Chiquitita 13
The full details of the biggest fight Dee and Ryo had ever had were never 100% clear to Bikky.
It had something to do with a case they were working, he knew that much. Dee had said something or done something that had set them back, and Ryo had been furious about it. Dee of course felt that he was the wounded party and that Ryo was both overreacting and that his own method of handling the case had been less than stellar. Their boss had given them both written reprimands when it was over.
It had snowballed into a huge screaming match, with the new neighbor Mrs. Wade banging on the door and telling a 14-year-old Bikky she was going to call the cops. "Sorry, lady, they are the cops." Bikky shrugged. "Maybe we'll both get lucky and they'll shoot each other." He hadn't meant it of course, but he thought they were both behaving like dimwits.
The fight had ended when Dee stormed past Bikky with a dufflebag stuffed with clothing, not even speaking to the boy as he slammed out of the apartment.
Ryo flatly refused to discuss the situation with Bikky all, at one point even losing his temper enough to tell him that it was none of his business.
It was though. Dee had lived with them for two years by that point, and the apartment felt incomplete without him. It was still during the brief period they'd gotten along, and there were things he could talk to Dee about that Ryo would never understand. He could listen and he could try and relate, but it was never the same.
He waited, thinking that Dee would return on his own in a few days, full of apologies and flowers and other junk that Ryo liked, but when he didn't the boy decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
He'd snuck down to the station to confront the man there, only to learn that Dee had taken a short leave of absence and hadn't been at work for a week either. Ryo's boss was fit to be tied, giving Bikky all sorts of colorful threats to pass long to Dee if and when he surfaced.
Meanwhile, at home Ryo was a zombie. He spent most of his time staring at the wall and drumming his fingers, lost in his own misery. He went to work, and Bikky figured that was only because he assumed Dee would have to show his face eventually.
Bikky tried the orphanage next, going to talk to the woman Dee called Penguin. The old nun hadn't seen or heard from Dee either, but she was sure he'd show up. "He always ran away from here when he got mad at Jess or I." She remembered. "He as gone as long as a month once. But he always came back on his own sooner or later. Dee just doesn't have it in him to give up on the people he loves. He's proud, but he's not stupid."
Not being one to give up easily himself, the boy began calling all the cheap motels in the area to see if Dee was registered there. He hit pay dirt with the fifth one, the Slide-On Inn, and after getting Dee's room- number he'd skipped school and went there instead. Dee's car was parked outside but the man himself was missing. Bikky assumed he was probably at one of the numerous bars scattered around the area. He picked the lock quickly and went into the room to wait for Dee's return. Just for a lark he'd called the front desk and asked for room service, and been told by the pissed off clerk that the only thing he was likely to get delivered to his room around here would cost him 25 bucks an hour.
"I've got five bucks. Do you have any really short ones?" Bikky wanted to know. "You know, like sample size? Or ones with no legs?"
/click/
It was several hours before a drunk and very sour-smelling cop had made his way back to the room and discovered the intruder.
If Dee remembered their conversation later he never mentioned it. Bikky, at the time, had been hoping that Dee was too intoxicated to remember anything and taken a chance on that. He'd spilled his guts in that motel room, been completely honest with Dee and himself. He talked about losing two parents already, and not being willing to give up another one without a fight. About what it meant to him to have a real family to come home to after school. He talked about how miserable and lonely Ryo had been without him, how worried they'd both been, and he'd managed to keep himself from crying.
Dee was the one who burst into tears when Bikky was done, and began a long litany of self-abuse, revealing an inner core of doubt and uncertainly that took the boy completely by surprise. When finished verbally castrating himself, he'd passed out.
Bikky waited, watching the motel TV, until finally just before dark Dee had woken up, sober and hung-over and extremely confused. However, he accepted Bikky's orders to shower, shave, and change very docilely, checked out of the room, and intended to drive them both back to their apartment.
In the meantime, the school had called Ryo wondering where Bikky was. Ryo, having assumed he'd probably lost Dee for good, wasn't about to lose Bikky too. He'd put out an APB on the boy.
One of the guests at the motel had a police scanner and heard the report. Bikky wasn't too difficult to recognize once spotted so he'd immediately called the cops, reporting seeing the missing boy leaving the Slide-On Inn in the company of an adult male.
If Ryo had been thinking clearly, he would have immediately reached the correct assumption that Bikky had managed to overturn the rock Dee had crawled under to hide. Instead he really became frantic, convinced that either some pervert had kidnapped the boy, or that Bikky had decided his allowance was insufficient and was turning tricks in his spare time.
Halfway back to the apartment, cops from another precinct pulled over the car, ignored both their explanations and Dee's badge, and hauled them both down to the station. It hadn't helped their case that Dee had had a full bag of clothing on the seat between them, looking like they were planning to skip town. It really hadn't helped that Dee starting crying again and calling himself the worst parent who ever lived. Tired and hungry and fed up, Bikky was inclined to agree.
Fifteen minutes later, Ryo had arrived and gotten everything sorted out. Dee was one of Bikky's legal guardians ("We TOLD them that." Bikky had interrupted angrily) and hadn't kidnapped anyone, and he'd deal with Bikky's truancy himself.
"Ryo, do the words overreacting mean anything to you?" Bikky had asked when they reached Ryo's car, Dee trailing behind them.
Ryo had immediately snapped into the typical parental lecture of how worried he'd been, and how irresponsible and thoughtless Bikky had been, and how he could have at least CALLED to let him know where he was and that he was all right. Even though he was looking at Bikky, the boy got a sense that he was directing his rant at Dee as well.
"Look, I'm sorry." Bikky threw up his hands. "But I found him for you. Yell at him, kiss him, do other stuff I don't want to hear about. Can we all please just go home first?"
And just as quickly as it began it was over and things were back to as normal as they could be. Ryo snapped out of his trance and Dee was back to burning toast and leaving wet towels in the middle of the bathroom floor. Cal had called it a "testament to the power of true love, that it can overcome anything."
It was a shock to realize it had been ten years since that crazy day he'd tracked down Dee. He'd scoffed at Cal's comment then, saying that true love had needed a lot of help from him to get them back on track, but inside of himself he'd believed her. He knew, somehow, that nothing could ever keep his two lunatics apart for good. And if people with as many issues as them could keep their love alive, then life with Cal would be a piece of cake.
Yeah, he decided now bitterly. But someone licked off all the frosting and stepped on it first.
He knew that Dee and Ryo thought this was going to just pass in time, like their own problems had. He also knew that in spite of his direct mandate to leave it alone they were bound to try and "help" and probably make it worse in the process, if such a thing were possible.
Bikky figured that between getting stabbed and losing the love of his life in the span of a few weeks, not to mention having another wacko try and break into the apartment, he was entitled to at least a few days of mindless self-pity. At least the hole in his side gave him an excuse to put off beginning a new, single life a bit longer.
"You just wait, Cortland. Dustin is on to you. He knows you started that fire, dumbass."
Dee glanced up from the computer as Bikky stalked by like a caged blond panther, muttering under his breath.
"Anything I can do?" He called after him. Email Cal, give you a hug, call Dr. Phil? He added silently.
"Nothing comes to mind." Bikky called back, and Dee could hear him rattling around in the refrigerator. "Except tell me why we having nothing to eat around here."
"Probably because you ate it all." Dee pointed out helpfully. With the gradual return of Bikky's strength his appetite had roared back as well. And of course eating gave him something to do besides facing the issues at hand.
They were keeping a close eye on him, and not just out of worry for his injury. Breaking up with Cal had definitely done a number on him mentally as well and he was not all together rational right now.
Knowing what drugs had done to his father, Bikky had never been tempted use or abuse them himself. So when the other night he had taken a double dose of his medication, they knew it had been an accident. Even if he was injured, though, he was still bigger than both of them. It had taken a combined effort to get the rollerblades away from him and force him back into bed as he kept giggling and talking about the Macy's Parade of all things. Dee had secretly turned on the camcorder, figuring the tape would be terrific footage if the need for blackmail ever arose, which with Bikky it seemed to do with a startling regularity.
"There's nothing I can say to him." Cal had protested on the phone. "He's made up his mind and that's it. I'm not going to go there and throw myself at him." She paused. "Can you send me a copy of that tape, though?"
"How about we go out and grab some lunch?" Dee finally suggested. "You need some fresh air."
So did he, as a matter of fact.
After some discussion and a quick assessment of their finances, both he and Ryo had taken Family Leave from work for a while. Rosa wasn't up to babysitting again yet and they didn't think the boys would be comfortable with a stranger, and they both wanted to be on hand to take care of Bikky. They'd been told by their new chief, Henry Sampson, that Bikky was no relation to them, no longer their foster child, and their request was denied.
"FLMA lets you take up to six weeks after you have a new kid, adopt a new kid, or take in a foster kid. We have two foster children living with us right now." Dee said calmly.
"Request denied. What, are you going to sue me? Am I discriminating against your 'alternative family', Latner?" Samson asked, smirking.
Dee had never expected to feel nostalgia for the old Chief, but he did now. As surly as the man had been, he hadn't been unfair. Their new one was from Chicago, and had made it very clear he didn't like either one of them, and would have in fact split them up on the job if he had anyone else to partner them with.
"It's like this." Ryo shrugged. "We intend to take care of our boys. Either you let us do it at home, or we bring all three of them here. Miguel communicates in gestures, Nando will probably stow away in a squad car, and I'm sure that Special Agent Goldman will find some way to amuse himself."
It was a known fact that Sampson hated the FBI with a passion. It was rumored that he'd washed out of the academy twice, and had been told bluntly not to come back a third time. He was a perfect example of the Peter Principle. He'd risen to his level of incompetence and he would go no further. Fortunately for them, he was also far too stupid to ever come up with any good plans to give them grief. He was as lousy at being a bully as he was at everything else.
He knew that he could legally prevent Ryo and Dee from giving their brats free reign of the station. He also knew that legally they had right to take the leave with or without his permission. He had nothing to gain in delaying signing the forms. After all, it meant he wouldn't have to look at either of them for a while. Maybe they'd both get the urge to be full-time housewives and he'd never have to see them again.
He reached for his pen.
A career cop, Dee wasn't used to sitting on his laurels any more than Bikky was, and he understood the younger man's restlessness. Ryo had taken the kids to see Denise, and the walls were closing in on both of them.
"Gee, you mean I'm allowed to go out the front door?" Bikky asked. "Are you sure Ryo hasn't set up an invisible fence or something?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. Get the lead out, wiseguy, before he gets home and chains you to the wall."
At least three neighbors stopped them on the way down in the elevator and in the hall to ask how Bikky was feeling, and he felt himself blushing to see a newspaper clipping of the mugging story up on the bulletin board with his name circled in red ink. He started to rip it down but Dee stopped him. "When people see that, they see proof that someone in the world still gives enough of a damn to try and do what's right. Let 'em hero worship for a while. Two weeks from now it'll be covered up by a reminder not to leave your clothing in the dryer overnight and another flier about Mrs. Fletcher's missing cat."
Mubby Fletcher had been AWOL for the better part of three years now, but Mrs. Fletcher wasn't one to surrender hope lightly. She'd given Bikky the tongue-lashing of his life when he'd tried to gently inform her that the FBI, stretched to its limits already, simply could not afford to assign a team of agents dedicated to bringing Mubby home.
Bikky was quiet during the car ride, and in Papa Leon's Pizza place, lost in his own gloom, but he did help Dee polish off an extra-large with everything. He was finishing his last piece when it dawned on him for the first time that he and Dee always ended up at Papa Leon's when he was upset about something. Ryo refused to set foot in the place, and had made some rather nasty comments as to how Mubby had probably ended up as a discount topping.
As he grabbed a remaining piece of sausage (or whatever it really was), he became aware that someone was watching him. Just a tingling of the flesh on his arms, and a general feeling of unease. He glanced up to see if Dee had noticed, but at the moment the other man's cellphone began to beep, and everyone in the pizza place was staring at their table in disapproval.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Ryo, we're both fine. We just went out for lunch."
"I said lunch, not to climb Mt. Everest. We'll be home soon."
"Yes, as a matter of fact that is where we are. Want us to bring you home something?"
"It was a joke!"
Bikky was surprised to find himself smiling, and he leaned back closing his eyes. It was nice to be out of the apartment, nice to be here in this cheap plastic booth with a full stomach, the air thick with the smells of oregano and tomato sauce and cigarette smoke.
Someone was watching him again.
People told him all the time he was handsome, exotic-looking. He supposed it was nicer than saying he looked like a freak, but he was used to attracting attention, good and bad.
He opened his eyes and took a quick scan of the other patrons.
Two women with a toddler in a high chair, happily painting himself in tomato sauce. A group of teenagers who didn't look old enough to not be in school, unless it was a holiday he was unaware of. A young, well-dressed woman complaining to a waitress that the sausage tasted 'funny'. A bald man reading the Wall Street Journal. Four businessmen speaking rapidly in Japanese. Other people with no distinction at all.
The bald man's eyes flicked up from the paper at that moment, and locked with Bikky's. They were black, like Ryo's, framing either side of a nose that appeared fall to small for his broad features. He was big across his chest and shoulders, the look of a man who had once been in prime physical condition but no longer could be bothered to maintain it.
Never glancing away, man winked at Bikky and ran the tip of his tongue across his lips. Flushing in embarrassment, Bikky quickly back at his plate.
"Bik, I know you're going through a rough time right now." Dee said gently. "But don't you think this is just a little, well, drastic? I really don't think he's your type."
"Shut up." Bikky muttered. "He's creepy. He's been staring at me for the last 10 minutes."
"Well, time to break his heart." Dee grabbed up the check. "Come on. We better get back home." He gave the man, who was reading his paper again, an uneasy look. His instincts were half cop, half street urchin, and the man was definitely giving off some very bad vibes. Definitely not the ones emitted by a lonely, innocent flirt.
"You okay?" Dee asked when they were back at the car. Bikky frowned.
"Why wouldn't I be? He's just some old perv. God, you're getting as bad as Ryo."
Nevertheless, he kept glancing back in the rearview mirror, looking to see if the stranger was following them. Ashamed at himself for his nervousness, but unable to shake it off completely.
The full details of the biggest fight Dee and Ryo had ever had were never 100% clear to Bikky.
It had something to do with a case they were working, he knew that much. Dee had said something or done something that had set them back, and Ryo had been furious about it. Dee of course felt that he was the wounded party and that Ryo was both overreacting and that his own method of handling the case had been less than stellar. Their boss had given them both written reprimands when it was over.
It had snowballed into a huge screaming match, with the new neighbor Mrs. Wade banging on the door and telling a 14-year-old Bikky she was going to call the cops. "Sorry, lady, they are the cops." Bikky shrugged. "Maybe we'll both get lucky and they'll shoot each other." He hadn't meant it of course, but he thought they were both behaving like dimwits.
The fight had ended when Dee stormed past Bikky with a dufflebag stuffed with clothing, not even speaking to the boy as he slammed out of the apartment.
Ryo flatly refused to discuss the situation with Bikky all, at one point even losing his temper enough to tell him that it was none of his business.
It was though. Dee had lived with them for two years by that point, and the apartment felt incomplete without him. It was still during the brief period they'd gotten along, and there were things he could talk to Dee about that Ryo would never understand. He could listen and he could try and relate, but it was never the same.
He waited, thinking that Dee would return on his own in a few days, full of apologies and flowers and other junk that Ryo liked, but when he didn't the boy decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.
He'd snuck down to the station to confront the man there, only to learn that Dee had taken a short leave of absence and hadn't been at work for a week either. Ryo's boss was fit to be tied, giving Bikky all sorts of colorful threats to pass long to Dee if and when he surfaced.
Meanwhile, at home Ryo was a zombie. He spent most of his time staring at the wall and drumming his fingers, lost in his own misery. He went to work, and Bikky figured that was only because he assumed Dee would have to show his face eventually.
Bikky tried the orphanage next, going to talk to the woman Dee called Penguin. The old nun hadn't seen or heard from Dee either, but she was sure he'd show up. "He always ran away from here when he got mad at Jess or I." She remembered. "He as gone as long as a month once. But he always came back on his own sooner or later. Dee just doesn't have it in him to give up on the people he loves. He's proud, but he's not stupid."
Not being one to give up easily himself, the boy began calling all the cheap motels in the area to see if Dee was registered there. He hit pay dirt with the fifth one, the Slide-On Inn, and after getting Dee's room- number he'd skipped school and went there instead. Dee's car was parked outside but the man himself was missing. Bikky assumed he was probably at one of the numerous bars scattered around the area. He picked the lock quickly and went into the room to wait for Dee's return. Just for a lark he'd called the front desk and asked for room service, and been told by the pissed off clerk that the only thing he was likely to get delivered to his room around here would cost him 25 bucks an hour.
"I've got five bucks. Do you have any really short ones?" Bikky wanted to know. "You know, like sample size? Or ones with no legs?"
/click/
It was several hours before a drunk and very sour-smelling cop had made his way back to the room and discovered the intruder.
If Dee remembered their conversation later he never mentioned it. Bikky, at the time, had been hoping that Dee was too intoxicated to remember anything and taken a chance on that. He'd spilled his guts in that motel room, been completely honest with Dee and himself. He talked about losing two parents already, and not being willing to give up another one without a fight. About what it meant to him to have a real family to come home to after school. He talked about how miserable and lonely Ryo had been without him, how worried they'd both been, and he'd managed to keep himself from crying.
Dee was the one who burst into tears when Bikky was done, and began a long litany of self-abuse, revealing an inner core of doubt and uncertainly that took the boy completely by surprise. When finished verbally castrating himself, he'd passed out.
Bikky waited, watching the motel TV, until finally just before dark Dee had woken up, sober and hung-over and extremely confused. However, he accepted Bikky's orders to shower, shave, and change very docilely, checked out of the room, and intended to drive them both back to their apartment.
In the meantime, the school had called Ryo wondering where Bikky was. Ryo, having assumed he'd probably lost Dee for good, wasn't about to lose Bikky too. He'd put out an APB on the boy.
One of the guests at the motel had a police scanner and heard the report. Bikky wasn't too difficult to recognize once spotted so he'd immediately called the cops, reporting seeing the missing boy leaving the Slide-On Inn in the company of an adult male.
If Ryo had been thinking clearly, he would have immediately reached the correct assumption that Bikky had managed to overturn the rock Dee had crawled under to hide. Instead he really became frantic, convinced that either some pervert had kidnapped the boy, or that Bikky had decided his allowance was insufficient and was turning tricks in his spare time.
Halfway back to the apartment, cops from another precinct pulled over the car, ignored both their explanations and Dee's badge, and hauled them both down to the station. It hadn't helped their case that Dee had had a full bag of clothing on the seat between them, looking like they were planning to skip town. It really hadn't helped that Dee starting crying again and calling himself the worst parent who ever lived. Tired and hungry and fed up, Bikky was inclined to agree.
Fifteen minutes later, Ryo had arrived and gotten everything sorted out. Dee was one of Bikky's legal guardians ("We TOLD them that." Bikky had interrupted angrily) and hadn't kidnapped anyone, and he'd deal with Bikky's truancy himself.
"Ryo, do the words overreacting mean anything to you?" Bikky had asked when they reached Ryo's car, Dee trailing behind them.
Ryo had immediately snapped into the typical parental lecture of how worried he'd been, and how irresponsible and thoughtless Bikky had been, and how he could have at least CALLED to let him know where he was and that he was all right. Even though he was looking at Bikky, the boy got a sense that he was directing his rant at Dee as well.
"Look, I'm sorry." Bikky threw up his hands. "But I found him for you. Yell at him, kiss him, do other stuff I don't want to hear about. Can we all please just go home first?"
And just as quickly as it began it was over and things were back to as normal as they could be. Ryo snapped out of his trance and Dee was back to burning toast and leaving wet towels in the middle of the bathroom floor. Cal had called it a "testament to the power of true love, that it can overcome anything."
It was a shock to realize it had been ten years since that crazy day he'd tracked down Dee. He'd scoffed at Cal's comment then, saying that true love had needed a lot of help from him to get them back on track, but inside of himself he'd believed her. He knew, somehow, that nothing could ever keep his two lunatics apart for good. And if people with as many issues as them could keep their love alive, then life with Cal would be a piece of cake.
Yeah, he decided now bitterly. But someone licked off all the frosting and stepped on it first.
He knew that Dee and Ryo thought this was going to just pass in time, like their own problems had. He also knew that in spite of his direct mandate to leave it alone they were bound to try and "help" and probably make it worse in the process, if such a thing were possible.
Bikky figured that between getting stabbed and losing the love of his life in the span of a few weeks, not to mention having another wacko try and break into the apartment, he was entitled to at least a few days of mindless self-pity. At least the hole in his side gave him an excuse to put off beginning a new, single life a bit longer.
"You just wait, Cortland. Dustin is on to you. He knows you started that fire, dumbass."
Dee glanced up from the computer as Bikky stalked by like a caged blond panther, muttering under his breath.
"Anything I can do?" He called after him. Email Cal, give you a hug, call Dr. Phil? He added silently.
"Nothing comes to mind." Bikky called back, and Dee could hear him rattling around in the refrigerator. "Except tell me why we having nothing to eat around here."
"Probably because you ate it all." Dee pointed out helpfully. With the gradual return of Bikky's strength his appetite had roared back as well. And of course eating gave him something to do besides facing the issues at hand.
They were keeping a close eye on him, and not just out of worry for his injury. Breaking up with Cal had definitely done a number on him mentally as well and he was not all together rational right now.
Knowing what drugs had done to his father, Bikky had never been tempted use or abuse them himself. So when the other night he had taken a double dose of his medication, they knew it had been an accident. Even if he was injured, though, he was still bigger than both of them. It had taken a combined effort to get the rollerblades away from him and force him back into bed as he kept giggling and talking about the Macy's Parade of all things. Dee had secretly turned on the camcorder, figuring the tape would be terrific footage if the need for blackmail ever arose, which with Bikky it seemed to do with a startling regularity.
"There's nothing I can say to him." Cal had protested on the phone. "He's made up his mind and that's it. I'm not going to go there and throw myself at him." She paused. "Can you send me a copy of that tape, though?"
"How about we go out and grab some lunch?" Dee finally suggested. "You need some fresh air."
So did he, as a matter of fact.
After some discussion and a quick assessment of their finances, both he and Ryo had taken Family Leave from work for a while. Rosa wasn't up to babysitting again yet and they didn't think the boys would be comfortable with a stranger, and they both wanted to be on hand to take care of Bikky. They'd been told by their new chief, Henry Sampson, that Bikky was no relation to them, no longer their foster child, and their request was denied.
"FLMA lets you take up to six weeks after you have a new kid, adopt a new kid, or take in a foster kid. We have two foster children living with us right now." Dee said calmly.
"Request denied. What, are you going to sue me? Am I discriminating against your 'alternative family', Latner?" Samson asked, smirking.
Dee had never expected to feel nostalgia for the old Chief, but he did now. As surly as the man had been, he hadn't been unfair. Their new one was from Chicago, and had made it very clear he didn't like either one of them, and would have in fact split them up on the job if he had anyone else to partner them with.
"It's like this." Ryo shrugged. "We intend to take care of our boys. Either you let us do it at home, or we bring all three of them here. Miguel communicates in gestures, Nando will probably stow away in a squad car, and I'm sure that Special Agent Goldman will find some way to amuse himself."
It was a known fact that Sampson hated the FBI with a passion. It was rumored that he'd washed out of the academy twice, and had been told bluntly not to come back a third time. He was a perfect example of the Peter Principle. He'd risen to his level of incompetence and he would go no further. Fortunately for them, he was also far too stupid to ever come up with any good plans to give them grief. He was as lousy at being a bully as he was at everything else.
He knew that he could legally prevent Ryo and Dee from giving their brats free reign of the station. He also knew that legally they had right to take the leave with or without his permission. He had nothing to gain in delaying signing the forms. After all, it meant he wouldn't have to look at either of them for a while. Maybe they'd both get the urge to be full-time housewives and he'd never have to see them again.
He reached for his pen.
A career cop, Dee wasn't used to sitting on his laurels any more than Bikky was, and he understood the younger man's restlessness. Ryo had taken the kids to see Denise, and the walls were closing in on both of them.
"Gee, you mean I'm allowed to go out the front door?" Bikky asked. "Are you sure Ryo hasn't set up an invisible fence or something?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. Get the lead out, wiseguy, before he gets home and chains you to the wall."
At least three neighbors stopped them on the way down in the elevator and in the hall to ask how Bikky was feeling, and he felt himself blushing to see a newspaper clipping of the mugging story up on the bulletin board with his name circled in red ink. He started to rip it down but Dee stopped him. "When people see that, they see proof that someone in the world still gives enough of a damn to try and do what's right. Let 'em hero worship for a while. Two weeks from now it'll be covered up by a reminder not to leave your clothing in the dryer overnight and another flier about Mrs. Fletcher's missing cat."
Mubby Fletcher had been AWOL for the better part of three years now, but Mrs. Fletcher wasn't one to surrender hope lightly. She'd given Bikky the tongue-lashing of his life when he'd tried to gently inform her that the FBI, stretched to its limits already, simply could not afford to assign a team of agents dedicated to bringing Mubby home.
Bikky was quiet during the car ride, and in Papa Leon's Pizza place, lost in his own gloom, but he did help Dee polish off an extra-large with everything. He was finishing his last piece when it dawned on him for the first time that he and Dee always ended up at Papa Leon's when he was upset about something. Ryo refused to set foot in the place, and had made some rather nasty comments as to how Mubby had probably ended up as a discount topping.
As he grabbed a remaining piece of sausage (or whatever it really was), he became aware that someone was watching him. Just a tingling of the flesh on his arms, and a general feeling of unease. He glanced up to see if Dee had noticed, but at the moment the other man's cellphone began to beep, and everyone in the pizza place was staring at their table in disapproval.
"Hello?"
"Yes, Ryo, we're both fine. We just went out for lunch."
"I said lunch, not to climb Mt. Everest. We'll be home soon."
"Yes, as a matter of fact that is where we are. Want us to bring you home something?"
"It was a joke!"
Bikky was surprised to find himself smiling, and he leaned back closing his eyes. It was nice to be out of the apartment, nice to be here in this cheap plastic booth with a full stomach, the air thick with the smells of oregano and tomato sauce and cigarette smoke.
Someone was watching him again.
People told him all the time he was handsome, exotic-looking. He supposed it was nicer than saying he looked like a freak, but he was used to attracting attention, good and bad.
He opened his eyes and took a quick scan of the other patrons.
Two women with a toddler in a high chair, happily painting himself in tomato sauce. A group of teenagers who didn't look old enough to not be in school, unless it was a holiday he was unaware of. A young, well-dressed woman complaining to a waitress that the sausage tasted 'funny'. A bald man reading the Wall Street Journal. Four businessmen speaking rapidly in Japanese. Other people with no distinction at all.
The bald man's eyes flicked up from the paper at that moment, and locked with Bikky's. They were black, like Ryo's, framing either side of a nose that appeared fall to small for his broad features. He was big across his chest and shoulders, the look of a man who had once been in prime physical condition but no longer could be bothered to maintain it.
Never glancing away, man winked at Bikky and ran the tip of his tongue across his lips. Flushing in embarrassment, Bikky quickly back at his plate.
"Bik, I know you're going through a rough time right now." Dee said gently. "But don't you think this is just a little, well, drastic? I really don't think he's your type."
"Shut up." Bikky muttered. "He's creepy. He's been staring at me for the last 10 minutes."
"Well, time to break his heart." Dee grabbed up the check. "Come on. We better get back home." He gave the man, who was reading his paper again, an uneasy look. His instincts were half cop, half street urchin, and the man was definitely giving off some very bad vibes. Definitely not the ones emitted by a lonely, innocent flirt.
"You okay?" Dee asked when they were back at the car. Bikky frowned.
"Why wouldn't I be? He's just some old perv. God, you're getting as bad as Ryo."
Nevertheless, he kept glancing back in the rearview mirror, looking to see if the stranger was following them. Ashamed at himself for his nervousness, but unable to shake it off completely.