Clarence led Lennie to a familiar playground and they stood in the shadows
watching several young men cavort and carry on. It seemed harmless enough
until he recognized the guy in the center of it all who seemed to be making
the most noise.
"Hey." Lennie jabbed Clarence in the side. "I know that hump! Me and Ed brought him in a few years ago for shooting a lady while he was trying to steal her purse. What the hell's he doing out?"
"He never went in." Clarence informed him.
"Of course he went in!" Lennie bellowed. "His name's Bobby Sabo. I remember it as clear as it was yesterday. Van Buren called us into her office to say that he'd given up some serial rapist in exchange for a lesser sentence. Jerk got six years for killing that lady."
Clarence shook his head. "No, Lennie, he never went down for that. Oh, they got close, and a couple of times it looked like they had him, but nobody could ever make all the pieces fit. Not the way you would have had you still been on the force."
"Whatdaya mean? I was still on the force!"
"Remember what you said before we left the apartment? You said it wouldn't have made a bit of difference to anybody had you retired years ago." He pointed to Bobby, who commanded the attention of all the other young men who milled around. "Well, here we are. When Mr. Sabo got away with killing that poor woman, he became a big man around here. This is his turf now and those young men do his bidding."
Lennie gritted his teeth so hard his jaw began to ache. "This is ridiculous. I know what happened because I was there."
"You weren't there. I told you that I was going to show you how things would be if you had retired years ago, like you wished. Now you see."
Lennie watched Bobby hold court. The other young men seemed to hang on his every word. "You mean to tell me this creep is somebody's hero?"
"Sadly, yes." Clarence nodded. "These boys didn't get the chance to see what a real hero was. They didn't get to see a hard working dedicated detective bring someone who had broken the law to justice."
"That's ridiculous." Lennie spat. "Surely, there were other cops working the case. What were they, a bunch of bumbling idiots?"
"No, not all. They were good cops, but they didn't have the investment you would have had. You see, this was another crucial point in your life." Clarence reminded him. "Your abilities and fitness were under fire, and you knew that just because you were older it didn't mean that you couldn't do the job. Some guy's would've let Mr. Sabo's taunts and the doubts of their co-workers discourage them, but you didn't. You let it fuel your desire to prove that there is value in wisdom and experience." Clarence looked over at Bobby. "Well, that's to say you would have proven it had you stayed on the force."
Lennie brooded. "So Bobby got off because I retired?"
"I suppose he's actually very successful. That is, if you consider being a drug dealer and a thief a success." Clarence paused a moment and turned to look at Lennie. "And that woman he got away with killing? She wasn't his last victim."
Lennie opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out and he bit his lip, hard.
"Well, what was to prevent him? He got away with it, and now he believes that nobody can touch him." Clarence watched him turn away and knew that it was time to move on.
"I've seen enough." Lennie told him.
Clarence patted him on the back. "Yes, I figured you had."
****
They walked into a bar and took seats at the end. Lennie had forgotten his gloves and he rubbed his hands together. What they'd just seen was really eating at him. Bobby Sabo, a free man. Because he hadn't been there to make the pieces fit.
"What's your poison?" The bartender asked.
"Club soda." Lennie told him.
The cash register dinged when a waitress opened it to make change.
"Oh, boy!" Clarence exclaimed excitedly. "Somebody just got their wings."
"What?" Lennie asked, confused.
"That bell. Every time you hear a bell ring that means an angel has gotten his wings."
Lennie eyed him dubiously. "Uh-huh."
The bartender returned with Lennie's drink. "Get anything for you old timer?"
Clarence blushed, delighted at the thought of partaking of spirits again. "Oh, my. Well, let me see." He tapped his head trying to recall what his favorite drink had been. "I believe I'll have a flaming rum punch."
Both Lennie and the bartender looked at him with open mouths. The bartender put Lennie's club soda in front of him and stood in front of Clarence.
"Say what?" He asked.
"You're right; it's not nearly cold enough for that." Clarence patted the man's hand good naturedly. "Well, then give me a glass of Myrrh wine, heavy on the cinnamon and light on the cloves. Off with you now!"
The bartender turned two shades of red. "Listen pal, we serve hard liquor in here. Real drinks for real men! You just take that routine somewhere's else." The man moved down the bar to next customer and barked, "What can I get you?"
"Dear me, I think I offended him." Clarence said, befuddled.
"Yeah, these guys are real sensitive." Lennie sipped his drink. "So what did you drag me in here for?"
Clarence pointed to the other end of the bar where a beautiful young blonde sat talking to a dark haired guy. Another man sitting nearby seemed to have a serious interest in their conversation, but Lennie couldn't get a good look because he had his back to him.
"I don't get it." He told him.
"You will." Clarence assured.
Lennie continued to watch the couple as they laughed and enjoyed each other's company. He shrugged and was about to look away when the other guy turned around. Lennie choked on his drink and Clarence pounded his back.
"That's Russell Lowery!" He growled. "What's going on?"
Clarence sighed wearily. "Shall I explain again?"
"No save it." Lennie spat. "I don't care if I was on the force or not, whoever was working that case should've had enough to get that monster to trial."
"Well, of course they went to trial." Clarence rolled his eyes. "The detectives who worked on it managed to eek out a case, but you weren't there to testify and get the tape where Andrea Blake identified Lowery admitted into evidence. You told the court you'd misinterpreted the evidence about her claim that she was being stalked."
"Your testimony was crucial, Lennie, and it landed you in some pretty hot water with Van Buren. You came this close to perjury." He held his forefinger and thumb an inch apart. "But you knew that you had to make it up to that young girl. You knew you had to make sure that this 'monster' as you call him was never free to terrorize another young woman again."
Lennie shook his head. "They got him for attempted murder and murder two."
"Not without your testimony." Clarence popped a couple of peanuts into his mouth. "Russell Lowery continued to frequent that voyeur website looking for women to stalk and victimize."
"This isn't happening." He spoke his thoughts aloud. "I gotta get out of here." Lennie took a couple of dollars out of his pocket and dropped them on the bar. He pushed through the door and Clarence scrambled to catch up with him.
****
"I'm going home." Lennie informed Clarence. "And I'm gonna sit in that damn chair until I wake up and things are back the way they should be."
"No, no, no!" Clarence struggled to keep up with Lennie's long stride. "We still have one more thing to see."
"Look you've proved your point alright?" Lennie stopped and Clarence slammed into him. "Or maybe I should say that I proved mine. Okay, so I wasn't there for those two cases, but those animals still shoulda gone down and they didn't. They slipped through the cracks just like a hundred others because everything is stacked against us!"
"Lennie wait." He pulled on his arm to get him to stop. "This isn't about the system, it's about you! Okay, so the system's not perfect and it's not always fair. But it's what you've got and it needs men like you who care enough to make it work."
"So the weight of the justice system falls on me?"
"No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous." Clarence chided. "But we all have a path to follow. In these instances, you were the wild card. You swayed things in the direction they needed to go because that was your purpose. You were supposed to be there."
Lennie shoved his hands in pockets. "Okay, so I made a difference in the past. But that was then and this is now." He looked Clarence in the eye. "I'm past my expiration date, Gabriel. Let's face it. It's time for me to hang it up."
"Not yet, Lennie." Clarence spoke to him in a soothing tone. "You still have work to do."
They began to walk again and Lennie felt strangely different. He looked all around them and noticed that it was daytime again. The sun was shining and they were on a busy street, very different from the quiet one they'd just been on. It was as if they'd been transported in time.
"Where are we? What time is it?"
"Brooklyn. Earlier today."
"Brooklyn? Where in Brooklyn?"
"Roscoe's place."
While Lennie tried to remember why that sounded familiar to him, he heard shots ring out and the sound of people running and screaming. He took off in the direction of the gunshots and turned the corner to find a man down and another one crouched over him.
As he neared them he recognized the man who was down. It was Ed.
"Ed!" Lennie cried out and ran over to his partner.
"Hey, get back man!" The other guy yelled at him.
"But this is my partner!"
"What're you talking about?" The man demanded as he fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a cell phone. "This is my partner and you are interfering! Now step back!"
Lennie watched the man dial 911. "Yeah, I got an officer down! I repeat there's an officer down!" He told the dispatcher and relayed their location. "It's okay partner, hang on. They're on the way! Help is on the way."
"What happened?" Lennie asked, still hovering.
"I thought I told you to get back!" The man shouted. A crowd began to gather around to gape as Ed struggled to breathe.
"Please, mister." Lennie pleaded. "I used to be a cop. I'm Lennie Briscoe from the 2-7. Maybe you heard of me? I knew this kid. Please let me help."
"Look, I don't know who you are but if you wanna help get these people back and keep a look out for the ambulance."
Lennie stood up and shoved at the crowd. "Get back! Let him have some air." After a couple of minutes he heard the ambulance's siren and ran to flag it down. "He's over here! Hurry! Please hurry!"
The paramedic's jumped from the ambulance and went to work on Ed, who was making noises like he was choking. While they tried to clear his air passage he began to convulse.
"Ed!" Lennie called, trying to get to him, but the other detective held him back. "Ed! C'mon Ed!"
Clarence was suddenly at his side and Lennie grabbed him by the collar. "What the hell is going on, Clarence?"
"Ed was anxious to follow the lead you got about Roscoe."
"So what? What's that got to do with this?"
"Well, if you'd have been there, you'd have voiced your concern. You remember that you didn't have a good feeling about it."
"What're you telling me?" Lennie roared, tears clouding his eyes. "Are you telling me Ed's gonna die because I wasn't there? Is that what you're telling me?"
Clarence put his hands on Lennie's. "You made him wait and check out the girl's story. Because of you, Ed didn't walk into a trap. Well, he wouldn't have if you'd have still been on the force to be his partner."
Lennie pushed him away and turned back as they continued to work on Ed.
"We gotta go, now!" The lady shouted at her partner.
"We're losing him. I can't stabilize him."
"No!" Lennie cried as he clawed his way through the crowd. "C'mon Ed! C'mon!"
"Get this man back!" The guy paramedic called to the detective. Lennie broke down as the other man held him. He prayed. He prayed like he hadn't prayed in a long time.
"Please, God. Take me back! Let me be a cop again. Please, let me be a cop!"
"He doesn't look good." He overheard someone in the crowd say.
Ed was dying. Ed was dying because he hadn't been there.
"Oh, please God, please. Let me be a cop again."
Lennie felt dizzy and everything went black.
"Hey." Lennie jabbed Clarence in the side. "I know that hump! Me and Ed brought him in a few years ago for shooting a lady while he was trying to steal her purse. What the hell's he doing out?"
"He never went in." Clarence informed him.
"Of course he went in!" Lennie bellowed. "His name's Bobby Sabo. I remember it as clear as it was yesterday. Van Buren called us into her office to say that he'd given up some serial rapist in exchange for a lesser sentence. Jerk got six years for killing that lady."
Clarence shook his head. "No, Lennie, he never went down for that. Oh, they got close, and a couple of times it looked like they had him, but nobody could ever make all the pieces fit. Not the way you would have had you still been on the force."
"Whatdaya mean? I was still on the force!"
"Remember what you said before we left the apartment? You said it wouldn't have made a bit of difference to anybody had you retired years ago." He pointed to Bobby, who commanded the attention of all the other young men who milled around. "Well, here we are. When Mr. Sabo got away with killing that poor woman, he became a big man around here. This is his turf now and those young men do his bidding."
Lennie gritted his teeth so hard his jaw began to ache. "This is ridiculous. I know what happened because I was there."
"You weren't there. I told you that I was going to show you how things would be if you had retired years ago, like you wished. Now you see."
Lennie watched Bobby hold court. The other young men seemed to hang on his every word. "You mean to tell me this creep is somebody's hero?"
"Sadly, yes." Clarence nodded. "These boys didn't get the chance to see what a real hero was. They didn't get to see a hard working dedicated detective bring someone who had broken the law to justice."
"That's ridiculous." Lennie spat. "Surely, there were other cops working the case. What were they, a bunch of bumbling idiots?"
"No, not all. They were good cops, but they didn't have the investment you would have had. You see, this was another crucial point in your life." Clarence reminded him. "Your abilities and fitness were under fire, and you knew that just because you were older it didn't mean that you couldn't do the job. Some guy's would've let Mr. Sabo's taunts and the doubts of their co-workers discourage them, but you didn't. You let it fuel your desire to prove that there is value in wisdom and experience." Clarence looked over at Bobby. "Well, that's to say you would have proven it had you stayed on the force."
Lennie brooded. "So Bobby got off because I retired?"
"I suppose he's actually very successful. That is, if you consider being a drug dealer and a thief a success." Clarence paused a moment and turned to look at Lennie. "And that woman he got away with killing? She wasn't his last victim."
Lennie opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out and he bit his lip, hard.
"Well, what was to prevent him? He got away with it, and now he believes that nobody can touch him." Clarence watched him turn away and knew that it was time to move on.
"I've seen enough." Lennie told him.
Clarence patted him on the back. "Yes, I figured you had."
****
They walked into a bar and took seats at the end. Lennie had forgotten his gloves and he rubbed his hands together. What they'd just seen was really eating at him. Bobby Sabo, a free man. Because he hadn't been there to make the pieces fit.
"What's your poison?" The bartender asked.
"Club soda." Lennie told him.
The cash register dinged when a waitress opened it to make change.
"Oh, boy!" Clarence exclaimed excitedly. "Somebody just got their wings."
"What?" Lennie asked, confused.
"That bell. Every time you hear a bell ring that means an angel has gotten his wings."
Lennie eyed him dubiously. "Uh-huh."
The bartender returned with Lennie's drink. "Get anything for you old timer?"
Clarence blushed, delighted at the thought of partaking of spirits again. "Oh, my. Well, let me see." He tapped his head trying to recall what his favorite drink had been. "I believe I'll have a flaming rum punch."
Both Lennie and the bartender looked at him with open mouths. The bartender put Lennie's club soda in front of him and stood in front of Clarence.
"Say what?" He asked.
"You're right; it's not nearly cold enough for that." Clarence patted the man's hand good naturedly. "Well, then give me a glass of Myrrh wine, heavy on the cinnamon and light on the cloves. Off with you now!"
The bartender turned two shades of red. "Listen pal, we serve hard liquor in here. Real drinks for real men! You just take that routine somewhere's else." The man moved down the bar to next customer and barked, "What can I get you?"
"Dear me, I think I offended him." Clarence said, befuddled.
"Yeah, these guys are real sensitive." Lennie sipped his drink. "So what did you drag me in here for?"
Clarence pointed to the other end of the bar where a beautiful young blonde sat talking to a dark haired guy. Another man sitting nearby seemed to have a serious interest in their conversation, but Lennie couldn't get a good look because he had his back to him.
"I don't get it." He told him.
"You will." Clarence assured.
Lennie continued to watch the couple as they laughed and enjoyed each other's company. He shrugged and was about to look away when the other guy turned around. Lennie choked on his drink and Clarence pounded his back.
"That's Russell Lowery!" He growled. "What's going on?"
Clarence sighed wearily. "Shall I explain again?"
"No save it." Lennie spat. "I don't care if I was on the force or not, whoever was working that case should've had enough to get that monster to trial."
"Well, of course they went to trial." Clarence rolled his eyes. "The detectives who worked on it managed to eek out a case, but you weren't there to testify and get the tape where Andrea Blake identified Lowery admitted into evidence. You told the court you'd misinterpreted the evidence about her claim that she was being stalked."
"Your testimony was crucial, Lennie, and it landed you in some pretty hot water with Van Buren. You came this close to perjury." He held his forefinger and thumb an inch apart. "But you knew that you had to make it up to that young girl. You knew you had to make sure that this 'monster' as you call him was never free to terrorize another young woman again."
Lennie shook his head. "They got him for attempted murder and murder two."
"Not without your testimony." Clarence popped a couple of peanuts into his mouth. "Russell Lowery continued to frequent that voyeur website looking for women to stalk and victimize."
"This isn't happening." He spoke his thoughts aloud. "I gotta get out of here." Lennie took a couple of dollars out of his pocket and dropped them on the bar. He pushed through the door and Clarence scrambled to catch up with him.
****
"I'm going home." Lennie informed Clarence. "And I'm gonna sit in that damn chair until I wake up and things are back the way they should be."
"No, no, no!" Clarence struggled to keep up with Lennie's long stride. "We still have one more thing to see."
"Look you've proved your point alright?" Lennie stopped and Clarence slammed into him. "Or maybe I should say that I proved mine. Okay, so I wasn't there for those two cases, but those animals still shoulda gone down and they didn't. They slipped through the cracks just like a hundred others because everything is stacked against us!"
"Lennie wait." He pulled on his arm to get him to stop. "This isn't about the system, it's about you! Okay, so the system's not perfect and it's not always fair. But it's what you've got and it needs men like you who care enough to make it work."
"So the weight of the justice system falls on me?"
"No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous." Clarence chided. "But we all have a path to follow. In these instances, you were the wild card. You swayed things in the direction they needed to go because that was your purpose. You were supposed to be there."
Lennie shoved his hands in pockets. "Okay, so I made a difference in the past. But that was then and this is now." He looked Clarence in the eye. "I'm past my expiration date, Gabriel. Let's face it. It's time for me to hang it up."
"Not yet, Lennie." Clarence spoke to him in a soothing tone. "You still have work to do."
They began to walk again and Lennie felt strangely different. He looked all around them and noticed that it was daytime again. The sun was shining and they were on a busy street, very different from the quiet one they'd just been on. It was as if they'd been transported in time.
"Where are we? What time is it?"
"Brooklyn. Earlier today."
"Brooklyn? Where in Brooklyn?"
"Roscoe's place."
While Lennie tried to remember why that sounded familiar to him, he heard shots ring out and the sound of people running and screaming. He took off in the direction of the gunshots and turned the corner to find a man down and another one crouched over him.
As he neared them he recognized the man who was down. It was Ed.
"Ed!" Lennie cried out and ran over to his partner.
"Hey, get back man!" The other guy yelled at him.
"But this is my partner!"
"What're you talking about?" The man demanded as he fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a cell phone. "This is my partner and you are interfering! Now step back!"
Lennie watched the man dial 911. "Yeah, I got an officer down! I repeat there's an officer down!" He told the dispatcher and relayed their location. "It's okay partner, hang on. They're on the way! Help is on the way."
"What happened?" Lennie asked, still hovering.
"I thought I told you to get back!" The man shouted. A crowd began to gather around to gape as Ed struggled to breathe.
"Please, mister." Lennie pleaded. "I used to be a cop. I'm Lennie Briscoe from the 2-7. Maybe you heard of me? I knew this kid. Please let me help."
"Look, I don't know who you are but if you wanna help get these people back and keep a look out for the ambulance."
Lennie stood up and shoved at the crowd. "Get back! Let him have some air." After a couple of minutes he heard the ambulance's siren and ran to flag it down. "He's over here! Hurry! Please hurry!"
The paramedic's jumped from the ambulance and went to work on Ed, who was making noises like he was choking. While they tried to clear his air passage he began to convulse.
"Ed!" Lennie called, trying to get to him, but the other detective held him back. "Ed! C'mon Ed!"
Clarence was suddenly at his side and Lennie grabbed him by the collar. "What the hell is going on, Clarence?"
"Ed was anxious to follow the lead you got about Roscoe."
"So what? What's that got to do with this?"
"Well, if you'd have been there, you'd have voiced your concern. You remember that you didn't have a good feeling about it."
"What're you telling me?" Lennie roared, tears clouding his eyes. "Are you telling me Ed's gonna die because I wasn't there? Is that what you're telling me?"
Clarence put his hands on Lennie's. "You made him wait and check out the girl's story. Because of you, Ed didn't walk into a trap. Well, he wouldn't have if you'd have still been on the force to be his partner."
Lennie pushed him away and turned back as they continued to work on Ed.
"We gotta go, now!" The lady shouted at her partner.
"We're losing him. I can't stabilize him."
"No!" Lennie cried as he clawed his way through the crowd. "C'mon Ed! C'mon!"
"Get this man back!" The guy paramedic called to the detective. Lennie broke down as the other man held him. He prayed. He prayed like he hadn't prayed in a long time.
"Please, God. Take me back! Let me be a cop again. Please, let me be a cop!"
"He doesn't look good." He overheard someone in the crowd say.
Ed was dying. Ed was dying because he hadn't been there.
"Oh, please God, please. Let me be a cop again."
Lennie felt dizzy and everything went black.