Ethan Vs Big Jerry/Officer Richmond
Originally, I had seen The Story of Us as being a little more slapstick, so I had a scene where Ethan gets his car smashed up and almost gets arrested because Big Jerry and a local policeman think he’s a stalker who has been harrassing Allison. The scene was fun to write, but didn’t seem all that logical so I ended up scrapping it. Allison’s stalker, Jason Vance, was an idea that kept popping up that I never really figured out what to do with, so I ended up scrapping that entirely too.
After a quick dinner, Ethan headed back over to Big Jerry’s hoping to catch Allison before he left town tomorrow morning. He was scheduled to be in Des Moines tomorrow, so couldn’t stick around much longer. So he didn’t have a lot of time to give his crazy idea a try.
Ethan peeked through the window, and she wasn’t here. Instead, a towering man was holding down the fort behind the counter. The guy was almost as wide as he was tall, sporting an out-of-control beard and a level of arm hair that looked like it could be actively braided. Ethan stared for a second, his writer-brain instantly firing, this man would make an absolutely incredible background extra for the Scottish clan wars if the Netflix series ever actually happened.
If Ethan had to guess, this had to be Big Jerry himself. And Big Jerry definitely didn't look like he spent his shifts reading romantasy paperbacks.
With a quiet sigh, Ethan turned away from the window and started heading back to his car, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. He guessed it just wasn’t meant to be.
Ethan was about to get in his car, when he heard a booming voice, “HEY! You got a problem?”
Ethan turned and saw Big Jerry come rushing out of the door, a black baseball bat in his hand. Ethan had time to notice that the bat looked ridiculously small in Jerry’s big hands, “Sorry. I was just looking for Allison. I guess she’s off tonight.”
Big Jerry swung the bat down on the hood of Ethan’s car with a loud crash, “Oh, you must be Jason!
Ethan managed to squeak out, “Who’s Jason?” before Big Jerry slammed the bat down on the hood again, “Hey, come on. That’s a rental.”
Another car pulled up. Ethan hurried over there, “Hey, you need to help me. This guy’s gone crazy.” He realized his good fortune when a police officer stepped out of the car.
Instead of talking to Ethan, the police officer asked, “Jerry, you okay?”
“Jason here showed up again looking for Ally!”
The officer unclipped his TASER pointing it at Ethan’s chest, “Sir, I am going to need you to get all the way on the ground, now!”
Ethan started to lower himself to the ground, “I’m not Jason. I swear.”
Another car pulled up. Big Jerry rushed over to it, “Ally, get back in the car. You’re going to be okay.”
Ethan looked towards her car, but quickly realized that was a mistake as the officer stepped towards him, and Ethan dropped flat on the ground.
Allison peeked past Jerry and the officer and said, “What’s going on here?”
Jerry said, “Jason’s back! They must have let him out of lockup.”
Allison said, “That is definitely not Jason.”
The officer stepped back, “You sure?”
Allison said, “I am ninety percent sure I'd recognize the guy who’s made my life a living hell for the last ten years. And I am one hundred percent sure this guy doesn't have a skull tattoo on his neck.”
Ethan said, “No tattoos at all, I swear.”
The officer gestured at Ethan who was still lying very still on the ground hoping to get out of Ashford without getting electroshock treatment, “So who the hell is this guy?”
“His name is Ethan Blackwood.”
The officer said, “You mean like the author.”
Ethan said, “Very much like the author. Are you a fan?”
The officer stepped back helping Ethan to his feet, “No. My wife is though. Can I get an autograph for her?”
Ethan stared at the officer bug eyed, “Seriously?”
The officer shrugged, “Seriously! No hard feelings.”
Big Jerry looked back at the rental car, “I know a good body shop.” He handed over a grease-stained business card from a buddy’s garage. The place in fact was named Buddy’s Garage, Ethan noticed before he shoved the card in his pocket.
Ethan said, “It’s a rental, I got the insurance on it. I will just tell them a bear ran into me.”
Allison walked over, “Are you all right?”
Ethan said, “Yeah.”
Allison said, “I was asking Jerry. He’s got a bad back. He shouldn’t be doing things like this!”
Jerry said, “I’m all right, Ally. I guess I better head back inside.” His eyes never left Ethan as he walked back inside. He held the bat in a position that wasn’t quite threatening, but definitely on a first name basis with threatening.
The officer started heading back to his car, too.
Ethan said, “Isn’t anyone going to ask if I want to press charges?”
The officer glared back at him, “Do you?”
Ethan felt Allison and the officer’s eyes on him, “No, I guess we are all okay.”
Once the circus had cleared town, Ethan found himself outside Big Jerry’s alone with Allison, “Sorry, I guess I should get going.”
“Are you really okay?” she was clearly thinking of his panic attack earlier today.
Ethan said, “Yeah, this it all happened so quick, I don’t even think I had a chance to process any of it. I think I bruised my leg when I hit the ground, but thankfully, no sign of any creeping fog.” he taps his temple.
Allison said, “I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again. Did you come by for any reason? I doubt you needed gas again, and you should still have plenty of gummy worms left.”
Ethan said, “I wanted to ask you something, but I’m now thinking the universe is telling me that was a really bad idea.”
“Now you sound like my roommate, Maya. She believes in fate and destiny and all that.” She stepped in front of him and said, “I’m more practical, ask me.”
He considered what to say for a long time, “So this Jason guy.”
Allison’s arms immediately wrapped around herself protectively, “Nothing more than a bad memory these days. He’s going to be locked away for a long time. I’m sorry you got caught in that. You’re not the first person who’s had their life impacted in a bad way because of the name Jason Vance.”
Still slow and carefully choosing his words, “It’s good that you have people watching out for you. Scary, hairy people wielding clubs.” Ethan glanced at the store and saw Big Jerry watching them both like the world’s most terrifying dad waiting for his daughter to come in before curfew. Ethan took a deep breath and said all in one word, “Howwouldyouliketocomeworkforme?”
(Author’s note, most of the rest of this scene was the same as the finished version, so skipping ahead a little)
Allison tensed up, waiting for the other shoe to drop before he asked, “What’s that officer’s name?”
“Why, are you seriously going to press charges?”
“Of course not, but he said his wife was a fan, right. I am going to get Carol to send her some signed copies. No hard feelings, right?”
“Right. You are a strange guy, Highlander. His name is Brian Richmond. Please don’t make me regret telling you. I used to babysit for their kids.”
“How many kids does he have?”
“Does it matter?”
Ethan considered it for a moment and said, “I’m sure it matters to him.”
******
(Author’s Note again: This scene also changed the Ethan and Martin scene a little, so including that here as well)
Ethan dialed Martin up. Martin answered as he usually did, “Do you need bail money?”
“Martin, I really think you need to take a hard look at your client list if you constantly have to ask that. I’m alone in my hotel room in Iowa. How much trouble do you possibly think I could get in?”
“I know, Ethan, but I worry about you.”
“Actually, I did kind of almost get arrested tonight.”
There is a long pause on the other end before Martin said, “That really isn’t funny.”
“No, I am serious. It was a wild night. I almost got my head bashed in by Bigfoot and TASERed by an officer from Ashford’s police department.” Ethan caught Martin up on the events of the night, leaving out Allison for now.
“Did you get his badge number? Do you want me to call a lawyer?”
“No! It’s all good. I got his address and sent him over a few signed books. His wife is apparently a big fan of mine. It all worked out in the end. Well the car is a disaster, but that is a tomorrow problem.”