JOAN’S POV
By
“Next time my partner gets shot, I’ll personally request you”, Dave tells me, as he gets ready to leave with Detective Hutchinson. He compliments me and I do the same, neither one of us ready to say farewell just yet. As we step face to face, I can’t keep my eyes off that gorgeous smile of his and the rest of the room fades away.
The voice of Captain Dobey breaks our reverie and I blush, thanking God that’s it’s not noticeable to the others in the room.
As Dave leaves with his partner, I’m left with the memories of our short time together.
*****
We didn’t start off on the same wavelength, that’s for sure. Dave’s partner was shot – shot by a young punk working a robbery. While Detective Hutchinson was laid up, Dave needed a partner to work the case and I happened to be perfect for the assignment. Because I’m a Detective Third Class, a double minority being female and black, and I’ve worked Juvie so I have experience with troubled kids.
Unfortunately, Dave didn’t see it that way – me being perfect for the assignment, that is. Like most men in dangerous jobs, he can be sexist. Doesn’t think women should be on the force except for the File room and Vice. Can’t handle the age of feminism. Though I was surprised that he accepted my being assigned to work with him better than I initially thought. Once I convinced him I could handle it, that is.
First I played the heavy to the young turk arrested at the scene of Detective Hutchinson’s shooting. I think Dave was surprised that I knew how to handle the kid. Later I proved to him I could defend myself in a physical confrontation. He was surprised that a 105lb woman was able to take collar a big, strong male like himself. I’d like to think I knocked a few marks off that macho pole in his mind.
After awhile I realized it wasn’t so much that he didn’t think I could handle the job, as it was his worry over his partner. He told me that Hutchinson was closer to him than his brother, but I didn’t pay attention, as I was more concerned with trying to prove to him that a female could take on the task of being an undercover detective.
Once he introduced me to his friend and informant, Huggy Bear, I knew I was accepted as an equal. Huggy, now he’s an interesting character. The man could charm a snake from his basket without music. The man’s as colorful as the clothes he wears. But he does have a certain style about him. ‘Specially those hats, I grinned to myself.
Dave was pretty abrupt in telling Huggy that we needed a line on stolen goods and Huggy took offense. I understood his reluctance in not wanting to give up any brothers for what he considered a minor offense. To be known as a big mouth on the street could be deadly for a black man. However, once Dave told him Detective Hutchinson was almost killed, the tension changed dramatically. Both men were concerned about the welfare of their friend and would do anything to bring down those responsible. It took a little reminder from me that it wasn’t the young teen’s fault as much as it was the person behind her. Taking advantage of poor black youth and using them for their own personal gain.
It was Dave’s suggestion that I try to infiltrate the gang of teen thieves by passing as one and delivering his “stolen” television to the gang’s boss. We found their base by trailing them. I told him I’d think about it.
This wasn’t my first undercover assignment, but it was the first in which I tried to pass for a teen. Personally, I thought it was never gonna work. I might have a slight build and a young face, but there was no way this guy was going to believe that I was a 17 or 18 year old kid. Much to my surprise he bought it.
Old blue eyes, as I called Dave, stayed in the car waiting for my signal. We joked and said that his blue eyes would give him away in this neighborhood, when all it took was his pasty face and the girl who shot Detective Hutchinson to recognize it. Which in turn blew my cover.
I tried reasoning with the girl, Vivian was her name; tried to explain that she didn’t want to destroy her life and future by wasting two cops. She thought she had already wasted one, so what did it matter if she killed another two. We told her that she didn’t kill Detective Hutchinson, and that she still had some semblance of a future, but her ‘boss’ influenced her to disbelieve us. I don’t know if I could’ve persuaded her not to shoot us, because then Detective Hutchinson came in and disarmed the gang-boss, while I took down Vivian. At least he can’t destroy any more young lives.
Captain Dobey was right behind Detective Hutchinson and took control of the situation while I booked the two and filed our report, and Dave took Hutchinson back to the hospital before he collapsed on us.
Of course Hutchinson wasn’t going to stay there. He let Dave take him back just to officially discharge himself and to get his prescriptions. Then the two went back to his place where they planned on staying until Hutchinson was better.
I know this because I tried calling Dave’s apartment that night and there was no answer. The next morning at the precinct, I got short with him that he didn’t let me know where he was. We were still partnered until Detective Hutchinson came back on duty. When he said that he’d been taking care of ‘Hutch’, I calmed down.
You see, what I didn’t say earlier is that the other evening when I went to Dave’s apartment to agree to his plan for going under, was that we became partners both personally as well as professionally. At least for that one night.
I was unusually shy, probably because I’d never slept with a white guy before. But Dave made me feel comfortable so that I enjoyed our differences. It was a magical evening; one that I wouldn’t mind repeating. So I left my number on his nightstand while he was in the shower. Would it be too forward if I called him?
I’d love to see him occasionally. But would I want to form a long-term relationship with him? Dave’s worry and love for Ken Hutchinson are so apparent, that any woman who wants that with Dave, had better make sure her own self-confidence is adequate. Otherwise the two men’s feeling for each other will overpower her and she will be left aside wanting. Do I have that self-confidence? I wish I knew.
