Binky #2: Binky’s Bench is Removed

It was a clear cold day in Chardon.  As I walked toward the courthouse, I noticed Binky standing under a tree on the courthouse lawn. He was standing there and he was feeding the pigeons. I greeted him and remarked that it was a beautiful day. Binky hung his head and nodded. He didn’t say anything. He just pointed. About 20 yards away was a concrete slab where Binky’s bench had been anchored. I had a vague idea of why the bench was gone.  

I told Binky that we were going to the depot-mart. We got in my car and went and bought a very fine folding chair. It even had a cupholder.  We returned to the courthouse lawn and Binky  placed his chair beside a nearby tree. The pigeons immediately flocked around him. Binky seemed to perk up a bit. Then his face darkened again and he related what had happened.

He explained that the day after that judge yelled at him and said he would issue a ‘bench warrant ’ two men with a truck that said County Engineer on the side came, They ground off  the anchor bolts and took the bench away.

The men were very unhappy.  “They said they were real sorry, and they didn’t want to do it, but they were told to remove the bench or else.”

“Dave what does a County Engineer need a bench for?  I didn’t even know Geauga County had a train.”

I tried to explain to Binky that they weren’t that kind of engineers, but my explanation just fell flat.

Binky said that after they removed the bench and took it away that man and that woman from across the street came over. "They laughed at me and began to jump and dance on the concrete slab where the bench had been.  Then they started blowing whistles."

“They had some papers in their hand and they were waving them around saying the papers were court orders from that judge. They said the court orders allowed them to go anywhere they wanted and blow their whistles because they had filed legal papers that said they were ‘whistleblowers’. Finally they got tired and left."

I said, “Why did they want to dance and blow whistles on that concrete slab where the bench was”?

Binky just shrugged.

“They were scaring the pigeons so I moved over here under the tree.”

He adjusted himself in his new lawn chair that I had bought for him and said that he hoped he would be ok now. He hoped that judge wouldn’t get mad again and come across the street and yell at him.

“That big black robe that judge wears really scares the pigeons.” I said, “Maybe the pigeon thinks he’s some kind of buzzard”

Binky went back to scattering some seed. I told him I would stop back soon and that he would be ok.

“Remember Binky, people like you and they will try to help you.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

NEXT TIME: Binky and the Statue

The opinions expressed here are solely those of Dave Partington and of course Binky and maybe the pigeons. Binky’s Bench is a work of fiction.