Why?" "I just like it."