Ding Dong the doorbell rang, piercing the early afternoon calm of suburban Liverpool.
Oh what now thought Mrs Conroy, "I am coming I am coming" she drawled in a heavy Liverpudlian accent. Having been woken up from her afternoon nap in the red chair in front of the television she was not too happy!
Ding Dong the doorbell rang again.
"Where's my stick?" muttered Mrs Conroy to nobody in particular. In fact, Mrs Conroy was alone, as she was every afternoon. Her husband Mr Conroy worked in a factory and he was never home until 5.55 pm at the earliest. Her twin children Billy and Donna should be at school. The Easter holidays were over, and they went back to school today.
Ding Dong the doorbell rang a third time.
"Alright already, I am coming, hold onto your horses already will you!" bellowed an increasingly irate Mrs Conroy at the top of her voice, as she hobbled towards the front door.
Opening the door, Mrs Conroy was greeted by two policemen on the doorstep.
"Can I help you, officers?" she asked.
"Mrs Conroy?" the policemen replied in unison.
"Yes, I am what is it? Oh God it's Jimmy isn't it? He's dead. I know it, I just know it, that bloody factory, I told him a thousand times it would be the death of him!" sobbed Mrs Conroy.
"No, no, nobody is dead Mrs Conroy." answered the taller dark-haired policeman.
"What is then?" said a quizzical Mrs Conroy.
"We are looking for Billy Conroy." asked the shorter curly-haired policeman.
"Oh no, is he hurt, what happened?" pleaded Mrs Conroy.
"We are looking for him in connection with the shooting of an animal" replied the taller policeman.
Just as Mrs Conroy opened her mouth to reply, the radios of the policemen went off simultaneously.
"Officers Malloy and Hart, please proceed to 49 Short Street, the suspect has been apprehended at the scene of the incident. Bring the suspect's mother with you because he is underage and needs a parent or guardian while he is questioned."
"Roger that, we are on our way, over and out." the shorter policeman answered back on his radio.
"Come on Mrs Conroy, get your coat please, you need to come with us" instructed the taller policeman.
"Yes, Yes, of course, my Billy would never shoot an animal" implored Mrs Conroy getting her coat from the coatstand, and closing and locking the front door.
The shorter policeman helped Mrs Conroy into the police car that was parked outside her house, and way they all went.
The drive to the scene of the incident only took them three minutes.
Mrs Conroy slowly got out of the police car and was staring at the scene of the incident.
Image by Jürgen Sieber from Pixabay The scene of the incident
"Heavens above, what have you done Billy?" exclaimed Mrs Conroy to Billy who was sitting on the kerb, with a policewomen standing over him.
"I missed is all Ma, no big deal Ma!" Protested Billy
"Ya stupid eejit Billy, wait till your father gets home, it will be the belt for you my boy!" bleeted a rather red-faced Mrs Conroy.
Just then, out of the house appeared a middle aged woman, cursing and calling Billy every name under the sun.
"Look what your son did to our cat, he shot him, he shot our fluffing cat, what are you going to do about that Mrs Conroy? I know you all too well. Like mother like son, you are pure evil the whole lot of you. My cat My cat he shot my cat!" Screamed the middle aged woman in to Mrs Conroy's face.
"Don't be so fluffing stupid Mrs whoeveryouare! Show me the cat then!" screamed Mrs Conroy back at the middle aged woman.
Reaching down to her left, the middle aged woman opened a black plastic bag and pulled out a limp body of a cat.
"See, right here!" screamed the middle aged woman and poked her finger in a hole in the cat's chest."He shot our cat!"
Mrs Conroy burst into laughter "You stupid woman, that is not a cat!"
"It's a fluffing stuffed toy!"
Mrs Conroy was laughing hysterically and collapsed on the ground in a coughing fit.
Billy piped up "It wasn't even me Ma it was Julian who shot it".
"Who is Julian?" said the policewoman.
At this point a young boy in a school uniform came out of the house.
"I did it, I shot the air rifle, I was aiming at the target that Billy put on the concrete pillar, but I slipped and I shot the window instead and the pellet went into the sitting room and struck mother's cat Zelda in the chest. I am sorry mother, but I knew you would beat me, so I said it was Billy. Please forgive me Billy, please do!" said a sobbing Julian.
"Is this true Billy, is that what happened?" asked the policewoman.
"Yes it is true, I didn't mind taking the blame, because I know what that woman does to her son Julian, the whole school knows, look at the bruises on his body, she is the one who should be arrested, not me!" replied Billy with a seething look on his face aimed at the middle aged woman.
"In that case, you are free to go Billy, and you too Mrs Conroy." replied the policewoman.
"Not on your life, not until that woman is arrested, and trust me I will be suing you lot for false arrest. We pay our taxes, you lot are public servants, you work for us! Now Billy get up, and you Mr Policeman will drive us home!"
said a relieved Mrs Conroy pointing at the taller policeman. "I have a nap to finish!"
The End
Many thanks for reading my entry to the A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words - 4/16/2022 contest which can be found here
I see a broken window, perhaps broken by a pebble or pellet or even a bullet and I feel like I want to know more. I feel like being nosey!
What do you see and feel readers?
