Chapter 6

While Jamal was hanging around the neighborhood, his friend Joe was leaning against a wall, on the rooftops of a building beside the police station, which was under repairs. He was also whistling to some random tunes, hands firmly in his pockets. His eyes were staring blankly at the sky.

Eddie realised his pal on the rooftop, just as he was leaving the police station. He decided to join his friend, to see what he had to say, or needed help with. Joe was looking clueless, by the way, especially with his blank stare.

However, when Eddie reached out to him, he felt as if he woke up from sleep. His nerves were still functioning, and he responded to Eddie's hand waving in front of his head.

"Hello there," Eddie said to Joe. "Looks like you are enjoying the morning."

"Oh, it is you," a rather surprised Joe replied. "Sure, I was enjoying the scenery. Sort of."

"Lots of broken buildings," Eddie said, "and I wonder what you enjoy looking at in this broken city."

"Well," Joe said, "I was looking at the sky."

"That is it?"

"I was also thinking about things."

"Of what? Jamal?"

"No…not really. It is okay. I was actually thinking of these."

Joe then handed over a notebook to Eddie. Confused, Eddie opened the notebook, only to see some sketches made by Joe, of birds flying in groups. Eddie was impressed, and slightly laughed. He laughed when he noticed a bald eagle flying below the smaller birds.

"What is the eagle doing?" Eddie asked his friend.

"That eagle?" Joe said. "Oh, he is just passing through. Seriously, he passed through just now."

"Really?" Eddie asked.

"Really," Joe said in an optimistic tone. "I saw it. In fact, I saw all the birds flying on the sky, with my own eyes."

Eddie smiled, and stopped for a moment. Thoughts circulated in his mind, too. The idea of birds brought him back to the time when he usually spends time in the park. Back then, he, along with a young Joe, and Jamal, plus a few others, enjoyed playing in the park. At the same time, he and Joe noticed the appearance of a very beautiful, blue and white-coloured bird called a jay. The jay flew by and was almost within reach of Joe's hands, but he did not get to touch it. Still, they enjoyed looking at that bird.

Eddie still remembered fondly of his childhood memories.

"Joe," Eddie said, "do you remember the jay bird?"

"The blue jay bird?" Joe said. "Sure!"

"It is a very beautiful bird," Eddie said, "and thinking about it, I also came up with something else."

"What else?" Joe asked. "A custom-made bird?"

"No," Eddie assured, "I thought of a costume that resembles a jay bird's skin."

When he heard Eddie's words, Joe laughed loudly. He realised his friend was as imaginative as he could be. He then asked the purpose of the costume. Eddie did not give a long answer, but he only said that a hero was needed to save the city from crime. Joe nodded and smiled, and his friend left afterwards, to get lunch.

Joe looked on as his friend left. What was that about?, he thought as his friend walked away. He then realised that he did not ask for his notebook back.

"My notebook!" Joe shouted. Fortunately, Eddie realised his mistake. He immediately turned around and gave the book back.

"Thanks a lot," Joe said.

"Very sorry for that," Eddie said, shaking his head in embarrasement.

Joe was fine with his friend's mistake. He forgave and forgot about it anyway. However, he did not really understand the need for a costume in fighting crime. Was Eddie planning to don a jay costume? Or was it his proposal for a new project involving his friends?

As Eddie walked home, he folded his arms around his body as the morning coolness set in. The temperature in the morning usually is usually low, and increased only near the afternoon before decreasing again when late in the evening. Anyway, Eddie was just sharing what he thought was something that he thought might be a good idea, because the city was not a safe place.

Villains crept in from many ends of the earth and threaten to disrupt the peace, even destroying the city and taking control of it. The police force was quite limited thus far, with not many skilled members and limited firepower to stop the new supervillains that appeared in town. In fact, Eddie himself believed that he was losing interest in the force's deficiency at that time. He just wanted to stop crime, because that was what he enjoyed.

As for his friends, one of them recently departed. Jamal no longer wanted any part. Before him, there were several policemen who stepped down from their duties, regardless of their age or rank. They thought they had enough on their hands to take care of, so they made their call. Joe

The damage was done? Well, sort of. But not unless someone could make a change. Eddie rushed home when he could not bear the cold. He was shivering. A few passers-by, who are young policemen, saw their senior detective flee the city.

"Eddie, where are you going?" one of them asked.

"Home," Eddie replied. "I feel like I am getting a cold. It is cold out here," he said as he made his way out of the city, and towards his modest but beautiful house.