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performance and the tickets would go to waste.”
    “Did you buy them with me in mind?” I said smiling. My ego jumped up a couple notches.
    “Busted!”  Brad smiled. “Yes and no. Yes, I had you in mind and no I didn’t buy them.”
    “Did you steal them? I don’t date thieves.”  I heard a commotion, looked over my shoulder to see Bailey romping on a man. I jumped up and headed for Bailey. “Bailey, get off him.” I yelled. Bailey was enjoying the romp and wouldn’t listen to me. The  man was angry and cursing and his big butt was about all I could see.
    Brad came to my rescue. He swatted Bailey with his folded newspaper getting Bailey’s attention and I grasped his collar and pulled him off the man.
    “I’m sorry sir, Bailey won’t hurt you. He likes men.”
    Off the ground bounced a woman dressed in men’s pants, shirt and men’s loafers with a butch haircut and a couple studs in her brow. My first thought… Oh my Gawd, I’m dead. She stood with her hands on her hips looking at me like I was had. Brad leashed up Bailey and put his arm around me.
    “Honey, we’ll have to keep a better eye on Bailey. We’re sorry it won’t happen again.”
    “Just see that it doesn’t.” She said dusting off her pants and hands. She pulled a big red handkerchief from her back pocket and wiped Bailey’s slobbers from her face.
     
    “Hello Dolly?” I laughed and looked up at Brad.
    “Yes, Friday night at eight. Can you make it?”
    “Before I say yes. Did you steal the tickets?”  Bailey was pulling me toward home.
    Brad laughed, “No, my niece has one of the leading rolls and she gave me the tickets.”
    “We could do dinner and then head over to the high school for the performance.  How about I pick you up at six?”
    “Six is good.” I pointed at the my apartment building. “It’s the building with the brown plaster falling off the building and my apartment number is 208.”
    “Got it. See you Friday.” Brad was smiling and waved as we parted ways. I haven’t had a  real date in some time. Randy and I meet once in a while for a rendezvous but a real date is new to me. Neither Randy or I are ready for a commitment.
     
    Mona and I headed out for the Sheriff’s office early.  The janitor was cleaning up from the night before.
    “Hello, Mr. James, how are you today?”
    “Just fine, Miss Tiffany.”
He said tipping the bill of his cap. He pulled the mop bucket from the entry, dipped the stringy mop in the bucket and rung it out through a roller on the bucket.
    Mona and I told the deputy at the desk we were there to see Sheriff Reagan.
    “I’ll check with Sheriff Reagan to see if he’s seeing anyone.”
    “Tell him it’s Tiffany and Mona.”
    The deputy gave us a disgusting look as he headed for the office.  Shortly he came out and said.  “The Sheriff will see you now.”
    Mona didn’t make a move toward the office.
    “Mona, you coming?”
    “No, I think I’ll set this one out.”
    She looked through the stack of magazine and settled for Better Homes and Gardens. She was flipping through the pages when a woman with a black eye and seven kids walked through the door.
    “I want to report my husband. He beat me up last night.”
    “Do you want us to pick him up?”
    “No, I just want to report him.”
    “You don’t want to press charges, you just want to tell us?”
    “Yeah, you have been told.”
    By this time the kids were crawling all over Mona. One was riding her foot for a horse, another turning the magazine pages and another was fixing Mona’s hair. The others scattered around the office with their hands into everything.
    The woman looked at the kids and yelled for them to get off Mona.
    “You kids get out to the station wagon. Right now, ya’ll hear me?”
    They climbed off Mona and headed out the door. Momma walked out the door with her little brood following.
    “What was that all about?” Mona asked the deputy brushing off her clothes and holding up the magazine