God, this was sooo, not him. How did he get roped into this mess anyway? There he was, minding his own business, trying to get the end of the month reports done so he could relax for the rest of the week-end. His bright idea was to bring them home with him so he could lock the door and turn off the phone with no one to disturb him. Fat lot of good that did.+ + + + + + +
Half way through the last report, the banging on his front door began.
"EZ, EZ --- come on man, I know you're in there, open up or I'll break down this freaking door. This is an emergency, you gotta let me in. Come on, please Ez, let me in, I'm begging ya!! PLEEEEASE!!!!!!"
With the long sigh of the much put upon, Ezra rose from his chair and made for the front door. All the while the banging, pleading and threats continued until he was able to throw the door open. Vin all but fell into his arms when the door opened, still trying to bang on the now non-existing door.
"Ez, ya gotta help me, please. I didn't mean to do it. I swear it was an accident. You gotta come to my place and help me get rid of the body. I gotta get rid of the body before someone sees it. Please help me buddy. I'll do anything for ya if you'll just help me."
Taking Vin by the shoulders, Ezra shook him, from both concern and frustration. "Mr. Tanner, take a deep breath and calm down. I can't do anything if I don't know the details. Who died, why is it your fault and for God's sake, why is it necessary to "get rid" of the body?"
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Ezra gazed down at the pathetic body and shook his head. "Tell me again how this happened and why "I" need to dispose of the body."
Vin looked at Ezra with sad puppy-dog eyes. He needed Ezra's help and tried to use every trick in the book he could come up with. This was serious and he was a dead man, destined to join the body laying on the floor if she ever found out. 'She' was due to return within the hour and the body had to be gone before then, plus a plausable reason as to why Mickey was missing.
"Well now, Ms. Charlotte had to go visit with her gramma who never cottoned to Mickey. Always said a rat like him didn't deserve to live with such a fine young lady as Ms Charlotte. Wouldn't allow him to even enter her front door. Seeing as how Mickey's not so good at taking care of himself, Ms Charlotte asked me look in on him now and then to make sure he was eating ok and kept himself clean. I kind of got tired of having to go upstairs to check up on him so I invited him to stay with me. Figured I could watch him just as well at my own place. This morning, I fixed breakfast for the both of us and we was talking about how glad we were that Ms Charlotte was coming back today. That's when it happened. Rupert from next door came in and you know how he hates Mickey. Well the next thing I know, they were tusseling on the floor just a scratching and biting to beat the band. I grabbed the broom and thought I could separate them but I think I hit too hard and poor Mickey was laid out cold and Rupert ran out screeching. I saw Mickey take a few breaths, he shuddered and then he was still, no breathing, no shuddering, nothing at all and I knew he was dead.. You got to help me get rid of the body before Ms. Charlotte gets home, you know how much she loves him. If you could take him out to the country somewhere I could stay here and try to come up with some kind of story about how he come up missing. Please Ezra, she's going to be here any minute, please help me and I'll do anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Oh God Ez, I'll do anything, you just name it. Please, please, please."
"Alright, alright, just calm down. You need to get a hold of yourself if you're going to think of something to tell Ms Charlotte. Give me something to wrap the body in and I'll take it down to my car. I'll need a shovel too. I don't like the idea of just leaving him by the side of the road."
With that said, Vin supplied the necessary materials and Ezra proceeded to carry poor Mickey out to his car. As he pulled out, he noticed a car arriving and saw Ms Charlotte in the front seat. He was glad his job was to dispose of the body and not to try to explain to her why the love of her life was not at home.
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After driving for several miles in the countryside, Ezra chose a place to bury Mickey. Taking the shovel out of the trunk he proceeded to dig a hole. If anyone he knew were to see him, he knew he would never live it down. Ezra P. Standish doing menial labor, digging a hole no less. Not to mention the reason he was digging said hole. Vin was going to pay big time for this. He would take the rest of the weekend to think of something appropriate. After all, it was not every day that he was called upon to dispose of the body of the beloved pet rat of an eight-year-old child.
The End
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P.S. For those who could not figure it out, Rupert is a cat.