Criminal Continuum: Teen Criminal Investigation Unit - Ch 10

Film, Friends, Food & Fun

  

The twins and their friends found their seats quickly at the movie theater after obtaining all the necessary items for enjoying a feature film: popcorn, peanuts, soda and an assortment of candy varieties that would make any person’s mouth water with envy. 

“These previews have lasted over nine minutes so far,” complained Rebecca to Caroline.

“I know,” she answered with a whispery voice, “Someday they will last longer than the movie.”

“Shhhh!” hushed Robert jokingly.

Gerry and Phil both joined in, “Shhhh!”

“Are you saying that to us, or the previews?” laughed Caroline.

“Either one will do, Caroline Smith and Rebecca Dance,” replied their friend Phil loudly enough for all to hear.

“Yes, Mr. Houston,” the girls replied simultaneously.

“Oh,” Robert exclaimed, “I think we are down to the last dozen previews or so.”

“Finally!” said Caroline.

“At last,” added Rebecca.

“Look,” Robert said, as he pointed to their right, “There is Mr. Walkinhawk, sitting over there.”

“I see him.”

“I’m going to go over and say hello before the film begins,” Robert informed his sister and friends.

“Ok, tell him ‘hi’ from me,” requested Rebecca.

As Robert made his way across the isle of chairs and legs, he noticed that there was an elderly man sitting with Mr. Walkinhawk. He also looked distinctly Native American.

“Hello, Mr. Walkinhawk, it’s Robert Dance.”

“Hi, Robert,” he replied, “Enjoying the previews?”

“Ha, ha,” he laughed, “I guess this isn’t your favorite part of the show either.”

“That’s for sure,” Mr. Walkinhawk complained, “This is my father, Samuel Chocote Walkinhawk.”

“Hello, sir,” Robert addressed the man respectfully, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” replied George’s father.

“Do you live here, sir?” inquired Robert.

“No, I live in Oklahoma. I am just here for a visit with my son for a couple of weeks.”

“Oh, how nice.”

“It certainly is, young man.”

“I’d better get back up to my seat before the movie starts,” Robert said, “Maybe we can visit a little after the movie?”

“I would like that,” replied Samuel Walkinhawk.

“Let’s make it a plan,” added George.

“Ok,” Robert said, heading back to his seat.

Robert settled into his seat and informed his sister and friends that Mr. Walkinhawk would like to visit with them after the movie. They all favored the suggestion and agreed.

“It’s starting,” informed Rebecca.

As the film began and darkness settled over the theater, the audience quickly found themselves immersed with the film’s plot. Hardly a noise could be heard, which is a sign of a good movie, only the noise of candy wrappers being opened and the occasional gasp during those certain intense moments of the film. Crime mysteries are a fascinating realm to be lost in for a couple of hours on a Friday evening.

The theater was a very nice older one that had existed for ages. The walls had curtains covering them similar to the one that opened prior to the movie’s start. The floor was a bit sticky from spilled soda and melted candy, but that just added to the ambiance of the setting.

Near the end of the film everyone began to whisper to the person next to him or her, undoubtedly guessing the outcome of the movie. The final course of the film surprised the movie patrons with an unexpected ending. The lights went up and people cleared the auditorium like sheep leaving their pen for an open field.

“Wow,” commented Caroline, “that was great.”

“I enjoyed every minute of it,” Phil added as the group made their way over to where the Walkinhawk’s were still seated.

“White men make good movies,” the senior Walkinhawk remarked jokingly.

“How,” the junior Walkinhawk replied, holding up his hand like an actor from an old TV western.

“I am not sure how, my son.”

Everyone had a good quick laugh.

“Shall we head over to the café on the corner for a snack or two?” suggested George, hoping for approval.

“Sounds good,” the kids replied.

Exiting the theater, they felt the slight chill of winter in the air.

“It’s been getting quite cold at night lately,” remarked Caroline, attempting to stir up some conversation on the way to the café.

“It sure has,” asserted Robert.

“It gets really cold in Oklahoma in the winter,” said the senior Walkinhawk, “Colder than the kiss of a ghost.”

“How do you know how cold that is, father?” inquired George.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” he replied.

The group entered the café and sat at a large table together. The menus were on the tables stuffed between the napkin holder and the salt & peppershakers.

“What are you going to have?” Robert asked his sister.

“Not quite sure yet. How about you?”

“I think some soup and salad for me should hit the spot just about right.”

The twins had grabbed a hotdog on the way to the movie theater for dinner and had some popcorn and candy during the film, so, they felt a light snack was still appropriate and within reason.

Robert introduced Caroline, Gerry, Phil and his sister, Rebecca, to George and his father. They enjoyed the youths joining them this evening.

“I think I know what I want,” Rebecca said to her brother.

“Me, too,” said Gerry.

After a couple of minutes the waitress approached.  She asked the group if everyone had made a decision on what they desired. She took orders quickly and darted back to place them with the cook. The cook was a burley looking man with a large mustache. He stood behind a high counter, taking the order slips from the waitress and cooking the food noted on them. He looked like someone right out of a movie.

“Was George a good boy when he was growing up?” Rebecca questioned the elderly Walkinhawk jokingly.

“As good as most boys, I suppose.”

“I was the best boy, I think.”

“You sure were, son.”

“I spent a lot of time studying and working around the farm, riding horses and taking care of the animals we had.”

“What type of animals did you have, Mr. Walkinhawk?” asked Caroline.

“Oh, a few cows, some chickens and two horses, that’s about it. We lived on a small piece of land with a little stream running through the middle of it, so we were able to irrigate and grow vegetables. I remember the huge watermelons we had. You sure don’t see that size in the stores.”

“You sure don’t,” added in the elderly Walkinhawk.

“Not much to get in trouble with when you grow up out of the big city life, I guess,” Phil commented.

“More to be busy with,” added Gerry.

“I love horses,” Rebecca remarked.

“They are amazing animals,” replied George.

“Talk about horses,” the elderly Walking said suddenly, “It looks like our food is on its way and I am as hungry as a horse.”

They all got the meaning of that as they sat there waiting for the scrumptious morsels to arrive.

When the food arrived, George proclaimed, “Dig in!”

The group ate their food and discussed what they enjoyed about the movie, the exciting parts, funny lines, and the action scenes. After finishing their snack, Caroline, Gerry and Phil bid their farewells to the Dance children and Walkinhawks.

“Any progress with your code solving?” George asked the twins, “I didn’t want to ask in front of your friends in case it was a secret.”

“Oh,” Rebecca replied, “Thanks for not asking.”

They chuckled.

“I brought a copy with me,” Robert said, as he handed it to the younger Walkinhawk.

“You certainly have made some progress,” he commented, “and it looks like you and your sisters are quite the code breakers.”

“The book you gave us really made things a lot easier,” Rebecca said, “It gave us a place to start.”

“It is always important to have a place to start,” the senior Walkinhawk added, “and there is an old proverb that says ‘better is the ending of a matter than its beginning’. In this case it looks like the ending will definitely be exciting.”

“As you can see ‘YAC’ must be ‘THE’ and ‘YAWQ’...  ‘THIS’... the letter ‘W’ is the letter ‘I’ and so on.”

“Very good.”

“And we built on that pattern to come up with ‘YACSC’ being ‘THERE’...  ‘NJSYMUC’ being ‘THOSE’ and ‘YACQC’ being ‘THESE’... and then we filled in those letters in their correct places throughout the letter.”

“Very good,” replied George with genuine excitement, “You will soon have this all figured out.”

“We aren’t sure what the numbers and symbols are quite yet, but we plan to work on them later,” Rebecca said, “That way we may have enough words solved to be able to figure out what the numbers mean.”

“You are an exceptionally bright young lady,” the senior Walkinhawk said, “It is so nice to see young ones who grab a hold of life and master it to its fullest.”

“The hyphens... oops, I mean dashes,” Robert said, as he remembered Kelly’s explanation of the difference between the two, “between the groups of letters must mean a space as I thought.”

“Who is Kelly?” inquired the senior Walkinhawk curiously.

“She is our younger sister and she is extremely smart,” replied Robert.

“Really smart,” Rebecca added.

The elder replied, “I would like to meet her one day.”

“I know,” Robert pondered, “Maybe you two can join us this Sunday for a picnic.”

“Oh, I wish we could, Robert, but we are planning to go to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and walk around sightseeing Sunday. And, besides, we wouldn’t be comfortable imposing on your family’s picnic.”

“That’s where we’ll be on Sunday,” and excited Rebecca said, “And you wouldn’t be imposing on us. We have friends coming also.”

“Well, then, I guess we can stop by a spell if that is ok with you, father?” George sought the elder Walkinhawk’s look of approval.

“I would like that very much.”

“We plan to meet and start our picnic in the area around the de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences. You know, the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium area….”

“I’ll have our parents give you a call with the time and details. It will sort of be a potluck picnic, but mom always makes enough food to feed almost twice as many of us as there are,” assured Robert.

Rebecca added, “So don’t worry about bringing anything, ok?”

“This is very nice of you, thank you,” George replied.

“I am honored,” said the senior Walkinhawk.

Finishing their drinks, the twins noticed that it was getting late and bid their farewells to the Walkinhawks. The walk home was refreshing. They enjoy the light fog that filled the streets of Berkeley like a mist from a movie scene.

Some evenings the fog rolls into Berkeley so thick that you cannot see more than a few feet in front of yourself. The Dance family enjoyed going for walks in their neighborhood on those nights. It gave them a peaceful feeling, a feeling of being almost alone in this busy world. The cool, moist air feeling on their faces that the fog gave them was special. When the three youths were little, it seemed a bit scary at times, but now that they were older, they too, enjoyed the evening walks in the fog.

“I think we are going to have a great weekend.”

“I think so too,” anticipated Robert.

Once home, the twins informed their parents that they had met George Walkinhawk’s father and had invited the two to stop by Sunday’s picnic. The parents were very pleased that the twins were so thoughtful. Mr. Dance gave the Walkinhawks a call while the twins readied themselves for bed.

“Did you guys have a good evening at the movies?” Kelly inquired.

“We sure did,” replied Rebecca.

“And we met George Walkinhawk there with his father, Samuel Chocote Walkinhawk,” informed Robert.

Kelly replied, “Samuel Chocote, if I remember correctly, is the name of an historic Creek Indian Chief.”

“I am sure you are right, sis,” said Robert to his little sister. “I’m off to bed. Another weary, busy and eventful week is over!”

“Weary?” questioned Kelly.

Next Chapter

Chapter Eleven:  Early to Bed – Early to Rise