A NEWSPAPER AND A REPORT
No more gym for him.
Two days after his "physical exercise" Enos still felt dead tired: it was like moving in riot gear. Since the evening he passed out on his bed (as he dreamt of Daisy), awakening up the next morning, every move was painful.
And now a brawl at the Boar's Nest: he wasn't able to face a brawl, he was aware of it and it drove him crazy. He was totally useless, a useless cop.
"Did you hear?"
Luke looked at Bo, no other words to say: Bo swerved and headed to the Boar's Nest. If there was a fight, and if Enos was coming there (as they heard from the C.B.), they had to keep an eye on him, especially after Daisy's talking about Enos' strange behavior at the gym and about his looking dead tired since then.
When Bo parked the General in front of the Boar's Nest there was no patrol car, yet: good, they came earlier than Rosco and Enos, and they could stop the brawl before their arrival.
The usual fight at the Boar's Nest: chairs and tables cracking under flying bodies, checked green cloths scattered everywhere, shed beer, drunk people supporting drunk fighters.
"OK, THE FIGHT IS OVER!", Luke's voice surprised everyone, so the brawl stopped for a while, everyone turning to Bo and Luke who were standing at the entrance, their arms up. Just a brief stop, then the fight started again, Bo and Luke in the middle of it.
When Enos and Rosco entered the Boar's Nest, most of the fighters laid on the floor, knocked out by Bo and Luke, the last tough nuts being two youngsters, two strangers, still on their feet.
"Enos, cuff 'em and stuff 'em!"
Glancing at the cops coming in, the two youngsters ran to the door, trying to overwhelm the uniformed men in order to reach the door. Rosco fell on one of the spared tables, cracking it under his weight, whereas Luke reached the youngster who was passing by Rosco, jumping on him and dragging him to the floor as in a perfect detective movie.
The other youngster crashed into Enos, taller and more muscular than Rosco. The impact made Enos have few steps back, but he didn't lose his balance, wrapping his arms around the boy more tightly he could; the guy tried to wiggle out of Enos with a violent jab against Enos' stomach, and Enos bent down, falling on the floor, the guy with him, his face hitting violently a broken chair.
"Police brutality! This is police brutality!", a cut on his face, finally the guy wriggled out of Enos' hands, just to crash into Bo.
"This is not police brutality. And you're a stupid and crying brat," Bo punched the guy, knocking him out, "learn to avoid a brawl if you don't want to be arrested," then he turned to Enos, "Are you OK, buddy?"
Enos woke up from a sort of catatonic state, "Uh, yeah, I'm OK, thanks."
"Dipstick. Cuff 'em and stuff 'em!" Rosco stood up, looking at Enos cuffing the guy knocked out by Bo, "Enos! Cuff Bo and Luke. THEY're responsible of this fight."
"What?", Luke folded his arms, his chin up, a challenge to Rosco, "How can you say Bo and I are responsible of the brawl? You weren't here to know who started it."
"You Dukes are always responsible of everything! Enos, stop cuffing that drunk guy and cuff them two!"
A brief glance between Bo and Luke, and then a brief glance at Enos; it wasn't the case to involve Enos in a chase, one of their usual chase, in their minds what happened just some days before.
"Ok, Enos, it's not your fault, buddy. Arrest me," Luke unfolded his arms and he offered his wrists to Enos.
"But… sheriff. Bo and Luke aren't the only ones involved in the brawl. And I think they're trying to stop it, honestly," a meaningful look at his friends: he was naïve but not stupid, and he knew pretty well Bo and Luke were keeping an eye on him since his coming back from Los Angeles, so he guessed they came to the Boar's Nest just to stop the brawl before his arrival.
"Enos! I'm your superior officer, and if I say you to cuff them you HAVE to cuff them!"
"Enos, don't worry. Come on, arrest us, we're going to call uncle Jesse for the bail. It's not the first time," Luke tried again to convince Enos to arrest him: they didn't want to involve him in any chase (with its consequences) neither to push him against Rosco (and Boss, with its consequences).
"NO! They're innocent and I'm not going to arrest them, sheriff. I'm sorry," Enos looked down at the floor and shook his head, "I don't want to arrest them, and I won't do it."
Rosco, Bo and Luke stared at Enos, surprised by his unusual and firm standing against Rosco; and Rosco was for sure the most surprised of them all since he put his hat off, scratching his grizzled hair, no more shouts from him (he didn't want to shout against Enos), his eyes on his deputy, "Cuff that boy, now. We'll talk about it later," then he turned to Bo and Luke, "and you, go, but the next time you won't be so lucky."
When Bo and Luke entered the kitchen, Daisy stared at them, her eyes open wide, "Bo, Luke! What's happened?" on her cousins' face clear signs of a fight.
"A brawl at the Boar's Nest," Bo shrugged, "is the dinner ready?"
Daisy rolled her eyes up and shook her head, "Glad it's my day off."
Luke sat silently at the table, his eyes thoughtful.
"Luke, something's wrong?" uncle Jesse knew that look: his older nephew was pondering on something important.
"I was thinking of the brawl. Something happened along the brawl."
"Are you talking about Enos standing against Rosco and refusing to arrest us? Yeah, it surprised me, but… it's not the first time Enos takes our part, after all. Good ol' Enos," Bo smiled.
"Was Enos involved in the fight?" Daisy sat near Luke, waiting for news, hoping good news.
"We arrived at the Boar's Nest before Enos and Rosco. So we managed to stop the fight, just two youngsters left, no problem for Enos to stop one of them. He's OK, don't worry."
Daisy had a deep sigh and she gently squeezed Luke's shoulder, "Thanks."
"But…"
"But… what?" Daisy's grasp on Luke's shoulder tightened.
Luke looked at Bo, "Did you notice? Enos' reaction as that guy shouted about police brutality. He froze, he turned pale and he let the guy go."
Bo remained silent for a while, pondering on Luke's words, "Yeah… in effect…"
"Police brutality? What are you talking about? Luke, please, tell me EVERYTHING."
Luke turned to Daisy, explaining her his idea: he talked to her about the brawl, about how Enos stopped the guy who's trying to run away, about how he fell on the floor and how the guy hit his face against a broken chair, blaming Enos of police brutality, and about Enos's freezing as he heard the guy talking of "police brutality".
"Maybe Enos turned pale and froze just 'cause of the jab in his stomach, or… maybe… that guy talking of police brutality shocked him because of something happened to him in L.A. Just a thought," Luke shrugged, "maybe I'm wrong and I'm giving too much importance to something not having any importance."
"Wait a minute," Daisy rushed to her bedroom, coming back with a newspaper in her hand, opening it and resting it on the table, "here," her forefinger tapping on an article.
"Man who claimed police brutality is rearrested. A 18-year-old who testified in the trial of police officers accused of beating him in April, during a robbery arrest, has been arrested again, on suspicion of robbery," Luke read what Daisy was pointing out, then looked up at her, "so, what's this?"
"The Los Angeles Time. Enos read it since he came back from the city. Every day. And I suppose there's a reason why he keeps on reading it. As if he's looking for something. And I'm buying it, every day, as him… to look for some possible clue. And this is a clue, or I hope so. It's a copy of two days ago, but yesterday and today there's nothing about police brutality, just articles about gangs, murderers, and so on."
"Are you buying this newspaper every day to find out a… clue?"
Daisy turned to Bo, shrugging, "Yeah. Is it so strange?"
"Yeah, it's… stalking," Bo smiled then he approached Luke to read the article about the case of police brutality, "what's about, Luke?"
"A man claimed some police officers of police brutality, in April. And now he's been re-arrested. But there are just few lines: there's no name of any officer, no what's happened exactly, nothing about the trial. Nothing," Luke stared at Daisy, "There's no clue about Enos in this article."
"His letters became shorter and shorter since April. I didn't realize it when I read that article, two days ago, but now you've talked about Enos' reaction to that guy's words, today, this article, and its referring to April, has a great importance."
Luke closed the newspaper, looking up at the ceiling, his eyes thoughtful and his arms folded, "What if… Enos and his colleagues have been blamed of police brutality?"
"Enos? Police brutality? Are you kidding?"
"I'm not saying Enos and his colleagues were guilty, I'm just saying maybe someone blamed Enos for something he didn't commit. And if it happened, I'm not surprised Enos is so strange, so... sad. And since Enos is a honest cop, this kind of charge would shatter him."
"And what about the beating? Enos told they beat him with no mercy," Daisy swallowed against the lump in her throat, "and it happened more or less in July, when he stopped abruptly to write me."
"A revenge of someone near the man claiming him of police brutality, I suppose."
Bo nodded at Luke's assumption, "Yeah, it works. BUT that article is too short, just few lines, and we can be totally wrong. The newspaper is giving much more space to that gang raging in the city, and maybe Enos is interested in that gang; maybe THEY beat him."
"This newspaper is not enough, just suppositions, nothing else. It's pointless," Luke shrugged.
"If we had ALL the copies of The Los Angeles Time during Enos' staying there, we could understand something more. We could find the truth."
Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse stared at Daisy, a clever and satisfied smile blooming on her face as she folded her arms and raised her chin, her way to tell her family she's already got it.
"And we're goin' to have ALL the copies of The Los Angeles Time along the last seven months. Andy, the newsvendor, is getting them for me," Daisy nodded, satisfied.
"Wait, wait. ALL the copies along the last seven months? For… what?" Bo looked at his older cousin, stunned.
"For eating them, Bo," sarcasm in Daisy's voice and then a sigh, "Obviously, to read them and to find what happened to Enos. I KNOW those newspapers are the way to understand everything."
"Yeah, I know what are you planning to do, Daisy," Bo shook his head, "my question is: even IF we find out what happened to Enos, how can we use it? If Enos doesn't want to talk about it, you couldn't talk to him about it, anyway."
Uncle Jesse nodded, "Bo is right. Moreover, I think Enos wouldn't be so happy knowing we … spied… him this way. Remember his pride."
"I don't want to push him to talk about things he doesn't want to, and I'm not planning to tell him what we're goin' to find out. I just want to know what happened in order to help him in the best way. I want to know what's goin' on in his mind: if he's disappointed, sad, or angry, or whatever else, and why. At that point, I'll know how to help him. You didn't see him at the gym, the way he was hitting the punch-bag, as he was punching himself, as he was hurting himself. I HAVE to find a way to help him."
The three men looked at each other: Daisy wouldn't have changed her mind. Beside, they too wanted to know what happened to their best friend, and they would have done everything they could do, in order to help him: Dukes-style.
Meanwhile, 200 copies of "The Los Angeles Time" were already arriving to Hazzard.
LOS ANGELES – FLASHBACK
Chief Thomas's pen tapped on the paper sheet in front of him, "Is it your report, Strate?"
Enos held his breath, his eyes down at the shiny wooded desk, "Yes sir."
"Are you sure?" Chief Thomas's voice cold as ice.
"Yeah," Enos swallowed against the lump in his throat, "It's what I've seen."
In the room only the pen tapping on the wooden desk.
"And what about the man?" the chief's voice broke the silence.
"He's at the Hospital, right now."
He still felt on his hands the man's blood.