Disclaimer: Some foul language may be present in this piece. Please be advised!
"Hey, bro. How's it going?" greeted Luca, as he poured hot coffee onto his favorite mug. The kitchen was a mess, but he figured he'd clean later. For now, he was content on a simple bowl of ready oats and freshly brewed coffee.
"Tired!" said Street, still stretching and yawning.
"Well, maybe you should slow things down with Chris, champ. Actually sleep some!" he finished with a smirk
Street looked annoyed, but immediately grinned. Luca was happy that his friends finally decided to be together. Lord knows for how long those two held off on their feelings!
"Shut up, Luca!" he snapped back, moving towards the kitchen to serve himself some coffee.
He needed as much caffeine as possible. He and Chris decided to spend the day together and he knew he had a huge conversation pending: what the heck was going to happen between them. Couple? Sex buddies? He needed a concrete path, not this limbo. I mean, he was good with the action and all, but he truly wanted something serious with her. Not sure how she felt, plus this whole thing about the safe house threw him off guard. He knew she had a lot on her plate, he just didn't want to be the guy in the sidelines.
They planned to go by the safe house and start getting better acquainted with the ladies. Have a firm conversation of how to move forward now that she was going to attend them full time. It was going to be a bit of a challenge but Street knew this meant a lot to her, so he wanted to be supportive.
At one point both men felt their cellphone vibrating, Luca's on top of the couch and Street's on the living room coffee table.
"Oh no!" Street complained even before reaching the mobile
"SWAT call." Luca said as he read the screen. "There goes the off day!"
"Damn!" Street slammed his hand on the table softly, still holding on the phone
"Plans ruined?" Luca asked. He grabbed his mug and hurriedly downed the hot liquid.
"Yeah...I was supposed to help Chris out in the safe house." he paused going over his phone again, "I better text her!"
"Do it fast. We gotta roll!" Luca said. In one motion he placed the mug in the kitchen sink and made it to his room. Street shook his head as he began to go to his room. He halted to text Chris.
Hey! I wont be able to make it. SWAT call early, no day off. Sorry, babe
"Yo, bro! You seen my black Lakers' hat around here?" Luca said ravaging through his room like a mad man. He had done laundry yesterday, but hadn't folded anything, so half of the clean clothes were still in the hand basket, getting mixed in with the recent dirty ones.
"Didn't you do laundry yesterday, man!? This is a mess!" Street said as he waited for Chris' response. He glanced at his roommates' mess and wondered how did he find anything in there.
It's ok, amor. Call me when you get off. Be safe!
"Dude, let's go!" Luca called. Street was so into the message that he jumped out of his skin, snapping back to reality.
"Ok, ok." He placed his phone down as he got ready.
"You riding in your bike? Or you coming?" called Luca as he looked for his hat
"Um..." Street looked afar, as he tried to focus, "What was the question? Sorry"
"Bro, Chris got u good!" he said letting out a loud giggle
Street just sighed and got ready as fast as he could. When he was about ready, his phone rang.
Luca began laughing hysterically when he stood in the door and noticed how Street knocked off the lamp, his keys, jumped over the bed, threw the bedspread all over the floor, almost slipped on it...all to get to the phone on the night table.
hahahahaha
"Bro, what is wrong with you?" he managed to say between laughs
Jim froze as he noticed the mess he just made, as answered the phone. "Hey!"
He listened. "Oh, it's you Tan." he answered disappointed. "Ok. Yeah, we're on our way"
"You've got to get a grip, bro!" Luca said as Jim hung up, still giggling to himself
Luca began his way down the hall towards the garage, when he placed his house keys in his pants pocket. He felt something move, so he dug his hand in once again. "Hey! A coin! A lucky coin!" he said looking straight at it, cheerfully.
Street followed him hurrying his way to Luca's car, when he noticed the man holding a quarter to his face. "C'mon, Luca. Let's go! What are you looking at?"
Luca smiled, as he showed the coin to Street. "This is my lucky day. I found a lucky coin!"
"Pst! C'mon, Luca. Enough with the superstitions!"
"It's true! Check it, as long as I keep it with me, it'll give me good luck today!" he said stuffing it back in his pocket.
"Whatever!" Street said as he rolled his eyes.
They made it to Luca's car, which stood just outside of the garage where Luca had his father's old silver 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro. He had been months fixing it up... that was his baby. He was pretty sure he could convince his old man to pass it over, but his father wouldn't budge. For now, he would only agree on fixing it up.
Luca opened the driver's door of his truck and turned on the engine. Street went around the front of the car, as he noticed it was a beautiful Saturday morning, perfect for some time off with his girl. Birds were signing, weather was perfect, not too hot, not too chilly...perfect for a stroll in the park holding hands, or making out in the back of her Jeep, or... nope! Duty called!
Whatever!
Just as Street opened the door, he felt it. SPLAT! A flock of birds were flying over their house, and one just couldn't hold it. The wide white and brownish slime took up most of the joint area between his left shoulder and bicep.
"Oh my God! Are you serious?" He complained as he looked at the mess on his SWAT shirt.
Luca's laugh was so loud, it was even stronger than the car engine itself.
"I cannot believe this!" Street said slamming the door.
"..and I didn't get anything on me. Thanks to my coin!" Luca said showing him the quarter
"Just...go. I'll change and I'll meet you at HQ!" Street said annoyed, going into the house again
...and that's how Jim's day started. Not only did he get bird's poop on his shirt, but when he made it to HQ, Hicks wasn't very happy with him for being late. As a matter of fact, he had chosen Street to go in to represent SWAT in a meeting down at City Hall where they would discuss new regulations for CIs and prisoner transportation methods with several agencies. Hicks thought that after the ordeal in the plane, Street should have a saying on those discussions. However, since he came in late, he delegated the responsibility to Luca, confident that the older officer's TLI experience could help shed some light in the meetings.
"Hey Street" greeted Luca, while Jim held the phone with his shoulder.
"Bad timing Luca." Street said annoyed, waiting for the nurse to finish so he could zip his pants up and get back to work. He laid flat on his stomach, as he waited.
"Why what's up?"
"I gotta finish with the medics to get back to HQ." the nurse came in holding a tray with a huge needle sticking out. Jim swallowed hard.
"Yeah, Hondo called." Luca smirked, holding back the laughter
"Luca, are you serious? Bro, you called to laugh at my face? Really?"
"Nah, just to let you know that I am having a blast and...I have a chauffeur, won a raffle and a goodie bag with a bunch of neat stuff." he said just before bursting into laughter
Luca's laughter was so annoying to Street that he just...hung up!
I cannot believe how embarrassing this is! F*ck!
After being humiliated, taking the walk of shame while being the center of gossip and giggle around HQ, he had to hurry because Hicks called 20 Squad for yet another mission. He thought his day couldn't get worse, but he was way off, especially when he found himself wiping his entire abdomen after getting vomited by one of the suspects they apprehended!
Finally, at around 7:30pm, he was going home. He decided for such an awful day, he just needed to chill at his girl's place, enjoy some Netflix and... get some much needed love, honestly! Just a very unlucky day... even if he didn't believe in luck.
As he walked through the parking lot, he noticed Deacon and Hondo were huddled up to the side. He approached them and spotted Luca's truck. They guy was sporting a very expensive looking jacket, while Deacon and Hondo gave him praise.
"Hey, Street!" he greeted. Everyone turned towards Street as he approached. He greeted all of them and asked about the piece.
"Chief was so impressed by my mentoring, he gave me this. Plus passes VIP for the magic show at the Convention Center tomorrow. I'm gonna call Liv!" he said super excited
Great! His day went fantastic!
"And all because of my lucky charm" Luca added cheerfully
"Oh no! Here we go again!" Street said as he rolled his eyes, and turned his gaze to the side wall. The others looked lost, as they stared at both Luca and Jim.
"What charm?" asked Deacon
"My lucky coin!" Luca said taking the quarter out of his pocket
"There's no such thing as luck, Luca!" Street said annoyed
"I wouldn't come down so hard on him, he wasn't the one that got a bullet in the a*s today!" said Hondo as everyone laughed
"It was just a braise, and it sucked! Ok? Can we let it go now?" he complained
"Especially when it was his own gun!" added Deacon continuing the giggles
"You too?" Street called out, as Deacon raised his hands in defense, "Bullying is not very Catholic, Deac!"
He couldn't really believe his day had gone half as bad. Getting pooped on, then shot, then the dude throwing up on him...To make matters worse, and to close it out with all glamour, he ended up under the rain because his bike had a flat tire...in the middle of the freeway! Unbelievable!
After two hours, everything was solved. He was able to tow it to the safe house, as Chris helped set it in the garage. Street was soaking wet, in a bad mood, with his bottom still throbbing. The rain was coming down hard, and newscasts said it would continue until the next day. Both he and Chris got wet as they made it from the garage to the door.
Five minutes later, Luca arrive at his house and not a single drop was felt. "You did it again, my coin!" He said as he took out the quarter. His date had gone very nice, and even though it was raining, the service and the restaurant itself were perfect. He was beginning to really enjoy Olivia's company.
As he was reminiscing, he noticed Street's bag wasn't in the floor near the kitchen, where he usually leaves it when he comes from work.
"Yo, Jim! You at Chris's place?" he greeted over the phone
"Yeah. You wont believe it. I got a flat tire under the heavy rain, two hours ago."
"Are you kidding? I saw the news that so much rain came down, some parts of LA got flodded."
"Well, thank God I was in the middle of the biggest highway in LA, with absolutely no bridge or cover! I hope I dont get the flu, bro! For real!"
"Damn, bro. Just make sure to rest and a bunch of fluids. Take a pill or something, just in case."
"How was dinner with your girl?" Street asked, as he noticed Chris taking a bag of popcorn out of the pantry
"Well, it was pouring rain but it just set out as the most romantic dinner yet. She really falling, dude!" he ended with a smirk. He couldn't believe he was actually blushing
"That's great, bro. I gotta go, gotta take some pain killers."
"Explain to me how your weapon got discharged pointing at your ass, Street!" he said giggling
"I don't- you know what?" he let out a dramatic sigh, "I don't wanna talk about it. Just drop it!" he finished super annoyed
Luca could hear Chris giggling in the background too. "I told you, bro...don't go against fate!"
"It's not fate...there's no such thing as superstitions, Luca!"
BOOM! In that moment the microwave exploded and the whole house went dark!
"Well, there goes the popcorn!" Chris said in the dark