The drunk in handcuffs yelled. “Bull, you should be on my side of this. The college flunked you too. Place needs to blow up or burn to the ground.”

Bull chest-bumped the guy. “The college didn’t flunk me. I did that to myself.” He fisted his fist. “You could have hurt someone. We got enough folks in the hospital already.”

The drunk yelled he was being harassed again. He claimed his friends backed out on him when they realized people might get hurt.

He yelled, “Pain is the price of change.”

No one commented, but when they put on the cuffs, the drunk started crying.

In what seemed like minutes everything was cleaned up and all went back to normal. A reporter got a few great shots of Bull tackling the bomber and the sheriff took charge of the groundskeeper. As he was being shoved toward the cruiser, he claimed he had hearing damage from being yelled at.

The sheriff didn’t mind posing for a few pictures. Hank told the press LeRoy was the head of the operation.

The next morning Bull’s picture made the campus paper and LeRoy gave him a badge to wear.

Ketch and Hank and the professors seemed to vanish from the operation, but that was all right. The locals learned the details.

Chapter 41 - Ketch

Chapter 41

Ketch

As the sun set on one hell of a day, Ketch drove out to Primrose Hill to pick up Tuesday for their first real date. He felt nervous. He hadn’t really dated before he joined the army, and then Crystal was just there. They ate meals together, worked together, and slept together, but they’d never dated.

Tuesday must have been looking forward to dinner because she was waiting on her beautiful porch. They drove out to a steak house halfway between Honey Creek and Clifton Bend. For the first time she wore a dress and he wore a tie. He held her chair for her.

Tuesday wanted to hear every detail of what had happened. Ketch had already given the account of all he saw a half dozen times, and wasn’t all that interested in doing it again, but he loved watching her face as she learned the whole story.

The low lights in the restaurant made the night romantic as they held hands between courses.

When they moved outside on a patio to have dessert under the stars, she asked him about his plans for graduation.

“I’ll move on after finals, I guess. I’m not sure where I’ll end up. I’ve got enough money to spend the summer traveling, then I’ll look for a job.”

“Aren’t you going to walk at graduation?”

“No, don’t see much point in it. I have no family to watch.”

“I’d come and watch.”