Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 01

Elise explained her situation as best she could. Darren showed all the signs of a good partner. He listened.

"Pull up over here," he asked when Elise stopped talking.

"Coffee shop?" Elise asked.

"We're cops, right?" Darren smiled. "And we're no where near Mache's, so let's get the coffee instead of doughnuts."

"Works for me," Elise shrugged and parked the car.

"Nuh uh," Darren said after they got their coffee. "I'm driving for a while."

"You don't know the area as well as..." Elise argued.

And how am I supposed to learn you're always driving?" Darren argued.

"Fine," Elise said and surrendered the keys.

"Thank you," Darren said.

"Welcome," Elise said.

"So, um, where's a nice place to take a girl on a date?" Darren asked.

"Manny's got the best Mexican anywhere," Elise said. "Dollar Cinema's got a couple of good movies showing."

"Best date you ever had?" Darren asked.

"Kind of personal," Elise said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Look, I got a date tonight; want to make a good impression," Darren said.

"Best date, Tony Baloney, sorry, his name is Tony Bordelon but we always called him Tony Baloney, anyway, he took me to the Bowlarama in Flowers; I beat him, like one twelve to ninety three, then we went next door to the Mini-golf and again I beat him and then we went right next door and went skating," Elise said.

"God, how old were you? Ten?" Darren asked.

"No; this was last month," Elise said, face flushed with anger.

"You are kidding me, right?" Darren asked.

"No; believe it or not, sometimes a girl doesn't need all the fancy dinners and flowers and stuff," Elise said. "Every now and then, we kind of like to work up a good sweat."

"Makes sense," Darren conceded.

"Anyway, that was a lot of fun," Elise said. "Of course, then he had to go and ruin it by thinking I owed him some pussy."

"Oh, oh, almost forgot; had one date took me to the petting zoo; no, I wasn't ten; this was last year," Elise said, looking in the side view mirror at the motorcycles that were tailing them.

"No, I and see how that would be a lot of fun," Darren agreed. "Date's tonight, though; how late the petting zoos stay open?"

"Don't know; this was on a Saturday; turn at the next street, huh?" Elise said, growing annoyed at the motorcycles.

Darren reached to put on his turn signal, then thought better of it and did not. Three of the seven motorcycles did not react in time and broke off from the horde.

"Cute," Elise smirked, noticing that they'd lost nearly half of their harassers.

"Taught me well," Darren smiled and took the next street at a high rate of speed, but the motorcycles kept with them this time.

"Oh well, you tried," Elise said.

"So, Manny's really is that good, huh?" Darren asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Elise said. "They got the best salsa, and oh my God! The enchiladas? Owned by Bobbi; went to school with her, her husband is the cook; her daddy used to own it; that was Manny, but then he had that stroke and Marlon; Bobbi's husband? Anyway, Manny's the one taught him, just tell Bobbi you're my partners, you'll love it."

"I'll see if Amber's up for Mexican; I love a good fish taco; they got fish tacos there?" Darren asked and took another turn.

"Stop," Elise ordered.

She got out of the car and approached a man that was staggering, nearly lurching out into the street.

"Public intoxication..." Darren recited.

"Mr. Deeds? Are you okay?" Elise asked. "Mr. Deeds, did you take your insulin today?"

The man mumbled and slurred something.

"Got any mints on you?" Elise asked Darren, digging in her pockets.

She remembered that she had a candy bar; a treat that she'd bought but could not give herself.

"Sheriff?" she asked, touching her shoulder mounted radio as she dug the candy bar out of her purse.

"Who is that?" Dick asked. "It almost sounded like my daughter, but she never calls me Sheriff."

"Dad, need an ambulance; Mr. Deeds didn't take his insulin and he can't tell me when the last time he took it is," Elise responded.

She gave the address as she unwrapped the candy bar.

"Ambulance is on the way; where's Martha?" Elise asked the man.

The seven Kingsmen kept up the harassment as Elise tried to administer to the man. Darren tried to approach, but they would ride away, or circle him, taunting him.

Elise was relieved when the ambulance roared up.

"Damn! Good thing you came by when you did," one of the EMTs said, looking at a test strip. "Blood sugar's off the chart."

"He sometimes forgets to take his insulin," Elise said as they loaded the now semi-conscious man onto the ambulance. "Then he forgets to take his blood pressure medication, and then things really go out of whack."

"You know him?" the other EMT asked.

"He was my first arrest; found him naked, walking down the middle of Highway fifty two," Elise smiled tightly. "That's when I found out about his medical history."

X.X.X

Elise frowned; there was a strange car in the driveway. As she pulled into the carport, a heavy-set African-American woman got out of the car and approached.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Anderson," the woman said, attempting and failing at a smile. "From Childrens' Services?"

Elise resisted the urge to push Henry behind herself.

"Mrs. Anderson," Elise said, forcing herself to remain calm. "We just got home; there's a puppy inside needs to go out and go potty and a little boy needs to have his supper. Can we do this at another time?"

"No, no, tell you what; I'd really like to see how you're taking care of him," Mrs. Anderson said. "After all, since you're applying to be his foster parent and all..."

"So, um, how'd you hear about Henry needing a foster home?" Mrs. Anderson asked, and then shrieked as Sam charged at her, growling menacingly.

"Sam!" Elise snapped. "That's enough!"

"Sorry about that; he's very protective of Henry," Elise smiled and herded both the still snarling and snapping puppy and Henry out through the back door.

Mrs. Anderson had already formulated an unfavorable opinion of an unmarried white woman caring for a small African-American boy. Elise did not help her opinion by making the woman wait while she prepared Henry's meal, made her wait while Henry (with Elise's assistance) fed Sam, made her wait while Henry said Grace, then ate his meal.

"Now, let's take a look at this paperwork," Elise said as Henry colored in his coloring book.

"What makes you think you can care for him?" Mrs. Anderson snapped.

"His grandmother obviously thought I could," Elise said calmly. "She came here, asked me to look after her grandson while she went into the hospital; and believe me; she was even more racist than you."

"I am not racist!" Mrs. Anderson gasped, outraged.

"Anyway," Elise said, ignoring Mrs. Anderson's outrage. "His grandmother asked me to look after him and Sam trusted me with the most important thing she ever had in her whole life. I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job."

She turned to Henry.

"What about you, huh, boy? You like living here?" Elise asked him.

"Yes ma'am," Henry said.

"How about Sam? Think Sam likes living here?" Elise went on.

"Yes ma'am," Henry agreed.

"Now, let's look at the paperwork," Elise asked an agitated Mrs. Anderson.

"I just think he'd be better off with a family that's..." Mrs. Anderson grumbled.

"That's black? Like him?" Elise asked.

"Precisely," Mrs. Anderson admitted.

"Got any in Bender?" Elise asked.

"Miss Leesey!" Henry exclaimed. "You said I ain't black!"

(Henry had made yet another observation about Elise being white. Elise made him get out the black crayon and the white crayon, and showed him that he was not black and she was not white. He was a brown color and she was a lighter brown color.

"So?" Elise had said. "I don't want to hear no more about you being black and me being white. We're both brown.")

"That's right," Elise laughed, despite Mrs. Anderson's look of triumph. "What color are we?"

"Brown. I'm dark brown you light brown," Henry said.

An hour later, Elise had a heavy feeling in her stomach when Mrs. Anderson left the house.

Dick tried to be supportive, sympathetic when Elise called. After a few minutes, he had to admit defeat, though.

"Honey, this might be a time you really need to talk with your mother," Dick said, handing the telephone to Carmen.

Chapter 5

"So?" Elise asked. "How'd it go with Amber?"

"Fine, took her to Manny's..." Darren said.

"Was I lying?" Elise crowed. "Is that not the best salsa you've ever had?"

"It was, and Marlon sent out this green salsa; my tongue's still on fire from that stuff," Darren agreed.

"Green chili salsa? Should have warned you about that," Elise said, frowning at the motorcycles that suddenly swarmed around the cruiser. "Marlon likes seeing who can eat that stuff."

"God damn! Sick and tired of these mother fuckers!" Darren yelled, looking around at the Kingsmen.

"Uh huh," Elise agreed, tight lipped.

Elise suddenly twisted the wheel to the right, causing the three Kingsmen on her right to slam on their brakes and the fie Kingsmen behind her to swerve to avoid ramming into her.

"Oh, did they have those fish tacos?" Elise asked, smiling at the angry looks the Kingsmen were giving her.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, fresh catfish," Darren said.

"Then what did y'all do?" Elise asked.

"Went bowling," Darren admitted. "I thought she was going to tell me just take her home when I pulled up in front of the place, but then she just went along with it."

"So who won?" Elise asked and pulled in front of the Dead End bar.

"I did," Darren said.

"Lunch; got a problem eating here?" Elise asked.

"No; heard they got half-naked girls running around here," Darren smiled.

Rosy smiled tiredly as the two uniformed officers entered.

"I'm going to try the pepper salad," Elise said.

"Hey!" Amber said as Darren sat down.

Hey; how's it going?" Darren asked.

"That wasn't very nice of you," Amber cooed, playing with his neck tie, pouting. "Beating me; I told you I was no good at bowling!"

"Threw three gutter balls in a row; what more you want from me?" Darren smiled.

"Next time throw ALL gutter balls," Amber advised.

"What fun would that be?" Darren smiled.

"I'll show you how much fun it can be," Amber whispered and planted a wet, open mouthed kiss on him. "Got to go; I'm up next."

"THAT?" Elise asked as Amber strutted away, putting extra wiggle in her walk. "THAT'S who you had a date with?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Darren asked, defensively.

"Nothing," Elise shrugged. "She's cute."

"Oh, forgot to tell you; bowling is a very sexy sport," Darren smiled as Rosy put their salads in front of them. "So, thanks for that idea."

"Huh?" Elise asked eyes scanning the bar before putting her head down to take a bite.

"Yeah, I'm standing there, watching her; can't help but bend over, can't help but shake that ass; I love bowling!" Darren said.

"Men are pigs," Elise said.

"Yeah?" Rosy asked him. "And what you think she was doing every time you got up there? She was checking your butt out too."

"Hey!" Darren protested.

"Hey!" Elise protested, realizing that, when she went out with Tony Baloney, he had been leering at her rear end.

They ate their lunch in silence.

"What time you get off?" Amber asked, coming out from the backstage area, still dress in only pasties and thong.

"Five but then I come back in for the midnight shift," Darren said as she fiddled with his tie again.

"Oh," she said, disappointed.

"But them I'm off all day tomorrow," he went on.

"Midnight gets off when?" Amber asked.

"Eight," he said.

"In the morning?" Amber asked, screwing her face up.

"Yes, Honey, midnight to eight," Darren laughed.

"Tell you what, how about lunch?" Amber asked and gave him a quick kiss before he could answer.

"And then," she husked. "We'll see what's for dessert, okay?"

X.X.X

"And then we'll see what's for dessert," Elise mocked as Darren drove.

"Shut up," he laughed.

"And then we'll see what's for dessert," she mimicked again.

"That's enough. Darren said.

"And then we'll..." Elise mumbled under her breath.

"Hey Elise?" Darren asked.

"Yes, Darren?" Elise asked, smiling.

"Chew rocks, huh?" Darren snapped.

She laughed, then frowned as the Kingsmen came roaring up behind them.

X.X.X

"All of this shit, over a fine?" Elise asked herself as the gang members followed her and Henry home from the grocery store.

Sam yapped incessantly as the normally quiet neighborhood was besieged by countless motorcycles revving their powerful motors and racing up and down the street.

By the time darkness fell, Elise's nerves were at the snapping point.

Then, inexplicably, silence fell.

She was able to get Henry bathed and dressed in his cowboy pajamas and ready for bed. They did their prayers, and then Elise read to him out of his favorite book, 'Curious George.'

Elise wasn't a drinker, had tried wine, beer, and even a couple of cocktails, but never really saw what all the fuss was about. But at that moment, she wished she had something a little stronger than grape juice.

Instead, Elise contented herself with a hot bath.

X.X.X

Sam's growling woke Elise up from a deep sleep.

"Sam!" she snapped. "Be quiet!"

Then she heard it; scraping sounds.

"Good boy," she whispered as she slipped on her sweat pants.

She grabbed her cell phone and her service revolver.

"Nine one one, what is your..." Becky Yuma's voice came on.

Becky, this is Elise; I have someone trying to break into my house," Elise said, shutting the door to Henry's room.

"Darren's on his way," Becky said.

"Thanks," Elise said, peering through the darkness at her back door.

She could see two shadows trying to jimmy open the atrium doors.

She peered out front and saw only two motorcycles parked at the street. She opened her front door as quietly as she could.

"Becky, there are two of them, rear of the house; I'll call you right back," Elise reported and flipped her phone shut.

Librarian and Booger cursed; whomever had installed the atrium doors had also installed a thin steel flange over the lip of the door, making it nearly impossible to jimmy the doors open.

"Fucking right!" Booger whispered exultantly as he managed to chisel underneath the flange with his crowbar.

"Hands up where I can see them," Elise screamed from directly behind the pair. "Up! Up! Let's see them!"

"Fuck!"Librarian screamed, startled.

"Now!" Elise screamed, verifying that neither Librarian or Booger had any weapons in their hands, Booger having dropped the crowbar when Elise startled them. "Get down on the ground. Down! Down! Now!"

"Hi Elise," Barren said, letting himself into the back yard. "Becky said you're having a little trouble?"

"Trying a little breaking and entering," Elise said, nodding at the two bikers on the ground.

"Oh, hey, cute pajamas," Darren said, nodding at Elise's sweat pants and camisole top.

"Shut up," Elise yelled, embarrassed.

"And, good God could've brushed your hair or something, huh?" Darren continued to tease her.

He frisked both suspects, read them their rights, handcuffed them and shoved them toward his cruiser.

"Hey," he said as Elise walked toward her front door.

"Yeah?" Elise asked, turning around to face him.

"I'll see if Amber has anything like that," Darren smiled, snapping a picture of Elise with his cell phone camera.

"Hey!" Elise screamed, outraged.

"Believe this shit?" Booger asked as Elise chased after Darren.

"Hmmph!" Librarian said, beyond caring.

"Bye!" Darren called out as he jumped into the cruiser.

"I swear to God, you show that picture to anyone!" Elise threatened.

Chapter 6

"Oops," Elise laughed as she 'accidentally' knocked over Librarian and Boooger's motorcycles as she backed out of her driveway.

"Why we got to go get my hair cut? I don't want my hair cut," Henry complained from the rear of her car.

"Because we've got to go to court today," Elise again explained. "Remember? That woman? We're going to meet with a judge and tell him all about living with me."

"But why I got to get a hair cut?" Henry again asked.

"Because, you look like Buckwheat," Elise again told him.

X.X.X

"If you don't quit fidgeting, I'm going to duct tape you to the ceiling," Elise told the child as he tugged at the collar of his new shirt.

"Why I got to sit here? They got them swings outside; I want to go outside," Henry complained.

"In a little bit; first we have to do this, though," Elise explained again.

"Why we got to just sit here? They ain't doing nothing," Henry complained.

"My goodness, you sure do complain a lot," Elise said.

"It's your fault," he said.

"St. Elizabeth Parish, hearing the case of Elise Simone," the bailiff intoned.

"Oops, that's us, come on," Elise said, taking Henry's small hand.

"Please state your name for the records," the bailiff announced loudly.

"Officer Elise Simone," Elise said.

"Your mom and dad named you 'Officer?'" Judge Jesse Johnson asked, amused.

"No, sorry, your honor," Elise gave him an embarrassed smile. "I'm..."

"Dick Davis's kid," Judge Johnson said. "I know who you are."

"That's right," Elise said, throwing her shoulders back a little.

The older man smiled. "And this is...?"

"Henry Linus Givens," Elise said, moving Henry closer to the bench.

"And you're..." Judge Johnson prompted.

"Petitioning the court for guardianship of the minor child," Elise stated.

"Mrs. Anderson?" the man asked.

Elise felt her face flush with anger as the woman came very close to perjuring herself in front of the judge, embellishing her findings. Mrs. Anderson's opinion was never in question.

"I suppose you have an alternative suggestion?" Judge Johnson interrupted Mrs. Anderson's shrill litany.

"There are three African-American foster families available in St. Elizabeth Parish," Mrs. Anderson crowed, glaring triumphantly at Elise.

"Two," Judge Johnson interrupted. "The Hendersons have had their application rejected; they are petitioning for divorce."

"Oh," Mrs. Anderson said, some of the wind taken from her sails.

"The Paxtons already have four children in their domicile and the Johnsons have four. The court is removing the three minor children from the Hendersons care and will have to place them with the Paxtons and Johnsons, or find other suitable accommodations," Judge Johnson continued.

Mrs. Anderson tried to argue, but Judge Johnson stopped her.

"Mrs. Anderson, I do not know what you observed at Ms. Simone's home; I sat here and watched her talking with the child. He was bored, he was fussy, he wanted to go out and play. Well, she put up with it; she put up with him being cranky, and whiney, she put up with a hell of a lot more than I would have," Judge Johnson said.

"But your Honor," Mrs. Anderson argued.

"The court is temporarily granting Miss Officer Elise Simone's petition," Judge Johnson said. "The court would like to convene again in ninety days and will make a final decision at that time."

"Now can we go?" Henry asked petulantly.

"Not until I bang this gavel," Judge Johnson smiled at the boy.

With a smirk at an angry Mrs. Anderson, he brought the gavel down.

"Yay!" Elise said, swinging the boy up into an embrace. "Now, you got to go potty?"

"Um," Henry hesitated.

He wanted to go play on the swings a lot more than he wanted to go potty.

"Come on, boy, I know you got to go potty by now," Elise said, carrying him to the door.

X.X.X

Little John sweated profusely. He normally sweated; he was a large man. This, however, was a cold sweat.

Librarian and Booger had been popped trying to break into that cop's house. Bail for the two of them had been set at one hundred thousand dollars apiece; a sum neither had a chance of rising.