On Your Own
Part 4
*****
Well I don't own the characters or even the idea...Gauriel was kind enough to give me the idea and let me run with it. I hope I'm doing this story justice!
I have VERY little knowledge of Manhattan's Chinatown. I've driven by the area twice, and other than that all the info comes from research I've done on the net. Most of the places I mention are real, along with the street names.
And Reyes has been out of the picture for so long I'm starting to get her personality mixed up with Cruz, so just hang in there!
******
At nine o'clock that night Bosco stepped out of his apartment, and locked the door behind him. He was heading out for his first look at Chinatown. As he walked down the stairs leading to the street he reached behind his back feeling for his gun. He knew it was there. Just minutes before he had firmly tucked the weapon into the waistband of his jeans, but he wanted reassurance that it was there.
He stuck his finger in his ear as he tried getting the earpiece to sit comfortably. Bosco hated having something in his ear. He even hated those little headphones that sometimes came with portable cd players. He had always been a firm believer that the only foreign object that belonged in a person's ear was a Q-tip, and even that was only for a few short seconds. The listening device was going to drive him nuts.
When he got outside he took a right, and headed down Doyers Street toward The Bowery. He crossed the busy street and continued down Division. Fifteen minutes later he was standing in front of Fee Auto Repair. It was a fairly small garage, and was kind of run down, but it was like many of the other buildings around it.
Now that he knew where he needed to be in the morning Bosco turned around, and headed back toward his apartment. He reached Doyers Street around 9:30, and knew it was too soon to call Sergeant Reyes to check in, so he continued to walk. He knew Mott Street was only a couple blocks away, and figured he might as well check and see if he could spot any members of the Fuk Ching. Once again he checked to make sure he had his gun, and before putting his hand back in his jean pocket he reached up and fingered the earpiece once more.
As he walked he couldn't help but notice how different things were in this part of the city. He couldn't believe he was in Manhattan. It seemed like he was in a totally different world. Almost all the signs above the stores were in Chinese, and the people he passed on the street all seemed to look the same. How the hell was he going to pull this off? Here he was trying to pass as being half Chinese, and he didn't even look anything like these people. It was starting to make him even more nervous. He checked for his gun one more time. Being different made him uncomfortable.
*****
A few minutes after ten he spotted a payphone, and decided to check in with Reyes. He dialed the phone number, and she picked up on the third ring. "Reyes."
"Yeah it's Boscorelli."
"Who?"
"Bos-I mean Jason." He mentally kicked himself for the slip up. Even though he was a cop talking to another cop he had to make sure to use his proper identity.
"How are things going?"
"So far so good, but with the setup in my apartment I may never venture outside," he tried to joke with her.
"Do me a favor," she said quickly.
"Sure."
"Put the phone up to your other ear. We're getting some major feedback from your ear piece and it's *damn* annoying!"
Bosco quickly shifted the phone to his other ear. "Sorry 'bout that."
"All right so here's the plan. You go to work tomorrow and feel things out. We've been told that a couple of your co-workers *may* be members of the Fuk Ching. Don't step on their toes, but try and get some info you can use."
"Yes ma'am," Bosco nodded as he spoke into the phone.
"Check in again tomorrow night, and don't call me ma'am," and with that Reyes hung up the phone.
Bosco placed the phone back on the receiver. "Yes ma'am," he said to himself, and then hoped the earpiece didn't pick up his voice.
******
He hardly slept, and was up early the next morning. After drinking a pot of coffee, and taking a shower Bosco put on a pair of old blue jeans, a black tank-top undershirt, tan boots and his jean jacket. Before heading out the door he made sure he had his earpiece in, and had hidden his gun in one of the kitchen cupboards.
His stomach was full of butterflies as he walked toward the auto shop. He took a deep breath as he stood outside the door and looked up at the red and yellow painted sign. "Fee Auto Repair," he said softly to himself. He was the first one there and the door was locked. Bosco checked his watch. 7:55am. Usually he was scrambling to get to work on time, and here he was today nervous as all get out and waiting for his new boss to come let him in.
Bosco leaned against the building and watched all the people walk by. He felt like they were all looking at him. Like they all knew there was something different about him, and some of them looked at him like they knew something he didn't know. It was really starting to get on his nerves. He hated when people looked at him. Why couldn't this Fee guy show up and open the damn door so he could get started with work?! His mood lightened a little as he saw a police car a few blocks away. "Wonder if that's Faith?" he thought to himself.
"You Jason?" an old Chinese voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh?" He straightened up. "Oh, yeah." He extended his hand. "Jason Muniz."
"Me Fee," the little man said as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "This going to be hard." The little man said softly.
Bosco's eyes narrowed. "Hard? Why?"
"All ready have worker named Jason. Both are white. Hard to tell you apart."
He shook his head. To Bosco all white people looked completely different. It was the Asian people who all looked the same. "Well, I'm not white. I'm half Chinese."
Fee looked him up and down. "Look white to me."
"Well I'm not," Bosco growled. Unhappy that he was all ready having to defend his background. He took a deep breath. "And you can call me Jase if it makes it any easier."
The man looked at him with doubt, and shrugged. "Maybe." He then turned to unlock the door.
Bosco rolled his eyes.
*******
When they got inside Fee handed him a work shirt. Bosco took off his jean jacket, and put the shirt on. "So, pretty big business?" Bosco asked as he tried to make small talk.
"Big 'nough," the little man mumbled.
"Oh this is going to be fun," Bosco said under his breath.
Fee quickly turned around and Bosco feared that the old man had heard his last comment. "People bring cars. You fix them. Can you do that?"
Bosco nodded. "Yeah, yeah I can do that."
"Good." The little man walked away in the direction of the garage's office. Bosco took this chance to walk around the tiny garage and get himself accustomed to where everything was.
A few minutes later a couple guys came strolling into the shop. Bosco looked up from the tool bench. Both guys were wearing a shirt just like his, except theirs had grease stains on them, and his looked brand new. They nodded in his direction. "You must be the new guy." Bosco nodded as both men approached him.
The other man spoke to him. "I'm Chen, and this is Park."
Bosco shook their hands. "I'm Jason."
"Another Jason." Park said as he shook his head. "What's up with white people and the name Jason?"
"I'm half Chinese," Bosco replied as he started to feel like a broken record. "I just don't really look it. Oh hell I don't look it at all."
"You're right about that," grinned Chen.
"Call me Jase." Bosco turned around to go back to what he was looking at on the workbench. "Man," he thought, "these guys look Chinese, but they talk just like me. Maybe this won't be too bad. Other than the fact that they look like they could be twins."
As the workday progressed and he got his hands dirty underneath the hood of a car he didn't even think about the fact that he was working undercover. It just felt like he had a day off and the opportunity to work on his mechanic skills.
******
Faith sat in her squad car kitty corner to Fee Auto Repair. She had seen Bosco once earlier when he had come outside to speak with one of the customers. Things hadn't gone real well with the customer. The woman barely spoke any English and Bosco was having a hell of a time trying to communicate with her. He ended up calling one of the other guys over to translate.
It was close to two o'clock when Bosco, Park and Chen emerged from the garage. They took a seat on the crates that were set up outside the store. Faith felt weird about the fact that she was listening in on all of Bosco's conversations, but was hoping that she might get some dirt on him that she could use against him when they were back in 55-David.
******
Chen pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Bosco. "No thanks man. I don't smoke."
"You don't smoke?"
"Nah, quit a couple of months ago. Had to save my money for other things." Bosco loved being able to improvise on the spot. It was a different kind of rush than he was used to, but it was still a rush.
"What kind of other things?" questioned Park curiously.
Bosco looked at his co-workers, and got a cocky grin on his face. "Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that." He stood up and went inside.
Chen and Park looked at each other. Park smiled. "He could be just the guy we're looking for."
"Don't jump the gun. We hardly know him."
"Maybe we should get to know him better."
Chen nodded.
******
Bosco stuck his finger in his ear as he walked home. The earpiece was once again giving him troubles. He was going to have to talk to Reyes about seeing if they could get something smaller.
When he got back to the apartment he took the earpiece out and got ready to shower. He had oil and grease all over him. He was going to have to scrub himself with steel wool to get rid of all this gunk.
After half an hour in the shower he toweled himself dry and changed into some sweats. He looked down at the earpiece and decided to leave it out for a while. He wanted to call Faith and he knew if he had the earpiece in Sully and Davis would know that he was talking to Faith, and even though they probably wouldn't care he knew that if Reyes got wind of it she would be pissed.
He pulled the loose board out of the floor, and grabbed his cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey it's me."
"Jason I thought I told you not to call."
"Come on Faith. I need somebody to talk to."
"I know, but you could get busted for this. I might as well say hi to Sully and Davis cause I'm sure they are listening."
"I don't have the listening device in. I just got out of the shower, and haven't put it back in yet. Besides that thing is driving me nuts," he paused. "Enough about me. How was your day?"
"Pretty boring. I basically sat outside of the auto shop all-day and listened to you talk and belch and all that great stuff. Oh and I really think you should be allowed to turn the thing off when you go to the bathroom. I really didn't enjoy listening to you take a leak."
"Hey when nature calls nature calls," he chuckled.
They talked for a few more minutes, and after saying their goodbyes, and Faith warning him once again about his calling her not being safe they hung up, and Bosco placed his phone back in the hollow spot in the floor.
******
Around ten o'clock he decided to go for a jog figuring on his way back he would stop at a payphone and check in with Reyes. Before he left the apartment he made sure he had his spare gun tucked securely in his ankle holster just incase he came across any trouble. As he jogged through the neighborhood he thought he saw Chen and Park, but he couldn't be sure cause just about everyone looked the same to him. While he ran he kept messing with his earpiece afraid that it was going to fall out. He couldn't risk losing it because it was his connection between this world and the world he belonged in.
It was a little after eleven when he got a hold of Reyes. "Hey it's Jason."
"How was your first day?"
"Not too bad." He fingered his earpiece once again.
"Quit doing that!" Reyes snapped from the other end of the line.
"Quit doing what?" He asked with confusion.
"I don't know, but the noise it makes is driving me up the wall." Bosco still didn't know what she was talking about, and his ear was starting to itch. He stuck his finger in his ear, and touched the listening device. "That! Quit doing that!"
"All I did was touch the earpiece."
"Well stop!"
"Well I would if I could, but the damn thing is too big and it's uncomfortable. It doesn't fit right."
"Get used to it."
"Yes ma'am."
"And quit calling me ma'am," and just like the night before Reyes hung up on him.
"Yes ma'am," he grinned as he hung up the phone and headed back to the apartment.
One day down...
Part 4
*****
Well I don't own the characters or even the idea...Gauriel was kind enough to give me the idea and let me run with it. I hope I'm doing this story justice!
I have VERY little knowledge of Manhattan's Chinatown. I've driven by the area twice, and other than that all the info comes from research I've done on the net. Most of the places I mention are real, along with the street names.
And Reyes has been out of the picture for so long I'm starting to get her personality mixed up with Cruz, so just hang in there!
******
At nine o'clock that night Bosco stepped out of his apartment, and locked the door behind him. He was heading out for his first look at Chinatown. As he walked down the stairs leading to the street he reached behind his back feeling for his gun. He knew it was there. Just minutes before he had firmly tucked the weapon into the waistband of his jeans, but he wanted reassurance that it was there.
He stuck his finger in his ear as he tried getting the earpiece to sit comfortably. Bosco hated having something in his ear. He even hated those little headphones that sometimes came with portable cd players. He had always been a firm believer that the only foreign object that belonged in a person's ear was a Q-tip, and even that was only for a few short seconds. The listening device was going to drive him nuts.
When he got outside he took a right, and headed down Doyers Street toward The Bowery. He crossed the busy street and continued down Division. Fifteen minutes later he was standing in front of Fee Auto Repair. It was a fairly small garage, and was kind of run down, but it was like many of the other buildings around it.
Now that he knew where he needed to be in the morning Bosco turned around, and headed back toward his apartment. He reached Doyers Street around 9:30, and knew it was too soon to call Sergeant Reyes to check in, so he continued to walk. He knew Mott Street was only a couple blocks away, and figured he might as well check and see if he could spot any members of the Fuk Ching. Once again he checked to make sure he had his gun, and before putting his hand back in his jean pocket he reached up and fingered the earpiece once more.
As he walked he couldn't help but notice how different things were in this part of the city. He couldn't believe he was in Manhattan. It seemed like he was in a totally different world. Almost all the signs above the stores were in Chinese, and the people he passed on the street all seemed to look the same. How the hell was he going to pull this off? Here he was trying to pass as being half Chinese, and he didn't even look anything like these people. It was starting to make him even more nervous. He checked for his gun one more time. Being different made him uncomfortable.
*****
A few minutes after ten he spotted a payphone, and decided to check in with Reyes. He dialed the phone number, and she picked up on the third ring. "Reyes."
"Yeah it's Boscorelli."
"Who?"
"Bos-I mean Jason." He mentally kicked himself for the slip up. Even though he was a cop talking to another cop he had to make sure to use his proper identity.
"How are things going?"
"So far so good, but with the setup in my apartment I may never venture outside," he tried to joke with her.
"Do me a favor," she said quickly.
"Sure."
"Put the phone up to your other ear. We're getting some major feedback from your ear piece and it's *damn* annoying!"
Bosco quickly shifted the phone to his other ear. "Sorry 'bout that."
"All right so here's the plan. You go to work tomorrow and feel things out. We've been told that a couple of your co-workers *may* be members of the Fuk Ching. Don't step on their toes, but try and get some info you can use."
"Yes ma'am," Bosco nodded as he spoke into the phone.
"Check in again tomorrow night, and don't call me ma'am," and with that Reyes hung up the phone.
Bosco placed the phone back on the receiver. "Yes ma'am," he said to himself, and then hoped the earpiece didn't pick up his voice.
******
He hardly slept, and was up early the next morning. After drinking a pot of coffee, and taking a shower Bosco put on a pair of old blue jeans, a black tank-top undershirt, tan boots and his jean jacket. Before heading out the door he made sure he had his earpiece in, and had hidden his gun in one of the kitchen cupboards.
His stomach was full of butterflies as he walked toward the auto shop. He took a deep breath as he stood outside the door and looked up at the red and yellow painted sign. "Fee Auto Repair," he said softly to himself. He was the first one there and the door was locked. Bosco checked his watch. 7:55am. Usually he was scrambling to get to work on time, and here he was today nervous as all get out and waiting for his new boss to come let him in.
Bosco leaned against the building and watched all the people walk by. He felt like they were all looking at him. Like they all knew there was something different about him, and some of them looked at him like they knew something he didn't know. It was really starting to get on his nerves. He hated when people looked at him. Why couldn't this Fee guy show up and open the damn door so he could get started with work?! His mood lightened a little as he saw a police car a few blocks away. "Wonder if that's Faith?" he thought to himself.
"You Jason?" an old Chinese voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh?" He straightened up. "Oh, yeah." He extended his hand. "Jason Muniz."
"Me Fee," the little man said as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "This going to be hard." The little man said softly.
Bosco's eyes narrowed. "Hard? Why?"
"All ready have worker named Jason. Both are white. Hard to tell you apart."
He shook his head. To Bosco all white people looked completely different. It was the Asian people who all looked the same. "Well, I'm not white. I'm half Chinese."
Fee looked him up and down. "Look white to me."
"Well I'm not," Bosco growled. Unhappy that he was all ready having to defend his background. He took a deep breath. "And you can call me Jase if it makes it any easier."
The man looked at him with doubt, and shrugged. "Maybe." He then turned to unlock the door.
Bosco rolled his eyes.
*******
When they got inside Fee handed him a work shirt. Bosco took off his jean jacket, and put the shirt on. "So, pretty big business?" Bosco asked as he tried to make small talk.
"Big 'nough," the little man mumbled.
"Oh this is going to be fun," Bosco said under his breath.
Fee quickly turned around and Bosco feared that the old man had heard his last comment. "People bring cars. You fix them. Can you do that?"
Bosco nodded. "Yeah, yeah I can do that."
"Good." The little man walked away in the direction of the garage's office. Bosco took this chance to walk around the tiny garage and get himself accustomed to where everything was.
A few minutes later a couple guys came strolling into the shop. Bosco looked up from the tool bench. Both guys were wearing a shirt just like his, except theirs had grease stains on them, and his looked brand new. They nodded in his direction. "You must be the new guy." Bosco nodded as both men approached him.
The other man spoke to him. "I'm Chen, and this is Park."
Bosco shook their hands. "I'm Jason."
"Another Jason." Park said as he shook his head. "What's up with white people and the name Jason?"
"I'm half Chinese," Bosco replied as he started to feel like a broken record. "I just don't really look it. Oh hell I don't look it at all."
"You're right about that," grinned Chen.
"Call me Jase." Bosco turned around to go back to what he was looking at on the workbench. "Man," he thought, "these guys look Chinese, but they talk just like me. Maybe this won't be too bad. Other than the fact that they look like they could be twins."
As the workday progressed and he got his hands dirty underneath the hood of a car he didn't even think about the fact that he was working undercover. It just felt like he had a day off and the opportunity to work on his mechanic skills.
******
Faith sat in her squad car kitty corner to Fee Auto Repair. She had seen Bosco once earlier when he had come outside to speak with one of the customers. Things hadn't gone real well with the customer. The woman barely spoke any English and Bosco was having a hell of a time trying to communicate with her. He ended up calling one of the other guys over to translate.
It was close to two o'clock when Bosco, Park and Chen emerged from the garage. They took a seat on the crates that were set up outside the store. Faith felt weird about the fact that she was listening in on all of Bosco's conversations, but was hoping that she might get some dirt on him that she could use against him when they were back in 55-David.
******
Chen pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Bosco. "No thanks man. I don't smoke."
"You don't smoke?"
"Nah, quit a couple of months ago. Had to save my money for other things." Bosco loved being able to improvise on the spot. It was a different kind of rush than he was used to, but it was still a rush.
"What kind of other things?" questioned Park curiously.
Bosco looked at his co-workers, and got a cocky grin on his face. "Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that." He stood up and went inside.
Chen and Park looked at each other. Park smiled. "He could be just the guy we're looking for."
"Don't jump the gun. We hardly know him."
"Maybe we should get to know him better."
Chen nodded.
******
Bosco stuck his finger in his ear as he walked home. The earpiece was once again giving him troubles. He was going to have to talk to Reyes about seeing if they could get something smaller.
When he got back to the apartment he took the earpiece out and got ready to shower. He had oil and grease all over him. He was going to have to scrub himself with steel wool to get rid of all this gunk.
After half an hour in the shower he toweled himself dry and changed into some sweats. He looked down at the earpiece and decided to leave it out for a while. He wanted to call Faith and he knew if he had the earpiece in Sully and Davis would know that he was talking to Faith, and even though they probably wouldn't care he knew that if Reyes got wind of it she would be pissed.
He pulled the loose board out of the floor, and grabbed his cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey it's me."
"Jason I thought I told you not to call."
"Come on Faith. I need somebody to talk to."
"I know, but you could get busted for this. I might as well say hi to Sully and Davis cause I'm sure they are listening."
"I don't have the listening device in. I just got out of the shower, and haven't put it back in yet. Besides that thing is driving me nuts," he paused. "Enough about me. How was your day?"
"Pretty boring. I basically sat outside of the auto shop all-day and listened to you talk and belch and all that great stuff. Oh and I really think you should be allowed to turn the thing off when you go to the bathroom. I really didn't enjoy listening to you take a leak."
"Hey when nature calls nature calls," he chuckled.
They talked for a few more minutes, and after saying their goodbyes, and Faith warning him once again about his calling her not being safe they hung up, and Bosco placed his phone back in the hollow spot in the floor.
******
Around ten o'clock he decided to go for a jog figuring on his way back he would stop at a payphone and check in with Reyes. Before he left the apartment he made sure he had his spare gun tucked securely in his ankle holster just incase he came across any trouble. As he jogged through the neighborhood he thought he saw Chen and Park, but he couldn't be sure cause just about everyone looked the same to him. While he ran he kept messing with his earpiece afraid that it was going to fall out. He couldn't risk losing it because it was his connection between this world and the world he belonged in.
It was a little after eleven when he got a hold of Reyes. "Hey it's Jason."
"How was your first day?"
"Not too bad." He fingered his earpiece once again.
"Quit doing that!" Reyes snapped from the other end of the line.
"Quit doing what?" He asked with confusion.
"I don't know, but the noise it makes is driving me up the wall." Bosco still didn't know what she was talking about, and his ear was starting to itch. He stuck his finger in his ear, and touched the listening device. "That! Quit doing that!"
"All I did was touch the earpiece."
"Well stop!"
"Well I would if I could, but the damn thing is too big and it's uncomfortable. It doesn't fit right."
"Get used to it."
"Yes ma'am."
"And quit calling me ma'am," and just like the night before Reyes hung up on him.
"Yes ma'am," he grinned as he hung up the phone and headed back to the apartment.
One day down...