It was after hours at Central, the city lights had turned on and L. A. traffic ebbed and flowed like streams of light on the freeways. The day shift of Central had left and come back again, they sat in the briefing room but in plain clothes instead of uniforms, there were eight of them gathered waiting for their leader, they spoke little, some not at all, and a death hush fell over the room when sergeant Getraer came in and took his place, he looked out over them, face grave. "Roll call. Arliss?" he asked.
"Here, sir."
"Baker?"
"Here."
"Baricza?"
"Here."
"Cahill?"
"Here."
"Clark?"
"Here."
"Fritz?"
"Here."
"Grossman?"
"Here."
"Turner?"
"Here."
"Alright, now that we're all here we can get down to it, you all know why we're here, and you all know how difficult the task at hand will be, but we have undertaken it regardless of the risk involved. Because we are public servants and risk is our job," Getraer said.
Everyone in the room stared right at him, looking most seriously.
"Now it is determined that the function will be held here at the garage. Harlan?" Getraer asked, looking to the man.
"I will have garage cleared and spotless, as if it isn't all the time, by four P. M. Friday evening...sir," Harlan said. He had stood to speak and then sat back down again.
"Good. Everyone must know their parts and follow them through with perfect timing and precision. Grossman," Getraer called on him next.
He stood. "I will have the place decorated by five- thirty, Sarge," Grossie said.
"Right. Baricza?"
"And I will help him get it done by five- thirty," Bear said. He also stood and then he and Grossie sat back down.
"Cahill."
"I will make the cake and have it here by six," Sindy said.
"Good. Fritz?" Getraer asked, looking over at him.
"I will arrange for the rest of the food," Fritz said.
"Turner?"
"I provide the music and any other entertainment," Jeb said.
"Excellent! Clark?" Getraer asked.
"I'm in charge of making sure everybody gets there before six," Bonnie said.
"Alright, that leaves us with you, Baker. You have the hardest job of all, go over it so we can get input from the group on how to handle your problem," Getraer said.
Jon stood and cleared his throat. "My job is to keep Ponch from finding out about his party," he said.
All in the room looked on him with sorrow and some gladness, that they didn't have this task.
"Does anybody have any advice for Jon?" Getraer asked.
"I don't know, man I just feel for you," Fritz said.
"You know him best, Jon I think you can handle it," Bonnie said.
"I don't know, you know how Ponch is, if he gets wind of anything suspicious it's all over!" Sindy said.
"That's right! Which is why we must- MUST act naturally. Friday is just another day like any other, talk about your plans, focus on your work, joke, eat at normal times, ect. Understood?" Getraer asked.
"Yes." they responded.
"Yes, sir!" Harlan added.
"OK. You're all dismissed, I'll see you in the morning," Getraer said.
Everybody started filing out the door, the last out was Harlan, and Getraer stopped him. "Oh and Harlan, never call a non-com 'sir'," he said.
"Yes..sergeant," Harlan answered.
Getraer nodded in approval and flipped the light switch off as he went out the door.
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They had conducted their meeting on a Monday night, Jon had had to face Ponch the next day, but that was just Tuesday- and it was a breeze. The closer it got to Ponch's birthday the more nervous Jon became, because Ponch would bring it up every now and again. He was excited about his birthday, but he was under the impression that he and Jon were going to go out for a night on the town with two lovely ladies Jon was going to bring with him when he came to pick up his friend, Jon hoped he continued to think that.
"Man, I cannot wait for my birthday! We are going to have a great night dancing and wining and dining those ladies you have lined up for us!" Ponch smiled over at Jon as they rode down the freeway.
"Yeah, it will be amazing! I have a lot of good plans for us," Jon said. That wasn't entirely untrue.
It was Thursday afternoon when they had that conversation, they were headed to Central to write some reports. When they arrived they passed Bonnie in the hall. "Hey, Bon-Bon, you're looking beautiful today!" Ponch said.
"Thanks. Hey Jon," she said. She winked at him as they passed one another; Jon nodded.
"Hey, partner you have a thing with Bonnie or is she, uh, just into you suddenly?" Ponch asked. They entered the report room and sat down.
"Uh...well, we, we have an attraction," Jon said. He couldn't believe what had just come out of his mouth! He gave a half smile and tried to act like that was true.
"Oh yeah? How come I've never noticed before?" Ponch asked. He was sure he would have noticed his best friend crushing on their co-worker.
"I don't know Ponch, but the whole of Central is a buzz with romance gossip about them, I guess you've been tuned in to the wrong channel," Sindy spoke up. She was writing a report across from the table from them and could see Jon was in trouble.
"Oh? Have they been talking about you and me because I feel our romantic connection, don't you?" Ponch asked. He looked into her eyes and raised his eye brows, smiling.
Sindy rolled her eyes. "Ponch you're impossible!" she said.
Ponch laughed. "Come on, Sindy! You know you feel it!" he said.
Sindy wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at him, she then stood to leave and walked out, a few moments later she stuck her head back in. "Jon, the Sarge wants to see you," she said.
Ponch looked over at Jon, Jon looked at Ponch. "Good luck!" Ponch told him.
"Thanks," Jon said. He left the room to go join Sindy, Bonnie, and Grossie in the hall.
"You almost lost the ball game in there, Jon!" Sindy said.
"I know! How are things going?" Jon asked.
"Well, I'm going to bake the cake tonight and frost it early in the morning before work, I'll go home and get it before time," Sindy said.
"Bear and I have the decorations and have planned out how we are going to do them," Grossie said.
"And I winked at you before because everybody has already R.S. for the party!" Bonnie said, smiling.
"Yeah, big mouth over there told Ponch that you two had an "attraction"!" Sindy said. Smiling and making air quotations.
"An attraction, huh? Who says we don't?" Bonnie asked. Giving Jon a look.
Jon blushed. The report room door came open and Sindy pushed Jon into Getraer's office quickly and shut the door.
"Oh, hey Ponch!" Jon heard Grossie say.
He turned to find his sergeant looking at him. "Uh, yell at me!" Jon requested, trying to think on his feet.
"What?!" Getraer asked.
"Yell at me! It's for the thing, tomorrow, you know?" Jon asked.
"Oh, oh, that! Alright, uh,..and I don't want to ever hear of you doing anything like that again, you understand me?!" Getraer's voice rose as Ponch got close to the door.
"I understand," Jon said.
The door opened and Ponch came in. "Hey, man, what did you do?" he asked.
"That will not be discussed. You are dismissed, Baker," Getraer said.
Jon shook his head and he and Ponch both left. "Man, what was Getraer getting on to you about?" Ponch asked.
"I don't know, nothing really, he's just in a bad mood today," Jon said. Looking at Jeb as he pasted them, he nodded at them.
Ponch studied Jon's face as he was looking away- something was up.
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The next day at briefing everyone was uneasy, even Getraer seemed to be nervous, he messed up on what he was saying twice and quickly looked away if his eyes rested on Ponch for even a second. Jon squirmed in his seat, he knew Ponch knew that there was something going on and he had to keep it together and make sure that the secret stayed exactly that.
"OK, hit your beats." Jon heard Getraer say and they all got up, he and Ponch went out to get on their motors, kicking their kick stands up they were off.
Jon was deep in his thoughts when Ponch spoke up. "You sure are quiet today," he said.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Happy birthday!" Jon smiled.
Ponch smiled back. "Thanks, partner! I can't wait for our plans tonight!" he said.
Jon just closed his mouth, afraid the truth might come out of it, lying was getting harder to do all the time.
The morning past fairly quickly and by lunchtime they were hungry, but they only got to eat half of their lunch before getting a call about a bad wreck on the freeway, it was a pretty bad one, eight cars, most everybody had gotten out safely, but when they pulled up they saw a young woman waving frantically at them, when they got off she ran up and grabbed Ponch's arm.
"Please! My babies! My babies are in my car and I can't get them out! Please help!" she yelled.
They left their helmets on their motors and followed her, her car was smashed in the front but laying on it's side. "I couldn't get to them! Somebody helped me out but we couldn't get to them!" she said.
Ponch looked through the windshield and saw the two little girls in their car seats crying loudly. "I'm going in to get them, steady the car, Baker," he said.
Jon took a hold of the side of the car to try to ensure it didn't flip on it's top as Ponch climbed in through the window and dropped down and reached into the back seat trying to unbuckle one of the baby girls, the buckle seemed to be stuck so he got his pocket knife out as quickly as he could and cut the straps, he picked her up and tried to calm her.
"It's gonna be alright, my love," he told her. He handed her up and out to Jon, who handed her over to her mother and then turned to hold the car again.
Ponch repeated what he had done with the first girl, but this time the car started to flip, Jon was gritting his teeth and grunting trying to keep the car up, when he saw Ponch lifting the baby out he called to a by-stander to take it, the man then handed that little girl to her mother as well, they could hear an ambulance coming and more ChiPies.
"Can you get outta there, OK, Ponch? I can't hold this thing up much longer," Jon said.
"Yeah," Ponch said. He started to climb out and emerge from the window, when he was out Jon just couldn't hold it anymore, his arms were shaking, the car slipped from his grasp and fell with a scraping sound onto the freeway. Jon jumped back but when the falling over he saw Ponch laying there, his fore arm caught underneath the roof of the car.
"Ponch?!" Jon yelled. He started trying to move the car, Bear was one of the officers that had just arrived on scene and came running, he helped Jon move the car and Ponch rolled over away from it, then they lowered the car back down.
"Ponch, I'm sorry! How bad is it?" Jon asked, worried.
"Hurts pretty good, partner. But it could be worse," Ponch said. There were tears in his eyes from the intensity of the pain, but he tried to smile anyway.
The two babies were checked out and found to be fine, Ponch was taken to the hospital and Jon rode with him, Bear had their motors taken care of. Jon paced the hall while they did x-rays, he got call after call from Central wanting to know if Ponch was going to be alright and if he would be able to attend the party that evening, Jon had no answers.
It was almost a half an our before they called him back to the treatment room where Ponch was, they were putting a cast on his arm, the doctor stood there watching, he was an older man with a graying beard and tired eyes.
"Is he going to be OK?" Jon asked.
"Yes. A badly broken arm, it will not require surgery, it will hurt but I will give him medication for that," the doctor said. He was from another country, perhaps somewhere in the middle east.
"So he'll be able to leave soon?" Jon asked.
"Yes, it the next hour or so," the doctor said.
Jon looked at the clock, it was almost three, he shook his head and when the nurses and doctor left he sat down beside Ponch. Ponch rolled his eyes over at his friend, he was laying back on an exam table, he could see Jon shifting uncomfortably in the chair and staring at the clock, he thought he might prey on his friend's sympathies.
"Owww, Jon! My arm hurts awful!" Ponch said.
"I'm sorry, is there anything I can do? The doc said he would give you some pain pills," Jon said.
"There is something you could do for me, it would make me feel better," Ponch said. His forehead was wrinkled as if he were in pain, and his eyes looked terribly sad.
"Sure, anything," Jon said.
"Anything? Oww!" Ponch faked, squirming.
"Sure, buddy," Jon said. He felt very sorry for his friend.
"Whats going on with everybody at Central?" Ponch asked. Careful to still sound pitiful.
"Oh...well, we are throwing you a party tonight in the garage at Central. We wanted it to be a surprise for you," Jon revealed.
Ponch gave one of his million dollar smiles as he sat up, he leaned closer to Jon. "Really? A party? For me?" he asked, excited.
Jon's mouth came open first from shock and he then he felt a flash of foolishness and anger- he had been suckered. "Ponch, how could you trick me like that?" Jon asked. Looking away and crossing his arms.
"I have been dying to know what has been going on! I'm sorry, Jon, I just had to know!" Ponch said. He got up and got to where he would be in Jon's sights.
Jon sighed. Ponch got down to look him in the eyes. "Come on, don't be mad!" he said, smiling.
Finally Jon broke down and smiled. "Alright, so when did you know?" he asked.
"When I came out of the report room and heard Getraer yelling at you. Man, you never get yelled at! I knew you were up to something!" Ponch said.
"Well, you've got to keep it a secret, I don't want everybody to know that I told you- I don't want anybody to know that I told you!" Jon said. Wide eyed.
Ponch laughed at his expression. "Don't worry, I'll act surprised. Tell me more about it!" Ponch said.
"No! No more, you can be surprised for real with the details," Jon said.
"OK. When is it?" Ponch asked.
"Six this evening," Jon informed.
Ponch just beamed, he couldn't wait.
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They ended up leaving the hospital at something to four, Bear came and got them to take them back to Central, when they got there they wrote their reports and then turned them in to Getraer, who was waiting for them in his office.
"Well I heard about what happened out there today, good work," Getraer said.
"Thanks, Sarge," Ponch said.
"Jon, I'd like to talk to Frank alone," Getraer said. He gave Jon a look and Jon nodded and left.
He went over to the garage to check on things, the garage was cleared out and clean with tables set up in it, Grossie and Bear were smiling with pride at their balloons, streamers, and welly placed 'Happy Birthday!' sign. Sindy was just placing the cake down on a table, it had white and blue frosting on it and candles, Fritz had gotten all the other party food together and was putting out paper plates and humming to himself, Jeb was sitting up the radio with tunes to dance to, Bonnie and Harlan were talking in a corner, there were lots of other officers already there and talking among themselves, Jon walked over to Bonnie.
"Is everything ready?" he asked.
"Yeah I think so, he can come in anytime," Bonnie smiled.
"Alright, I'll tip off Getraer, Ponch is with him," Jon said. He left and walked back inside, looking through Getraer's door he gave him a nod and then walked away.
"OK, Frank, that's all the questions I need to ask you right now. I need to talk to Harlan a minute and then I'll drive you home," Getraer said.
"OK," Ponch said.
They went out and over to the garage, when they went in the door everybody yelled: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PONCH!"
Ponch smiled. "Thanks guys!" he said.
Once Ponch arrived the party started, the food and the cake were eaten, the presents opened, the dancing started, after a couple of hours Ponch had mingled with everyone and went to talk to Getraer, Jon, and Sindy who were drinking punch together.
"You know this is a great party, thanks you guys," Ponch said.
"Your welcome, Frank. We all had a hand in it," Getraer said.
"I really was surprised," Ponch said, looking at Jon.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Sindy asked.
"It just means I was really surprised," Ponch said.
She looked at him a moment before smiling. "Well, I'm glad," she said. She and Getraer then walked off.
"That was close, partner!" Ponch said.
"Yeah. Say, happy birthday, 'ole buddy," Jon smiled.
"Thanks, Jon," Ponch said. They put their arms around each other's shoulders and spotted two new female officers on the dance floor, looking at one another and they headed in that direction.
THE END.
(Happy birthday, Ponchy! :D I hope you have the best one ever! Hugs and love from me!)