Chapter dedicated to Adren who, honestly, is the first person I've met who loves Itey! lol!
10. Itey and Swifty: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The sun beat down on the streets of Washington D.C. as Special Agents Montoya and Smith sat in waiting for their target. Bootleggers ran the city over with illegal moonshine, selling it to the various speakeasies and private clientele—politicians mostly, who felt the laws of prohibition didn't apply to the likes of them. Though it was rare for the bootleggers to do their run in broad daylight, it was easier for the agents of the Bureau of Investigation to keep tabs on their intended targets so that when the time came, they would be there ready to pounce.
It hadn't been easy for the orphan newsboys turned keepers of the peace to rise to the level of standing they were at.
"What are your names?"
"Jeremiah Montoya." Itey answered, a small smile playing on his face. True his first name, as best as he could remember that is, was Jeremiah—Jeremiah what though, he didn't know. Forced to decide on a last name if he was to enter the police academy, he used his newsie life to pick a name out of thin air in hopes that it sounded suitable for him.
The gray haired man behind the desk nodded as he wrote the name down before glancing to the teen standing next to Itey. Raising an eyebrow at him, he waited impatiently. "And you? Come along boy, I haven't all day."
"My name? My name…right…"
"You know your own name, don't you boy?"
"Smith! His name's Smith…Matthew Smith, sir." Itey said, glancing to Swifty who looked anything but a Matthew Smith. With his dark hair and drab complexion, one would assume him to be of oriental descent with a far more exotic name to match. Shooting a quick peek at his friend, Swifty looked back to the officer behind the desk in a split second of panic before nodding.
"Matthew Smith, sir. Every idiot knows his own name." he said, his voice covering the fact that in reality he knew no other name than that of Swifty.
Not bothering to even consider questioning it, the man behind the desk wrote it down before handing them each their required attire and sending them on their way.
"This is stupid Swift. He ain't gonna show his face in the middle of the day. You know that, and I know that, so why are we here?"
"Cuz this is where we were told to be. 'Sides, Mary promised to bring us some cool tea and pastries later." Smirking over to his friend and partner, Matthew "Swifty" Smith turned his attention back out the window of their plain black car and watched as people hurried from one place to another.
"Pastries? What kind of pastries? Those chocolate frosted long ones? I can almost taste them now. That girl of yours is one hellofa baker." Itey licked his lips and sat back in his seat as he stared out in front of him, sweat plastering his dark curls to his forehead.
"She didn't say, just said if she happened ta see us out here later, she'd bring us some."
Sitting in silence together, the pair watched as a young boy strolled to the street corner and began shouting out the headlines. In a way it was almost endearing to watch the boy, not much older than twelve or thirteen, out there on the street doing the very same job they had once down many years before in Manhattan. Seeing the newsboys out on their corners hawking headlines always brought back the memories of days gone by for both men.
"Hey Itey, 'member that time we was all out at the South Street Seaport an' it was Dutchy's fourteenth birthday?"
Thinking for a moment, Jeremiah broke into a wide grin as he laughed and nodded. That had been a fun day. "Jack and Skittery tackled him to the ground, 'bout near busted his glasses all ta bits, an' then threw him into the East River. Oh man was he ticked off. Wouldn't talk to nobody 'cept Pie Eater the whole rest of the week."
"Yeah and he had ta sleep up on the roof cuz Kloppman wouldn't let him sleep in his bunk all soppin' wet!"
Both men laughing and smiling as they recalled that day, they each shook their heads and silently wondered to themselves what had ever happened to their old friends. Once they had joined the police academy, many of their former selling mates and companions looked upon them as scabbers; called them every name under the sun and then some for becoming the very thing so many of them ran from every day.
"Snipes, Boots listen…ya think dis was an easy choice fer us ta make? It wasn't! But what else was we gonna do? Everybody's gotta grow up some time and, well…Dave's off at college, Jack took off, Skitts ain't around no more…it's time for us to move on too."
"Ya traitors! I hope some drunk bum comes after ya's and does ya both in!" Snipeshooter had spat, throwing his last newspaper at Itey before leveling Swifty with a cold as ice glare.
"Watch it, Snipes." Swifty replied, his own dark eyes narrowed into thin slits. Though it hurt him deeply to see his friends so upset at them, it was in his best interest to play it off as nothing and try to pretend to be the self-assured policeman he was training to be.
"Watch it, or what, Swift? You gonna arrest him? Huh? Beat him till he can't get up no more with dat damned stick of yours? Huh? Ya both make me sick! Get outta 'ere!" Reaching up to give Itey a shove, Boots glared at them both, his anger boiling to the point where he was just itching for a fight with them.
"Hey, it ain't like we'se da only ones who are doin' this. Spot's in da academy with us, too ya know."
"Den he ain't no friend of ours no more either."
Glancing at his gold pocket watch, Special Agent Smith sighed heavily. It was hotter than all get out in that stuffy car, and being dressed all in black certainly didn't make matters any better for them. Four hours, that's how long they'd been sitting there, waiting for their prey to show himself; four hours and nothing to show for it except sweat soaked shirts and the morning paper. Not to say the time they spent sitting there had been completely wasted though. The pair generally enjoyed having hours of nothing to do on stakeouts, it gave them time to reminisce and give each other the latest updates on their personal lives.
After a few years on the New York City Police Department, both men decided to try their luck at something a bit more exciting and adventurous. It took them both a few tries to get accepted into the Bureau of Investigation, and more than a couple of years before they got assigned "the good cases". Their time spent as newsies proved to be useful when it came to proving they weren't afraid of a little hard work or getting their hands dirty. In no time at all they were promoted to Special Agents and assigned work tracking down bootleggers and racketeers in the city.
It was after they had moved from New York to their shared apartment in Washington D.C. that Itey had met and married his wife, Wilhemina. Together, the couple welcomed two beautiful little girls into the world before adopting a small boy off the streets that Itey had saved from certain death. Swifty on the other hand though, was in no big hurry to settle down—despite the fact he had just celebrated his forty-sixth birthday. Having had a whole string of failed relationships and former girlfriends, he seemed to enjoy the bachelor life and all that it entailed. The way he figured it, if he never got married and should anything happen to him while he was out on a case, then there would be no one at home crying over him and he'd leave no one behind.
"Oh, Willa wanted me to tell you that you're more than welcome to come over for dinner tonight. Figured we could head to the airport together tomorrow morning that way."
Snapping from his thoughts, Swifty looked to Itey and gave a small nod. "Like I'd turn down a meal from Willa? Course I'll be there. Though, I probably won't stay the night. Promised Mary we'd get together 'fore you and I headed for the coast."
"Man, when are you gonna ask that girl to marry you, huh? You're gonna be an old man pretty soon and no self-respecting descent girl is gonna want you then!"
Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Swifty looked back out his window to watch the storefronts.
"I already told ya, Itey, I'm not gonna get married. That just ain't something that's in my cards. Marriage is fine for folks like you and e'eryone else, just not for me."
"You don't know what you're missin', Swift. Three square meals a day, a nice, soft, warm body to hold on cold nights, kids smilin' up at you asking you to fix their skates for 'em—"
"Wives naggin' ya askin' when you gonna finish fixing the roof, repairin' the kitchen chairs, if ya remembered to pick up the little one's cough syrup." Quirking an eyebrow and tilting his head to the side, Swifty glanced to his lifelong friend from the corner of his eye. "No thanks, pal. Mary an' I are quite content with what we got."
Shaking his head, Itey frowned and stared out in front of him. The heat from the late afternoon sun rose up off the streets in waves, forming mirages against the brick walls and passing cars. Sighing and doing his best to fan himself with the morning paper, the forty-four year old BOI agent watched as a short man crept out of the shadows and cautiously got into the dark car that sat parked in the alley.
Sitting up straighter and smacking Swifty's arm with the paper, Itey pointed in the direction of the alley.
"There he is. He just got into the car back there."
"You sure it was him?"
"Of course I'm sure it was him! I'd know that ugly mug anywhere."
Starting the plain black squad car and putting it into drive, Swifty waited for their target to go by before pulling out behind him to follow. "Hope you told Willa we might be late to dinner. Who knows where Higgins is headin' this time."
"They're government agents? That's neat!!" Donnie exclaimed, smiling brightly. Les couldn't resist laughing, and neither could David, both of them glancing at each other as they did.
"They are incredibly complex government agents," Les replied, shaking his head and chuckling before looking at the picture. "Would you like me to pick the next one?" he asked. Donnie looked up at his father, then down at the picture, and then back up, nodding his head. Les smiled.
"Okay. And I know exactly who's next," he said, glancing at his brother before tapping on another face. "This man is on the other side of the law than Itey and Swifty...."