“IN THOSE EYES”
The phone rang interminably.
“Hello?”
“Detective Ross?”
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“Ross, it’s Frank, Frank Calico.”
“Frank! What are you calling me for? You know the whole precinct is looking for you?”
“Yeah, I figured. Look, something big has gone down. I don’t know, I just…It’s big, okay. I want to talk to you. I thought I could handle this, but…I just don’t know. Things keep happening. I don’t even know what I’m trying to do anymore. I’m too paranoid, I guess. I need help. But, I need someone I can trust, okay?”
“Okay. Right. Well listen, I’m on my way home, why don’t you meet me there, okay?”
“I don’t have my car.”
“Well, alright, I’ll have somebody pick you up. Where are you?
“At Sandy’s.”
“Jesus, Frank. We just got a 911 call about some shootings over there. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”
“No, well, yeah, look I can’t…I can’t talk about it right now! Fuck.”
“Okay, okay, okay, calm down. There’s already some officers on their way over there. Just stay put. I’m on my way over, too.”
“Ross, I called you for a reason. I don’t trust cops right now.”
“Frank, now c’mon…”
“Don’t bullshit me and try to tell me there’s no such thing as corrupt cops, Ross. You of all people should fucking know that!
“You’re right, Frank. I’m sorry. Okay look, I’ll be there shortly. Just stay out of sight, and for the love of God don’t do anything stupid.”
“Fine.”
“Look, Frank…just relax okay. You’re going to be fine.”
I took a deep breath, couldn’t think of anything to say, and hung up the phone. I liked Ross, but I never knew how to talk to him. He was a good man. He was a responsible man. He was also responsible for me losing my job, but it’s hard to be mad at him. He was doing the right thing. I was in a bad place at the time. I don’t like to dwell on that time of my life.
I did feel a little relieved after getting off the phone with Ross. Everything got really fucked up over the last few days, and it was nice to know that everything would go back to normal. Well, as normal as it could, I guess. I made my way back to Jennifer, she was still sitting on the curb. She was looking up, staring at the stars, I guess. When she noticed me approaching, she buried her head between her knees and arms.
She was crying.
She did her best to cover it up, but it was still pretty obvious. Fuck. I didn’t know what was going on with this girl, but I was beginning to think it was too big for me. I was almost ready to just turn her over to Ross and be done with her.
“Jennifer,” I said, “I got a friend to come pick us up. He’s…he’s a cop, but he’s a good man. We can trust him. “
She didn’t look up, she just kept quietly crying. I stood there, trying to think of something to say. I was beginning to feel anxious about standing out here. I didn’t know how long it would take Detective Ross to get here, but I didn’t really want to talk to anyone else if I didn’t have to. I didn’t like to interrupt a crying woman, and couldn’t really think of how I would approach doing so. It didn’t matter, though. I never got the chance.
I felt the squad car pull into the parking lot before I ever saw it. Cops give off an aura; you can just feel whenever they are around. The cruiser pulled up in front of us, blinding us with its headlights and drenching everything else in alternating shades of red and blue.
An officer stepped out of the driver side door, followed by his partner on the passenger side. Even though the cruiser’s headlights were pointed right at us, he still drew his flashlight and shined it directly in my eyes. I squinted, unable to see.
“Hands where I can see them,” he said.
I already had my hands up trying to shield my eyes, but Jennifer didn’t move. I tried to keep their attention on me.
“Look, officers, I just spoke with Detective Ross and he’s on his way over…”
“Well, well, well,” he interrupted, “Frank Calico. I thought we’d find you here.”
My stomach turned upon hearing the way he spat out my name. It was that son of a bitch Koslowski. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
“So you talked to Ross, huh? Well, we’re responding to a 9-1-1 call. Seems somebody’s been shooting off some guns in the area. You know anything about that?”
“I’m only going to talk to Ross.”
“That a fact? Who’s your friend there; maybe she doesn’t have a problem talking to me.”
Jennifer finally looked up. I guess she was off in her own little world for a while there, because once she realized what was going on, she stood up as tense as possible.
“We’re both only going to talk to Ross,” I said resolutely. I hated this fucking asshole and had no problem giving him as much shit as possible, but I still had to watch my tongue. Ross already agreed to help me out and I didn’t want to fuck things up more than they already were. I was going to have deal with Koslowski as nicely as possible until Ross got here.
“Well then you can wait for him in the squad car, for your safety,” he said.
“Fine,” I said between gritted teeth.
“Hey Mike, what’s this?”
Koslowski’s partner picked up something small and thin off the ground. It wasn’t until he brought it over to Koslowski that I realized what it was.
“My mask!” Jennifer screamed. She shot up off the curb and snatched it out of their hands.
“Whoa, girl! What do you think you’re doing?” yelled Koslowski. Things were getting tense.
She clutched the mask to her chest, ignoring the irate cops.
“A mask? What the hell you need a mask for?” Koslowski’s partner asked.
“Shut up, Jerry,” Koslowski snapped, “Alright ma’am, I need you to cooperate with me and get into the car.”
Jennifer stood there, not even acknowledging the cops. I was starting to get a sickening feeling in my stomach.
“Ma’am, I will not ask you again.” Koslowski approached Jennifer and unhooked his handcuffs from his belt.
“Wait a minute, Koslowski,” I started, but was interrupted when he shinned his flashlight in my face.
“Shut your god damned mouth. I’m through fucking around here. Get in the fucking car!” he barked. Normally, I’d never let this little shit talk to me like that, but I was determined to keep myself from fucking this up for Ross. Koslowski put his flashlight away, but his partner, Jerry, kept his trained on the girl. Koslowski grabbed Jennifer’s wrist, forcing her to look up.
There was a single quiet moment when the whole city seemed to pause, waiting for a reaction. Now, verbal and physical abuse I could take, but I could not abide this piece of shit laying his hands on that poor girl. I felt a volcano build up inside of me. All my sickness and anger was boiling out of me and all I had to do was give it a target.
But I didn’t.
Before I could react, for that brief second when the world stopped and Jennifer and Koslowski were caught in the flashlight beam like actors on a stage, I saw Jennifer’s eyes. They were fixed directly on the hand gripped around her wrist. And in those eyes I saw a torrent of emotion that smothered all my rage and sickness.
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