Free Red Tape by Michele Lynn Seigfried

one more week to come in to review the documents in the boxes, otherwise they were going back into storage.

 
     
    Chapter 7
     
    Another Thursday night, another meeting. I was in the courtroom setting up as usual and feeling grateful that public works had been able to jerry-rig the air conditioning until a new system could be installed. Mr. Triggers arrived early and I was thankful that the guard was in the room so that I wasn’t alone with him. He had never responded to me about the boxes going back into storage. I was afraid he would come over and yell at me. The green plaid necktie on his white button-down shirt almost looked normal until you saw that he completed his look with jean shorts, black socks pulled up to his knees, and white sneakers. I thought Bonnie was being kind when she said he was an “eccentric” dresser.
    Within a few minutes, Giuseppe Fruscione arrived with a plump, juicy tomato in hand for me.
    “Really? For me? I can’t take that from you.”
    “Chelsey,” he said, “I know how much you say that you like Jersey tomatoes! This is from my garden. You know, it’s hard to grow these in this sandy soil, so I grow them in a container. Besides, my tomatoes are the best; you take it home and enjoy it.”
    “Mr. Fruscione, how can I thank you?”
    “No thanks are necessary!”
    Yum. I did love Jersey tomatoes. I was looking forward to lunch the next day. A nice cheese and tomato sandwich with mayo. Homegrown Jersey tomatoes didn’t taste like store-bought tomatoes. They were so much more flavorful.
    My thoughts were broken by the sound of the gavel. The mayor was calling the meeting to order.
    Mr. Triggers was first up when the public comment period was called. I saw Rose Sciaratta take out her cigarettes and head toward the door. I guessed she figured this was going to take a while.
    “Mayor O’Donnell, I’m here to ask if you are going to put the dunes up at the end of my street,” Mr. Triggers said.
    Mayor O’Donnell replied frankly, “We are not installing dunes, Mr. Triggers.”
    At that moment, Mr. Triggers reminded me of a cartoon devil, with his dark eyes and how his neck and face flared up into a bright red color. All he was missing were horns.
    Triggers raised his voice. “Well, since you look so much like a man, why don’t you grow a pair of balls under that skirt of yours to go along with your penis and put those dunes in place?”
    Mayor O’Donnell shrieked and before I could think, she grabbed the tomato that Giuseppe gave me and threw it at Triggers. Triggers ducked and the tomato flew straight across the room, hitting Rose square in the head. She dropped her cigarette inside before she tumbled out the half open door. The cigarette landed on the pile of agendas and poof ! Up they went in flames. The fire alarms were triggered and the noise was so ear piercing that it was hard to think. The guard grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the flames, but not before the room filled with smoke and damage was done to the walls and carpeting.
    I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt and escaped out of the emergency exit that was close to my seat. I jumped into my car to move it before the fire trucks arrived and blocked me in. I wasn’t sure if I was more upset about the fire or the fact that I would be missing out on my cheese and tomato sandwich. I wondered why I ever decided to come back to work instead of being a stay-at-home mom. Oh yeah, that’s right, I needed the money.
     
    * * *
     
    The next morning, I arrived early to work. Rodney had previously sent out an office memo that we were having a potluck lunch for all the staff. With so many things happening, I initially thought it was a good idea on his part. We all needed some morale boosting and this might have done the trick. But, with the fire in the courtroom, I wished he had scheduled it for a different day because I had too much going on.
    I pulled open one of the front doors of the municipal building