I wrote this post about a story where I had a first chapter written. I'm trying to push on and finish a first draft in 2024.
If you'd like to be tagged in for future chapters, let me know.
Thanks
Stuart
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Chapter 6c - 1581 words
David Ortiz was in the Mission Division which dealt with gangs and related activity and, when Wilson called him and suggested a beer, his response was coarse and expletive laden, but an agreement for all that.
They met at a bar in (area) that was (opposite side of city to Wilson’s normal). Wilson had been before and recognised some other off-duty officers sitting in groups. Nods of acknowledgment were passed. David was at the bar already, a tall pilsner glass before him. He saw Wilson and turned to the bartender, held up two fingers and pointed over his shoulder towards an empty booth. He lifted his beer, swivelled on his stool, and pointed at the same booth. Wilson changed direction and headed to the same place.
‘Good to see you, Wilson.’
‘Back at you, David. You sounded pretty pissed when I called you.’
David nodded, but finished his beer before answering. ‘You must have heard about us being closed down.’
The bartender placed their beers down and took David’s empty away.
Wilson said, ‘There’s always rumor of departments or divisions getting closed, or amalgamated, or repurposed.’
David cut in, ‘Well this rumor’s true. The public announcement will be tomorrow. But we were told today. Right now I don’t even know where I’ll be next week so, whatever favor you need may or may not be possible.’
‘They not giving you an idea of where you’ll be moved to?’
David shook his head. He said, ‘Look, ask your favor, then we can bitch and moan.’
‘Right. Trainee and me were on patrol over (area) today and there’s a bodega on (street) that called for a robbery. When we attended the indications are there’s some new gang putting a squeeze on the area. The M.O. is one I’ve seen before, though it’s pretty common, but I figured you’d either know about it and be able to tell me who it is, or you’d like the heads up it was happening.’
Music started playing, a mid-twenty-tens pop number Wilson recognised, but couldn’t have identified by name or artist. He took a pull of his beer. It was sharper than what he normally drank but was cold and hit the spot.
David said, ‘I hadn’t heard of anyone moving on that area. It’s been pretty quiet for a spell since the Ukrainian’s started focusing on home.’ He took a drink, wiped his lips, and asked, ‘Who do you think it might be?’
‘It’s not that I think it is, I just saw the same movement on an area years ago. Looks like what Harry Albarn did near my home when I was at high school. But I don’t figure he’s bothering about hustling a couple of hundred dollars a week from a bodega or pimping out girls on a street corner. Well, not personally. But I guess for as high as he has risen, there’ll still be lieutenants at the bottom of the pyramid starting out.’
‘Our info suggests your favorite gangster is trying to go legit. There’s been a movement away from that low level street stuff. But why’d you think it’s Albarn. It’s not like what you describe is unique to him. There’s half-a-dozen thugs and wannabee gangsters trying it at any one time. And I mean specifically that, a lowkey move in by hassling the businesses on a strip, the bodega, laundrette, nail salon and the like, then a few girls on one of the busy intersections.’ He took a drink. ‘There’s others who go in mob handed. They’ll turn up in a gang and beat the shit out of a business owner and suddenly your local guy is being ‘assisted’ by someone who does zero work, but is intent on making you spend more. Kinda like your local mom and pop store got a used car salesman to push you into buying extra Crisco and chips every time you go in for a soda. So, Wilson, don’t bullshit me.’
‘Give me a moment,’ Wilson said. ‘You want another beer?’ David nodded, being mid-drink at the time. ‘I’ll go get them. When I get back, you can tell me what I.A. are saying to you guys.’ He watched David’s eyes flash wide as he stood up. At the bar he ordered more beers, and a couple of bourbons.
Back at the table David had finished his beer. He asked, ‘What makes you think I’ve been talking to I.A.?’
‘Well, haven’t you?’
‘I’m not allowed to talk about it.’
‘Standard I.A. If you hadn’t, that’d mean they have you lined up as one of the people to blame for whatever Mission has been doing to get shut down. And if that was the case, well, you’d be more nervous than pissed.’ The beer and bourbon arrived. ‘I hope you got an Uber, if not we can split one and you can come back for your car tomorrow.’
‘Yeh, I’m good,’ David said. ‘Thanks for the bourbon.’ Wilson shrugged the thanks away.
David sniffed the bourbon, took a pull of the beer, then knocked the liquor back. He took another pull on the beer. He turned and indicated the barmen to bring them more. He looked at Wilson and said, ‘C’mon, why do you think this thing is an Albarn flunky. And why does it involve I.A.?’
Wilson sipped his bourbon, savoring the spiced vanilla notes and thinking how the next price-point up added in more rounded notes on the tongue, tasted less like chewing a bat of hickory. The barman arrived with the next round and placed it on the table, lifting David’s empty glasses.
Wilson said, ‘In theory I could have seen someone who rides the I.A. line, rides it like a dude ranch hero thinking they were the real thing. You know what it-’ Wilson realised he didn’t know what, the quickly drunk beers on an empty stomach made things a little fuzzy. He shook his head. ‘My trainee swapped acknowledgments with someone that was identified by a store owner as part of the shakedown crew.’
‘You saw that?’
‘In the side-mirror, yes.’
‘You sure? It’s not always easy to see if it’s in the mirror, easy to make a mistake. Unless you got reason to think he might have been likely to and were watching.’
Wilson said nothing and sipped his beer. He watched David turn cogs over in his head.
David said, ‘You spent time with IA recently, and it’s about your trainee. You know, you could get in big trouble by telling me.’
‘I never told you anything,’ Wilson said. ‘Just like you never told me they’ve had you watching folks in Mission Division.’
‘Shit.’
‘Yeh, Shit. So you got no clue what’s going to happen with he division? You must be in a good spot if you’ve been collecting info.’
‘So long as no one finds out. You and me, we’re kinda unusual in being cops who wont back their brothers no matter what the accusation. Like we’ve chatted before, it probably comes from joining up despite having seen a corrupt cop doing their thing. But it’s a balancing act. We didn’t join up to make a crusade against bad cops, hell, neither of us went to I.A. and I be they asked you like they asked me.’
‘Several times,’ Wilson said.
‘Yeh. So no, I don’t know where I’ll be but there were some good guys in the Division and I reckon we did some good work. I liked the work, there was a good balance of investigation and observation and only as much paperwork as anywhere else.’ David took a drink. He said, ‘Maybe I’ll see if they have a pot to pay folks off. A backhander to add into the retirement fund and then do the last ten or twelve years in some Podunk department where it’s me and a couple of in-bred hicks shutting down stills and telling the local dumb-asses that weed is legal now.’
‘How you gonna get the job over bubba, whose pa is Mayor?’
‘Good question. Maybe I’ll just be a private eye, go serve subpoenas and follow adulterers trying to avoid getting stung by their pre-nup. Look, we’re all in the office this week wrapping up files and handing off cases to other departments. If you want I can have a look at any info we’ve got on, where did you say it was?’
Wilson told him.
‘Right, I’ll look it up. You want this on the down-low I guess. If you don’t hear, there’s nothing. If there is, well, you can buy me another beer. You want another one now?’
‘No, I gotta bounce before I sit and drink my way to not being able to drive in the morning. Not a good look having the trainee drive because your blood-alcohol is too high.’
‘I hear you. If I hadn’t just heard my job is gone, I’d probably do the same. But tonight, I’m gonna sip beers, watch the ball game, and sit in the office tomorrow with shades on, chewing Tylenol, and listening to the schmucks who got us shut down bitching and moaning.’
Wilson finished his beer and pushed the bourbon he hadn’t finished towards David. ‘Don’t get so drunk you forget to look that up for me.’ He stood and put a hand on David’s shoulder. ‘Hey, sorry to hear about the Division. But don’t make any hasty decisions, yeh. Wait until you know what’s being offered.’
‘Yeh, sure thing buddy. I’ll call you.’
Chapter Break
Link to collated chapters HERE
Link to the short story which is the seed for this is HERE
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words by stuartcturnbull pic by igorelick on Pixabay