Story: Colonel Williams, Ch. 7, pt. V

“What’s the hurry?” the clerk asked, intrigued, his gruff manner yielding slightly to a sarcastic playfulness. This was the first time in two weeks anyone had wandered into his office. He had a lot of grumpiness he wanted to get out. “Does he owe you money?”

“No,” Roderick answered, hesitating slightly, unsure of how much he ought to say, “but he may be able to help us locate this man’s wife.” He motioned to Alejandro.
“The man you’re after ran off with this man’s wife?” the clerk exclaimed, clearly enjoying being as difficult as he could.
“Look, sir,” Williams said, “we’re trying to be reasonable here. We want to find this man and talk with him about someone he purchased at Johnson’s market last week. We think he will want to talk with us about the matter.”
“This man’s wife bought someone that ran off with the man you seek?” the clerk said, deliberately misunderstanding.
“No.” Williams said with frustration. “We’re looking for the address of a Mr. Terrance Walters. Now, will you help us or not?”
The clerk looked Williams in the eye. “I’m not going to do anything to help anyone, Mister. My job is to take care of the records and release them only to those who need them. I can’t just hand out information willy-nilly. That would be irresponsible.”
“But surely you can help us.” Williams exclaimed. “We’re talking about reuniting a man with his wife! Is that not worth it?”
The clerk shrugged. “Worth it? Maybe. What do I care if some man can’t find his wife? Maybe he’s better off without her if he let her get sold into slavery, I mean, servitude.” He said the last word with a sarcastic propriety.
Williams was glad that Alejandro did not know enough English to understand that last comment. “The whole family was sold into slavery,” Williams explained, “and I was able to rescue this man. Now, we’re trying to find the rest of this family, and we’re convinced that Mr. Walters is the one who bought his wife.”
“Well, rescuing slaves,” the clerk retorted, “aren’t you special? Tell you what, Mister, the next time you feel like doing your ‘good deed of the day’, pick someone who knows where he can find his wife. That’ll keep you from hassling me and keeping from getting my work done. Now get out of here before I call the police.”
“But,” Williams began.
“Go!” the clerk yelled, standing up from behind his desk.
Williams and Roderick quickly scrambled out, Roderick grabbed Alejandro as they exited, just as the clerk stomped over to the door melodramatically and slammed it firmly shut.