Chapter 13

Thirteen

Isla

Monday morning, I showed up at five-forty a.m. and was alert and ready to go. It truly felt good to be starting a job that I could be good at and make a difference with.

Mrs. Friendly was ready for me. I pulled a chair up next to her, but she sat in that chair and pointed to the dispatcher’s seat for me to sit in.

I hesitated. “Don’t I need to observe you or something?”

She shrugged. “Nope. I figure the best training I can give you is just to teach you on the job.”

I sat, feeling nervous.

A guy walked in, and Mrs. Friendly introduced him as Fred Burns. He was an older-looking gentleman with kind eyes and grey hair that was combed around the sides of his head. He put his hand out. “Nice to meet you. Though I’ve already heard about you. Small towns.”

I shook his hand and frowned at him. “Is that how you make friends with people?”

Fred grinned and headed to the other side of the room, where he sat at his computer. “Maybe we will be friends.”

Mrs. Friendly waved a hand through the air in dismissal. “Fred is all tease. He’s mostly a decent person. He takes care of all the payroll around here and fills in for me if I go on break, so he’ll fill in for you.”

Fred cocked an eyebrow and pulled open a bag of chips. “I will if you don’t tell my wife how many little bags of chips I eat. And that’s the only interesting thing about me.”

I gave him a little smile. He seemed harmless, even if he didn’t have great social skills.

Mrs. Friendly turned back to the computer. “Okay, let’s give you a run-through of all of the systems you are in charge of.” She began pointing to separate buttons on the screen. “When the initial 911 call comes in, it will be routed to you first. If there are several, you will see them pull up on the screen, but they will be rerouted to other lines and Fred and the other assistants out in the main lobby might pick them up. They are all trained. But you are the main person, and we rarely have so many calls that you need more backup than Fred.”

I tried to take in all the information on the screen.

Mrs. Friendly continued. “While you are talking to the person calling, you will be sending out notifications to the police or ambulance or fire station or all three, depending on what they need.” She pointed out the buttons to push each entity to contact.

Mrs. Friendly, I found, was not only friendly, but she was very knowledgeable. She took the time to introduce me to all the people working in the station. Everyone seemed very amicable and professional.

We got back to the desk around ten a.m., and a call came through.

She put the headset snugly on my head. “You take it.” She indicated the button I was supposed to push.

I pressed the button. “Hello,” I said, feeling extremely nervous.

Mrs. Friendly shook her head back and forth and pointed to the notecard taped to the screen.

“Hello?” someone asked. Their name and number were immediately pulled up on the screen. “Who is this?”

“Uh, 911 emergency, how can I help you?”

“Martha, is that you?”

“No. It’s not.”

“Where’s Martha?”

Mrs. Friendly took the microphone and turned it toward her. “Sonya, I’m training a new girl. What are you doing calling here?”

“Oh. Who is the new girl?”

Mrs. Friendly sighed. “Her name is Isla Hamilton.”

“Wait a second, is that Sharon Harper’s girl? I only ask because Isla is not a common name. Wait, is she the girl that got beaten up by her father?” She trailed off.

My heart rate jumped, and I felt lightheaded. I stood.

Mrs. Friendly took the headset off my head and shooed me to the other chair. “Sonya, what do you need? You can’t be calling this number just to start some gossip.”

“Is it gossip?”

I took a couple of steps back and put my hands over my head.

Fred stood and moved to my side. “You okay?”

I nodded but hated the fact I was reacting this way to someone knowing me. Of course, people knew about me and my background and my father. The lady was right: it was easy to recognize the name Isla.

Mrs. Friendly let out a low growl. “What did you need, Sonya?”

“Oh, fiddlesticks. My cat is up in that tree again, and he won’t come down because Mr. Henly has his dog loose. It’s been three days, and I need my cat down.”

Mrs. Friendly turned back and rolled her eyes. She punched a couple of buttons on the computer. “Okay. I’ll send out an officer.”

“Okay. Goodbye.” Sonya hung up.

I squeezed my eyes shut and sucked in a long breath before opening them again.

Mrs. Friendly was next to me. She nodded to Fred. “Will you cover me while Isla and I take a walk?”

He gave her a mock salute. “Will do.”

Mrs. Friendly gestured to the door. “Let’s take a break.”

I was glad we could walk down the hallway, out the door, and into the sunshine. We moved toward the park across the street.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should be better prepared for that.”

“Hush. Sonya is a busybody, and she’s just sitting around all day looking for her cat and gossiping. Don’t worry about her.”

I blinked back emotion and moved toward the playground. “I guess I wasn’t expecting to be recognized, that’s all.”

We stopped next to the swings, and Mrs. Friendly put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s a small town. I’m pretty sure most people will eventually recognize who you are and possibly know what happened with your father. It was a publicized event, since your mother was so vocal about not wanting him to go to jail.”

I nodded. “It was hard.”

“I bet it was. I am not a gossip, and I’m not a busybody, but I do know that your last name is different than it used to be. So, you must have been married?”

I waved a hand through the air and wished that I could evade these questions. “I was married. I thought about going back to my maiden name, but I honestly didn’t want to because I figured it would make me even more recognizable.” I ran a hand through my hair and felt miserable. I’d taken time earlier to make sure my curls were just right, but it was hot, and I knew my curls would be straightening out.

Mrs. Friendly nodded and gave me a soft smile. “Well, all I have to say is that I’m glad you’re here. Everything is going to work out.”

I wish I could believe her, but there was this nagging worry in my gut. “Is it?”

Mrs. Friendly gestured to the swing. “Shall we sit and swing for a little bit? I often do this. I like to spend my break this way.”

We both sat, and after swinging for a little bit, I started to feel substantially better. Mrs. Friendly started pumping her legs faster. She was pretty good for being older. I giggled and pumped faster too.

Mrs. Friendly laughed. “A little sunshine and swinging does it for me every time. I can walk back in there and feel wonderful.”

I smiled and closed my eyes, feeling the wind whoosh around me. I thought of Damon and how we used to come to this park all the time growing up.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d been out there when suddenly I heard two car doors slam, one after the other. I opened my eyes in time to see McCrae and Damon each step out of their cop cars.

McCrae walked toward Damon and threw his hands up in the air. “How come I always get sent to Mrs. Burke’s house? I am so tired of her and that stupid cat.”

Damon put his hand up, signaling for him to calm down. “Calm yourself, Officer Armstrong. That is part of the job.”

McCrae scoffed. “I know that it’s part of the job, but how come I’m always the one that gets sent there?”

Suddenly, Mrs. Friendly called out to them. “Gentlemen.” She slowed and got off the swing.

Nervously, I followed suit.