Schoolhouse
Mickey pulled into the parking lot of the Norristown Elementary School just in time to meet his boss, Ed, as he was on his way out. As their cars neared eachother, Ed waved for Mickey to stop - apparently he had something to say. He always had something to say.
Mickey rolled down his passenger window as he came to a stop alongside Ed's old pickup. As Mickey turned to face his boss, he happened to glance at the clock, and realized - a fraction of a second before the words spilled forth from Ed's fat head - exactly what he was about to say.
"You're late," Ed grumbled, a thin strand of tobacco-tinged saliva dribbling down his chin. His jaws moved up and down as he chewed upon the huge wad of dip that he'd managed to stuff into his face.
That shit's nasty enough to begin with, Mickey thought, but to be chewing on it... He had to fight back the urge to vomit. He met his boss's cold, unflinching stare and realized that he should say something.
"Am I?" Mickey asked, feigning surprise while dramatically observing the clock. "Oh, yup - two minutes," he said, answering his own question, and hoping the sarcasm hadn't been too thick.
Ed's eyes narrowed and Mickey prepared himself for a verbal assault. Instead, the older man slowly turned his head to the left and spat a golf ball of chewing tobacco out his driver-side window. He wiped his chin off with the back of his hand, and turned again to face Mickey. "Have you worked this site before?"
"No," Mickey replied, as he slammed his car into park and took his foot off the brake.
"Shouldn't be too hard, there's nobody here. We're just watching for trespassers and the like, kids mostly, while the school undergoes maintenance."
Mickey nodded, and turned to look ahead, towards the school. It was a small building, as he had expected in such a tiny community, consisting of only one floor. On the roof, in the center of the building, was an old bell housed within a steeple - a sight that was surely representative of the building's age. The front entrance, situated just beneath the bell, was consistent with the style and wooden structure of the steeple above. On either side of the main entrance were two larger, more modern-looking, wings. The entire building, and accompanying parking lot, was surrounded by forest.
"You'll be spending most of your time in there," Mickey heard Ed say, and looked up to see where he meant. On Mickey's left, in the corner of the parking lot opposite the school, nestled in amongst the trees, was a small shack. "Reports are inside. TV, phone. It'll probably get pretty boring, so patrol the grounds as much as you want."
"Got it," Mickey replied, as he placed his hand on the gear shift, hoping that was all Ed had to say. "Anything else?"
Ed stared at Mickey for a moment, and seemed hesitant to say something, as though he were trying to determine how best to put it. "Sherman Jacobs said he saw something in the woods last night."
"Something like what?" Mickey asked.
"Something..." Ed shook his head and cleared his throat. "I'm not sure - something. Probably just kids messing around."
"Kids?" Mickey asked. "Ed, we're in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see a house for at least the last five miles on the way here."
"Well, it's a school ain't it? There's gotta be kids around here somewhere."
Mickey looked around warily, suddenly lacking in confidence. "I guess so, Ed."
"Christ, Mick," Ed growled. "It's Sherman - he was probably piss drunk out here, with no one to supervise him. I wouldn't dwell on it."
