MIND CONTROL
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Huggy Bear frowned as his eyes swept around the room, finally settling on the lone occupant at the back of the room. Hutch had been there since late that afternoon, drinking heavily. Not just beer either, he was hitting the hard stuff. The tall thin black man was worried about his blond friend. He knew that Hutch was still grieving for the loss of his partner and best friend. The alcohol was the only thing that seemed to mask the pain, at least for a little while.
Huggy was still grieving too. So was everyone else who had known and loved David Michael Starsky. The brunet whirlwind had touched the lives of everyone he met, some more than others, and his loss had left a hole in Huggy's heart that couldn't be filled. They had met while they were still teenagers, shortly after Starsky's mother had sent him to Bay City to live with his aunt and uncle. Back then, Starsky had been an angry, rebellious thirteen year old with a chip on his shoulder and a bad attitude. Even then trouble seemed to follow him around no matter where he went.
Huggy had been a streetwise hustler, already starting to hone the skills that helped him to survive on the streets of the city. They had been an unlikely match. A skinny black boy from the inner city and a skinny Jewish kid from Brooklyn with a funny accent. But somehow, each of them seen something in the other one that filled a void in their life. Starsky had a difficult time adjusting to the major chances in his life and his new lifestyle on the west coast. Huggy had done everything he could to help make the transition simpler for him and their unlikely friendship had blossomed. They had stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder, and faced whatever obstacles were thrown at them together.
Starsky had barely managed to graduate from high school, having little interest in academics or school work. He'd been in more than his share of trouble, both back in New York and in Bay City. Then he got drafted just after he turned eighteen and ended up in Viet Nam.
Over the next two years, the only word Huggy got about his friend came from Starsky's infrequent letters to his Aunt Rosie, who had immediately taken a liking to the thin black boy who seemed to be her nephew's only friend in the city. Huggy knew that the letters Starsky wrote home were carefully edited for his Aunt's benefit. Huggy had other friends who had gone to Viet Nam and returned with their own horror stories about what went on over there.
Then they received the news that Starsky was missing in action and presumed dead. For almost three months Huggy had grieved the loss of his friend, and then the military had notified Rose and Al Starsky that Starsky had been found in a P.O.W. camp where he had been held for almost four months. He was alive and in a military hospital in Viet Nam. As soon as he was able to travel, he would be sent back to a V.A. hospital in the states to finish his rehabilitation before being released from active duty status with the military.
Another two months had passed before he finally came home. Like many others who had gone before him, he came home a different person from the one who had left them. No longer a boy but a bitter, angry man, tormented by nightmares and inner demons. Starsky had steadfastly refused to talk about the things he had done or seen over there. But, Huggy knew that he had been through hell and survived it. They remained friends but even their friendship had changed to some extent. Starsky's moods were darker and his temper shorter. The only thing that saved him from himself was his decision to join the police Academy and become a cop like his old man had been.
That was where he met Hutch. Another unlikely friendship. This time between a disillusioned Viet Nam Vet with his own personal demons and a college educated WASP from a wealthy family from the mid-west. Huggy had watched as the friendship between the two had deepened and grown into a relationship that defied anything Huggy had ever seen. Although he would remain lifelong friends with the brunet, Huggy would never be as close to him as Hutch. They had become two halves of the same whole, complete only when they were together. They brought out the best, and sometimes the worst, in each other, bound together at their very soul.
Now, with Starsky gone, Huggy could do nothing but sit back and watch as his other friend slowly fell apart, splintering into little pieces without the other half of his soul by his side. Without Starsky, Hutch didn't know how to go on alone. A big part of who he was had died along with Starsky at the bottom of that canyon. When he got drunk, Hutch talked to Starsky as if he were still there, shutting out everyone and everything else around him. It was sad to watch and to listen to as Hutch slowly lost his fragile grasp on reality.
Huggy sighed heavily and poured a cup of strong black coffee from the pot sitting behind the bar. He carried it over to the booth where Hutch was sitting and sat it down on the table in front of him. "You look like you could use some coffee, my friend." He said quietly.
Hutch looked at him with bleary eyes and a ghost of a smile flitted across his face. "Hear that, Starsk…" he slurred. He paused as if he were listening to the ghost sitting beside him. He shoved the coffee aside and looked at Huggy, his eyes so full of pain and grief that it tore at the barkeep's heart. In a strangled voice, he said, "Where is he, Huggy? Why didn't he wait for me? He promised me he'd never leave me…"
"Come on, Bro.." Huggy said gently, reaching down to tug Hutch to his feet. "You need some sleep." He helped the big blond to his feet and slowly guided him across the room to the hidden stairway that led to the tiny apartment on the second floor above the bar. Hutch followed him like an obedient child. Inside the apartment, he stumbled across the room and fell face first across the bed sitting along one wall, falling asleep almost immediately. Huggy gently covered him with a light blanket and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. At least for another night, Hutch would be safe from the inner demons that were tearing him apart inside. With heavy steps, Huggy went back downstairs to tend to his customers.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Miles away from Bay City, Starsky jerked awake with a start, his eyes looking wildly around the room. "Hutch?" he whispered in a hoarse voice. He could still hear his friend's voice lingering in his mind, calling for him. Starsky struggled to control his ragged breathing and get his heartbeat back to normal. Had he been dreaming? Or was Hutch reaching out to him through that almost psychic bond they had developed over the years? Closing his eyes, Starsky concentrated on reaching out to Hutch, searching for that connection that held them together. A knife like pain cut through his heart when he felt nothing but emptiness. Hutch wasn't there. At least not on a level that Starsky could reach. He buried his face in the thin pillow beneath his head and let the hot tears fall down his cheeks. He had never felt so lost or alone in his life, not even when he was a P.O.W. in Viet Nam. He had always prided himself on being strong and independent, able to roll with the punches that life threw at him. But every man, no matter how strong, had his breaking point and Starsky knew that he was dangerously close to reaching his.