Sirens and Sprinkles

Banned

Chief Nicholson stood in the fire station with his hands on his hips. "I never thought I'd see the day a grown man would stoop so low just for a few doughnuts."

"I'll never let it happen again," Walt said. The vein throbbing in his forehead betrayed the fury burning beneath his words.

"You're lucky nobody got hurt." The chief tipped his hat to Dave. "Thank you for speaking up."

Dave accepted his praise with a silent nod.

"Be that as it may, I have decided to ban you all from Delightful Doughnuts." Chief Nicholson ignored the sharp intake of breath from Roger. "This incident, the sprinkles shower, and the suspicious dumpster diving I still have concerns about all make me think it would be best for you to go elsewhere for your doughnuts from now on so we can avoid further issues. I've already spoken to Mr. Morison about this."

Roger opened his mouth to protest.

"If Maria hadn't decided against pressing charges," the police chief continued, "you'd be in jail right now. Consider this your only warning."

He marched out of the station, leaving Walt to turn on Roger. "What the hell were you thinking?" he yelled.

"Did you really think I'd let them get away with what they did to our doughnuts?"

"They didn't get away with anything. Dave reported the incident, like a sensible human being, and got it taken care of."

"Please don't bring me into this," Dave said. He scratched Polka behind the ears as she whimpered in a cowering heap at his feet. "And calm down. You're scaring Polka."

"Oh no," Roger said sarcastically, "not Polka! Anything but that. Let's just forget how lucky we are that only one of us was stranded in the bathroom."

Walt's muscles twitched under his sweat-soaked uniform. "Don't you dare try to deflect. You screwed up. Is that really so hard for you to admit?"

"They screwed up by messing with us in the first place." Roger's nails dug into his palms as his fists trembled. "Don't pretend you didn't want to get back at them too."

Walt puffed up his chest as if prepping for another retort before letting out a long, slow sigh. "I wonder if Lucy knows the kind of person her dad is. Her mom definitely did."

Dave threw himself between them, but Roger didn't throw a single punch. Instead, he bit his lip as he raised a hand to the turtle painted on his cheek. Tears smeared its shell as he whispered, "I hope not."

Walt's eyes softened. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

"It's alright. Seems like I needed the wakeup call."

"Guys," Dave said after they took a moment to calm down, "I'd be glad to buy this week's doughnuts if you want."

"Dippin' Doughnuts won't be the same," Walt said, "but I guess it's better than nothing."

"I bet somebody misses someone a heck of a lot more than the doughnuts." Roger nudged Dave with a wink. "You two sure make a cute couple."

Dave chuckled nervously. "Yeah. Hey, what do you guys think about planning something else just in case the new doughnut place really does end up sucking?"

"You have something in mind?" Walt said with a knowing smirk.

"How about a barbecue at the end of the month? That way, we'll definitely get some good food, and we can invite Dylan and the others to show there's no hard feelings about being banned from their store."

"Sounds good to me," Roger said. His cheeky grin returned. "Plus, someone might have a chance at getting some dessert, and I'm not just talking about doughnuts."

"Then it's settled." Walt clapped Dave on the back. "For someone who almost choked to death on a Dunker, you sure know that the best way to all of our hearts is through our stomachs, not our windpipes!"