Episode 007 Previous Episode	Next Episode
“And she’ll promise you more Than the Garden of Eden Then she’ll carelessly cut you And laugh while you’re bleedin’ But she’ll bring out the best And the worst you can be,” Billy Joel, She’s Always a Woman As the Chief of Police stumbled to find thoughts and words to respond to the question, Everett sank down in his chair. Covering his eyes with his hands, he couldn’t avoid the cheers supporting the question. “Don’t encourage her,” he mumbled quietly to himself. “Do I think the Rose has done good?” The Chief rephrased. “No,” he said decisively, immediately garnering boos and protests. “I don’t,” he continued as if feeding on their displeasure. “The Crimson Rose is breaking the law. End of story. I don’t care why he’s breaking the law; he’s breaking the law, which in my eyes negates whatever good he may, and I stress may, be trying to do.” Again, another round of boos came up. But Marilyn stepped back from the podium with a pleased look on her face. In a cream tan sweater and jeans, she let her proud smile guide her way back to her seat. She looked around at the crowd as they jeered the chief as he tried to recover. In the back, a dark figure caught her eye. Recognizing Everett, she stopped in mid-step. “Oh great,” he said, not avoiding her gaze. She swallowed uncomfortably, then looked away. Trying to move naturally, she sidled back to her seat in the middle of the center row of seats. Everett rubbed the back of his head. “No good can come of this.” “Do you people really support anarchy?” the chief barked at the crowd. “This Rose character is the first signs of the breakdown of civilization.” He moved to say more but the Mayor’s aid helped the moderator to politely usher the chief off stage. He exited to shouts of disdain and insults as the other guests on the panel fell into an awkward silence. In the momentary calm, Everett glanced at Marilyn. As soon as he did, she turned her head to face forward. He looked back down at his empty notebook, tapping it with the top of the Sharpie. He looked up again, for the second time just barely missing Marilyn’s eyes. He laughed, sitting back. He shook his head as he smiled, then closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he stood. Marilyn faced forward, waiting for the meeting to resume. With her hands in her lap, a full-sized legal pad ready to take notes, she paid attention to the anxious crowd, awaiting the moderator’s return. She flipped a page and looked over some prepared questions. “Is the Crimson Rose a symbol of hope?” came Everett’s voice. Startled, Marilyn nearly leapt out of her chair, turning to see him. Looking over her shoulder at the questions, he smiled unresistingly as she stared at him. “You really think this guy’s that big of a deal, don’t you?” “Don’t scare me like that,” she barked, turning back around. Everett stayed leaning forward behind her. “And yes. I think the Crimson Rose might possibly be the best thing to ever happen to this city.” “Oh please,” Everett grumbled. “I do,” she disputed, turning back around to him. “He’s trying to do some real good for the city, even if the officials are trying to stop him.” “He’s a vigilante,” Everett said, watching as the moderator and the Mayor’s aid, sans the chief of police, came back in. “So?” Marilyn retorted. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the small man began with the heartfelt and insincere apology, “we must apologize…” “Vigilantes are dangerous,” Everett whispered. “Oh are they?” Marilyn whispered back, turning to him. “That seems kind of hypocritical coming from a guy who carries a sword everywhere he goes.” “Defense,” Everett summed up. “Besides, there’s a big difference between being ready to deal with trouble when it happens and going out and looking for trouble.” “What difference would that be?” she asked, facing forward. Everett’s words stalled in his mind. “What is the city’s expected response to the Crimson Rose?” asked the middle-aged woman at the left podium. “The city is dedicating a portion of the police force and the crime lab to investigating,” the Mayor’s aid read off a note card. “In essence, we are forming a special anti-Crimson Rose task force to bring this vigilante to justice.” “Oh that ought to be interesting,” Everett said under his breath. “Last time they formed a task force, it was to look into me and Ledger going street-surfing on top of the Hand of the Brotherhood’s tractor trailer truck. We found three videos of us on YouTube a week later, but these guys didn’t even form the task force until two weeks after the fact. AND they never even came by to chat with us.” “Yeah,” Marilyn agreed. “The city’s crime lab is so under-funded, it’s not even funny. You watch shows like CSI and you think ‘oh wow, forensics’. But then, the real thing’s like, they have to fill out paper work for every test they do, and then it has to get approved.” “Good ole bureaucracy,” Everett chuckled cynically. “What has been done to the criminals that the Crimson Rose has apprehended?” asked a balding comic-book fan. “Two of the criminals have filed lawsuits against the city,” started the mayor’s aid. “You’re kidding!” Marilyn exclaimed quietly. “Wrongful arrest,” Everett said over her shoulder. “They got arrested by the police, but they weren’t stopped from their crime by the police. So the police didn’t catch them in the act, which is the crucial element.” “Are any of the men even going to stand trial?” Marilyn asked in vain. “Doubtful,” Everett said. He smirked. “I imagine they’ll try to plea bargain in exchange for a physical description or something.” As he spoke, Marilyn looked at the crowd. Filling a third of the large auditorium, the crowd was still rambunctious, but had grown more civil with the departure of the chief of police. “You know he’s probably here, right?” she said, more to herself. Forgetting about the meeting, Everett looked at her. “Huh?” “The Crimson Rose,” Marilyn said in a vaguely detached voice as she seemed to scrutinize every person in the room. “He’s probably here.” Everett couldn’t help but look around as well. “He might be,” he said with a nod, at a loss. “I guess.” “Makes sense,” Marilyn said, looking at him. “I mean, what better way to gauge the public and civic perception of what you’re doing than to come to one of these meetings. If nothing else, finding out about the task force would make it worthwhile.” “If he’s working with anyone else,” Everett said, “he would have sent them, not come himself.” “I guess,” Marilyn said. She turned to Everett suddenly. “Do you know who the Rose is?” He drew back, half-laughing in surprise. He glanced at the people around them, none of them paying attention to the private conversation. “No,” he said. “Are you sure?” “I’m sure,” Everett repeated. “Swear,” Marilyn said. “Swear, on your honor.” “No,” Everett said, instantly cross. “I won’t.” “Won’t,” Marilyn said, smiling as she turned fully in her seat, “or can’t.” “Won’t,” Everett said forcibly. “The last time I did that, you made me swear that I, and none of the knights, would do anything to hurt or even touch that jackass of a boyfriend you were seeing.” Marilyn looked away, her face half-hidden by her hair. “I can’t believe I agreed to something that stupid,” he exclaimed, more to himself. “Was it really that unreasonable of a request?” Marilyn asked him disgustedly. “Yes,” he said emphatically. Marilyn turned around in her seat. She crossed her arms in a huff and stared forward. “Oh, don’t get up in a hissy,” Everett whined. “I am not getting in a hissy,” Marilyn shouted quietly at him, whirling around again. “You were threatening my boyfriend and, as my friend, I asked you to…” “One,” Everett stopped her cold, “threatening him would have been letting Ledger or Roland at him. Hell, Sydney wanted to take his block off and she’s the most forgiving person out of all of us when it comes to bad boyfriends. Probably from a couple of the doozies she’s had. But anyway, two…” He paused. “What?” Marilyn asked. Everett lingered, hesitant to speak. “You and I,” he finished wryly, “were more than friends.”
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