Check-in (August 2025)

 

WOMAN in black suit: Why’d you postpone?

TIM: Been under the weather. This is the first time I’m out of the house since last Thursday.

 

WOMAN: So, who’s walking the dog?

TIM: Neighbor across the street.

 

WOMAN: Is that Kemp . . . the CPA?

TIM: Yeah. I‘ve known him for 28 years. Good guy. Goes to our church.

 

WOMAN: Isn’t he the cripp—

TIM: Handicapped, yeah. Walks with a limp but gets around well enough. And he loves Pepper.

 

WOMAN: That’s your dog, right?

TIM: Black lab.

 

WOMAN: So, why’d you call the meet?

TIM: That family I was telling you about last time . . . the one on Sunrise, a couple of blocks over. Turns out they’re from Spain.

 

WOMAN: How do you know that?

TIM: One of their kids goes to the same school as my daughter. She said she’d heard the other kids say he’s Mexican.

 

WOMAN: Why?

TIM: It’s kinda strange, cause he’s got blond hair and blue eyes. I’ve seen the woman and she’s blond and blue-eyed, too. And my daughter who knows a little Spanish overheard the boy speaking on his cell phone one day, but he spoke so fast it was difficult for her to follow. That’s when he told her he’s from Spain.

WOMAN: So, what’s this new information you have about these people?

TIM: Well, the reason I’ve been keeping an eye on them is that they have a lot of visitors . . . people who really could pass for Mexicans.

 

WOMAN: Aren’t there a lot of Latino families in your area?

TIM: Not in our neighborhood. They’re mostly downtown.

 

WOMAN: Alright, Tim, get to the point. Explain to me why you think this is important.

TIM: I was getting to that. You see, I picked up a brochure that one of the visitors dropped. It was Spanish, but when I looked at the other side, it was English.

 

WOMAN: Did you bring it with you?

TIM: No.

 

WOMAN: Why not?

TIM: I was so nervous about the meet, I forgot it. It’s in my office at home.

 

WOMAN: Tell me what you read, Tim.

TIM: It was this ‘Know Your Rights’ stuff and it mentioned a couple of dates and locations, but it didn’t explain their significance.

 

WOMAN: Do you remember the dates and places?

TIM: I think one was the elementary school where my daughter goes and it was sometime in early September. I don’t remember the exact day.

 

WOMAN: But you said that there weren’t many Latinos in your neighborhood.

TIM: Oh, yeah. A lot them get bused in because the schools downtown are overcrowded.

WOMAN: And besides this elementary school, what else can you remember?

TIM: There was the community center. Oakdale Community Center. It’s near Central Library.

 

WOMAN: And the date?

TIM: It was, uh, a day before or a day after the other one.

 

WOMAN: So, also early September?

TIM: Yeah.

 

Woman pulling a brochure out of her briefcase.

 

WOMAN: Is this the brochure?

 

Tim turning it over and reading.

 

TIM: Yeah, that’s it. Umh, so you already know about this, why are you interested—

WOMAN: We have to find who’s distributing this material.

 

TIM: Is it illegal?

WOMAN: That’s classified. Don’t be alarmed. Tim, you’re a patriot. That’s why we need you. Now, I need you to record all of the license plates going in and coming out of that property.

 

TIM: But—

WOMAN: This is about national security, Tim. You don’t want to let your country down, do you?

 

Tim hadn’t smoked in more than 10 years, but on the way home he bought a pack of cigarettes and smoked the first three standing outside his car.

TIM: Honey, I’m back if you need to use the car.

MARGARET: It’s OK. I caught a ride with Julia.

 

TIM: Who’s Julia?

MARGARET: Oh, she’s our new neighbor. Not exactly next door. They live on Sunrise. I met her this morning while I was walking Pepper. Mr. Kemp wasn’t feeling well. She’s lovely and so’s their son. Cynthia knows him.

 

TIM: On Sunrise?

MARGARET: Yeah. You’ve probably met them on your walks.

 

TIM: Uh, no. I’ve never seen them to talk to them.

MARGARET: Well, Saturday night they’ve invited us for dinner, so you’ll get to catch up then.

 

TIM: Saturday?

MARGARET: We’re not doing anything, are we?

 

Sniffs the Tim’s clothes.

 

MARGARET: Good God! Tim. Did you start smoking again?