Too much food

The next day, I called Kay to invite her over for lunch. I gave her the hard copy of the “contract” that Maxwell, his landlord, Vince and I all had signed. She looked at it and said that she’d get it notarized so it’d be legal. She’d hold on to it for me and file it in a safe place. She asked for Maxwell’s landlord’s information and I gave it to her.

Kay stepped out into the corridor of my apartment building to call the landlord. She was out there for a long time but not sure what was said between them. All I know is that she came back in when she realized her phone was on the verge of losing its power. After coming back in, she plugged her phone into my phone’s charger. I swear she’s on her phone 20 hours a day.

The three of us sat down to 4 pies of pizza and rigatoni with Vodka sauce that I’d ordered from my brother’s restaurant. Kay thought she’d died and gone to heaven after eating the pizza and rigatoni. Between the three of us, we downed 3 of the 4 pizzas and 2 of the 6 pounds of rigatoni. It only took an hour and a half!

Kay and Vince went into the living room as I cleaned up the kitchen. Knowing Vince, he’d ask Kay how long we’d been friends and how often she’d saved my ass over the years. I couldn’t hear what Vince said and thankfully I could hear Kay; she’s not as quiet as Vince but not nearly as loud as I am. She’d told him about me borrowing a taxi to get to work just before I started with the PD. Another instance she shared with Vince was when my brother and I egged a few cars when we had one too many drinks; our sentence was washing those cars.

Vince laughed at the two stories that Kay had shared with him. He didn’t know my brother too well; despite being his teacher as well. He couldn’t imagine my brother getting into any shenanigans because my brother is a business owner. Kay laughed so hard she had tears streaming down her face. She said that as my brother and I were growing up, he was the head of the shenanigan causing but since he’s “too old” for that nonsense, he leaves it up to me. Vince asked if I had gotten into serious trouble and Kay said that she can’t share that with him because of lawyer/client confidentiality. I can only imagine that he wasn’t happy with that response but respected her answer.

After cleaning the kitchen I came out and joined them. Kay and I shared a look; she knew that I heard their conversation about how serious trouble I’ve been in before. I nodded to let her know that I’d talk to Vince.

Kay announced that she was leaving and didn’t need to be rolled out the door. I offered her to take some food home and she accepted. Between her and her lawyer hubby’s busy schedules, they didn’t always have the time to cook dinner. I packed up half of the remaining rigatoni and the last pizza.  With both of her hands full, I’m grateful that her apartment building is right next to mine.

Vince and I went into the kitchen to grab a beer and then headed to the little patio; I just had to remember not to look down. For an adventurous person like myself, I must admit that I’m afraid of heights.

“So, I hear that you get yourself into a little bit of trouble from time to time. Egging cars with your brother, stealing a taxi to get to work,” Vince said.

“Eh. Not exactly trouble but childish behavior. Ok so the one time wasn’t; the taxi. My car’s tires were slashed, I knew the cabbie so I asked him if I could borrow his taxi and he said that it was ok. A passerby didn’t know that I knew the cabbie and called the PD on me, I was arrested. I called Kay and she requested to see the Chief, with whom she’s worked with before, explained that I was a new hire with the PD and didn’t want a record and I also didn’t want to leave my previous job, at Cielo, on a bad note. The Chief called Bob at Cielo and Bob verified that I worked there and that the cabbie was his brother, the taxi was NOT stolen. The Chief didn’t press charges. There wasn’t any basis for charges to be pressed anyways,” I replied.

“I know that you heard my conversation with Kay and you know where I’m going with my next question. Have you ever been in severe trouble where Kay had to save your fine ass?” Vince asked.

“Once,” I replied. “With the IAB.”

“What’s the IAB?” Vince asked.

“The IAB is the Internal Affairs Bureau,” I replied.

“What happened? Do you want to share with me what happened?” Vince asked.

“I was involved in shooting. A robbery suspect was fleeing the corner bodega in Harlem, where he’d shot and killed the bodega owner. I followed on foot. When I caught up to him, I announced I was with the PD and that he needs to stop. He didn’t heed the warning so I tackled him to the ground. We were grappling for a bit. One of the uniforms finally caught up to see the suspect pull out a knife and slash me across my neck and again across my stomach - just under my vest. I doubled over in pain and he was getting away. I was able to yell “Stop! Police!”. He turned around completely so I shot him in the shoulder to stop him. He dropped. The uniform saw everything unfold and called for backup as well as two ambulances. I was put in the first one and was immediately sent into surgery. I had several surgeries on my neck; the last one being plastic surgery to conceal the wide scar. I ended up having many done to my stomach since several intestines were nicked pretty good. After I recovered and after the suspect recovered, we were both involved with the IAB investigation. I immediately called Kay. She had my back from the get go. The suspect hired someone from her husband’s firm. During the investigation, I was suspended with partial pay because I fired my weapon. My badge and weapon were taken away. I was asked to take the stand and I explained what my actions were. I explained that the suspect had assaulted an officer and I had the option to shoot to kill but chose shoot to stop,” I began.

“I remember seeing the story briefly on the news. Now I know why Maxwell looks familiar. He was the suspect, right?” Vince asked.

“Yes. The uniform followed me on the stand and corroborated the story. The suspect also corroborated the story. He knew me from previous arrests and stated that I was a fair officer unlike the “others”. He admitted to killing the bodega owner and slashing me twice but he did it in a drugged state; he had done speedball about 45 minutes prior to committing the crime,” I continued.

“What’s a speedball?” Vince asked.

“It’s a lethal combination of crack and heroine. It’s an intravenous way to get high; it has both drugs in the same syringe. Anyways, he barely recognized me in the state he was in and thought I was one of the “others” so he slashed me. Once he was out of recovery and back in the jail, he was shown pictures of me, bruised, scraped and slashed before AND after surgery. Once he realized that it was me that he slashed, he broke down. He was given his Miranda Rights and denied wanting a lawyer at that time. He admitted to everything. Once the more in depth investigation started, he hired someone from Kay’s husband’s firm to represent him. He did plead guilty; he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He got out in a year, started going to drug rehab treatment, found a sponsor – whom he continues to see three times a week, found a poorly paying job and got married. He took the lawyer he had and came to me at work a few months after his release, in front of the Chief and everyone else in the office, and asked for my forgiveness for his actions against me. I did and I hugged him to show that I truly did. The chief had pulled the three of us into the office. He gave me my weapon and badge back. I got my back pay.

I got to know the suspect, Maxwell, better. He was looking for a BETTER job so I got him in contact with Marley. I told her from the beginning what the situation was. I asked her if she’d still hire him. She replied with: “In a heartbeat”. She was cautious at first and slowly began to trust him. Now he takes care of the priority people; myself and a few other people. He’s trusted by everyone and is the hardest working one there. I know that you saw Marley treat him unfairly but she’s wary of people that have a record; even though I vouched for Maxwell. I set her in her place and she was fine after that. Maxwell’s the only person that I’ve arrested that I look out for,” I finished.

“Wow. That’s incredible. It explains why you took care of him and that you still do. What I don’t understand is why I can’t see the scar on your stomach. Did you have that corrected as well?” Vince asked.

“Yes but not out of vanity nor of my choosing. Bob, my boss over at Cielo, asked me to. At that point in time, I was doubling as a bouncer and a bartender. As a bartender, I had to wear short shirts that bare my stomach. Bob’s explanation made sense; no one wants to buy drinks from a beautiful woman with a nasty scar on her stomach. So I had it taken care of,” I said.

Vince didn’t say anything. He just took me by my hand, led us inside and laid us both down on the bed so he could hold me. He didn’t have any words to say to express how he felt. He just wanted to let me know that he’s supporting me and that I’ll never have to go through anything again; especially alone.