Disclaimer: I don't own these people.
Author's Note: The angst continues!
CHAPTER 3
Sheldon Hawkes
Despite my past history with Faith, I can't help but feel buoyed this morning. I left that beautiful woman in my bed, after she murmured words of love and promise to me. She and I made love last night after she told me of her latest heartbreak. Am I a fool to believe her? Maybe, but the power and feeling behind our coming together was staggering, and the hopeful part of me believes it means more than it has in the past.
"Hey Stella." Bonasera is already processing and greets me with a weary smile.
"Hi Sheldon. It's a tough one. Amanda Betz, single mom, 38. Raped and strangled. Her little boy, 9-year-old Evan, saw the man leave. He's already down at the station. We'll have a sketch artist work with him later - that should take a few days. We have to get one who specializes in working with children."
"Poor kid." It would seem hard times don't just befall kids in the projects. Upper eastsiders are not immune. Much of the morning is spent processing, and later I return to the lab and work on the clothing of the mother, sheets, and other objects we transfer back.
At one o'clock I take a lunch break and pick up sushi - Faith's favorite. Actually, I don't think she loves it that much, but was always attracted to it as "a food of the wealthy." When we were children, it was part of the picture she painted - "When I grow up, I'm going to marry a rich man, wear fur and eat sushi."
"Hello? Faith, I'm home." My words echo ominously as I enter my apartment. Already, some part of me knows she's not there. I find the note on my pillow, punctuated by a print of her ruby red lipstick.
Hey Baby -
Thank you for last night. You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can never take his soul. You've always known how to move.
It would be easy to stay here, protected by you, but I need to think. I'm going home for a few days, but I'll call you soon.
Love always,
Faith.
I sigh, and try and push away the negative thoughts that crowd my brain.
Lindsay Monroe
Mac, Danny and I processed an attempted bank robbery. With all the potential physical evidence, we were busy, which was a blessing. I can barely stand to look at Danny after that night at DeMarco's last week. Even today the bags under his eyes suggest last night may have been another late one, possibly with the woman that never met an animal print she didn't like.
I sigh - I do that a lot lately. Mac notices. "You all right, Lindsay?" I nod, and I know that he really doesn't believe me. He's been shooting looks at me and Danny, but hasn't said a word. Maybe he's just on the lookout for us to let our issues affect work. Well, it's not going to happen. Danny may have shot my personal life to hell, but he won't do it to my job.
Back at the lab, I find Sheldon in the locker room. He looks dejected. "What's up, Sheldon?"
He smiles sadly. "Too much sushi for one person." Unsure of how to respond to that, I watch as he nods a good-bye and leaves.
I am unable to get his face out of my mind - Sheldon has always been there for me. I resolve to help and head to his apartment armed with a large tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a copy of The Best of Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live. The old episodes were the best.
He answers his door only after repeating bangs of my knuckles. He sighs. "Lindsay, the ice cream cure is really kind of a girl thing."
"Really?" I wave it in front of me. "Even if it's from that homemade ice cream place down the street?"
For the first time that day, Sheldon's eyes actually show some life. Score!
Hawkes
A couple of hours later, Lindsay and I are flopped on the couch in ice cream comas. I feel marginally better, although thoughts of Faith keep one foot planted in pityville. Lindsay is quiet before she asks the inevitable.
"Want to talk about it?"
Despite my resolve to keep the world away from my complicated Faith issues, something about her plainspoken attempts to help have me opening up.
"We grew up together in Queens. Crappy neighborhood - not exactly the projects, but close. My dad died of a heart attack when I was 4, and my mom was a teacher in the inner city. She didn't make much and she struggled to keep us going on her salary. Faith was a year younger. Her dad was a drunk that beat up her mother. She was no prize either - did drugs and whatever she needed to feed her habit.
"Faith was always beautiful and vulnerable, and I guess I had this need to protect her, keep her from becoming another statistic. I was lucky - my mom and I didn't have much but she always supported me and stressed education. Through me, she did this for Faith as well.
"I guess I was always half in love with her most of my life. Think Halle Berry's attractive? Faith on a fair day makes her look like a bag woman. And she's smart - she works at a huge brokerage firm. The problem? Men. She chooses badly - for all her intelligence, she picks users. The worst is Robert - they've been on and off for three years. He cheats on her shamelessly. She comes to me for comfort, and always goes back to him. Guess I'm hoping one day she'll wake up and realize I'm the one. Stupid huh?"
Lindsay pauses. "No, just in love with someone unable to see the beauty of what's before her."
I am momentarily surprised by her effusive words. "It's just her background, Lindsay, she doesn't know what she needs."
She waves her hand in defeat. "I won't trash her, Sheldon. It's possible she doesn't feel worthy of you. But sometimes in these situations - believe me, I know - we just have to let them go. You love her, right?"
I nod.
"Well, despite everything, I love Danny, but I'm not willing to waste my life waiting for him to get his crap together. I need to move on, and maybe you do, too."
Images of Danny and Faith pop into my mind. "Easier said than done."
Lindsay's has no answer. Onscreen, Eddie Murphy sings of "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood," but we're both beyond caring.
TBC