The benefit of the doubt in Triangle Timbers

Jimmy looks at the time. Almost midnight. He looks back at the road ahead. The car pauses at the old dilapidated stop sign. Then it jets out into the street and begins to race away. However, they were not anticipating Jimmy’s presence. How could they? He was the very definition of stealth. In fact, he was so good at hiding that many of the suspects he brought in, were caught before they had a clue.

Jimmy is a cop. His department is in a small southern city in Mississippi. He’s been on the job for almost ten years now. Furthermore, he’s worked on this particular beat for a couple of years. There isn’t too much he doesn’t know about the area. He hits the lights and catches up to the vehicle. There’s a brief moment when the driver taps the bakes in surprise. Jimmy is used to seeing this. They never know he’s around. Until the lights go on.

The Benefit of the Doubt

Alex is stoked. Finally a decent paying run. Who cares if it’s in the boondocks. He checks the address again. 6176 Troubled Timbers. Then he squints a little more. Triangle Timbers! It looks like Troubled Timbers, every time he looks at it. He chuckles to himself. In the silence of the vehicle, the sound is loud. Although the delivery is on the outskirts of town Alex is okay with the drive. Besides he is getting a generous tip for this.

With this in mind, he only accepted the offer because it paid well. It was a seriously long drive. Furthermore, the neighborhood is almost in the next county. And out there is nothing but farmland, as far as the eye can see. However, something about the delivery, got his attention. Alex decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes these long, faraway deliveries, paid a little extra, after the fact. There’s something about folks who live way out in the country.

Alex checks the GPS. He is within a mile of the neighborhood. It takes him another minute or two, but he finally finds the entrance to Triangle Timbers. It’s an old subdivision from the start. The stones of the entrance columns are covered with moss. Alex watches them as he passes by. Then the rain begins to fall. Odd. He doesn’t remember anything about rain on the weather channel earlier today. However, pocket storms are common in this area. So Alex adapts and begins searching for his delivery customer.

Triangle Timbers

The rain is heavy. It comes down in sheets and saturates Alex’s windshield. He drives slowly down the street looking for 6176. The night on the other side of the sheeting rain, is pitch black. He can’t see a single porch light on any of the houses. In fact, he can’t really see anything through the torrential downpour. Therefore, he slows the vehicle a little more. According to the GPS he is only a couple of houses away from the one he’s looking for. Then, just ahead, a porch light.

Alex pulls into the driveway and lets the car run. He’s going to have to make a mad dash for the front door. But first he will have to open the back door of his car and get the delivery bags. It is a fairly large order. “Prepare to get soaked.” He psyches himself up, and jumps out of the car. Within seconds he’s soaked through. After grabbing both delivery bags, he makes a mad dash for the porch. It only takes him seconds, but in that time, he’s drenched. As he reaches the front door it swings open and an older gentleman greets him.

The Rain Bonus

“Hello Alex, thank you for bringing our dinner tonight.” The older gentleman smiles kindly at Alex. Alex can see several people waiting in the living area behind the gentleman. He continues, as Alex hands him the delivery items. “You are such a help to drive out this far, and especially in this weather.” He takes the last item from Alex, and in one fluid motion, produces a fifty dollar bill. “Take this as a thank you for your efforts, and your timely arrival. My family thanks you. Have a very good evening Alex.”

And with that the gentleman disappears back into his house. Similarly, the sounds of his excited family reverberate outward to the porch, as the door closes. Alex feels stunned. As he stands there looking at the fifty, he also feels glad he gave this delivery the benefit of the doubt. He looks out at the rain. It’s falling harder now. Therefore he makes a fast dash back to his waiting vehicle. As he backs out of the driveway he checks the GPS. The neighborhood is a circle. Good he would be back to the main road soon.

He pockets the fifty and squints at the windshield. The rain is intense. He struggles to see the road, until finally he spots the subdivision entrance columns. As he turns between them, and eases onto the main road, the rain all but stops. Alex blinks in surprise. Then he’s really surprised when the blue lights flash on behind him. What the?

The Benefit of the Doubt

Jimmy walks up to the driver’s side of the car. He knows from reading the plates through, who should be behind the wheel. Not only did the driver run a stop sign, but also he was cruising around a vacant and condemned subdivision. Jimmy needs to know why. So he listens to the young man tell his story. He even examines the fifty dollar bill. It’s just like the others. Furthermore, it never fails. It is always a fifty.

Jimmy explains to the delivery driver that the subdivision was abandoned fifteen years ago. When the fire broke out, every house was lost. Eventually there was a decision not to rebuild. No one has lived in that neighborhood for over fifteen years. No one would. It all happened at night, so very few made it out. So, every once in a while, a delivery driver comes along.

And every time it’s the same. The same rain, and the same address. As well as the same fifty dollar bonus. Jimmy almost feels bad for the guy as the realization of what happened sinks in. So he lets the guy off with a warning. Thanks for reading.

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Benefit of the doubt

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