The Painted Door

Chapter 5

Ronnie finished his story. I sighed heavily and had to take a moment after hearing the truth from him.

"I did say H, it ain't a good look for me" Ronnie said, softly

"No kidding" I replied. "Did you know then? Did you know that was Nicola?" I ask

"Nah, I thought they was cryin' in each others arms like that because Ginny had fed the officer some sobby wives tale 'bout what happened"

"Wasn't really a 'tale' though" I shudder

"I know, I know."

Ronnie came to stand next to me and put his hand on my shoulders, he sighed and claimed that this is usually the moment where people turn on him, call him vile and cruel. I shook my head 'no' and turned to look at him.

"Ronnie, it's not the best thing to tell someone, I can attest to that much. But, given the way you regretted what happened, in my eyes; it shows that you do have a heart and you care so deeply" I say, Ronnie tears up when I say this, "Oh c'mon" I laugh

"H, you have a heart of gold, peor gold" he says, sniffling

Ronnie cried for a minute, he never sobbed, just sniffled and wiped his eyes dry. The inspector walked into the room having heard the whole story from outside. He looked at Ronnie and I, then made a gesture to join him at the table in the holding cell. We both sat down, Ronnie slouched into his seat, crossing his legs over one another, folded his arms together. The inspector placed a notebook on the table and then removed his hat, revealing a greying mass of black hair, he then looked up at us and he had blue eyes, with a steel-like expression worn on his face. He spoke with a gruff voice.

"So, you two have had experience with this painted door, eh?" he said, and I noticed some American in his voice

"Yeah, my dorta and this magoof walked through it and were, like, teleported through time" Ronnie jeers

"Yes... I heard it all from outside" he replies, coldly

"I'm sorry, who are you? you dress like a man from the 1920s" I say, chuckling at the absurdity of the matter.

"That's because I am from the 1920s, sonny" he says, "I too passed through that door and ended up here, I've been hoping to form a little team, of people who have had experience with the door, an outreach team if you will" he explains

"To do what?" Ronnie asks, I nudge him and shoot him a glance that said 'Seriously?', "Oh"

"Yeah. Dumbass" I laugh, Ronnie shockingly does as well before punching my arm

"If you two are done sucking each other's dicks, we can get to work" the inspector says

"Alright" I say, taken aback

"Fuck off" Ronnie says, at the same time as me

The Inspector explains that we're going to have an office where people who have lost people through the painted door can come and hopefully reconnect with family.

"Alright, but with if, say, some jamoke comes in from like the 1800s or sumn?" Ronnie asks, and quite rightly too

"We're not only an outreach centre for people looking to reconnect, we're also going to provide an adjustment course for people who arrive here from another time, to reintergrate them into society. For that, we'll need teachers." he explains, then looks to us.

"I dunno any nerds, sorry" Ronnie says, laughing

"I know an English Teacher" I say, the inspector laughs, "What's funny? You said you needed teachers"