“What is it?” asked Wesley.
The Doctor pulled out a container and opened it. “This is the stinger that stung you in the eye."
Wesley squinted with his one good eye. “If I touch it, will it sting me again?”
“No. Go ahead and pull it out.”
Wesley grabbed it and looked. “It’s so small,” he said.
“Do you know why bees have stingers?”
“No,” Wesley said expectantly, hoping to find out why.
"In Roman mythology the Queen Bee was tired of mortals stealing her honey, so she asked Jupiter for help in exchange for some honey. That’s when he gave bees their stingers.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that."
“And you know what else,” the Dr. asked?
“What?” Wesley asked.
“The stinger, or sting, is a modified egg laying device. I believe when you got stung that she injected you with power. The spirit of her unborn bee may now live in you. You might have supernatural power after this.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I do. Now put the stinger back in the container so you can take it home with you."
Wesley did and the Dr. placed the container deep in Wesley’s to go bag. The Dr. said, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” as he walked out of the room.
-------------------------------
Donny was lying in bed with a smile on his face. The sun was gently shining through the window and the birds were singing. It was a love song for he and Melanie. She turned over and looked at Donny.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. How did you sleep?”
“Pretty good. You?”
“Good”
Donny reached his arms around Melanie to pull her closer. He gently touched her full, round lips as they closed their eyes to a peaceful kiss. As he gently pulled away, he put his right index finger on her lower lip. “You are beautiful. It looks like somebody filled your lips with strawberry yogurt.”
“What? Strawberry yogurt? What are you talking about?”
“It’s their coloring.” He reached forward and licked them. “Yum. They taste like strawberry yogurt too.”
“You are one crazy dude.”
He put his leg over hers to spoon her. She sat up, “I’ve got to go to work. You know that.” She got up and started walking towards the bathroom. Donny just stared at her.
“Remember, I am going to a party at Halle’s fathers tonight. I’m sure I’ll get back very late so don’t expect a call until tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’m not going to bed until tomorrow afternoon so don’t expect a call until Sunday.”
“Ha-Ha,” Melanie responded as she shut the door to take a shower.
Donny turned over and turned on the television.
He reached over the bed onto the floor. He was reaching around in his jacket pocket until he felt the case holding his future. Their future. Melanie had been the love of his life since high school. She was their when his mother died, and they had proved faithful through the bad times. They had even stayed exclusive during his two years stint in the Army. She was there when he got off the plane from the war and she had slept in the hospital room every night for a week while his leg recovered from a gunshot wound. He heard the shower turn off and Melanie reopened the door.
“Honey, can you bring my brush to me?”
“Where is it?”
“On the vanity I think.”
He walked over to the vanity and it wasn’t there. “It’s not here. Where else can it be?”
“Try on the dresser.”
“Here it is.”
As he was walking towards the bathroom, she was standing there applying makeup. She was beautiful. She had one towel around her naked body and another one around her head. “Do you think we could have dinner before you go out tonight?”
“Do you miss me already?” she asked jokingly.
He walked up behind her and put his arms around her belly and kissed her neck.
“You know I always miss you.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“How about Sal Cataldo’s?”
“That will be great. I’m not supposed to meet Halle until nine. Do you want to meet about six?”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Melanie heard the door shut while doing her hair. She wondered if this could be the night. Sal Cataldo’s was a nice restaurant, but she figured Donny would propose somewhere nicer. On the other hand, it really was their favorite restaurant in the world. Would he do it on a night she was going out with her friends? It didn’t seem to make any sense. However, if he had planned on doing it on this night there was not anything that would make him change his mind. Once Donny had a plan, he stuck to it. Why didn’t he ask her to cancel her plans? It wasn’t his style either. He always let her do exactly as she wanted.
In many ways it was the right time for them. He had just graduated from community college and had two job offers on the table. They had been through a lot together.
There was just one problem. Marriage means complete honesty and she would have to come clean. If she was going to accept his proposal, she would have to tell him the truth. But if she did, how would he respond? She could come up with an excuse to say not now to marriage, or she could say yes and not tell him.
“What should I do?” she thought.
She walked out of the front door of her townhouse towards her Ford Mustang convertible. It was a perfect southern California day. The sun was out with only a few clouds in the sky, and she decided to cruise to work with the top down.
“That’s her,” the man thought. He was sitting in his car at a distance as he watched Melanie walk out of the apartment.
He licked his lips and had trouble swallowing. It seemed like his heart was going to explode out of his chest. She was just as beautiful as she was in college, and he wondered if the guy who had recently walked out of her apartment was the same one she used to talk about?
“She just used me,” he said aloud to himself.
“I am in love with someone else.” How many times had he heard that from her?
“And when the war is over; we’ll be getting back together.” He had played those scenes over and over in his mind so many times. She used him because she was lonely, and when she was done with his affections, he was hung out to dry.
She just didn’t come back for the spring semester. Melanie never told him where her home was, and it took all this time to find her. After coming back to school from the holiday season he expected to hold her again. He thought he deserved at least one more semester with her, but it wasn’t meant to be….until now!
He followed her at a safe distance to the real estate office where she worked. There was a gas station next door; and he went to the full-service section. While the attendant filled up his car, he perused his phone. There it was. He found a store that sold the things he needed.
There were only two questions that had to be answered. The first was sooner or later, and the second was Melanie or the boyfriend? He drove back to the apartment where Melanie lived.
----------------------------------------
“What is your name?" The enthusiastic saleslady asked as she reached out her hand.
It was her job to be friendly although this guy was scary looking.
“I am Marco. I am looking for a short-term lease. If you have something six months or less that would be great. My main office is in San Diego, but I am trying to get some business up here.
“What kind of work are you in?”
“I own gas stations.”
She proceeded to show him many apartments. He liked the one that backed up to Melanie’s. It was just across the playground. “With a high-powered rifle, I could shoot off her whole head,” he wryly thought, “but the police would come around and ask him questions as they would all the neighbors. Someone might actually see the bullet come from his apartment. With advances in technology the police could tell what angle the bullet came from and know it came from his apartment. So, this wasn’t a brilliant idea, but at least he could watch her from here as he decided on her fate.
“Sir. Sir.”
“I’ll take this one. You have been so helpful that I will pay you my rent six months in advance.”
The lady’s eyes lit up. “Great,” she said.
“I will need the keys within a couple of hours.”
“I don’t know if I can give you them with such short notice. I’ll need to pull a credit report and check some references.”
“The credit report will take you five minutes to look at. Instead of writing you a check, I’m going to wire the money directly from my bank to yours. You won’t have to worry about bounced checks or anything like that. As far as references, I have plenty for you to look at."
“Excellent. I just wish we had more customers like you.”
After an hour of paperwork and phone calls he had his keys. She wanted to have her cleaning people freshen the apartment up for him. but he said no. He was tired and they could do it later. He used his cell phone to order a pizza and looked out the window. “Oh Melanie, please come home soon.”
-----------------------------------
Detective Chanello sat at his desk at the police station on Alameda Blvd in Los Angeles. He was going through unsolved murders to see if he could come up with anything new.
“Ahh, Mr. Sorenstein. Here you are.” All the other cases in the files were murdered prostitutes, drug dealers, rappers and serial type killings. Mr. Sorenstein was an Ivy league attorney who never lost a case; and that’s why he was buried in the pile of unsolved murders. He had gotten too many people off in the past and he had no friends at the police department. Detective Chanello didn’t care how many times his estate called threatening. They had been pushing him for years now. If the evidence dropped into his lap, he would turn it over to the D.A. He wasn’t going to violate his ethical responsibility as an officer of the law. There would just be no extra effort to go the extra mile. The word on the street was that he was killed for refusing to take a case, but which one no one knew. Every case he accepted he had to turn twenty down, and the police talked to many of these people. A lot of them were behind bars because a lesser attorney couldn’t get them off.
“Thank God for that,” Detective Chanello thought aloud.
“For what,” Detective Mangino asked while she walked in and poured herself a cup of coffee?
“Nothing. I was going over the Sorenstein file.”
“Are you out of toilet paper in the men’s restroom?” They laughed.
“No, but I will keep that in mind. I hate attorneys like him. I was just thinking it’s a good thing he and his cohort lawyers couldn’t take every case handed to him or every rich person in L.A., especially the murderers, would still be walking the street. Besides, he reminds me of my own father.”
“How’s that?” “My dad was a lawyer who liked to get guilty people off. Then he would parade around, doing it all in the name of constitutional due process. I always thought it was a bunch of bull”
“Yeah, my father was the same."
“An attorney?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some stories about him as well,” Kate said. They both laughed.
“Let me guess. All in the name of the constitution.”
“You got it.” Kate swallowed, trying to hide the true doubts she had about lawyers, as well as her father.