“Very well, Simon says, go to the corner of Wabash and Chicago Avenue. I will call you in five or ten minutes. Uhh, whenever you get there. No police. Failure to answer will be considered non-compliance. Do you understand?”
I grin. “How will you know if we answer the cell phone there or somewhere else.”
It sounds like someone covers up the phone receiver on the other end and says something, then it comes back. “We’ll be watching.”
“Makes it tough, doing this skit without payphones anymore, doesn’t it?”
They immediately say, “Yes,” then it sounds like someone smacks them. “Ow.” There’s a slight rustling on the phone, then they say, “Just be there, the clock is ticking.”
The phone goes dead.
I shake my head at Dexter, and we manage to somehow hold it together, then he says, “Come on, we gotta hurry.”
We both take off jogging down the sidewalk in that direction.
“God, can you speed it up, Dex?” I want the next clue!
He glares at me. “It’s easier in the movie because they cut the fucking sandwich board off him. Gimme a fuckin’ break!”
My stomach is now in serious pain from laughing. We must look ridiculous, jogging down the street. Especially for Dex. He looks like a giant tattooed idiot, grinning while the sandwich board bounces around while he tries to run. I start to worry it might be kind of painful, but he’s in really good shape so I’m sure he’s fine.
He’s grinning, giddy like a little kid, probably the same way I look. For being some of the most powerful attorneys in the world, it amazes me how they can flip the switch and act like little boys sometimes. Fortunately, I am so about this it’s not even funny. It’s literally the best.
When we finally get to the corner, I glance over to the wall of a building. There are a couple big blue empty water jugs, a couple that are full of water, and a briefcase, just like the movie. It’s just what I was hoping for!
Dexter’s already walking toward them, clutching his side, and looks like he knew exactly where they’d be. “Abigail told me I need to start jogging again. Been letting myself go, fuck.” He breathes heavily.
I suck some wind too because I haven’t been working out as much either, not with school and everything. But let’s be honest, we just sprinted on pure adrenaline for a couple blocks or more.
I bend down and open the briefcase and immediately die laughing.
It’s the worst-looking fake bomb I’ve ever seen. In fact, it looks like a couple soda cans glued to it, and there’s a piece of paper that just says, “I AM NOT A REAL BOMB AND THIS IS JUST FOR FUN.”
I halfway expect there are probably all kinds of legalese scribbled on something somewhere else inside, knowing lawyers put this whole thing together.
Dexter’s phone rings again and he answers.
“Did you find the bomb?” Still the same horrible accent.
“We did,” says Dex.
“You have two jugs, one holds five gallons, one holds three. Fill the five-gallon jug with exactly four gallons of water and put it next to the bomb to keep it from detonating. You must be precise. If you’re still alive in five minutes, we’ll speak.”
The phone goes dead again.
I’ve seen this movie a thousand times and know exactly how to solve this, but I look over at Dex and say, “I don’t get it, do you get it?”
He’s clearly struggling for real and doesn’t know how to do it.
I snicker at him and say, “Obviously we can’t fill the three-gallon jug with four gallons, right?”
He nods along like a kid who’s about to let the other people in the group do the science experiment for him. “Sure. Obviously.”
I almost lose it for the fiftieth time in five minutes. “So we fill up the three-gallon jug, then pour it into the five, giving us exactly three gallons.”
He nods. “Then what?”
“We take the three-gallon jug and fill it a third of the way…”
Dex shakes his head like I’m an idiot. “No! He said be precise. He’s gonna blow the bomb, Karli!”
I pretend to glare around. “He’s got me out here playing kids games on the sidewalk.”
Dex says, “Hey!”
I look at him.
“You wanna focus on the problem at hand?”
It’s not lost on me how we’ve switched roles at least three times already and are just winging it at this point. “Just gimme the fuckin’ jug.” I laugh at him for a second and then say, “Okay, we fill up the five-gallon, right?”
“Okay.”
“We pour that into the three gallon and fill it up to the top, which leaves two gallons in the big one.”
He nods again like he’s following along.
“We pour out the small one, then pour those two gallons into the three-gallon jug, leaving exactly one gallon of empty space in the top.” I stare at him, waiting for it to process.
Dex starts to smile. “Okay, okay. I think I got it!” He says it like he really did just figure out how to do it.
“Okay, so then we fill the five-gallon to the top then pour it into the small one filling it to the top which leaves exactly...” I wait for him to finish the sentence.
“Exactly four gallons!” Dexter starts filling up the jugs and I help him until we have it just how we want.
He sets it over next to the bomb and then kind of hides and looks like he’s sending a text to someone, then turns back around like he didn’t just do it.
Immediately, his phone rings.
His mouth falls open and he glares around at the rooftops near us. “How the hell does he know?”
My shoulders start to bounce, and I manage to mumble. “Answer the phone.”
He does and it’s Simon with his accent once more.
“Look, we did it. Now, tell us where the bomb is.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you. Look at your surroundings. It should become apparent soon. What is one out of forty-two.” The phone hangs up.
It’s the first time the answer isn’t obvious.
Dex is grinning, though, like he already knows where we need to go.
I glance around and mumble, “Look at my surroundings.”
It does look a little familiar, even though I don’t come down this way very often.
Except…
I smile.
“Do you got it?” Dex bounces on the balls of his feet, clearly excited about what comes next.
I turn and meet Dex’s eyes, then nod. “In the movie he’s talking about the twenty-first president, Chester A. Arthur. But the ‘first’ is the clue in this one, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Streeter’s Tavern is around the corner. It’s where Matthew and I had our first date.”
Dex smiles a little wider.
I stare at him for a second, letting the drama build, then I bug my eyes out and take off in a dead sprint around the corner.
When I get there, Matthew is grinning from ear-to-ear, standing in front of the little hole-in-the-wall tavern. Decker and Deacon are there too, along with half the damn firm, all of our friends.
“Oh my God! What?” I glance over, and my mom and dad are standing there. I cover my mouth and turn back to Matthew. “What is this?”