Time to Call it Quits?

Hutch sighed and asked, "How long do you think we've spent in this car?"

Starsky looked up from his paper and then checked his watch.

"About forty minutes," he said.

Hutch shifted position as he clarified, "No, I meant how long over all. You know, how much of our lives have we spent sitting in this car?"

"Oh." Starsky folded up his newspaper and placed it on the dash. "I don't know but I'm guessing a lot."

He paused and considered his partner's face and demeanor. Hutch never asked a question that hadn't been produced by a great deal of thinking so Starsky knew that the question hinted at something else.

"Talk to me, partner. You thinking you've had enough?"

Hutch sighed again before asking quietly, "Haven't you?"

Starsky put his head on one side and fixed his eyes on a green door along the street.

After a couple of minutes, he said quietly, "I do think about it from time to time, ya know. I wonder about what's next and whether I'm ready to go do that yet."

"And?"

"And...I think I got a couple more years in me. I still figure that most of the time, I make a difference...I figure we make a difference. But if you're ready to make a change...we can talk about it, Hutch." Starsky turned to face his partner. "WE is more important than me. And YOU are more important than anything. If you've really had enough, you tell me. I can handle it now. We've done our fair share."

Hutch swallowed hard as he placed a hand on Starsky's shoulder.

"Thank you."

Starsky nodded. "Have ya given any thought to what next? Only we didn't do so great looking for jobs last time we thought about quitting!"

Hutch chuckled as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Last time, I wanted to leave it all behind. Now, I'm not so sure. I was wondering whether we should take the lieutenants exam."

Starsky grimaced but nodded. "Means reading lots of books," he muttered, as he looked out of the window again.

Hutch tapped his arm to get his attention.

"We can study together. I'll read the books to you if it helps!"

Starsky grinned.

"Hey, do you think they'd want us to share our wisdom at the academy?"

"Depends on who's in charge now! Some people love us, some people..."

"... don't! But remember we're 'new style' policing and that reporter gave us a good review. The department owes us for good publicity!"

"True."

"The cadets will love us. We won't be like Sergeant Donahue! Remember him?"

"All too well!"

"He had his good points."

"Such as?" Hutch raised an eyebrow inviting an answer.

"Well, if we hadn't hated him so much, we might not have been more pals. Brought together by a common enemy!"

Hutch shook his head. "No, he just sped things up. We would always have become friends. You came up with some inspiring acts of revenge against him!"

"Me?! That was you!"

Hutch chuckled. "I think it was both of us."

Starsky looked his partner in his eyes and asked, "So where are we at, Hutch? You want to hand in your notice at end of shift? Or in a year? Or two? Or take a vacation and think it through?"

Hutch deliberated.

"I think I could do with a vacation. I'm tired. Maybe this is just that."

"Nah, it's more than 'just that' but a vacation sounds good. We can kick back and think about the future at our own pace." Starsky added, "Let's go see how many vacation days we can spare right now."

"What about Manny?" Hutch asked, waving vaguely in the direction of the bar along the street.

"We'll come back later. He can wait. Our future is important. It needs some thinking about."

Hutch nodded. As Starsky started the engine, Hutch said, "I'm not ready to say 'Stop'. I think I just need an end time in sight. Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense. We gotta go when we're ready. If I was a ball player, I'd want to retire near the top of my game, not on the way down to oblivion. Capiche?"

Hutch nodded. "Exactly."

They grinned at each other, relieved that even in this decision they were in tune.