Boston Garden High School

It was soon lunch period. They had all gotten through two classes and were now looking forward to the end of the day. Having to get to know everybody and introduce yourself over again was what everybody hated about the first week. They had dozens of different pupils to teach and to expect to remember them all was torture. Although it was just two periods in, Tuukka found out he would be teaching 7 different Aarons and 5 different Jacks, Patrice was teaching three Toms and Johnny was teaching four Nathans and to make matters worse, three of the Nathans were all Nathan W. To expect the teachers to remember all these names, especially when some were so similar or identical, was just impractical. They couldn't. So to take their minds off it, Johnny, Dennis and Zdeno all went out for Dunkin Donuts and they took Johnny's car.
"Where is it?" Johnny shouted. He was driving, while Dennis and Zdeno shouted directions in his ear.
"Turn left!" Dennis screamed and Johnny drove straight ahead. "What the hell, man! You had it!"
"For god's sake Seidy! That was a one way street! I would be in serious trouble had I turned!" Johnny shouted back.
"It's right, Johnny! Turn right!"
"Z! That's Starbucks! We want Dunkin!" Dennis screamed at Zdeno.
"Well it wasn't a Starbucks last month." Zdeno huffed.
"Whatever." Johnny muttered. "If neither of you know the directions to this new Dunkin Donuts, then we'll just go to the regular one... Once I figure out where that is."
"Dude, we're near Boylston. We're close to our regular Dunkin." Dennis said, looking around wearily.
"Fine. I'm gonna park this car, we're gonna get out and you two are gonna calm the hell down, got it?" Johnny shouted at the two who nodded in comprehension, however the engine of Johnny's car coughed and spluttered before cutting out. The car then slowly rolled to a stop. Johnny looked around frantically and saw that the gas needle was on empty. "Shit." He said.
"What's wrong?" Zdeno asked quietly.
"We're out of gas." Johnny said.
"To ma poser." Zdeno cursed in his native Slovak. "What are we gonna do?"
"Call Tuukka." Johnny said with his head down on the wheel.
"But he's doing glee club now..."
Johnny turned around and shouted "Call Tuukka now!" in Zdeno's face.
***
"Alright! Great job Alana!" Tuukka clapped for a sophomore who had just auditioned for his glee club in his classroom. Tuukka was taking notes on the students. The sophomore Alana happily bounced out the classroom as a young boy stood in front of the class. "Okay, who are you, what are you singing?" Tuukka asked.
"I'm Bobby Henderson-sophomore-and I'm singing Tessie..." Tuukka's phone interrupted Bobby. Tuukka saw the call was from Zdeno and tuned it off.
"Go ahead, Bobby." Tuukka said. Bobby was partway through singing the song when Tuukka's phone went off again. He saw it was from Dennis and again turned it off. "Carry on Bobby." Tuukka said, mildly annoyed. Tuukka's phone went off again, from Zdeno. "Alright Bobby, thanks for auditioning." Tuukka said, leaving Bobby looking annoyed. Tuukka and Bobby left the classroom and Tuukka's phone went off again and this time he answered it. "What do you want?" He snapped as he locked his classroom door shut. "Auditions are over" he hissed at the teenagers lined up outside his classroom. "Okay. Yeah. Sure, Z. I'll be right there." He said looking at his watch.
***
"So what'd he say?" Johnny asked.
"He's coming as soon as he can." Zdeno said, keeping his phone.
"Might as well listen to the radio." Dennis said, turning the radio on.
"WELCOME BACK TO MUT AND MERLONI ON WEEI, WE'RE GONNA TAKE YOUR CALLS ON THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS SOON, BUT FIRST, THE BOSTON RED SOX. WILL JON LESTER STAY TRUE TO HIS WORD AND RESIGN WITH THE TEAM? ALSO, THE CELTICS, CAN THEY HAVE A SUCCESSFUL SEASON? IS THIS THE SEASON WHERE THEY MAKE THE PLAYOFFS OR WILL THEY LOSE AGAIN?" The radio blared.
"Turn it down, Seidy." Johnny said quietly. Dennis tuned the radio down slightly.
"SO THE RED SOX, THEY'RE ABOUT A WEEK INTO SEPTEMBER. WE ALL REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST YEAR, THEY WENT FROM FIRST TO WORST TO WIN IT ALL. THEN IT ALL WENT WRONG THIS YEAR AND CHERRINGTON HAD ALMOST ALL THE BEST PLAYERS SHIPPED OUT..."
"Red Sox. Pah." Dennis shook his head.
"I'm going to see the Red Sox on Saturday." Zdeno bragged.
"What?! You're going to the Kansas City game?!" Dennis turned around and looked at Zdeno with an 'it's not fair' look on his face. Zdeno gave a slight smirk.
"Turn the radio off." Johnny said. "Turn it off!" He bellowed and Dennis quickly turned the radio off. "Good. There's a Burger King across the street, we're gonna go there and have lunch. By the time we're done, Tukkaa will be here." Johnny inhaled deeply.
Zdeno and Dennis exited the car carefully, crossed the road and entered the Burger King.
***
Tuukka pulled up at a Chevron and pulled a gas can out from his trunk. He unscrewed the lid and started pumping the gas into it. As he monitored the gas meter, a young couple pulled up to the gas pump opposite. Tuukka grinned evilly to himself.
"Hi." He waved to the woman who left her car.
"Hi." She waved back.
"Tukka Rask." he said. "I'm getting this gas so I can burn the body of the man I killed and, you know, dispose of a crime scene." The woman looked shocked. Tuukka screwed the lid on the gas can and put it in his trunk and snickered to himself as he went to go pay. While Tuukka was paying for his gas, the woman made a note of his license plate.
As Tuukka drove away and around Boston to where Johnny had broken down, he was pulled over by the police.
"Jotain vialla, konstaapeli?" Tukka asked, in his native Finnish.
"Don't play smart with me, sir." The cop said.
"Sorry, officer. I'm Finnish." Tuukka chuckled.
"Please be serious, sir."
"Okay. What happened? Was I going 40 in a 35 zone? One of my taillights blown? Faulty indicator?"
"Apparently a lady at a Chevron thinks you've committed a murder." All the color drained from Tuukka's face. "Please step out of the vehicle, sir." Tuukka unbuckled his seatbelt and exited his car.
"You can search my car, if you..."
"That's the plan, sir." The cop said, cutting him off. Tuukka whipped out his iPhone and quickly text Zdeno.
"I'm gonna ask you to put that away, sir."
"Oh, come on! I'm a schoolteacher!" Tuukka pleaded.
"Please, sir, put your cell phone away."
***
Johnny, Dennis and Zdeno sat at a table in Burger King waiting for Tuukka to text them to say he'd arrived and where were they. They got a text from Tuukka, just not the one they were expecting.
"Hey guys?" Zdeno said. "I just got a text from Tuke. He's been arrested."
"What?" Johnny and Dennis both shouted in surprise.
"Murder accusation apparently." Zdeno shrugged.
"What does the full text say, Z?"
"Yo Z, been arrested. They say I killed someone."
"So... What now?" Johnny asked.
Zdeno and Dennis shrugged. "Bergy?" Dennis suggested.
"No, Krech's a good friend of mine, I'm sure he'll come for us." Zdeno paused. "But who'll bail out Tuke?"
"You know, we should do it." Johnny said. "He got arrested doing us a favor, it's the least we could do."
"Alright." Dennis shook his head. "Call Krech."
Zdeno pulled out his phone and dialed David's number. A confused look spread over all their faces when they heard David's ringtone of Eminem's Bezerk. "Krech?" Zdeno asked upon noticing David in the line. Zdeno walked up to David in the line, who immediately started conversing in Czech with him.
"Z?" David asked. "Co tady děláš? Myslel jsem, že jste šel do Dunkin Donuts." (What're you doing here? I thought you went to Dunkin Donuts?).
"Jsme šli, ale Johnny porouchalo auto. To běžel ven benzín." Zdeno rolled his eyes. (We were going, but Johnny's car broke down. It ran out of gas).
"Budeš mít víc, že ​​jo?" David asked, raising an eyebrow. (You'll get more, right?)
Zdeno shook his head. "Jsme poslali Tuke získat více." Zdeno sighed (We sent Tuke to get more). A to je trochu to, co jsme chtěli, aby s vámi mluvit o." (And that's kind of what we wanted to talk with you about).
"Proč?" David asked skeptically. (Why?)
"Tuke je doloženo pro vraždu." Zdeno said quietly (Tuke was arrested for murder).
"Vraždu?!" David shouted loud enough for everyone in the McDonalds to hear him (Murder?!).
"Ano, vraždu! Nyní si to dolů!" Zdeno hissed making calming motions with his hands (Yes, murder! Now keep it down!).
"Tak ... To udělal?" David asked quietly. (So, did he do it?)
"Nevím." Zdeno shrugged. (I don't know) "Ale budete nám trochu více benzìnu? Budeme pozdě na našich kurzů." Zdeno asked, practically pleading with David (But can you get us some more gas? We're gonna be late for our classes).
"Jistý. Měl jsem vyskočit Tuke?" (Sure, should I bail Tuke out?)
"Ne soustředit se na nás jako první. Dlužím ti jedno, Krech." Zdeno said, clapping David on his shoulder (No, concentrate on us first. I owe you one, Krech).
Zdeno made his way back to his table and sat down. "How'd it go, Z?" Dennis asked almost immediately.
"Krech agreed to get us some gas." Zdeno said as he picked up his burger and took a bite.
"Now what are we gonna do about Tuke?" Johnny said, shrugging.
***
"What's this gas can for, sir?" The cop asked Tuukka as he searched his car. The cop pulled out the gas can and showed it to Tuukka who was now in handcuffs.
"My friends Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuck and Dennis Seidenberg took Johnny's car and went on a donut run and they ran out of gas, so I offered to get them more. It's in that can."
"A likely story." The cop scoffed.
"It's true." Tuukka protested. Zdeno is Slovak, Johnny is Ukrainian and Dennis is German. That's why they have foreign sounding names. They ARE foreign."
"What's your name, sir?" The cop asked.
"Well, I'm surprised you didn't ask me earlier, but it's Rask. Tuukka Rask."
"Tuukka?" The cop asked with a disgusted look on his face.
"I can't help what my parents named me, officer. It's a perfectly rational name in my native Finland."
"Why are you and your friends all foreign?" The cop asked, now close to Tuukka's face.
"We came here to teach." Tuukka said, not backing down.
David drove past in his car with Adam McQuaid in the passenger seat, having now been to collect gas for Johnny's car.
"Say Krech, is it me, or is that Tuukka, been arrested?" Adam said peering past David.
"It probably is. Z said something about Tuukka being accused of murder." David said casually as he pulled over.
"Should we-should we help him?" Adam said.
"Probably. We're all late enough for class. Our kids will be wondering where we are."
"Wasn't Tuke doing glee club auditions?" Adam asked.
"You know what, Quaider... I was wondering that one myself." David got out of his car and Adam followed suit.
"Excuse me officer..." The cop turned to David.
"This is a closed scene." The cop said aggressively to David.
"If you wanted the scene to be closed, you shouldn't have done it in the middle of the street." David reasoned. "Now-my friend-you have him in handcuffs without him having done anything." David noted. "Tuukka's standing on the side of the road, rather than sitting in your squad car, in fact, he looks not to be in your custody."
"Your FRIEND is accused of murder." The cop spat.
"What did you say Tuke?" Adam asked.
"He said he was using..."
"No, I believe I asked TUUKKA what happened." Adam said to the cop, who looked really pissed off. "Now, Tuke, what did you say?"
"I joked to a woman at the gas station that I was using this can of gas to dispose of evidence of a crime scene." Adam and David shook their heads, both knowing Tuukka's sense of humor.
"It's just we're schoolteachers and our schoolteacher friends ran outta gas and..." David began, before he was interrupted.
"I've heard this story before."
"You have no evidence to keep me, officer. Everyone keeps a gas can in their trunk."
The cop reluctantly unlocked Tuukka's handcuffs. "You're free to go. But I'm confiscating this gas can." The cop got in his squad car and proceeded to drive away. David's phone blared Eminem's Bezerk once again and he fumbled about trying to answer it.
"Hello? Oh ahoj Z!" David said enthusiastically (oh hi, Z!). "Ne, jsme na cestě." He glanced over to Tuukka (No, we're on our way.). "Jsme právě zachránili Tuke." He sighed and shrugged (we just rescued Tuke). "Jo, budeme tam za minutu. Sbohem." He kept his phone and looked at Adam (Yeah, we'll be there in a minute. Bye). He switched from Czech to Engligh pretty quickly."C'mon Quaider. Z's... Z's pretty mad. Tuke, you better get back to school."
Tuukka got into his car and drove away as Adam and David got into David's car and drove away.
Adam and David finally arrived at Burger King. Zdeno, Johnny and Dennis were waiting outside now. The weather was pleasant enough for them to be able to.
"About time you got here, guys. We've been waiting for damn near an hour." Johnny said.
"Why on earth did you come down to Boylston? Why not go to the Dunkin Donuts about a block away from our school?" Adam said as David got the gas can from his trunk.
"Because we like Boylston. Sue us." Johnny said, shrugging.
"Even after... Everything?" Adam said looking down Boylston Street. He could almost see Copley Station. David handed the gas can to Johnny.
"Quaider, that was last year. Yes, it happened, but it's not gonna happen again." Dennis said, trying to ease Adam's nerves. "Quaider?" Dennis said, noticing Adam wasn't paying attention. "Adam?!" Dennis looked at Adam's face, which was white as a sheet. He looked frightened. Dennis waved a hand in front of Adam's face. Johnny began filling his car with the gas David and Adam brought him.
"Leave him, Seidy." David said. He's been pretty uneasy going out since the Marathon Bombing. Knowing he's so close to where it happened probably isn't helping either."
They all stood gathered around Johnny's car talking about everything from the hopeless Red Sox and how this year would be different for the Patriots, to how they'll all be in trouble for being late to class and eventually, how Adam and David bailed Tuukka out of trouble. Adam stayed relatively silent through it all.
Eventually, they all climbed into their respective cars and David and Johnny drove down Boylston Street, back to the school, where they knew they'd be in trouble from their bosses for being late and Tuukka for getting himself arrested.