No Show Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racism, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

There may or may not be discussion of political issues in my stories. If you are a Snowflake that feels you need to be protected from any mention of politics, then click the Back button now, and never attempt to read any of my stories ever again. You've been warned.

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(Author's note: this story was meant to be a small part of another, but it took a life of its own, so I'm submitting it separately, on its own. It's like an Interlude, a cleanup of past stuff and setting the table for future stories. Thank you for bearing with it.)

Part 8 - Karma and Justice

Wildcats Radio: "The Bulldogs come up to the line. The Wildcats are roaring against them. Second and goal from the five, ten seconds to go. Bulldogs quarterback Lawrence Watson waves for quiet as he come up, what unbelievable arrogance! Here we go, Watson takes the snap and throws into the endzone..."

"... and it is INTERCEPTED! Gregg Scott! Gregg Scott! Gregg Scott! There are no flags! Listen to this crowd!" He stopped talking as the roars of jubilation could be heard from the television as well as radio feeds.

Carole and Marie were celebrating, but it was Tasha's response that shocked me. She raised her arms in the air and yelled "JUSTICE!"

Wildcat Radio was saying "Greg Scott was looking for that slant-in pass all the way, and he just stepped in front of the receiver and plucked the ball out of the air. What a great play by Scott! He fell down in the endzone, the ball will be on the 20 yard line."

Fortunately, the need to down the ball kept the Wildcat Faithful in the stands. The Wildcats came out in the victory formation, snapped and downed the ball, and time expired. As the officials rushed for the tunnel, escorted by Security, they were pelted with drink cups by fans. And as Lawrence Watson was escorted to the tunnel to his locker room, fans in the stands jeered him, waving their arms for quiet in sarcastic response.

"These Wildcat fans are just despicable." said the television color analyst as those 'incidents' were shown... again and again and again. "I've seen sore losers before, but I can't remember seeing fans of the winning team acting like petulant children---"

*CLICK!*

I expertly used the remote to turn off the audio. "You're right, Carole. That guy is a jerk." I said. "Okay, let's go put out the leftovers, and dessert..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After cake and ice cream and decaf coffee for desert, those who were not staying overnight began leaving. Little Betsy Ross gave me, Carole, Tasha, and the Sheriff biiiiig hugs, then left with Cindy, Callie, and Baby Ben. Teresa and Todd took their three boys home, and Tanya and Jack Muscone left with Tiffany, Jennifer, and Pete.

I invited the Sheriff and Edward R. Steele to come out onto the back deck with me. I lit the fire pot as the Sheriff poured each of us a healthy dram of Wild Turkey Rare Breed bourbon in the Clan-Crowbar-etched Glen Cairn glasses I provided. I sat in my metal mesh loveseat and Edward sat to my left in a metal mesh chair, while the Sheriff sat on the bench that went with the metal mesh table to my right, and a little closer to the fire in the pot.

"So what's going on with Daniel Allgood?" I asked Edward.

"You mean about his I.G. complaint?" Edward asked in reply.

I said "And apparently going to the Democrats to join him in the complaint."

Edward said "I don't know. I tried calling him, but he has not returned my calls nor J.P. Goldman's. I was at that lunch that he walked out of, and you guys could see how furious he was when he got up and left. And he's occasionally gone off on these (air quotes) 'independent' streaks."

I said "I was hoping you'd talked with him, or heard more about what he's been saying, so we can get an idea of his frame of mind. I thought his fit of pique was mostly an ego thing, that he was offended for being kept out of the loop, such as it is. But his actions are wayyyy over the top vis-a-vis his male ego."

Edward turned it around: "So let me ask you this, Don: is there something I need to know about that I.G. investigation itself? Is it going to hurt you, the Police, or the Public Safety Department? And are you going to stonewall it?"

"No, we're not going to stonewall a damn thing." Sheriff Griswold growled, appearing to be offended by the question. "But part of the problem is that I managed to come to an agreement with the Unions to make fixes to the problems we had last Tuesday, which of course I want to fix anyway. But if there's a Board of Inquest, they may use my fixes as (air quotes) 'admission of guilt' that we did something wrong, and by that I mean 'wrong' in the sense Allgood is insinuating, and those dishonest bastards of the Press and the 'woke' Haters that want to defund the Police would just love to claim."

Edward said "Well, Tuesday is Election Day, so the Council won't meet until the next Tuesday. Do you think the violent demonstrators will try something again?"

"Time will tell." I said, looking into the fire pot and becoming introspective. "Time will tell..."

Part 9 - Orange Is The New Crimson

7:00pm, Sunday, October 31st. All Hallows Eve, a.k.a. Hallowe'en. The Orange Order gathered for their dinner, as the next day was Promotions and Medals Day for the Town & County Public Safety Department. Cindy had reserved the Junction Station Depot every quarter for years in advance, she always confirmed it twice in advance (after the last meeting, then two weeks before the event). And Town & County Parks & Recreation knew they had better not fuck it up and try to double-book anyone else, lest they incur the wrath of the Green Crowbar.

The 'rookie' Orange Order members got off light: the Sheriff had declared that it would be an alcohol-free dinner, not even B.Y.O.B., as it was Sunday, and because every Officer had to be able to respond to any issues that came up as a result of any (his words) 'Hallowe'en Hooliganism'. After what I am sure was a lot of drinking the day and night before, everyone seemed very chill to that ruling.

I was a bit surprised to see Captain (Ret.) Leslie Charles at the dinner. He had the right to attend, of course, but he rarely did so. I observed that he had drawn Teresa Croyle away from the others, and they were having a conversation.

Meanwhile, I was surprised to be enduring a lot of flak. The Wildcats had won, but I had said very little about it, not even to Cindy, and I was one of the relatively few Wildcat fans (much less alumni) in the TCPD. But people started coming up to me and 'asking' about the Wildcat fans. It started with Sergeant Morton and Sergeant Hicks.

"Sir, why where those Wildcat fans razzing our quarterback?" Morton asked.

I was irritated by that. I said "You mean after he waved for quiet before the play where he threw the 'intercept' (a little Howard Cosell lingo, there) and lost the game?"

"Sir, what about the fans throwing stuff at the officials as the officials were leaving the field?" Hicks said. "And I heard that people pelted the officials's van as it was leaving the stadium, too."

"This is the first I'm hearing of that, the van being attacked." I said. "Excuse me, please."

I walked away, but it was to no avail. I heard others talk about how bad the Wildcat fans were, and it seemed they did so right as I got within hearing range of them. Even Kirkpatrick and McGhillie took their shots as I went by.

As I passed by a group of people which included Lieutenants Teddy Parker, Micah Rudistan, Janice Holloway, and Detective Joan Laurer, whose back was to me, I saw Parker and Rudistan glance my way, then Parker said loudly enough to be heard: "Those Wildcats fans are sore losers. Did you see them taunting the Wildcats quarterback after the game? And throwing things at the refs?"

Rudistan say just a bit too loudly, and jovially, "Yeah, those Wildcats fans were really low class."

These Orange Order dinners are 'no ranks, no insignia, badges on the tables so speak freely', though people call higher-ranking people 'sir' or 'ma'am' by habit and default. But I'm a (better than) good Detective, and I can see patterns, and I had just made observations. And I'd had enough.

I stopped, turned to face them, and fronted them. "Who are you calling 'low class'?" I said, menace in my voice. Joan Laurer turned and saw me, and blanched. The others looked at me in shock... except Rudistan, who may be incapable of looking that way.

I bore in: "Why are you calling me and my fellow Wildcat fans 'low class'? Huh?"

At least Joan Laurer tried. She said "Uh, sorry, sir, we didn't mean to offend you." The rest of them didn't say anything, despite seeing that my face was red with anger and my gray eyes were searing right through them, which was putting them even further into my dog house (pun not intended).

*ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding*

Cindy Ross was tapping spoon to glass. She may have seen my face and neck turning dark red with anger, and I'm sure that she was getting huge vibes, not only from me but from others in the room, that things were deteriorating quickly.

"Let's all have a seat, please." Cindy said. Giving Parker and Rudistan another glare, I turned and stalked off to the tables, only to hear Cindy say "Everyone, let's please stop talking about the controversies at the end of yesterday's game. We're here to have a good dinner and a good time."

I'd instinctively had a vibe of my own, that Cindy knew what was going on, that there was an orchestrated plan to fuck with me, and she was warning them they'd gone too far with me. Almost all eyes went to me, as I sat down at one of the round tables, and they could see that they had poked the Wildcat with a stick a few times too often... and that the 'stick' I'd be poking back with was made of iron.

Still, I wish she had not said that. Part of everyone's look seemed to be that they thought I couldn't hack it, and that Cindy was having to take up for me. The 'perfect' ending of a 'perfect' week... not.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Police Captain (Ret.) Efram Elliott had made a point to sit at the place to my left at our table. As we ate, he said "I thought we had a good Union meeting with the Sheriff. And your input was very helpful."

"Glad I could help." I said, wondering where he was going with this.

"Any idea when he's going to have his recommendations to fix things ready?" Elliott asked.

"Geez, it's only been what, three days?" I said. "And yesterday doesn't count; everyone was watching the big game. Give him a minute to do a good job, and he'll come up with something."

I then added "And by the way, he won't be making (air quotes) 'recommendations'. He's going to do what he's going to do, and the Union Reps will like it. They are not the boss of him."

"Uh... noted." Elliott said. "The reason I ask, Commander, is because of that Board of Inquest the I.G. is going to convene. If he gets his plan back to us and the Union Reps agree to it, then it'll be hard for the Board of Inquest to come in and start finding fault with what happened last Tuesday."

I saw clean through that. I looked Elliot right in the eyes and replied "I must disagree with that. If the I.G. does convene a Board of Inquest, any actions the Sheriff takes beforehand might be construed as admitting guilt for the problems, so the Sheriff will wait until the Board does Board things. And if the Union Reps try to make noise about it, I can assure you that things will not be as friendly nor go nearly as well as they did last Thursday."

"Speaking of the I.G., and Internal Affairs" said Elliott, segueing into what he really wanted to bring up, "do you really think those choices for Internal Affairs were good?"

I said "I know you were the I.A. guy for years, so why would you think they're not good?"

Elliott said "I'm not saying they're not, but I don't know Lisa Monroe at all."

I said "She's a perfect choice for I.A. She proved her integrity in her years of City Police service. I poached her away from them because she's a good and experienced Detective, but since she hasn't been with us long, it was a really good fit for her to go to I.A., and she accepted it willingly."

Elliott: "And you're not concerned that Abram won't be a problem when he accuses black cops of something?"

Ahhhh, I thought to myself, now we're getting to the heart of the matter. Elliott had never been particularly caring of what black Officers thought while Harold Malone was dominating the TCPD before I got there. And now he's concerned that the Jewish Officer Abram might be unacceptable? Hmmm...

I said "Abram is a man of high integrity, and has shown leadership capability for years. He's been the Acting Chief while the rest of us have Christmas off, and I think he'll be just what we need as the Internal Affairs leader." Elliott wisely shut his potty mouth about the matter...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With Rudistan in my doghouse, Cindy took over the emcee duties. She said "The vote for our newest Orange Order members will begin November 15th, and will run through December 2nd. The initiation will be on the night of December 3rd, and the Policeman's Ball on Saturday the 4th. So now let's hear what awards and promotions will be given out."

As usual, I was called upon to announce the awards, and I did so: "You know about most of the promotions. Captain Abram will be promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and will head our Internal Affairs Department. Detective Lisa Monroe is being promoted to Lieutenant, and will be in Internal Affairs, as well."

Me: "Filling the 2nd Precinct Captain position and being promoted to Captain is Lieutenant DeLong, and filling his old Precinct Lieutenant Position and being promoted to Lieutenant is Steven Carter." Everyone applauded at least politely.

I continued: "Detective J.J. Perry is being promoted to Detective Sergeant." Everyone applauded 'Ice Cube', who was in the room. "George Newman to Detective-2, Statler and Waldorf to Detective-1."

Me: "We have some well-earned medals to award, also. Chaplain Alberto Romano did a lot for us this past quarter, and the most important of that was putting his life on the line to go in and persuade Cardinal O'Leery to surrender to authorities, preventing what could have been substantial loss of life. He also did good work in the Peter Frost case, and he will be awarded the Star of Gallantry for his actions."

Everyone in the room came to their feet and delivered a sustained three minutes of applause to Father Romano, who accepted it stoically. When it finally died away and everyone sat down, I said "And we have three more of note. Lieutenant Jerome Davis will be receiving a Commendation Medal, which the Sheriff has upgraded to the Public-Safety-level Commendation Medal. And Lieutenant Chris Purvis will receive a Police Department Achievement Medal for obtaining information that helped us prepare for the recent train car explosion."

Both men were applauded. I said "Last, but never least, we have a Purple Order to give out. Officer Kevin Buchannan was wounded in the line of duty." Everyone strongly applauded Buchannan, ending up in a standing ovation.

The gathering broke up soon afterwards. As we were cleaning up, I shamelessly asked Teresa "I saw Captain Charles talking to you some. He rarely even shows up, anymore. What did he talk about?"

Teresa said "He asked a lot about the train explosion, and said he thought our readiness for that was good. He also asked what I knew about last Tuesday, and said the Sheriff had been talking to him about some things concerning it. He also asked about you not being there, and said that he was hearing a lot about that... and even his son in Midtown was hearing chatter that you weren't showing up when you were needed..."

Part 10 - State and Local

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, November 1st, from the Anchor Desk of the KXTC studios. "Controversy rages in the aftermath of the Bulldogs-Wildcats game!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "The Sports world is stunned by the rancor that has developed after the Wildcats won the game against our University Bulldogs with a lucky play at the end of the game. Let's go to Sports reporter Jeff Hull for more. Jeff!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Jeff Hull, every black hair on his head perfectly styled into place, reporting from outside the University Athletic Offices. "After winning the game, not losing but winning the game, Wildcat fans in their home stadium mocked and taunted Bulldogs players as they left the field for their locker room."

Hull: "Wildcat fans outside also threw objects at the officiating crew as they were leaving the field, and pelted the officials's van and tried to block it from leaving. Security vehicles swiftly came up to get the officials to safety. Representatives of the University and the Conference expressed outrage. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing drink cups being hurtled at the refs as they ran for the tunnel. Another clip showed more objects being hurtled at the officials's van, but those were few in number, and it was clear (to me) that their progress was not being impeded in any way. Would you be surprised to learn that KXTC did not show the horrific call of 'targeting' against Davis Smith?

The Assistant to the Conference Assistant Commissioner for Officials (truly a 'Junior Adjutant') was shown saying "The conduct of the Wildcat fans towards our officials is beyond reprehensible; it is criminal. We expect (Wildcat School) officials to work with us to identify the criminals and have them arrested and criminally prosecuted."

Back to Jeff Hull live: "(Wildcat School) could face severe fines and other sanctions for their fans's actions, and not just for the criminal treatment towards the officials. They also mocked and goaded the Bulldogs players as they left the field, particularly standout quarterback Lawrence Watson, flapping their arms at him and yelling names at him. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing the video of the camera that was following Watson off the field. Fans were jeering him and yelling 'Quiet! Quiet!" Some were waving their arms, and others were making a 'hush' sign, suggesting he should keep his mouth shut. I heard nothing really bad from the fans. And would you be surprised to learn that KXTC did not show Watson grinning as he waved for quiet on the play before he lost the game for his team by throwing the interception?

Back to Hull live: "While fans have taunted other teams's players for decades, many decent people can't understand the Wildcats fans's low class in acting this way after they won the game. Both Bulldogs and Conference officials have strongly condemned (Wildcat School) for the actions of their fans, and some are calling for sanctions against the School. Back to you, Bettina."

Bettina was again shown on the feed, and said "We'll have more from Jeff Hull as this story continues to develop. And now let's go to reporter Pat Stellum with an important guest. Pat!"