Chapter 10
Later that day, Mindy and Red walked down the hallway in the history building.
They walked up to Professor Ruby’s closed office door.
“Do you think he’ll say anything to us?” Red asked Mindy while they stopped outside his door.
“He’s always liked me. I think I can get him to be honest,” she told him.
Down the end of the hall, Ernie and Mitch saw Red and Mindy at the professor’s door.
Inside his office, Professor Ruby worked at his desk grading some test papers.
He heard someone knocking on his office door. “Come in,” Professor Ruby called out while he placed a test paper down.
Mindy and Red entered his office.
“Professor Ruby, can we talk with you for a minute?” Mindy asked with a sweet tone in her voice.
Professor Ruby saw Mindy and smiled. “Hello Mindy, it’s nice to see you again,” he said.
“Professor, I really need some information about a potion called Witches Brew that you mentioned in your recent class,” she asked and followed with a warm smile.
Professor Ruby looked upset with her request. “What the hell is with this sudden interest in some stupid legend about a potion? I made it up to make my class interesting,” he said.
“Please! It involves my boyfriend Rocky Malone,” Mindy quickly replied with pleading eyes when she sensed he was upset.
“I know nothing about Rocky Malone. So, if you don't mind, I'm extremely busy grading some test papers,” he quickly said then went back to grading a paper.
Mindy looked like she wasn’t about to give up just yet. “Do you know anything about a guy pretending to be a scout for the Pittsburgh Steelers and tricked Rocky into going to the Witches Brew gay bar?” she asked with a stern voice.
Outside in the hallway, Ernie has his ear pressed against the Professor Ruby's door and listened to their conservation.
“We got a bit of a problem. They’re asking too many questions,” he told Mitch. “Let’s go,” he added.
They rushed down the hallway.
Inside the Professor’s office, Mindy and Red just stared at Ruby and their glares made him nervous.
“I got some work to do. Please leave,” Professor Ruby said with a nervous voice.
“Please!” Mindy pleaded.
“Professor Ruby motioned with his hand for them to leave.
Mindy and Red left his office.
Professor Ruby stared at the closed door and looked guilty.
Mindy and Red walked down the hallway disappointed.
Ernie and Mitch hid behind some bushes near the entrance from the building.
“I got this gut feeling he's hiding something,” Red told Mindy while they walked out of the entrance.
“I hope Ernie and Sadie get some information about the potion and that gay bar,” Mindy replied while they walked away from the history building.
Mitch and Ernie got out from the bushes when the coast was clear.
“I wonder if Ruby told them anything?” Mitch asked.
“I didn’t hear he squeal, but we can't take that chance, so we better assumed he blabbed,” Ernie replied then removed his cell phone from his pants pocket. He punched in a phone number and looked worried.
Later that day, there was a Lincoln Towncar parked behind Cecil’s Caddy in his driveway.
Cecil’s yard was in dire need of mowing but weeds were 60 percent of his grass. His house was in poor shape, needed painting, and the front screen door was falling off its hinges.
Inside Cecil’s living room, Ernie, Mitch, Sal, Johnny, and Cecil sat around drank Budweiser’s.
“Are you sure?” Sal asked while he sipped on his Bud.
“I’m telling you, I overheard Mindy and Red asking the professor about the potion,” Ernie replied.
“Did he tell them anything?” Sal asked very concerned.
“From what I heard, the professor replied that he made up that story. But I also heard them ask if he knew anything about a scout, being on campus looking for Rocky,” Ernie added.
“Let me have my way with him,” Mitch said with a bully tone while he removed a switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open. He swished it around the air simulating he was cutting up the professor.
“That boy is fucking weird,” Sal said while he watched Mitch slice up the air.
Cecil guzzled down his Budweiser and then burped a loud burp.
“Fucking awesome. I can do better than that,” Mitch called out then guzzled down the rest of his beer. He squinted his face and got red while he tried to fart. He lifted his one butt cheek in the air. He grunted and then his eyes widen with panic. “Shit!” he cried out while he cringed and jumped up from his chair.
Mitch grabbed his butt cheeks and ran out of the room.
“Why is it I get all the fucking morons?” Sal asked while he shook his head at the sight of Mitch who just crapped his pants.
“What should we do?” Cecil asked.
Sal thought for a few seconds then his eyes widened when he had a plan. “We need to detain Mindy, and Red until the Championship game is over,” he said while he scanned the room. “Cecil, do you have a basement in this dump?”
“Yep, it’s down stairs,” Cecil replied.
“I also heard that Sadie and Jake are trying to learn about the potion and that fag bar,” Ernie told Sal.
“Who are they?” Sal asked concerned.
“Jake is a good friend of Rocky and on the football team. Sadie is this weird bitch that looks kind of spooky,” Ernie told him.
“We can't take any chances. We'll have to get them also,” Sal said then looked at Cecil. “We can keep all four of them in your basement until after the game. Then we’ll release them, split for Costa Rica. With our winnings, we can live like royalty down there,” Sal added.
Cecil and Ernie nodded in agreement with Sal’s plan.
“They have nice cheap hookers down in Costa Rica,” Cecil said while he salivated thinking of whores.
Sal looked at Ernie and Sal and wondered if he screwed up by getting involved with these two goofs. But there was no turning back now since he’s already dumped two grand on the Midville Bears.
Meanwhile, Sadie and Jake walked in downtown Bellwood on Freemont Street.
“I've done some research on potions in the past, but this witches brew is a strange one,” Sadie told Jake.
“Maybe we can find out something at the library?”
She thought about his suggestion for a few seconds. “They should have some information on the history of Bellwood and witches.”
Sadie and Jake walked down the sidewalk a little farther then saw the city library a few blocks away.
On the way to the library, they walked past Harvey's Antique Bookstore. In the display window was The Complete Guide To Witches Potions book on display with numerous other books. They didn’t notice the book while they walked past the window.
Ten minutes later, Jake and Sadie entered the library and immediately walked up to the front counter.
Jake rang the bell on the counter to catch the attention of the female librarian, around 70-year-old, who worked down at the far end of the counter.
The librarian glanced over at Jake and Sadie then walked over to that end of the counter.
“May I help you?” the librarian asked.
“Yes, we're doing some research on the history of Bellwood. We have a particular interest on witches from this area,” Sadie replied.
“It's been a while since we've had a request for that type of information. We have some old books down in the backroom. Wait over at a table and I'll bring some over to you,” the librarian told them.
“Okay,” Sadie replied while she walked Jake over at the table.
The librarian walked away from behind the counter and walked toward the backroom while Jake and Sadie sat down at the table.
Ten minutes later, the librarian walked over to their table with a stack of old books in hand. She dropped them on the table. “Here's all the information we have about Bellwood's history on witches. Let me know if there's anything else that I can get you,” the librarian said.
“Thanks,” Jake replied while he looked at the stack of books.
The librarian smiled then walked away.
Sadie and Jake each grabbed a book and opened them up.
Fifteen minutes later, Jake and Sadie went through most of the books and started to get disappointed when they came up empty handed with some good information.
Then Sadie’s eyes lit up when she turned a page on her book. “I think I found it,” she told Jake.
He leaned over, and looked at her page.
“Here's an old news article that was written around 1896. It's about those two witches named Margret and Anna from the 1690s Bellwood,” she read the article to Jake.
“Lesbian witches. I still can't get over that,” he replied while he glanced at the article.
“They lived in the house that was once at 1349 Salam Drive. The house burned down in 1894 and a diary was found in the basement. The diary belonged to Margret and it stated these witches made this potion called the Witches Brew. It was a potion that changed a person's sexual preference. It was also speculated that a potion called Regain would reverse the Witches Brew. But information on the recipes for both potions could not be located,” Sadie read the article to Jake.
Jake glanced at the article. “The article also states that another building was built over the existing foundation of the home of Margret and Anna, but nothing is said about what type of building,” Jake read out loud to Sadie. “That dam Professor Ruby lied to us. Bastard!” he added.
“I’ve never heard of that street,” Jake said while he thought of all the streets in Bellwood.
Jake got up and walked over to the front desk.
“Excuse me, do you have any books on the history of the buildings of Bellwood? I'm looking for information about the area around Salem Drive,” he asked the librarian.
She thought for a few seconds, and then her eyes lit up when she remembered. “Oh yes. I haven't heard anybody mention Salem Drive in a long time. They changed the name to Simpson Boulevard back in 1952,” she told him then she thought for a few seconds. “I might have a old book with pictures of some old buildings of Bellwood also in the backroom,” she told him.
“Thank you, I really appreciate this,” he told her then walked back to the table.
Fifteen minutes later, the librarian walked back with an old pictorial 1930s book on the famous buildings of Bellwood.
“Thank you,” he replied to the librarian when she handed him the book.
Jake flipped some pages and they soon saw an old faded black and white picture of Margret and Anna’s house taken in 1890.
“This is the home of Simon Bellwood whose ancestors founded Bellwood. Margret Bellwood was Simon’s great great great grandmother who was speculated to be a witch in the late 1680s. She married Edward Bellwood who was the son of the founder of Bellwood,” Sadie read the caption below the picture of the old house that looked dilapidated.
They saw a picture next to it that showed the new building made out of stone construction.
“After the fire in 1894, a new home was built on the existing foundation. In 1905, Simon sold the house to Elmer Benson who converted it into a tavern,” Sadie read the caption below the picture.
Sadie flipped the page and saw another article about Margret and Anna. “Here's some more stuff about the Witches Brew potion. It states that whoever drinks it, has 130 hours until it becomes permanent. But the potion Regain will reverse the effects of Witches Brew,” Sadie read the article.
Jake did some figuring in his head then he looked at Sadie. “We only have less than two days to find out how to make this Regain potion and get Rocky to drink it. If we don’t, he’ll remain Bobby for the rest of his life,” he told her.
Sadie thought about what he said. “I know a website that might help,” she quickly said then grabbed his hand.
She rushed him out of the library.
The librarian walked over to their table and picked up all the books and walked them over to the counter.