Tretl Clyden headed for his parking spot just outside the Tourist Trap nightclub. The citizens knew this was his spot, so no one dared grab it. Sometimes, however, the tourists rented cars and mistakenly parked there, but Clyden simply called in a tow truck and had the offending vehicle pulled. Tonight would be different, much to Clyden's ire.
As he neared his spot, he saw a truck swerve around him and beat him to the spot. Clyden fumed.
Maintaining his composure, Clyden parked in the middle of the street and stepped out from his Security Agency vehicle. He felt sure the dope must be a tourist. He would set him straight, and the matter would be resolved. Then he recognized the truck- Sheila Bright's! She would never dare do that to him- In fact, why would she be at the club, at such a young age?
Clyden shook his head. "All right, Sheila, what's-"
The driver wasn't Sheila, however. It was that Osmo Martin guy the governor had asked her to show about the city. Of all the nerve. Clyden indicated with his thumb for Osmo to move the truck.
Osmo smiled to Clyden and shook his head. "Nope, sorry. I got here first, and I got it fair and square!"
Sheila sat by Osmo's side. In the back seats sat his companions Jane and Albert. Sheila told Osmo, "We can go somewhere else. A little walking will be good for us."
Osmo instead hopped out the truck. "It'll be better for him, Sheila. Look at his gut. C'mon, guys, let's see what kind of booze they got in this joint."
Reluctantly, Sheila got out. Osmo already started for the nightclub. She looked at Clyden and shrugged, then hurried after Osmo. Albert and Jane followed them.
Very annoyed, Clyden growled. He was about to call in the tow truck, until he remembered it was Gov. Xavier's niece's truck. He returned to his own vehicle and snarled as he drove about, looking for the closest open spot to the nightclub he could find.
Once inside, Clyden found Gazelle already waiting at their regular booth at the Tourist Trap. She greeted him with a giant grin. "Hey, good-lookin'. Glad you got away from the governor for the night. I was afraid you would have to stay overtime because of the VIPs from Earth tonight."
"I just told Gov. Xavier I wanted the night off, and he better let me take the night off."
"Yeah... Right. I'll bet those were your exact words."
"Well, maybe not my EXACT words," admitted Clyden. "I wouldn't be so disrespectful to Gov. Xavier. I think he's a very wise man. Or, at least at one time I very much admired his brilliance. But now, well, since his niece has been his charge, and is getting on in her teen-age years, I begin to question his judgment. He seems to let her do whatever she wants. I think it's a bad reflection on his office, frankly."
"There she is, right over there," Gazelle pointed her out to him. "She is sitting with those kids. That rich man's kid with her, Osmo Martin, he's such a jerk. You think she does what she wants- you should meet him. What a jerk. His father, I guess, is afraid of losing him, since he lost his wife, so he always gets him out of trouble."
"I already did meet the punk. In the short time I did, he managed to make me hate him. Did he give you trouble, too, on the flight?"
"Not so much... Well, okay, some." She told him about how Osmo had behaved.
"He better walk the straight and narrow while he's here, or maybe I'll toss him in a nice cell somewhere for a week," threatened Clyden.
She smiled over that pleasant thought. "If only you could. But Gov. Bright would never allow that. It'd certainly work against his ploy to attract positive attention and tourism for Sparkle City. Besides, Osmo's papa no way would allow it." She sipped her coffee. "It's passengers like him that make me reconsider your job offer."
"Good, you should," Clyden encouraged her. "We see our share of jerks, but at least the pay is higher. And you get to spend more time with me here, instead of you having to go back to Earth, which, of course, is reason enough to accept the offer. And you can take my position when Gov. Xavier makes me his assistant governor, the vice-governor."
"So he plans to do that, then?"
"I am still working on him about it. He knows he needs me. I help him run the place, and I see that it runs smoothly. I do the unpleasant things for him, the dirty jobs that somebody's gotta do, to keep everything on track. Why wouldn't he come around to see things my way?"
"Ego?" suggested Gazelle.
"Naturally he possesses a huge ego. What great leader doesn't? But he is also a politician, and sometimes, for the sake of expediency, a politician puts his ego on hold," reasoned Clyden.
She looked skeptical. "Anyway, that dirty tricks thing, that's what I don't like. That's what holds me back. I know you have no choice. I accept that. But I don't want to be in that position, where I have no choice in the matter."
Clyden sighed. He had nothing to say to that. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "So when do you go back?"
"Tomorrow."
"Too bad." He sighed again. "I miss you all the time."
Over at one of the tables, Sheila and Osmo sat with Albert and Jane. The group laughed as Osmo related how he once took his third grade teacher's yardstick to knock down a beehive out at recess, and then he bagged it and brought the hive into the school. School had to be dismissed because of the swarm attacking the whole school, which is what he wanted, except he didn't count on himself getting all full of bee stings.
Mita stepped into the club and looked around for a friendly face. Jane noticed. "Hey, there's Mita again."
"Huh?" Osmo nodded. "Oh, that's nice, Jane." And he went on with his story.
Albert called over to her, "Hey, Mita, over here. Come sit with us." He pulled up a chair for her from another table.
Mita thanked him and joined them. She listened to Osmo's story, laughing with the others, remembering the stings vividly. Inside her mind, she growled about Sheila still cloying to Osmo. How can I shake that vamp from him? She just met him and she acts like she owns him!
The band began a lively tune. "Oh, I love this song," Mita said. "Osmo, want to dance?"
"Um, I think I'll sit this one out," he politely answered.
Albert said he liked the song, too, so he yanked Mita up to dance. Jane warned Mita, "Albert has two left feet."
Mita tried to hide the obvious disappointment with Osmo's rejection. She always kept her attention fixed on her one hope and desire, and he paid her no mind at all, just as Jane had said.
Sheila grabbed Osmo's arm. "I don't care what you say, you definitely are NOT sitting this one out." She dragged him out of his chair.
"Okay, okay," he laughed, letting her pull him into the middle of the crowded dance floor.
Mita stared, her eyes unbelieving. What am I doing wrong?
Jane watched Osmo and Sheila, and to herself pegged Sheila as a very plastic person, the way she acted, as if she always wanted a good time. And no doubt Osmo found that trait a virtue, not a vice.
Clyden observed the youth from Earth from his booth. He asked Gazelle if she wanted to dance also.
"Sure."
Osmo pranced around the floor with Sheila. Clyden hopped with vigor, surprising Gazelle with his energy. He never danced like that other times. Suddenly he was over by Osmo, gyrating and shaking it, and all at once he bumped fiercely into Osmo, hard, very hard, knocking him flat on his back.
"Osmo!" gasped Sheila.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't notice you," Clyden apologized, hardly sounding sincere. He held out his hand to help Osmo back on his feet. Osmo at first hesitated about taking his hand, not sure if this whole thing was really accidental or deliberate.
"Be more careful!" Sheila complained to Clyden.
He shrugged. "Accidents can happen to anyone."
"Yeah, especially around you, Sec. Ldr. Clyden," she fumed.
Gazelle found herself taken aback. "Clyden, maybe we better get going. It's getting late, anyway."
As they exited, he told her, "That felt good, taking down the little wiseguy. Did you see how mad Sheila got? Too bad, eh? But I guess I must get used to putting up with her; w
hen I am second-in-command-governor, thought, I will make my office off-limits to Gov. Xavier's niece."
Gazelle shook her head, still shocked. "You could have hurt that boy, Clyden!"
"From that little fall? Ha! He looks to me like he can take it. Besides, what doesn't kill you only makes you grow stronger."
"I think you should have stuck with the coffee, hon. Now you aren't even making any sense,” she told him, as they walked up the street. “Hey, where's your car? Don't you usually park right there?"
In the nightclub, Mita made sure to ask Osmo if he were okay. "It was only a fall," he told her. "No problem."
Mita wondered why Osmo didn't even get mad about it. Why was he like that? And why did that other guy knock him down in the first place? It sure seemed on purpose to her. What a rude fellow! And deep down, she realized with shame she felt a small, vengeful part of her saying silently to Osmo, Good for you, if you are too dumb to appreciate me, a woman who cares for you, and continue instead to hang around with that bimbo, you deserve to get knocked down!
On the Roof