*we see a guy in a fedora and button up shirt and undone tie feeding the ducks - she walks up puts her hand on his shoulder - he turns, a look of relief on his face - she sits down*

"Any luck?"

"Well, it's funny you asked about your husband's death because there were a lot of people who didn't seem very happy about my asking. But I worked my magic and got my hands on the file, which led me to another file and another. If they knew I left the station with these, I'd probably lose my badge, but after reading them, I wouldn't be much good to you without it."

"What does that mean?"

"What it means my, Memphis Belle, is that your husband wasn't hit by a drunk driver. Have you ever seen this man before?" *pulls a 5x7 out of a manilla file*

"Should I? Wait! I think I bumped into that man a couple weeks ago. He was carrying a remote. I thought it was a little odd, and he looked at me like he knew me. But I'd never seen him before then."

"Well, it turns out this guy was suspected of housing stolen goods about 2 years ago. They never caught him, but the idiot had the warehouse they found everything in, in his name. The damn lease was in his name. Where this gets funny is that your husband was listed as a witness...."

"... He never said anything..."

"No, he wouldn't have, now that he's dead, I guess there's not much point in hiding it anymore... Your husband said he had seen him meeting with some people, had overheard they were planning something big, something they said would shake the city... a little conglomo of bad guys. Hell, we thought we ran most of that kind of thinking out in the early 60s, but I guess everything comes back around eventually."

"So... what? Like a mafia? The Memphis Mafia? You've got to be kidding...my husband hung out in his cafe and read comics all the time... what are the chances..."

"Well, sounds like he just happened to be in the right place at the right time... and then the wrong place a little later. Point is he knew something they didn't want him to know."

"All this time, I thought it was my fault. I thought because I sent him to the store... Thank you. *she gets up to go* Why do you always dress like one of the rat pack?"

"Who wouldn't want to be Dean Martin? But hey, if that guy looked at you like he knew you, maybe they think your husband said something to you..."

"...but maybe it means he'll be easier to catch. Just call me "bait.""

*she pulls a crumpled card out of her pocket - we see it's the detective's card and phone number - dials the number*

"Detective?I want to apologize, maybe something really is happening.... yeah... I know... LOOK, I called for a reason... can you please just do something for me? Can you find out what happened to my husband? I think I need a real answer. I feel like I've been losing it for the last 6 months and suddenly all this is happening... I think I just need to know what really happened. Tomorrow? Sure, what time? Okay, I'll be there"

*dials her therapist*

"Yes, I'd like to make an appointment, or rather, I'd like to know if there's any time thursday afternoon? Yeah? Good, I got a feeling I'm going to need it."

*she turns to walk away*

"Just don't think I'm going to let you too far out of my sight."

"yeah, that's very comforting."

*she picks up the phone* "Hello?"
*breathing*
"Listen, if this is some telemarketer, I'm on the do not call list thing... "
"Why don't you just mind your business?"
"Wha...? Who is this? How did you get my number?"
"Listen, you stumbled on a nice little mess, why don't you just forget you saw anything and go on with your life?"
"I don't know who this is... but you should know, I have no life, my husband..."
"I know all about your husband. If that's the way it's going to be..." *click*

"How romantic of you. I had no idea cops were so sentimental in Tennessee. Here's a little tip, Detective, I don't know what happened to her. I don't even really know what happened to whoever did that to her. I don't know what happened to my husband, and I have no idea where my life is going right now. I'm seeing a therapist who asks me a ton of questions that make no sense, and I have work in the morning. Let me know when you get it all figured out, because I'd sure like to know."

*she drops the phone... looks at the woman in bed... out the doorway.... starts running down the hall, opposite direction of the man... she looks back, he's following. She rounds a few corners.*

"I have no idea where I'm going..." *She's out of breathe* "... or why I'm running."

*The man catches up to her after stopping to check which way she'd turned more than once.*

"I'm clearly in no shape for this. Look, I really just wanna talk to you. I didn't mean to scare you. S'why I used the phone instead of coming into the room."

"I didn't do anything..."

"Then why are you back here?"

"I didn't have anyplace else better to go." *she bursts into tears*

*The man looks awkward* "Let's get some air, alright?"

*They walk outside and the man offers her a cigarette, she declines, and as he lights it up, she smells the hint of vanilla and clove and takes one anyhow*

"Cops dress a little differently than what I'd expect. A little smarter too."

"Well, I'm a detective and off-duty anyhow." *his cigarette is dangling from his lip and his brownish hair, has been clearly ruffled from the short chase. He pulls his left hand out of his pocket and brushes his hair back. We notice a wedding band on his hand as he does so.* "My name's (tbd)." *She looks at his hand* "It's a hand, you shake it. No handcuffs waiting in t'other, I promise."

*She takes his hands and looks at him for the first time. He looks younger than the lines around his eyes would suggest. Probably 36, 37.* "Isn't your wife worried about you running after girls at supper-time? You said you were off-duty."

"Ex. So, it's none of her business anymore, I s'pose. Can we talk about that girl in there? What happened to her nearly happened to my wife. That's why I'm running around looking for you instead of drinking myself stupid about now. I couldn't catch him after he got to Angela, so she left. You not only caught him, you did exactly what I have been wanting to do for a year now. But you can't go around killing these guys, you know? No matter how much we want to, there's a reason I wear this badge, it means accountability, it means I have to take them in and hope they rot."

APE

I went to APE this weekend in San Francisco. It was really encouraging to be around people who self-published their comics, or those who were just there getting their comics and wares out. I'd really like to get this whole mess here done by next year. Get at least an issue done or short GN and push it some, see what the response is. What needs to be worked on. I know right now it's a bit of a mess, and there will have some editing to do when it is translated into graphics.

Maybe I just really need to purge this. Toying with the idea of calling it Memphis Belle. Google doesn't turn up any comics with that name that I was able to find. So, there is: working title.

I'm looking at lulu.com as a source for doing a small run of the issues to start, at least enough to get feedback on. They seem pretty reasonable as far as pricing.

"hello?"

"You did kill that guy, you know. He may have deserved it, but it's still murder."

"Who is this?"

"Why don't you come into the hall and we can talk about that?"

*looks down the hall. A man in a suit and beat up shoes is on the nurse's phone at the end of the hall, seeing her, he waves.*

"I didn't..."

"You did, and I intend to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" *looking down at the detonator in her hands... starts walking... just ahead we see the lights from the ER sign*

*sitting by the bedside of the still-comatose girl* "I didn't know where to go. I guess I figured talking to you was better than my therapist or sitting at the computer all night. I'm not a hero. Just remember that when you wake up. I mean, I have all these stupid fantasies about blowing up car speakers, only lately, it's been happening. I thought somehow I was doing it, but I ran into this guy tonight, literally ran into him and he dropped this thing and ran... it looks like it could be a detonator, but what do I know, I've only seen them in movies. I feel really alone in this. After finding you.. and what I, I guess I did to that guy who did this to you... *sigh* There's this guy online who talks the way my husband used to talk... but he's dead... maybe that's just how all guys talk. I sent him to the store for tampons of all things and he didn't come back. They said it was a drunk driver, but the guy was too afraid to stick around afterwards, so who knows. I don't know why I'm spilling all of this to you...."

*phone rings in the hospital room*

*starts to rain*
*runs right into a tallish bulky man... knocks him down and something falls out of his hand, it looks like a remote of some kind. She gets up and grabs it to hand it back to the man who looks a little shaken*

"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't look where I was go... *brushes back her hair.... realizing what she has in her hand has a thumb trigger. A detonator. The man runs. She chases. He disappears into the crowd*

*GrandExalted: if you could have any superpower what would you pick?
me: why would you ask that question?
GrandExalted: just curious I guess.
me: I have to go.

*Signs off.

I can't sleep. Memphis is warm and syrupy this time of year. The kind of town that dribbles right through your veins and makes your heart thump louder. It's unshakable. I thought I would leave after he was gone. But Memphis held fast to me. Guess I should go out and give thanks. Some people talk about home like it's just a place to keep your things, but here... hell, Elvis felt it, so did Johnny. Isn't that enough?

The sweat and melody that pulls me when I walk out my door tells me it's more than enough. I owe this town my life. I... I don't know what I would have done after he was gone if I'd been anywhere else.

I need to get a dog or something. Christ, I'm cracking up.

*car comes thumping by... thump thump BOOM.... she runs.*