The Soda Bottle Kid

 Rodney didn't sleep at all that night. The thought of Josh and Travis getting
arrested spun over and over in his head.
At dawn he pulled on his clothes, shoes and back pack,
told his mom he had to do something, kissed her goodbye.
 He put Clipper on the porch, so he wouldn't follow, pumped
the pedal twice and swung his leg over.Riding to town he
kept thinking, this is my fault... If only I hadn't... and I got to make
this straight...
  The first mile of gravel took an eternity, the hill down the pavement
he coasted his mind still going, Only if, The gang hadn't painted Dooley's
shed.
 I'm going to tell the Sherrif the truth about Dooley he has to listen.
Rodney cranked on the bike, down the hill, over Beaver creek bridge
and up the other side past the feed store and bait shop until he was in front
of the Sherrif's office.
 Rodney pushed the heavy wooden door, it felt like he was opening a tomb.
  A round faced woman sat behind the dispatch counter, Blue eye shadow and
too red lipstick asked Rodney ", Whatcha need sweetie?"
 Uh ,Uh I need to talk to the Sherrif I guess, It's about Pat Dooley's
He arrested the wrong guys......well a sorta.. I mean kinda .....",Rodney stammered
 "He's uptown at the coffee shop, I can get him on the radio?", "Oh sure"'
Rodney mumbled.
  " Tom , Tom , I need you back at the station, some kid here says he has info
on the Dooley break in.", " 10-4, give me 10 minutes, JXK 2154 out."
 Rodney turned to the dispatch lady, " Are the 2 guys that got arrested still
here?" Oh no we don't keep Juveniles, the Sherrif takes them home to the parents."
 Rodney thought about that for a while then, " So if I get arrested, I don't go to the
jail cell?"
  " Oh no honey, not unless you did something really bad", She smiled. " Like
robbed the bank or stole a car."
  Rodney's mind flashed to the bus, he thought he'd leave that part out.
Just stick to the Dooley thing his head swimming now.
  The Sherrif walked in, a tall thin man with grey hair and a bushy moustache.
He turned to the lady," Marge we'll be in my office", " now young man what's
this all about?"
 He led him down the hall to his office, a desk with a stack of papers and
a sign that read Sherrif Tom Holtmeyer.
  The Sherrif turned to him, "Well what can you tell me about Pat Dooley's?"
   Rodney swallowed hard," Well sir... I gotta tell you the whole story first....
My gang, I mean the boys club were working for pop bottles, so we stopped at
Mr. Dooley's about 3 weeks ago to see if he had any. He said yes but we had
to paint his shed for them. So the next saturday we show up and paint his shed,
Then he found out we used his whiskey for paint thinner, and o man did he go crazy..
He started swinging his cane and cussin, so we beat it outta there."
  Tom looked at Rodney with a smirk," Yeah that's what the Travis kid said,
So when did you take Pat Dooley's bottles? " Uh It was 3 nights ago I think,
I'm not sure., Rodney started to sweat a little.
 " So the night before you got back from camp?" The Sherrif looked stearnly
down at Rodney.
  " Well uh no I guess not... I mean we kinda didn't go to camp....",
Sherrif Tom looked as if it made a little more sense to him, turned to Rodney,
" I take it you are the mastermind of all this, I couldn't get anything outta your buddies."
'They tried to tell me they took 50 cases of bottles by themselves, and hauled them away."
" You got a bunch a good friends they wouldn't rat you out", Now tell
me the rest of this story, and I think we can let this go.", Tom kinda half smiled as Rodney
continued,"So we all formed a chain gang.........Then ........... dropped the bottles and Dooley
heard the noise........... Then ........ He shot me and my buddy patched me up..
  "Whoa!!, "You say Dooley shot you" " Yes sir",Rodney showed him his hip
with the 7 holes.
 " I think I heard enough.",
The Sherrif looked out the window, he thought long and hard about when he was
a kid growing up, all the adventures, the things he learned, He turned to Rodney
"I think we'll keep this between you and me", Rodney looked up and said,"
You mean I'm not getting arrested, I can go?"
  "You told me the truth , you were honest, remember that", Sherrif Tom turned to
look out the window again....
  Rodney asked, "Are the charges dropped on the gang then?"
Tom turned," Yes, but leave Ol' man Dooley alone would you?"
  "Yes sir" with that Rodney ran to the front of the office.
Marge peered over the counter," Everything Okay?"
  "Oh, yes Mam", Rodney opened the same heavy door with ease this time.
He rode to the pay phone at the bait shop and called Travis and Josh.....

Tune in next time....