Passing Through #3
The crowd cheered on the fight. No one paid attention to Sandy.
No one ever did. They ignored her at work, ignored her on the streets when she confronted criminals, ignored her at the bar when she tried to find a new husband, any new husband.
She wasn’t picky, except none picked her back.
Bastards, the lot of them. Especially these two, she thought.
Sandy pulled her weapon and fired. Bitters made a weird sound, pissed himself, then dropped to the floor. Even landing on the broken arm did not faze the man. He was out.
“What did you do to my friend?” Mookie asked her.
“Are you kidding me?”
“He was mine to jack up. Pigs like you shouldn’t be stepping in and messing things up,” Mookie growled through the bloody, broken nose.
“Is that so?”
When Mookie replied in the affirmative, Walker released the taser cartridge, loaded another and fired.
Mookie’s eyes went comically wide as he shook and fell to the floor, smacking his head on the tile.
The staffer finally appeared and rushed to the fallen men.
The staffer, a college intern named George, hovered over Mookie with grave concern.
“He’s not breathing. We need the defibrillator,” George said.
“Oh please,” Sandy said, and hit the juice again.
Mookie’s body jerked on the floor. When she stopped pressing the juice, Sandy looked at George, who confirmed a heartbeat.
With a nod, deputy Walker left the home. There was a convenience store where some stoners always hung out. She figured it was long past the time to pay them a visit. She got in her cruiser and slammed the door.
“Fuck, that felt good,” she said before hitting the siren and squealing out of the parking lot.
***
“Thanks for calling back,” Higgins said, chatting with someone on the phone.
Nolan entered with the digital fingerprint reader and moved to the computer. He made a show of plugging in the device, making the task as loud as possible while Higgins tried to finish his conversation. Finally, Higgins hung up.
“Loud much?” Higgins asked.
“Sorry, did not know the kiss up was so fragile,” Nolan said.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard the boss praise you for the tow truck idea. Next thing you know, you’re my boss. What a delight that would be,” Nolan said.
“You should be so lucky. Maybe you should work harder like I do,” Higgins replied with a bite.
“Hey, I got the prints, didn’t I?”
“Guy is your type,” Higgins said.
“What did you say?” Nolan got in his face and pressed a hand to his weapon.
Higgins leaned back in his office chair and spread his arms. “Tell me the big guy isn’t your type?”
“Fine!” Nolan backed off. “Let’s run the prints. Figure this out.”
“That call was with my Canadian connection. Canada had a thing a few months back. Timeline works out possibly. They asked us to send his picture their way. You want me to snap the picture or would you prefer to? I’m thinking maybe instead of the usual booking photo, you ask him to drop trousers for the shot?
Get your thrill?” Higgins said more than asked.
“Not going to let you bother me with all this talk. It says more about you.” Nolan grabbed the camera when a call came through.
Higgins answered the phone, mouthing to Nolan that it was a 911 transfer. Nolan waited as Higgins said “uh-huh” over and over. Higgins hung up.
“Altercation at Sid’s Diner,” Higgins said.
“I’ll roll on the diner. You get the guy’s picture and run the prints.” Nolan stopped at the door. “As for our fight, if you do get him to drop his pants, all will be forgiven.”
Nolan handed over the camera with a smirk then exited.
Higgins smiled. Despite Nolan calling him a kiss up, Higgins loved his buddy, gay or not.
Still, Higgins felt he deserved a promotion.
It was way past due. He should be running the shop, not a woman drowning in home life issues.
Higgins realized he was angry at the wrong person. It was the sheriff who drew his ire.
Grabbing the camera, he decided to see what shot he could get to put on the wire, and what thirst trap photo he could get for his friend. But before he made it to the holding cells, the phone rang. Higgins answered with a hello.
Strange call. He assured the person on the other end that he was on the way. Higgins hung up and rushed to the door, but suddenly another call rang. He picked it up, then another line rang, and another. Soon, every line was ringing.
***
“Why didn’t you call an ambulance, Dolores?” Nolan asked.
Dolores, a twenty-year-old goth waitress, stood defiantly next to Nolan.
At some point, she served someone fresh coffee as the deputy dealt with the situation.
Her waitress outfit was black and tight.
Diners continued eating despite the drama.
Many grumbled, though, about how the whole thing slowed the service.
Meanwhile, poor old Dean Anderson sat there with a fork jutting from his eyeball. He looked directly at Nolan with the good eye.
“Can’t believe the bitch stabbed me,” Dean said.
“Because you called me a bitch,” Dolores answered back. “Besides, you’re always leering at me, always. Sitting in the same spot seven days a week.”
“I’m called a regular sweetheart, and I’ve seen plenty of asses better than yours,” he said.
“Oh, so now you don’t want this ass?”
“No, I still do,” he said, almost resignedly. He was chipper for a forty-year-old married man with a fork for an eye.
“Shouldn’t you lean your head back or something?” Nolan asked.
“So that I can blind my good eye by staring at a light? Good thing you’re not a doctor. My wife is on her way. She’s packing, so she’ll take care of my friend here for me.”
“That’s what you think. Wait until you see what I can do with a spoon!” Dolores yelled.
“We’re not waiting for anyone. This is assault. Sorry, Dolores, I need to take you in,” Nolan said.
“What? He started it!”
Nolan pulled the cuffs out, and Dolores swung at him with the carafe. Nolan dodged and corralled her. She fought even while he cuffed her. The place smelled like spilled coffee and eyeball juice. He was ready to leave.
“I’ll check on you later,” Nolan said to the man as he led Dolores to the door.
Harvey Wilhelm stepped in front of Nolan and got in the waitress’ face. “Where are my ten cheeseburgers?”
“Sorry, Harvey, I’m off the clock,” the handcuffed woman said.
“Not without my ten cheeseburgers, you’re not,” he said.
Harvey grabbed at Dolores’ apron and tried to pull her away from the officer.
Nolan pushed back, hard. Other diners growled in the distance, yelling about their food as well.
Harvey charged again and Nolan stepped to the side.
Dolores stuck a leg out and Harvey tripped.
His face smashed into the side of the diner’s counter.
His jaw crunched audibly, and the man struggled to rise, holding a hand over a mouth flowing with blood.
He spit out some teeth and raged. “How am I supposed to eat my ten cheeseburgers with no teeth, you Jezebel?”
The diner filled with people screaming for their food.
Nolan looked around. Those already served ate greedily.
The Millers, a family of four, devoured their meal like pigs.
Nolan thought he heard them oink. Tim, their six-year-old, looked at Nolan with fire in his eyes and French fries sticking out of both nostrils.
He could have been a walrus. Nolan did not like where things were heading.
He pulled his service revolver and fired at the ceiling. Everyone froze long enough for him to leave with his arrestee. He would let the rest of the diner workers figure their stuff out. Nolan leaned Dolores up against the squad car and patted her down. She looked at him over her shoulder.
“Fancy a go?” she asked.
“What?”
“You know, throw me a little dicky wicky? What do you say?”
He spun her around until she faced him, their bodies pressed together. “I say you’re not my type.”
Nolan pulled her away from the door, opened it, and held her head until she got in the back seat.
He took a moment to collect himself as he grabbed the driver’s side door.
He heard shouting inside and wondered whether it might be wise to go back in.
Something was wrong. Something was off. He knew for certain because when the woman propositioned him, for a moment, a very brief one, he was ready to ravage her.
He’d never been with a woman, never wanted to, but in that moment, he barely contained himself.
While driving out, an ambulance pulled in. Nolan wondered whether the emergency workers understood they were getting a twofer. Eyes and teeth were on the menu in that diner. And possibly a kid needing help to dislodge fries from his nasal cavity. Nolan drove the cruiser back toward the station.
***
Higgins drove down MainStreet while trying to reach his boss again.
No answer. He threw his cell down in frustration.
The mall appeared on his left. He received many calls and decided to take them in the order he got them regardless of the emergency level.
He assumed some calls would soon reach the rest of the staff.
No one around to coordinate the whole mess.
The situation only strengthened his view that he would be a better sheriff than his boss, but she was in the seat for now.
With the number of calls coming in, Higgins figured he could gain a leg up on the competition by setting a record for most calls caught in a single night.
Calls in town were always goofy shit so he could clear each one quickly and move on, becoming a bigger stud and legend with each case cleared.
The initial emergency call came from the mall’s movie theater.