Locker #2375 Chapter 19

Posted on | May 19, 2009 | No Comments

Locker 2375 c19

No Key.

There was Ana jumping, dancing and singing, on her make shift stage, just like Hanna Montana.

People who were coming into the foyer to check out the commotion did double takes because of Ana’s resemblance to the real Hanna Montana.

Even Brandon got into the act and was on stage beside Ana playing a mean guitar.

Of course Ana had a small button on her suspenders that said she was Ana Montana NOT Hanna, but what’s the difference the school was in frenzy and the commandos who had descended on the locker were now in the foyer.

We had a window of opportunity.

There we were sitting in the nurse’s room tapping our toes when Omar came racing through the door and shouted, “ Hey wake up this is no time to be taking in the show we have a locker to sort out!”

Omar looked out of the doorway and signaled that the coast was clear.

As we streamed out of the nurses room the commandos were standing as close as they could to the stage, toes a tapping, as Ana broke into a lively rendition of Hoedown Throwdown.

Ana gave a look in our direction, winked, and then started singing, “ boom boom clap boom de clap de clap…”

The crowd was growing around the stage and wouldn’t you know it, there were those students again selling ice cream and candy-floss. How is it that whenever there is a spontaneous gathering at the school these students are there selling snacks?

There we were standing in front of the locker, #2375, and Omar held out his hand waiting for the key.

Something just didn’t seem right.

I couldn’t put my finger on what was odd about my locker but there was something different about it.

Sam seemed to also clue in to the fact that something was wrong, because he was looking at the locker as if it was a Where is Waldo book as well.

Omar shook his hand and waited for the key.

There was a moment of fear as I reached around my neck to retrieve my locker key from the mess of keys and key chains I wear.

There was nothing there!

All of the blood must have run out of my face because Sam asked if I had seen a ghost.

“Max give him the key Ana is almost done the song and it looks like the commandos are getting restless”, Sam said nudging me with his elbow.

“The key isn’t around my neck”, I said in a moment of panic.

“Remember you took the key off your keychain and placed it in the sole of your shoe when we first saw the commandos in case we were made”, Sam said looking at me as if I had completely lost my mind.

I pulled off my shoe and Omar and Sam almost fell to the floor.

“Max, your shoes smell AWFUUUUUL”, Omar said trying to stop the tears from running down his face.

“Max your shoes smells like garlic”, Sam looked at Omar and me as if another piece of the puzzle was coming together.

Indeed my shoes did smell like garlic, 100 cloves of garlic crushed and spread between my toes, it was truly awful.

But there had been no smell when I put the key into my shoe, only after the key was removed!

There was only one other person who had a bad garlic foot odor problem and that was Mr. Smith!

And as I remember now he also walked with a limp, a very subtle limp.

Holding his nose Omar reached for the key and then stopped in his tracks.

That was it.

That was what was different, what had changed.

Yes Locker #2375 was my locker and yes we were standing in front of it but there was no place to put the key!

Omar gingerly put his hand on the lockers door and pulled but it was clearly locked and needed a key, but there was no place to put the key!

Ana was winding down her song looking at us in despair because she only had 3 songs in her show and she was 1 minute from being done!

The commandos who had bolted from the locker seemed to be getting restless, and were listening intently to their headsets apparently taking on instructions because in unison they turned and looked in the direction of us and the locker.

“Ok we have no time and we have no way of getting into this locker but we need to” I said looking at Omar and Sam.

“Our only option is to move the locker to a safe place where we can figure out how to open it and deal with what might or might not be inside” I sounded very confident even though there was no plan.

Omar knelt down and motioned to Sam and I to tilt the locker onto his back.

Just then Kevin came running into the hallway and said, “ you have 15 seconds before the commandos are back here they are on the move let me help.”

Kevin knelt behind Omar and between the two of them they were able to grasp and balance the locker on their heads.

We could hear the crowd erupt with applause in the foyer and over that we could here the clatter of feet and equipment as the commandos came to the realization that they had been outsmarted by a bunch of students.

“Guys start moving and fast”, came the cry from Sam, “we have company at 5’ocock!”

If you tossed a sheet over Omar and Kevin they would have looked like a snufoluocus from Sesame Street, lumbering down the hall.

Both Sam and I were just about to break into hysterics as we followed Kevin and Omar when Omar bellowed,” the door, get the door!”

“Where are we going” Kevin said trying to get Omar’s attention.

“We need to get this locker to a safe hiding place so we can get into it and protect it from those commandos who also seem to be keenly interested in what ever is inside” Omar said as if he was talking to a bunch of kindergarten students.

Picking up speed we descended the stairs into the bowels of the swimming pool filter room and the locker slid off of Omar and Kevin’s heads making an awful clang and crash to the bottom of the stairs landing jut inside the doorway upright with its door facing us but without a single scratch or dent.

And there the locker stood just past the door with enough clearance for us to shut the door and wait to see if the commandos were following us.