Pete limped back to his apartment wanting nothing more than a hot shower and a bit of peace before he had to be at basketball practice. As soon as he got the apartment door open, the phone started to ring. The caller hung up when Pete answered the phone. "Great, just great".
Pete left little drops of blood on the rug as he walked down the hall to the bathroom. He turned on the water and proceeded to strip off his clothes, tossing them into a pile in the corner of the bathroom. By the size of the pile, he reasoned that he didn't need to take his laundry to be washed, yet. He stepped into stall, anticipating a long, relaxing hot shower.
"Argh!" he gasped. The water that pelted his body wasn't remotely warm. The shock of the cold water reminded him of those Boy Scout camp-outs he used to go on. More often than not, they were made to bathe in the river or pond nearby. Rivers in Seattle are not known for being warm even in the middle of summer. Shivering, Pete quickly soaped up, washed his hair and rinsed all in the same move. As he shut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist, he smiled at the memories of times spent sitting around a campfire or fishing with his best friends. All but a few of those friendships had fallen away. Still he would treasure those friends all his life. He was still lost in the past as he spread shaving cream on his face.
At the first swipe of the razor, the phone rang again. Pete really didn't feel like answering the phone. He knew he shouldn't ignore a call, but he wanted to linger in the memories. Besides, he reasoned, that if it was important, they would call back, right? The caller persisted and Pete reluctantly strolled into the bedroom to answer the phone. He should have gone with his first instinct.
Grabbing the phone in the bedroom, he held it away from his face to avoid getting the receiver covered in shaving cream. "Yeah?" he growled into the phone.
His tone of voice obviously unnerved the caller, who hesitated before squeaking, "Officer Malloy?" Another omen; very few good calls to his apartment stated that way.
"Who wants to know?" was the first thing that popped into his head, but reason ruled and he confirmed that he was Officer Malloy.
After a moment's hesitation, the woman began to speak. "Officer Malloy, my name is Rhonda Davis. I work for the state parole board and I've been told to inform you of a parole hearing for Mr. Tony Johnson. It is on the 9th at 10am".
Tony Johnson was a former LAPD officer and a good friend of Pete's. At least he was before he extorted money from a man found in the company of prostitutes. He then used his friendship with Pete to try to be cleared of the charges. For a while, Pete and Jim tried to help prove Tony innocent but they gradually realized that Tony was guilty. There was an ugly confrontation between Pete and his friend, before Tony admitted his guilt. After four years, the sting of Tony's betrayal was still a sore spot.
"Why does the Parole Board want me there?" It was a valid question. Usually, police officers are notified by mail, at the station, when there is a parole hearing they might want to speak at.
"Oh, the board isn't asking you to come for their purposes. It is Mr. Johnson's request. He would like you to be a character witness."
Pete was stunned and managed a stuttered "He What?" Surely, he must be hearing things.
"He wants you to speak for him before the board. Tell them that he should get parole." She calmly explained, having no notion of the torrent of hurt feelings unleashed by this request.
"Tell him to go...um, tell him that I can't be there. I have to testify in court that day. Goodbye, Miss. Davis."
Pete slammed down the receiver and stood frozen, staring at the phone. Was it possible that Tony really thought he would show up and tell the parole board to let him out of prison? After his arrest became public, several other men he blackmailed came forward to file complaints against him. He was convicted on several counts of extortion and sentenced to 5-10 years in prison. Yes, Tony had saved his life twice, but that debt was cancelled when he betrayed the friendship he and Pete had. As far as Pete was concerned, Tony could rot in prison.
Finally, Pete returned to the bathroom and started, once again, to shave. With each breath, the anger grew within him. How dare he ask Pete to speak for him? What would Jim say when he heard? Why the hell should he help him? A crooked cop made them all look bad.
"I don't owe him anything".
Pete finished shaving and he started walking towards the bathroom door. It was then that he saw the trail of blood he had left on the floor. That brought Cindy and her lousy driving to mind once again. He wiped the blood off the bathroom floor tiles but not off the brown hall rug. He used a butterfly bandage to close the cut and then applied the antibiotic cream. A gauze wrap finished off the problem toe. There was no way he was going to risk a stint on the front desk because his toe got infected.
Dressed in blue jeans and an LAPD shirt, Pete grabbed his keys and opened his front door. He was almost free when the phone rang once more. He really needed to tear that thing out of the wall. With a sigh, Pete made his way to the phone in the kitchen. For good or bad, he was too dedicated to his job to ignore a phone call that might be important.
"Malloy." Once again the caller hung up. Pete shrugged it off and headed out to his car. It was basketball time and he intended to enjoy the practice.