The Life of Oddley - Episode 5

Greetings, people, and welcome to another edition of "The Life of Oddley".  After four weeks and one story down, still no major feedback, but I'm ever hoping for some.  I think I'll start mentioning my blog to other people.  Maybe that'll help.  As I said last week, this week is the start of the serials, the new method of giving you Oddley's long story so you can refer back to it better.

Now, where were we?  Of course, we began last week by revealing that Oddley's living room visitor was Gilda, but not the normal Gilda.  It was a different one than usual.  Not wishing to ruin his new friendship with Tuck, Oddley quickly hid himself and waited for the nympho-Gilda, as he called her, to leave, which she did.  These events caused Oddley's mind to start thinking over the last few days.

He soon came to the conclusion that Willow was, in fact, Dr. Milner under the influence of the nympho-drops.  This leads Oddley to an interesting idea, in which, with Gilda's help, he gave some of the drops to his sister Susan, which turned her into the usual results.  Oddley then let Newshaw date the nympho-Susan, which helped to cancel his debt.

The next morning, Oddley realized that he had two weeks left of the vacation time he asked from Mr. Randall and decided he would take the time off.  He then remembered that he left the nympho-drops at Susan's house.  When he went collect them, he found that she was now addicted and downed two teaspoons, which turned her into a monster, causing Oddley to flee...

This Week's Episode: "Stuck in Tulsa", Part One

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I ran out as fast as I can. Faster than I can ever remember running. My mind was so caught up in running that, in my flight, I ran past my jeep. I didn't have time to think about that. I could hear my sister's growls behind me as I ran deeper into the neighborhood. Deeper and deeper I went, and further and further from my jeep I ran.

My running stopped quite by accident. I was looking behind me, for I had lost sight of her when my progress came to a sudden stop. I had hit the back of a car in a driveway. After a moment to get my bearings, I decided to hide in the car inside. Luckily, the front passenger door was unlocked.

I hid really well as I heard the sound of my sister outside. It seemed liked a minute before she went off. For a moment, I felt safe until I heard a front door open. It was to the house of the owner of the car. I looked up a little and saw two people, a husband and wife, with a suitcase in the hands of the wife.

"Look, darling, I'm gonna go and that's final." said the wife, a woman in her mid-30s, with blackish hair, with eyes to match and a shape exceptional for her age..

"No, you're not." said the husband.

"I need to find myself." she said.

"You can find yourself here." he said.

"I'm going and that's the final word." she said.

"Get back in the house." he said.

"If you want to discuss this, follow me." she said as she headed back inside.

He then quickly closed the door and locked it shut.

"Now you're trapped." he said.

While he was confident in his victory, I saw her sneaking out the back way and make her way to the very car I was hiding in.

"Who are you?" she asked me when she got in.

"Never mind, just go." I said.

She then started the car and the car pulled out of the driveway. Quickly, it motored off while the husband was still at the door.

"That was close. Now, who are you." she said.

"My name, believe it or not, is Oddley Mitchell." I said.

"Interesting name." she said.

"That's what they keep telling me." I said.

"My name's Brooke LaRue." she said.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"Why are you in my car?" she asked.

"I was hiding from someone. I don't wish to explain." I said.

"That's okay. I could some company on this trip." she said.

"Thanks, Brooke." I said.

"No problem." she said.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Nowhere in particular." she said.

"I've been there." I said.

"I see." she said.

"It's a nice place to find oneself." I said.

"Then that's where I'm going." she said.

The car soon made its way out of the neighborhood. My mind was wanting to ask Wanda to return me to my sister's house to collect my jeep, but my mind also remembered what was waiting for me if I did. I had no idea how long two teaspoons of the nympho-drops would last, so I let Brooke continue her drive.

That drive lead us to one of the most famous roads in the world: Route 66. It was at an intersection where we met the mother road. After a moment, we turned southwards, the only real direction to go. Within the hour, the road had taken us out of Chicago. It was the first time in a long time for me.

I watched as the Chicago skyline became smaller and smaller on the horizon until I could no longer see it. That's when I knew that I was on a trip. It wasn't the vacation I was thinking of that morning, but it was the one I was on now. Another hour passed before my mouth could start moving again.

"How far are you going?" I asked.

"I have no idea." she said back to me.

"Then why go on this trip?" I asked.

"Because I wanna find myself." she said.

"I see. And you couldn't do that at home?" I said.

"Not with that man there." she said.

"You mean your husband." I said.

"Not to me. Not now, anyway." she said.

"I hope that'll change soon." I said.

"Me, too." she said.

Another hour soon pass by and I spent the time looking out the window, watching the landscape of northern Illinois. Back then, it was nothing but barns, farmhouses, and corn. Sometimes, I would see a cow or a horse, but mainly the crops as they are in the spring.

Eventually, I was overcome by the usual boredom. As our trip began its fourth hour, I turned my eyes over to the dashboard to rest my eyes and saw that the gas gauge was nearing the "E" side of the dial.

"It looks like you're running low on fuel." I said to Brooke.

"Really?" she said.

"I can see from here." I said.

"You're right, Oddley." she told me.

"Then, shouldn't we find a gas pump?" I asked her.

"I don't see one yet." she said.

"I saw a sign saying there'll be one in ten miles and I believe eight of those miles have passed." I said.

"You have an eye for the roadside." she said.

"Thanks. The result of long car trips in my youth." I said.

"Your family took long vacation?" she asked.

"To see my relatives in Memphis." I said.

"Just you and your parents." she said.

"Just my mother and my sister. I lost my father to the Korean War." I said.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up." she said.

"Don't worry. I'm over it by now." I said.

"Good thing you are." she said.

"I'm starting to see that gas station." I said.

"I can see it, too." she said.

We did eventually make it to that gas station. As we pulled in, my mind wondered how we would explain ourselves to the attendant on call. As we pulled up to the pump, out the attendant came and over to the car.

"Good day, ma'am." he said as he walked to the driver's side window.

"Good day to you." she said.

"What's your pleasure?" he asked.

"$10.00 of the regular, please." she said.

"Okay." he said as he walked away.

He then went to work pumping the gas. After a gallon, he noticed my present in the front seat of the car.

"Is that your son?" he asked.

"Yes, he is." said Brooke.

"Nice-looking kid. Nice to see that a mother still likes to bond with her son." he said.

"Thanks." she said.

"Is he a nice boy?" he asked.

"He is a nice boy." she said.

"That's nice to know." he said.

"Let's drop it, okay?" she then said.

"Okay, because I'm almost done with your tank." he said.

"Good." she said.

"Done." he said as he finished.

"Get the money." I said as he walked back to the window.

"That'll be $10.73, ma'am." he said.

"Here you go." she said as she handed over the money.

"Thank you, ma'am." he said.

"Gotta go." she said as we drove off.

"That was close." I said.

"It's not like we're lovers. I'm a married woman." she said.

"Trying to find herself." I said.

"Touche, Oddley." she said.

The Mother Road eventually took us to the Mississippi River and St. Louis. I will tell you, I loved seeing that Arch as we neared the city. I managed to talk Brooke into stopping for lunch. We ate it quietly, not saying a word.

We then headed back on the road, continuing our trip down Route 66. As the day passed, we went through Missouri, heading to Kansas for a brief visit, and into the wilds of Oklahoma. This took another five hours.

As the sun set, we reached the city of Tulsa. This cowboy capital gave us a chance to slow down. Rather than find a room, Brooke was anxious to see what Tulsa was about, so she located a bar as we entered the city and stopped there.

As we entered the bar, I was reminded of the fact that we were now in Oklahoma, by the music and the accents of the bar patrons around us. As I walked up to the bar, I did my best to act like I belonged there.

"Howdy, partner." I said to the bartender.

"Cut the act, jack." he said.

"What did you say, man?" I said.

"You city boy, you. Trying to act like one of us." he said.

"I am one of you." I told him.

"Don't keep it up." he said.

"Just give a cold brew." I said.

"One beer, coming up, and you, lady?" said the bartender.

"I'll have the same." said Brooke.

"Two beers." he said as he walked away from us.

"Having a nice time?" I asked her.

"This place is weird." she said.

"This is Tulsa. It's a cowboy town." I said.

"But you're not a cowboy." she said.

"I can be, if I can be." I said.

"You think you're a cowboy?" I heard a voice asked.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a real cowboy, wearing a ten-gallon hat, a mustache, demin in shirt and pants form, and just looked like it.

"I did." I said.

"You don't look like one." he said as he walked over to me.

"I am. Name's Oddley. They call me the Chicago Cowboy." I said.

"Never heard of you. Besides, Oddley's a stupid name." he said.

"Listen... " I said as he started in on him.

"Name's Roy, boy." he said with a smile.

"Listen, Roy. I'm from the northern plains and news doesn't move this way." I said.

"I see you brought a lady with ya." he said.

"This is Brooke. I'm her protector." I said.

"You're no protector. I am." he said.

"I don't think she wants you to protect her." I said.

"I'll protect her." he said.

"She's married." I said.

"Not for long." he said.

"Are you coming on to her?" I asked.

"Is wanting to bed her coming on to her?" he asked.

"Leave her alone." I said.

"Dance with me." he said.

"No." said Brooke.

"The lady said no." I said.

"I said you'll dance with me." he shouted.

"I don't want you." she said as he made a grab for her.

It was then that I did something I'll remember with me always. I just leaned into him and gave a good punch in the jaw as hard as I could give. He fell to the floor quickly. After a moment, he got back up and he didn't look happy.

"Did you just punch me, boy?" he asked.

"That I did. I defended her honor." I said.

"I don't like it when someone decks me, boy." he said as he grabbed my collar and lifted me off the floor.

"I'm sorry, but I was protecting her." I said.

"Well, you better protect yourself, boy." he said as he reared back his fist for a punch.

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Oddley is once again threaten with the end of his life.  I could make things easier on him but then, you wouldn't stick around until next week, and find out what's gonna happen to him.  What's gonna happen to him?  Drop in next week and find out for yourselves.
 
Next week, Oddley's brush with death leads to a quick getaway, an overnight stay, and an attempt to explain himself to Brooke, which leads to another brush with death.  Boy, Oddley sure seems to almost die every week, but then, like I said...  That's next week, Thursday, September 8th, at 2:30 pm, on the John Maxwell Blog. 
 
Until then, this is John Maxwell saying, there are many ways to say "school", but only one way on a certain game show, if you know what I mean...