It has been a week since Jennifer, the crazy one, walked into her workplace with a butcher knife. Following the incident, she was incoherent and couldn’t explain her actions. The police took her first to the station and later admitted her into a hospital secure mental ward for observation. Wendy is on her way to see Amy, a friend who works at the National Bus Line. She needs to talk and get some of her worries and inner thoughts off her chest.
Walking into the very busy bus line administrative office, she could see Amy busy typing along with twenty other very active and industrious workers. Walking up behind her, “Amy, guess who?”
Amy, visibly surprised, said, “Wendy, what are you doing here? I heard there was an incident at your bookshop. Are you okay?” In the background, the screeching of bus tires is audible as they enter and leave the terminal, traveling to and from their routes.
Wendy, a bit nervously, “Actually, that incident is why I wanted to come see you and just talk. It was very traumatic and…” There is an interruption as a manager rushes over and asks Amy.
Amy, “Please check on the status of bus twenty-one. It hasn’t arrived at any of its locations, and we are now receiving a high volume of calls. Take one of the cars and follow the route and get back to me as soon as possible.”
Responding, Amy said, “Sure, Hank, I’m on my way.” Standing up, she starts to walk away, turns around, and speaks to Wendy, “Come on, you can come in the car with me. Two sets of eyes will make it faster. Can you believe it, a missing bus?”
As they approached the car, it was impossible to talk, amidst the loud cacophony of sounds from the throngs of people moving to and from buses, porters carrying luggage, and the constant rumble of buses.
Inside the suddenly quiet car, Amy looks sideways as she backs out, “Sorry, Wendy, but this is a good chance to get away from all the noise.”
“Yeah, so sorry to bother you. But this being so far away from home, I don’t have time to talk to my family.”
Amy turns sharply as she smoothly exits the Bus terminal and enters the flow of traffic, “No problem at all. What is the deal with this crazy butcher knife lady?”
“It’s a long story. It all started when we were in grade school, continued in high school, and ultimately, a tragic situation occurred in college. In grade school, we lived just blocks away from each other and as we grew up were best friends, almost like blood sisters.”
