Friday Fun: Part Two

As soon as I got to work I knew something was wrong. Bosco was late and it made me nervous because he hadn't so much as called to let me know. He always called me before he called the house to let them know. It must have been something he couldn't get out of because we were in enough trouble with Christopher as it was.

I groaned thinking about how I was going to get up at six thirty in the morning on my Saturday to go to work and wash all the squad cars. It was ridiculous and down right embarrassing to be reduced to doing what other officers got perps to do as a form of punishment. We'd been the talk of the precinct all week. But instead of getting down about something that I had no control over, I thought about the evening that was ahead.

I hoped that my date with Sean was going to be awesome. It had been years and years since I had dated anyone, and although it was scary, it was a welcome change from Fred and from just having pretend dates with Bosco.

I finished getting ready and was leaning down to tie my boots when the man in question came breezing through the door, already unzipping the fly of his jeans. He threw open his locker and pushed them down over his thighs, revealing a very nice pair of blue boxer briefs and a very muscular butt. He kicked off his sneakers and pulled out his clean uniform. I tried not to stare and looked at my watch instead. I stood up and crossed over to the sink to wash my hands. I watched his reflection in the mirror as he undressed.

"I know—I know—I"m late." He gushed, as he pulled his t-shirt over his head, revealing his very muscular chest, and threw it into the locker. "It couldn't be helped." He said, looking over at me. "I wish it could have but—." He trailed off, as if losing the thought.

"Oh ya? Well, I hope you can get ready in about two seconds cause Christopher is gonna hang you out to dry." I said, a little irritated, but relieved to know that he was here and he was safe.

"That wouldn't be the worst of my problems." He grumbled, and then winced and put his hand to his forehead.

"Well your problems are quickly becoming my problems and it would be nice if you could make it to work on time." I said, as I pulled a wad of paper towel down from the dispenser and dried my hands. I turned around and leaned against the sink and folded my arms across my chest.

"I said it couldn't be helped." He replied, getting a fresh t-shirt out and putting it on.

"Sure it couldn't." I snapped, feeling my emotions getting the better of me. I hated when I resorted to being petty with him but I knew full well that he was late for work because he'd been with some girl and rather than embarrass myself by letting him know I was jealous as hell, I tried to cover it up by acting like I was really angry that he was making us both late for work. "Couldn't get her off of you long enough to get here on time?"

He stopped what he was doing and just stared at me. I'd never thrown anything like that in his face before. I knew what he did on his time off, and even if I hated the fact that he was out hunting women like it was a sport, I had never bashed him with it, until now. There was something in those hazel eyes that look strained, like I had actually hurt him with my remark.

His face turned into a sneer as he looked at me; his eyes narrowing, his nose turning up. "Why?" He asked indignantly. "Jealous?"

I felt my face turn red. "What?"

"Do you care?" He asked, point blank. "Do you really care who I slept with last night?"

"I—uh—what are you talking about?" I sputtered, trying to get in control of the situation. He had never said anything like that to me before and I was so taken aback that I could hardly breathe. We were finally getting to it; after thirteen years and I couldn't think of a damn thing to say.

He folded his arms over his chest and grinned mockingly at me, mean and spiteful. "Do you really give a shit who was in my bed last night or any other night for that matter?" His eyes burned into me, making me feel hot and very uncomfortable. "Cause that would just change everythin." He snapped.

We stood there for a few seconds, staring each other down. Neither of us knew what to say next, although it would have been very smart to say nothing at all and just agree to keep both of our mouths shut for the shift, but we were never very good at staying out of a fight. No, my partner and I seized every opportunity to make life harder and more uncomfortable on ourselves.

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded. I rolled my eyes as I watched him run his hand through his hair. He was not himself this morning. That's when I noticed a gash in the side of his head that probably needed stitches. I was starting to wonder if he didn't have a concussion, he was acting so weird.

"I really don't want to get into it right now. Can you let me finish gettin ready here?" He asked, still standing in his underwear, his hands out in a gesture of 'can't you just leave me alone'?

He grabbed his uniform shirt and put it on as fast as he could, all the while staring at me with a nasty look. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was a very unhealthy grey color. And unless I was dreaming, he had a definite smell to him. I walked a little closer to him. He backed up a bit as I approached.

The stale smell of cigarettes and alcohol had embedded themselves on my partner and must have been coming out of his pores because he stunk. My mouth hung open and I shook my head back and forth.

"What happened? You smell awful and you need stitches." I said, pointing to his head.

"Thanks for the newsflash, Nancy O'Dell." He grumbled. "Ya. I went out and had a few drinks an' I hit my head. Is there anything else you need to know? Name? Rank? Cereal number?" He said, grabbing his pants out of the locker and bending down to put his legs through. He struggled to pull them up, while he glared at me.

"Jackass." I snapped, wondering why I cared so much. "Your head is bleeding. You might want to get it looked at."

"I said, thanks." He said angrily, looking down at himself, trying to yank the pants up and when they wouldn't cooperate properly, looked down and cursed. "What is wrong with these pants!"

"You might want to put them on the right way." I dead-panned. "They're backwards."

"Thanks for the input." He snapped again, yanking them down and trying to turn them around the right way.

"Christopher isn't going to let you go out on the street like this—" I began.

"So? Then maybe he'll send me home and I won't have to listen to your lectures all day long." He snapped, not wanting to get into it with me. Not again. "What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" I whispered harshly, looking around to see if anyone else was within earshot. "Are you still drunk?" I asked, amazed at how bad he looked and smelled. "You stink, Bosco! How could you come here like this! Did you do drugs last night? Cause you aren't right!"

"I'm not drunk!" He whispered back, baring his teeth at me as he buckled his belt around his waist. "And I didn't do drugs! Jeez Faith! I had a few too many last night and I'm sick as hell today, so don't mother me!"

I recoiled, as if he had slapped me, instantly on the defensive. "Mother you? Mother you?" I asked incredulously, leaning in closer to him. "If Christopher even gets within ten feet of you he's gonna have a coronary! Why didn't you just call in sick!"

"And miss another opportunity to get one of your famous lectures, miss holier than thou?" He said, as he put on his boots and clipped on his ankle holster.

I held up my hands and shook my head. "Fine. I don't care what's goin on with you. I'm leaving at seven anyway, so I'll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine."

"Leavin? For what?" He asked, as he stood up, facing me.

"I have a date." I announced haughtily, pulling my shoulders back and turning my head to the side. "And Lieu let me take some personal time."

I couldn't describe the look on his face at that moment. It was a mixture of anger, upset, surprise and just plain disgust. His eyes narrowed and he looked down at the floor for a second before replying.

"So, you're ditchin me and I suppose that I have to work with Gussler, do I?" He asked, his mouth then closing and tightening into a white line.

"I wouldn't call it ditching, Bosco." I snapped, as we started to leave the room. "I'm taking a few hours off . I'm sure you'll manage." I added, as we walked down the hall toward the roll call room.

"Who's the lucky guy?" He quipped, not looking at me as we landed inside the door and slid into the two back seats. Amazingly, Christopher wasn't even in the room yet, so we were saved. For now.

"Don't even open your mouth, Bos." I whispered harshly, afraid that if he did everyone would know exactly what he'd been into the night before, and possibly, send him home. "Just keep your comments to yourself—if you can."

"So who's the guy? Or should I say unlucky guy?" He whispered back, angry that I wouldn't tell him who it was.

I ignored him and sat up strait and looked around me. Other officers were looking at us and whispering, probably either about our previous escapade or the fact that Bosco smelled like a brewery. No one actually came up to him and said anything. It was written all over their faces. Although, everyone was used to Bosco's antics; his being late, his rudeness and his childishness. Most people looked at me with that look of 'how do you do it', wondering how I could put up with him for so long. I just told them that I looked at him like he was one of my kids. It put it in a whole new perspective. Although to be honest, I hadn't felt motherly or even friendly toward him in a very long time, but no one else needed to know my personal fantasies about my partner.

And so, our Friday was pretty much a bust. Both of us were cranky, and still angry from the past week and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that I was going out with Sean in just a few short hours. Christopher had been late due to an emergency that had tied him up down at the courthouse, and when he got to roll call he dismissed us as fast as he could. He didn't even know we had been late.

Bosco got the radios, silently telling me that because he did that one menial task, I could do the driving for the shift and he would just sit back and relax. As long as he kept his mouth shut, I could deal with it.

As soon as we got in the RMP, however, it started. He looked over at me as I drove around our beat, just waiting for the right moment to badger me again about who my date was with. Truthfully, I was still nervous about telling him it was with his best friend. Sean hadn't told him, and what if he was upset that I did? I had too many questions running through my mind and it was totally ruining my whole day.

"So, why can't you tell me who it is?"

Sigh.

"It's none of your business, that's why." I replied.

"I'd tell you."

Sigh.

"So? I'm not telling you."

"Why not?" He asked, seemingly really bothered.

I rolled my eyes and sighed again. "What does it matter?" I snapped.

"It doesn't." He said, shrugging. "Just tryin to make conversation with my partner." He replied sarcastically.

I looked over at him and pushed my sunglasses down over the bridge of my nose, not amused. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothin." He said in a stupid mocking voice, as he drummed his fingers on the dash of the car. "Ya probably don't even have a date anyway." He mumbled, looking out his window.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. He was being so childish about this, that all I could do was be amused. The harder I laughed, however, the more agitated he became. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and continued until my sides hurt. " Oh, I get it; Are you on your period, Bos? Do you need me to stop at a drug store for you?"

"That's funny, huh?" He said angrily, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest. "Glad that I can amuse you."

"Oh, you amuse me alright." I said, unbuckling my seatbelt and opening my door. "You gonna eat or are you just going to sit here and torture yourself about my imaginary date?"

"Gahead...I don't care about your date." He snapped, really being silly now. He unbuckled his belt, as an afterthought, and opened his door and slammed it hard. "You're really funny you know. You should give up your day job and open a comedy club."

I giggled. "Ya, the first thing I'd do is put your picture up on the front door. It'd sure bring in the customers."

He just looked at me; fire burning in those eyes of his; his nostrils flaring. I'd never seen him act so childish in the entirety of our friendship. He had definitely hit his head hard because he was acting so much worse than usual. He raised his finger and pointed at me. "That's enough out of you. Don't talk to me for the rest of the shift." He demanded.

I opened my eyes wide and laughed again, enraging him all the more. "Oh? I'm so upset. Excuse me while I cry." I said dramatically, raising my hands in mock surrender.

His jaw tightened and his face turned redder and redder and if I hadn't known him so well, I'd of swore that he was out of his mind with jealousy. "Ya? Ya? Well don't talk to me tomorrow either!" He shouted childishly.

"Oh—Boo Hoo!" I yelled, throwing up my hands in the air, really enjoying torturing him. He was being such a jerk that he totally deserved it. I opened up the door to go into Haggerty's and stood there, waiting for him to go in.

He gave me the finger and walked in ahead of me and stomped to the bar and sat down on a stool. He looked back at me and pointed again. "Don't sit here. I don't want to even look at you right now." He snapped, lacing his hands together and leaning over the counter.

I nodded, trying to keep from laughing again, walked past him and found a booth and sat down. A waitress brought me a menu and I ordered some fries and a pepsi. I didn't want to get too full but I was feeling a little hungry and I needed food to keep up my strength in order to put up with Bosco the baby until seven. I picked up the desert menu and began to read it over.

Bosco was as good as his word; he didn't look at me once during the meal. He completely ignored me and we both ate our food in silence; him at one end and me at the other. I didn't know why we had to keep fighting all the time. We were at each other's throats constantly and we hadn't been that way before. I wondered what the difference was now? We had been so close the last few months and then we were so far apart that it seemed that we didn't even know each other any more.

What had I done? What had he done?

Promptly at seven, I drove the car back to the house and parked it in the lot. I looked over at him to say goodbye but he wouldn't even look at me. He sat staring strait ahead. But he looked so lost, so sad that I immediately felt guilty for making fun of him and egging him on.

"Bos?"

He didn't reply. I sighed and unbuckled my belt and opened the door. "Maybe someday you'll tell me what's going on with you." I said softly, tired of fighting with him. Tired of having a daily battle about everything.

"Would it really matter to you if I did?" He said, still not looking at me.

Surprised, I looked down, not able to come up with an answer at that moment. "I don't know." I said after a minute.

"That's what worries me." He said, matter-of-factly, looking over at me, his face serious as I had ever seen it. "Have a good time on your date." He said and then looked away.

"Thanks."

With that, I got out of the car and started to walk into the building. I turned around and watched him get out and walk around to the drivers side and get in. I don't know why, but at that moment, I didn't even want to go out with Sean anymore. I had a sickening feeling that something had changed between us, something that could never be repaired if I went out with his friend behind his back.

But I ignored my own thoughts and went inside to get changed. I couldn't live under that cloud of illusion anymore. Bosco didn't love me; he didn't want to date me and if I had a chance at going out with someone nice than I was going to take it.

So why did I feel so guilty at that moment?