Che's Perspective
“This job aint for everyone, son. It can be insanely intense, and then borin’ as hail. The application process aint a cakewalk either, you gotta pass a bunch of written and physical tests, interviews, psychological evaluations, and background checks just to be considered.” Officer Booth said as he poured us each a cup of coffee in the breakroom.
“I know, I’ve been reading up on it, and I’m willing to put in the work, sir” I replied as we walked into one of the little, I guess you’d call ‘em interrogation rooms at the police station. I was doing my best to ‘not talk like a thug’ like River told me. I was gettin’ ready to go on a ride along with Officer Booth to see what his job was really like. My run-ins with the cops since we moved to Wilmington had all been way different than back home. These guys were out to help people, not fuck with them; I felt like they were on our side and fightin’ for us… I wanted to do that. I wanted to help people like me who always seemed to get screwed over by the cops n’ everybody else.
“Well, if you don’t mind my sayin’ so, son. I didn’t get the impression that you much liked the law when we first met… and you can call me Andy.”
“I don’t” I said without thinkin’. “I, I, I mean I didn’t. All the cops… I mean police officers back where I come from are on the take and crooked.”
Andy grinned as he sipped his coffee, “All of ‘em, huh? I find that hard to believe.”
“You met Shadow Wolf” I replied. “It’s a small town, and The Mayor and local politicians, the police, the business owners, everybody in that town is afraid of him and do whatever the hell he says. You saw all that stuff on my record.” When Officer… I mean, Andy first met me he pulled my record and saw all kinds of crazy stuff like J walking, speeding tickets for a couple of miles over the limit, parking tickets, shit like that. “I know everybody says this, but they were out to get me.” Andy kinda rolled his eyes at that, but then cocked his head and nodded, like he got it. “But the way you and the other cops treated me n’ River, damn, THAT’S how it should be. THAT’S why I wanna be a cop… dude it’s scary getting’ pulled over when yer a guy who’s, black, gay, and has stuff on your record. I think I could help people feel understood, or heard, or at least not feel like they’re bein’ attacked, ya’ know… like you do.” I started to fall back into thug mode, I needed to watch that.
Andy nodded as he warmed his hands on his coffee cup, then gave me a little smirk, “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Why wouldn’t he? I meant it as one. “Speaking of that stuff on your record, it might cause some trouble with your background check, at the very least you’ll need to be ready to explain it. You might even think about writing a letter of explanation as part of your application to get ahead of it.” He suggested, “I can help you with that if you decide you’re serious about doin’ this.”
Again, I nodded. “Thanks, offic… um, thanks Andy.”
He smiled, nodded, looked at his watch and said, “Almost 3:00, time to hit the road, son. Like I said, this job can be intense, and it can be boring as hell… so I’ll warn y’all that tonight might be boring. Thank God Dunkin Donuts is open late” he chuckled and we headed towards his cruiser. I got in the front seat, that was first for me, the front seat. Andy explained all the equipment, how dispatch worked, what records he could access on this computer. He went through how he spent his time, “Basically I got an area I cruise around until a call comes in from dispatch and we have to respond. We drive around and keep an eye on things, there are some places… like Harrington House, that are vulnerable and I drive by several times to keep a special eye on. Other than that, we just keep an eye out for opportunities to ‘protect and serve’” he said using air quotes. After the quick orientation he pulled the squad out of the police lot and we started cruising the streets. We talked a lot as we drove around, Andy pointed stuff out to me, areas that were known for trouble, other areas where he knew most of the people. He pulled over and talked to an older couple walking their dog, he introduced me as a “possible new recruit” and they welcomed me. Me! They told me all about their neighborhood and how much they appreciated Andy and the other officers who were always around. The guy was black, the woman was white, and the dog was friendly.
Andy was right… the first hour was kinda boring to be honest, then he got a call. There was an accident not far from us, Andy responded, then put on the sirens and lights and we went to the scene of the accident. It was no big deal, just a minor fender bender, Andy got out and approached the two drivers, I stood close enough to watch and listen. Damn, he was so different from any other cop I had ever seen. The first thing he did was make sure everyone was okay, one of the drivers was a young girl, she was more freaked out about what her dad was gonna say about his car than anything else. Andy calmed her down, he even called her dad for her. I watched him closely, the first thing he said was “your daughter is safe, she’s been in a minor accident, but no one was hurt, just a little damage to the bumpers.” I could tell he was trying to calm her father for her as he listened to the man on the phone. He turned to the girl and said, “he’s happy you’re not hurt, he wants to talk to you” then handed her the phone. While the girl talked to her dad, Andy took a statement from the other driver. We were only there a short time, it really was nothing… but when we got there the girl was hysterical, and the other driver was frustrated as hell, and when we left… everything was fine. Officer Andy was there to… what did he say before? Oh yeah, ‘protect and serve.’
When we got back in the cruiser, he didn’t say nothin’, so I asked him some stuff. “So did you write any tickets?’
“Yeah, the young girl ran a stop sign.”
“But she was pretty freaked out, I thought you said protect and serve. You coulda’ just let her off, right?” I asked.
“Well, she broke the law. She’s responsible for the damage to the other driver’s car. Ya’ gotta protect and serve, and that means enforcin’ the law.” He told me about his philosophy on respect. Respect for people, and respect for the law. I never heard nobody talk like that. Especially a cop. He treated me like an equal.
We kept cruisin’ around and talkin’, the dispatcher would give code numbers and addresses every once in a while, some he’d ignore, some he’d respond to. Mostly boring stuff like an alarm goin’ off or a noise complaint, shit like that. We got this one call about a ‘domestic situation’ in this shitty neighborhood. When we got there, he told me to wait by the car, I got out and leaned against the cruiser but tried to watch and listen. You could hear people yellin’ inside and a baby cryin’. He pounded really fuckin’ loud over and over until they finally answered. This woman who wasn’t all that much older n’ me came out holding a cryin’ baby. Then this guy come up behind her, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back in, I could smell booze on him. She handed the baby to Andy and he went into action. He called for backup while he was walking towards me with the screamin’ kid. He handed the baby to me and ran back into the house. Before I could even look at the baby two other cop cars showed up with their sirens blarin’ and their lights on. A total of three cops jumped out of the two cars and moved quickly towards the house.
I just stood there holdin’ this screamin’ baby. She was tiny, like smaller than Seth’s little guy Ali but bigger than Max’s twins… I aint never been around kids. “Hey, it’s okay” I said tryin’ to calm her as I held her tight and swayed… I didn’t know shit about babies. “I’m Che. What’s your name?’ I asked just tryin’ to divert her attention, I knew she was too little to answer. The noise from the house got louder, but I had the little baby’s full attention. She stopped cryin’ and grabbed my nose. She was snifflin’ and suckin’ air, tryin’ not to cry no more. Just about the time I got her quiet, two of the cops dragged the man outta the house in cuffs and pushed him into the back of one of the cruisers. The little girl didn’t reach for him, instead she shoved her face into my shoulder like she was tryin’ to hide.
“You better not fuckin’ take my baby away you assholes” the guy yelled as they pushed him into the back of the squad. He was yellin’ at me. What the fuck, I was just standin’ there tryin’ to keep the kid safe.
One of the officers, a woman, came out of the house and walked over to me. “Che? I’m officer Squires, you can call me Patty” then she talked to the little girl, “Hi Lily, you wanna come by me?" The little girl reached out and went to the officer, they didn’t seem like strangers, “We get called out here every couple of weeks” Patty said. “Lily and I are old friends. Andy told me to take her so you can join him inside.” I kissed Lily goodbye, (I don’t know why, it was just a reflex, I didn’t really want to leave her) then I made my way into the house to join Andy, he was talking to Lily’s mother.
“Listen, Beth. We’re taking him in and charging him with drunk and disorderly conduct, and I have to call Child Protective Services this time to make sure Lily is safe.” Andy said to the sobbing woman. She had a black eye, some blood on her face, and she was defending the man who beat her.
I listened as she told Andy how the man loved her and would never hurt Lily. I listened as she tried to blame her injuries on her own clumsiness. Andy held her hand as he listened, but didn’t back down. He looked her in the eye and quietly said, “I know you want to protect him, but my job is to protect you and Lily.”
“He’s just drunk, he’ll sober up, you don’t have to call CPS, they’ll just take her” the woman pleaded.
“That’s up to them, they probably won’t take her yet, but they’ll keep eye on her and the situation.” Andy looked her in the eye, “Beth, one of these times it’s gonna be more than a black eye, and it won’t just be you.” She scowled at him, she was pissed at him when all he was doing was trying to protect her and her baby. Andy left Lily with her mother, but it was clear he was uneasy about it. When we got back into the cruiser Andy was silent as we drove around.
“What happens to Lily now?” I asked.
Andy sighed, “Well, her dad spends the night in jail, and she stays with her mom. I’ll file a report with CPS and they’ll follow-up… eventually.” He just looked forward and drove as he spoke. “This is the hard part of my job. I don’t want to be the bad guy and take a baby from her mother, but I sure as hell don’t want that baby to get hurt or worse. We’ve been to that house before, it’s not gonna change.” I could tell he really cared and was worried about Lily and her mother.
After that it was more driving around, we talked about different domestic situations he had dealt with over his career. ‘Can I really do this?’ I wondered. ‘Can I think on my feet like he did? Could I just walk away and leave that baby there with her mother? Could I hold myself back from beating the shit outta her father?’ All these thoughts went through my head until dispatch announced another address and more code numbers over the radio. Andy responded and we headed downtown to a place near our apartment. “There’s someone suspicious lurking in the alley behind one of the restaurants” And said, “We’re just gonna drive by and check it out.” We pulled into the alley and drove past a couple of businesses. I’d seen the places from the front, but was never in the alley before… it was dark and kind looked like the alley behind Harrington House. Andy drove slowly until we saw somebody run across the alley and hide behind a dumpster, then he stopped the vehicle and got out telling me to stay in the car. I stayed there until he disappeared behind the dumpster, then I got out and stood by the squad. I could hear him talking to someone, a couple minutes later he stepped out of the shadows with this young skinny dude about my age. He brought him over to the car and put him in the backseat while he ran his ID through the system. Nothing came up.
“I didn’t do anything” the kid said.
“Nope, ya didn’t, but you’re lurkin’ round here making all the business owners nervous” Andy said, “well… Francis…” he said looking at the kids ID before giving it back. “I’m guessing that this aint your current address.” Francis just looked down. “We can take ya to the shelter, they’ll find a bed for you.”
“No!” Francis barked with fear in his voice. “I’m not going back there, I’m fine out here.” I took a closer look. Francis was really skinny, with long hair tied in a ponytail, he was kind of frail lookin’. I noticed and blue and yellow equality sticker on his backpack. I guessed that’s why he didn’t want to go to the shelter, he was gay and afraid. Me and River stayed at a shelter once, we didn’t last the night. Officer Andy tried to convince the guy to go to the shelter, he talked through a few other options for places to stay, but Francis refused. Eventually, Andy let him go and told him to stay away from the businesses. He got out of the car and walked away.
“You just gonna let him go out there alone?” I asked. Man, I couldn’t believe he just let the guy go without helpin’ him.
“I can’t force him to take my help” Andy said. “We see guys like him a lot, they’re stubborn, or too proud to admit they need help, whatever… remind you of anybody?” He asked looking at me with a smirk. “All I can do is offer my help, he’s free to refuse it.”
“What’s gonna happen to him?” I asked as we watched him walk away.
“There’s a quiet little park over there” he said pointing in the direction the guy was walking. “A lot of homeless stay there, he’ll probably end up there until someone complains.” Andy told me about the homeless issues in the area, he estimated that there were between 450 and 500 homeless people in the area. “You got the shelters, and places like The Village and other organizations but there aint much I can do if they don’t want help.”
The rest of my night with Andy was quiet. He gave me a lot of insight into what the job was really like. He told me about the time he had to shoot a guy, and about the time he almost got shot! We talked to about the application process and what the Police Academy was like. He said they’d be hirin’ in a couple of months and volunteered to help me try to get in. If I got hired, they’d put me through the academy, or if I didn’t get hired, I could pay my own way through the academy and try to get a job after. The guy was straight with me talkin’ about the good and bad of the job, stuff he thought might be a problem for me getting’ hired, what bein’ black, gay, and a cop might be like. He was a good guy… way better than any other cop I ever met. It was 11PM when we ended our shift and said goodbye. “Don’t be a stranger, son. We need guys like you on the force. Let me know how I can help” Andy said as he shook my hand.
When I got home, the adrenaline was flowin’. I woke Riv up and told him all about my night. He listened with a dopey smile and kinda laughed at my excitement. “You a cop? Never thought about it, but I think it’s kinda cool.” He said.
I was standing by the side of the bed getting undressed and he was layin’ on his side in bed, listenin’ to me babble while I stripped down. I was so lost in tellin’ him about my night that I didn’t even realize that River started blowin’ me. Damn! He was tuggin’ on my dark balls and lickin’ up and down my hefty nightstick, his eyes were locked to mine and I was still talkin’, I decided to just shut the fuck up and enjoy the reward for a night out on the beat. Hell, if I got to come home to this every night, bein’ a cop would be awesome! I just stood there looking down on River as he licked, sucked, and tugged. He looked up and right into my eyes when he went down on my weapon, my resistance was futile. He had me deep down his throat with his nose buried in my curly pubes, and I was thinkin’, “I wonder if anyone else would be able to do dat?’ I mean, yeah, I had messed around with a couple guys before River, they all freaked out when they first saw my size, but they’d try lickin’ it up and down and usin’ both hands to stroke it, but River was the only guy that worked until he got me all the way down his throat. It took him a lot of practice (not that I’m complanin’), but he finally figured out how to bypass his gag reflex and do it. Now he loved chokin’ on my massive tool… and it was hot as fuck to watch him do it. Why did this guy love me so damn much? I mean, I could be a total asshole, River was like the only one who ever saw me as more than some punk until we left Iowa. I’d kill for River if I had to.
I put my hands on Riv’s head and started pumping in and out of his mouth. He was chokin’ and spit was comin’ out the corners of his mouth… shit that just made it hotter. I went faster and deeper, his fuckin’ eyes were watering and almost bulgin’ outta his head, but he just grabbed on to my ass, dug his nails in and pulled me harder against his face… it was like he was forcin’ me to face fuck him. Like I said, it took him a lot of practice to finally deep throat me, but now that he knew how to do it, he fuckin’ loved it. I was so fuckin’ close, so I pulled out and jacked myself off until I shot ropes of cum all over his face. Damn, he was sexy with my cum on his face. He was still on the bed, so I jumped up there with him and sucked him off until he shot his load in my mouth, then I licked his cock clean, then his face and we fell asleep.
I didn’t sleep great that night thinkin’ ‘bout everything I saw on my ride along, especially Francis. Shit, that skinny guy reminded me of River… I mean, if me and River never met, he’d probably still be getting’ pushed around by his dad, or he woulda taken off and be livin’ on the streets alone, like Francis. It was only like 5:30AM but I was wide away. I got outta bed, pulled on my clothes from the day before, got in my car and went through the Bojangles drive thru to get some chicken biscuits and coffee, then went lookin’ for Francis. The park he was walkin’ to when we left him wasn’t far from Harrington House so I went there first. I was surprised to find a few homeless people sleeping on benches or on the ground. I walked around with my bag of biscuits until I found Francis leaning against an old oak tree, sitting on his backpack, asleep, I quietly woke him up.
“Hey, hey man, wake up, I brought you breakfast.”
He was sound asleep and awoke with a jolt. He grabbed onto his backpack tightly, then looked at me like I was crazy, “who the fuck are you?” He asked defensively as he coughed the sleep out of his throat.
“I’m Che, we met last night, I was ridin’ along with the cop that stopped you” the guy looked at me like I was a fuckin’ alien. “you’re Francis, right?”
“Frankie” he said quietly as he grabbed the coffee and the bag of food from me still clutching his backpack under his arm. He looked at the bag, then at me, he was suspicious.
“Dude, I just thought you could use some food” I said. He didn’t say nothin’ he just scarfed down the food. I talked and he ate, I told him about me n’ River bein’ homeless too, then I decided to go for it and ask him, “Why wouldn’t you let Officer Andy take you to the shelter?” he just looked at me and kept eatin’. “Is it cuz’ you’re gay?” Man, his eyes got really wide. “I saw the equality sticker on your backpack. Me and my boyfriend stayed at a homeless shelter once, some guy tried to get in bed with River and I almost beat the crap outta him, we didn’t even last the night.” Then I told him about sleepin’ in the storage unit, and then The Village findin’ us. “They can help you too, man. You should come with me Frankie; I’ll take you there.”
He flat out said “no” in between bites of his Bojangles chicken biscuit.
“Listen, Frankie, like a month ago I was living in a storage unit, now I got an apartment, a job, I’m gettin’ my GED and I think I know what I wanna do with my life… I was homeless a month ago, man.” I heard myself getting’ passionate, shit why did I want to help this guy so damn much? Since when did I give a shit? Whatever. It worked. He finally agreed to come back to Harrington House with me.
When I got home River was in the kitchen making coffee, and he was pissed, “Where were you?” He asked when I walked in the door. “I texted you like ten times.”
Frankie walked in behind me, “This is Frankie, he’s the homeless guy I told you about last night.” Shit, if looks could kill… damn. River was pissed at me. But shit, I had to help Frankie. I talked him into taking a shower, while he did River went off on me about how I was breakin’ Harrington House rules by bringin’ him there, and how if I was serious about bein’ a cop, I had to leave work at work. After he finally calmed down, I said, “I’m sorry babe, but I had to fuckin’ help him. I had to… he reminded me of you.” I didn’t say it to shut him up, but it did.
Frankie finished his shower and we took him down and introduced him to BA, “Hey BA, this is Frankie, he needs some help; can you make sure he meets Seth when he gets here?”
“You got it darlin’ He should eb here in a minute” BA said, then she got Frankie a cup of coffee, he was in good hands.
River and I walked to work with him bitchin’ at me the whole way, lecturin’ me about how I coulda’ got hurt, or got us kicked outta Harrington House. Yeah, he had some good points, but fuck it. I had to help Frankie; I didn’t have no regrets.
To be continued…
