I'd love to tell you that Gov. Romney finally getting to send in the National Guard helped things but in a lot of ways it just made things worse. I can't say for sure but I don't think the man had much choice. Nothing good was happening without the military. There sure wasn't no end in sight. But them army boys just shot anything that moved. Got the riots stopped sure enough but the loss of life was enormous.

Hell, don't look at me for answers. I ain't got 'em. I think that by the time the riots broke out, there was too much anger and outright hatred for there not to be that loss of life. Hurt to see it in my town though.

But whatever I felt about it and whatever people might say about if it was a good thing or not, the troops rolled in on Wednesday. One thing was for sure good. Sam came home. Well, he came to our house. He wasn't going to take his family back to their house until everything was over and he knew it was safe.

I don't think Emma even cared a great deal about getting to her house. She said she wanted to go back but her heart wasn't in it. Frankly, I think she was just so relieved to have him where she knew he was alright that if he said they were living in the gutter, she would have just smiled and nodded. But I'm getting ahead of the story here. I keep doing that, don't I?

We all stayed in mostly like we was under house arrest or something. I sure as hell wasn't going to let Sherry go anywhere with that belly of hers and Noah couldn't very well show his face…especially once the troops was there. Mostly everyone stayed put. I know that was rough on Jesse. He and Theresa talked on the phone as much as we'd let him and as much as they could. Things like riots wreak havoc with phone lines. You'd think Theresa held all the oxygen in the world for how he acted to be without her.

I tried to be annoyed with his hangdog expression but, if I'm being honest, there was something good and true in his love for her. Yeah, I know they was young but it was love. Kids that young can be in love. I ain't saying anyone would be giving a blessing for them to run off and get hitched or anything but it was love all the same. There's a certain hope that comes with seeing the kind of love that young people like that can find themselves in. Some sort of assurance that the world is still the same place you know even if it don't look like it.

So there we were and I will say that until Sam rolled in, our own tensions was threatening to boil over the same as the tensions on 12th Street did. I think we was all just getting a little sick of each other and sick of worrying too.

We played Monopoly until it became almost a blood match and then tried to find other things to do to bide our time. Joanie was a trooper. I was so proud of her. I knew her worries were eating her alive but she never let it show. Once everything was over I knew I would have to keep a close eye on her. She was frightened for Al and Rachel and Lou and the kids every day until they would call. She would fret about Ike and Buck until she heard from Annie or Carol. She worried for Sherry's health and for Noah. She knew how deeply something like this would hurt him. But she fretted most for Sam and Billy. They were in it every day. I think once Sam would call at night and Billy would get in, she would finally allow herself to relax just a little bit.

Sherry didn't even really try to keep it together for the most part. We got her to rest as much as possible but she spent a lot of time just sitting in a rocking chair on our front porch watching the street for the husband she knew wasn't coming until late every night. I couldn't stand it that Tuesday and went out to sit with her a bit. Joanie had tried talking to her and it wasn't really any use. But I was stubborn.

"Penny for your thoughts," I said as I settled onto the chair next to hers.

"I doubt they're worth that much," she replied.

"I've known you for a good while, Sherry," I told her. "Seven years, or something close…your thoughts are always worth far more."

"I'm afraid they're just a big jumbled mess right now," she choked out before the tears overtook her. Now, I know I've talked a good deal about Sherry and the kind of girl she is. She is anything but a weepy sort. But then she was under some extreme conditions and she was getting awful close to her due date. Not like she was due any time or anything but it seems she was maybe two months off. Her hormones were messing with her something fierce.

I never could handle seeing a woman cry so I just reached over and held her close to me.

"He'll be alright," I assured her. "If for no other reason than it won't occur to him that he should consider himself in danger."

"I'm a scientist, remember?" she challenged me with a wry smile. "I know he seems happy-go-lucky, but he's scared. And even if he wasn't, that wouldn't protect him."

"I know. But he will always come home to you, to you and that baby. You have his whole world here. He didn't know he was looking for you until you were in front of him. I ain't never seen a man change so fast but you…you made him want to. Not that he changed for you but you made him want something different out of life. He'll be fine. He'll come home."

"Can I hate you forever for lying to me if he doesn't?"

"Yeah…you sure can."

"Thanks, Jimmy," she whispered into my shirt.

I kissed the top of her head and she straightened up.

"I should go inside and see if Emma needs any help with the little ones."

"No," I corrected. "You should go inside and lay down in front of a fan and get some rest so I don't have to explain to your husband how I let you overtax yourself while you're carrying his child. Joanie and Jesse and Noah have Sarah Jean and Michael under control. Emma will be fine."

I heard a car door shut then and looked to see who had pulled in. Smiling I turned to Sherry.

"I think Emma will be just perfect now that he's here."

"Lucky her," Sherry muttered with a bitter tone that I had honestly never heard from her. Her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh God! I'm sorry. I don't know what made me say that. Please…don't tell Emma. I'm happy he's home. I am."

"I know you are," I reassured her. "You're just worried about Billy."

"I think maybe I do need to lie down a bit," she said still horrified. I honestly didn't think she had that much to be horrified for but then my moods wasn't swinging quite as free as hers was at the time. Pregnancy's a roller coaster to be sure.

Sherry nodded a hello to Sam as he climbed the porch steps and she slipped inside. I hoped that she would lie down a bit. She was looking very tired.

"Are you a sight for sore eyes," I said to Sam as I didn't even bother sticking out a hand to shake and skipped right to a hug.

"I feel like I been drug behind a truck," he replied hugging me back.

"You look and smell like it too," I laughed. I'm sure once Emma's done hugging you within an inch of your life, she'll let you get a shower and a nap…maybe a meal too. Possibly not in that order."

"Hey Jimmy, Joanie wants to know what you did with-ˮ Jesse had leaned out the door to ask something. The question was quickly forgotten once he saw Sam. Some things just make a soul happy. Jesse learning to trust anyone and especially a man was one of those things. He completely dropped whatever he was about to ask me and bolted for Sam, throwing his arms around the man.

Now some boys Jesse's age would've played off that they was worried about Sam on Emma's behalf. But Jesse wasn't most boys his age. I could see tears forming in his big blue eyes and I could hear the shake in his voice when he spoke.

"I was so scared," he choked out.

Sam just hugged the boy back. I think he was too choked up to be back with his family to say anything at all. Well, aside from one thing.

"I know…I love you, son."

I stepped into the house to give them some time. I knew Emma would want to know Sam was home but I wasn't about to let even her interrupt that moment that was going on out on the porch. It wasn't but a minute later that they came into the house anyway. Sam didn't call out for her or anything. He just headed straight for the kitchen. An upset Emma was always a cooking Emma. Of course with as many mouths to feed as we had under our roof, that was probably a good thing.

She didn't see him walk into the room and I thought she might have jumped a full foot off the ground when he slipped his arms around her waist from behind but she didn't even need to turn around to know who had her. She just closed her eyes and leaned back against him.

Somehow we kept Sherry in bed until Billy came home. It was an earlier day for him. I think by then the extraordinary had become ordinary at the station. The first couple days they were chasing their tails trying to figure how to cover everything and coordinate personnel and all but by then it seemed they had everything running like a well oiled machine. So Billy was home for supper. Or…well, at our home. I guess everyone had made the adjustments and gotten as comfortable as possible with them.

It was still hot as anything so we ate on the deck I'd built. I was never so glad to have a project finished in my life. That deck was a godsend. Our eating was interrupted a couple of times by the phone as Lou called and we all talked to her and Al and then Jesse had to get on and talk to Theresa a little bit. Then Ike called to let us know that he and Buck and their families was doing alright. Getting a little sick of each other but overall, they was fine.

After supper we set to getting the little ones to bed. And then Emma made Jesse go to bed too. He didn't want to but right about then, he was so grateful to have Sam home, he'd've done anything either of them asked.

Eventually it was just the men sitting around the table on the deck sipping beer and talking. We intentionally avoided talking about the situation. We talked about the Tigers, the Lions and their chances this season, anything we could to keep from talking about what was all over the news and what Billy and Sam had been seeing up close and personal. After a bit, Joanie came out on the deck with a fresh round of Stroh's and perched herself on my lap.

"Emma and Sherry have gone to bed," she said. "I think Emma's just exhausted from having been worried so long and poor Sherry…she's just worn out."

Billy looked a little green right about then. He knew he was worrying his wife and it bothered him. Joanie caught his look though.

"We make her rest as much as we can," she told him. "She'll be fine. You just keep coming home at the end of the day and she'll be alright. She's stronger than even she thinks she is."

Sam chuckled.

"Most of us are," he said flatly. "I think that's the biggest thing I've learned wearing a badge. We can survive what we never thought we could. I imagine Jimmy here is going to be plenty lonely once the dust settles."

I looked at him weird but Joanie nodded her understanding.

"Noah and I have lists of potential clients that will keep us and the rest of the firm busy into next year," she agreed. "There are a lot of allegations of police brutality and excessive force."

She seemed to add the last reluctantly but Sam nodded as he swallowed some more of his beer.

"Most of them are probably true too. I won't make excuses or even defend what was done but…I know I saw things getting out of hand more than once. We're supposed to be better than that."

"You're only human," Billy said. "Things I've seen in the last few days…if I was the one with the gun and the badge, I'm not sure I could've held it together as well as they have."

"Still doesn't make it right," Noah piped up.

"I'm not saying it does," Billy answered almost defensively. "I'm just saying that folks on both sides are losing their cool and you can't blame one side more than the other. It's ugly out there, Noah."

"I know it is," Noah acknowledged. "Honestly, I don't know how I'd be doing if I was one of the cops at this point."

We sat quiet for a little while and then Sam broke our silence with a question for Billy.

"What's it like out there now with the army boys in town?"

"Weird," Billy replied honestly. "Really weird. Tanks rolling down the streets and firing at nearly any movement, especially if it's someone with darker skin doing the moving. I don't even recognize my own town anymore, Sam. I was born here and lived my whole life here and I feel like I was picked up and dropped in some foreign country. It's just weird out there."

I felt Joanie shudder against me.

"Was there any way the police could have gotten this under control on their own?" I asked Sam.

He just shook his head.

"Might've died out on its own in time but whether any of the city would still be standing by then was debatable. Of course, it don't look like the army is getting it under control just yet either. Maybe there is no getting something like this under control."

We all got quiet for a while before Billy stood up stretching and then drained the last swallow of his beer.

"I don't know about the rest of you but tomorrow promises to be just as long as today was. I'm going to go and cuddle up to my wife and get some sleep while I can."

Sleep sounded like a good idea to the rest of us too and I knew Sam would be wanting to go and cuddle with his wife as well so we disbanded from the porch and all headed inside and to bed.

I had barely laid down and Joanie was right tight to me.

"I know, sweetie," I said softly to her. "I know."

There wasn't need of any other words.

Well, the next day our lives seemed to center around the phone. First Sam got a call. He had told his superiors to call him at our number. I doubt he was the only cop in Detroit not staying in his own home. Something had gone down at the Algiers Motel. Dead bodies were found and someone was going to have to investigate. Sam, being a detective, was the someone they chose. He took off after breakfast.

While we was still eating breakfast, another call came. This was for Noah. It was Rosemary. I almost hung up on her when I heard her voice. I know what happened between us was as much my fault as hers but after what she had done to Noah and then what she tried to do with me and with Billy, I never could get a good feeling about her.

I have to say that with all that ended up happening, that not a day goes by that I don't wish I had hung up on her. But I didn't. I handed the phone to Noah. I didn't overtly eavesdrop but I heard his voice getting louder and sounding urgent. Something wasn't right. It made the hairs on my neck stand up and I felt sick to my stomach.

Once Noah was off the phone, he walked back into the kitchen, grabbed his bagel and swallowed the rest of his coffee.

"I have to go," he said tensely. "You guys can keep an eye on Michael, can't you?"

"Michael ain't a problem," I told him. "But you're not going anywhere. It ain't safe."

"Not safe for Rosie either," he said and I could see the muscles in his jaw clenching. I knew she called him because she couldn't think of anyone else to call but he was going to read her the riot act when he got to her.

Of course, I had to put up more of a fight to his leaving anyway. I wasn't lying when I said it wasn't safe. Actually Rosemary was probably safer than Noah would be. His skin was the target of all them army boys. And I don't mean it as any real racist thing but it was an extreme situation and they wouldn't be near as likely to shoot at a white woman—no matter how crazy she was acting.

"Noah…you know the ones with guns ain't going to shoot a woman…not a white one anyway. But you, they wouldn't think anything of it. And especially if you're talking to a white woman. Back me up here, Sam."

I was pleading with him.

"Jimmy's right, Noah," Sam said. "You need to stay in. Think of that boy. He needs you."

"I have to go," Noah reiterated.

I actually stood in front of the door, blocking it with my body.

"I can't let you," I insisted. "We love Michael and watching him a few hours here and there is all fine and good but he needs you. You can't risk being taken from him like this."

"And what do I tell him if something happens to his mother and I didn't try to help her?"

"That she made her choices and you chose to stay safe for him."

"What kind of man does that make me?"

"A living one," I said flatly. "One that's still there to worry about facing his boy."

"Where is she?" Billy asked and I glared at him. It didn't matter at all as far as I was concerned. Noah needed to stay safe until the trouble blew over.

"Down on 12th."

"I'm going to be down that way today," Billy said. "I'll talk to her for you. You just need to get her to go on home, right? I can do that for you. You stay safe and with Michael and help these guys look after my wife and I'll see that Michael still has a mother. How's that sound?"

"She won't listen to you," Noah told him. "You don't know her like I do."

"Maybe," Billy began, "Maybe…well, if you were with me, in the news truck, it seems you'd be safe. You'd be part of the news crew as far as anyone knew. What do you think, Sam?"

"I think that's pretty sound," Sam answered and I wanted to hit the both of them. I just had a bad feeling. I could see Joanie did too. I could see it on her face.

So it was decided that Noah would go with Billy and Sam had to leave too to check into the dead bodies at the Algiers. I stayed home with Joanie and Emma and Sherry. Jesse and I were the only things passing for men in the house. Not that there was much male bonding going on. We were all very quiet. Honestly, I think we all had a bad feeling that day. So when the phone rang a little after noon, we all jumped. I went to answer it.

"Jimmy?"

I could barely recognize Billy's voice. There was yelling behind him and sirens and his voice was shaking and cracking and I got the feeling he might be crying.

"Are you alright, Billy?"

"Yeah," he breathed. "I'm just fine…but…"

"But what?"

"Noah…Noah's…he's…he's dead, Jimmy."

I know that Noah dying isn't actually a shock but this makes me terribly sad...This is not one of the more charming chapters in Detroit history.-J