10 comments/ 21087 views/ 13 favorites Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 01 By: JimBob44 *Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age. Also, this is not a 'stroke' story. It is a Romance; the sex is minimal. So, if you're looking for a 'stroke' story, hit the backspace key on your keyboard. Chapter 1 "Love, love, love the pepper salad at Dead End," Darren Richards said. "Love, love, love half-naked girls running around there too, huh?" Elise asked, turning from Highway 52 onto Mississippi Drive. "Oh, hey! They got half-naked girls there TOO?" Darren asked, freckled faced a mask of surprise. "Uh huh, what I've heard," Elise agreed and turned left onto Reagan Road. "Nice. These really are some nice buildings," Darren commented, looking around. "Yeah, my cousin, well, he's my cousin after my dad married my mom, Paul Robichaux? He's the one built these," Elise said with familial pride. "No kidding? I know Blanchard went out of business right after Robichaux got the contract," Darren commented. Nothing looked amiss so Elise drove through to Highway 19, and then turned onto Highway 27. "Pepper salad, huh? What's in it?" Elise asked. "Got banana peppers, red and green peppers, a couple of jalapenos, you know, for a little bite?" Darren said. "Any protein?" Elise asked. "I'm not going to survive on just vegetables alone." "Oh, yeah, grilled chicken. And they put this salad dressing, home made stuff, damn it's good!" Darren enthused. "Come on; lunch time," Elise smiled and pulled up in front of the Dead End Bar. There were four tables occupied by customers; none looked up when the two uniformed police officers entered the dark lounge. The girl on the stage was down to her panties and was slowly sliding those down, exposing her skimpy thong. Her nipples were discretely covered by two glittery pasties. Two people sat at the bar, more interested in a baseball game on the large screen television than in the attractive strawberry blonde that danced. "I know that song," Darren commented as 'Hungry like the Wolf,' faded out. "Duran Duran, big hit in the eighties," Elise smiled as she approached the bar. Elise sat at the bar, choosing a stool that let her sees the entire bar. Darren sat down next to her. "Might want to sit on the other side; I'm left handed," Elise reminded him. "Oh yeah," Darren nodded. "Officer," Kirsten nodded in greeting, smiling pleasantly. The former Meth head, now clean and sober for six months, no longer resented and mistrusted the police. Now, she regarded them as friends, as welcome guests at the Dead End Bar. "Kirsten, how's it going?" Elise asked, smiling, eyes still scanning the lounge. "Good, good, picked up my six month key tag last night," Kirsten said proudly. "You go, girl," Elise's smile widened. "Key tag?" Darren asked. "N.A." Elise told him. "Kirsten, what's the special today?" "Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, milk gravy" Kirsten answered. "Give me that, please, just water to drink,' Elise said. "Thought you were going to try the pepper salad," Darren said. "Ever had her chicken fried steak?" Elise asked. "Stuff's almost as good as my mom's." "Give me the pepper salad," Darren ordered. "Water." The dancer came over, chatted with Elise, flirted with Darren, then poured herself a diet Coke and disappeared into the back of the lounge. "And here you are," Kirsten said, putting the plates in front of the officers. "Thanks, Kirsten," Elise said, again sweeping her eyes around the lounge. 'I Think I'm Paranoid' by Garbage began to play and a slightly pudgy girl came out and began to gyrate to the music. "Two words for her," Darren whispered loudly to Elise. "Slim-Fast." "Two words for you," Elise said, swallowing her mouthful. "Grow up." Despite Kirsten's protests that cops in uniform eat free, Elise and Darren each left a five dollar 'tip' on the bar. Again, as she walked to the door, Elise's eyes never stopped moving. The sound of motorcycles filtered in over Metric's 'Help I'm Alive' and Elise paused. Little John barged in, followed by Librarian and a third biker. The six foot tall, three hundred and forty nine pound Little John, high on methamphetamines lumbered past Elise and Darren. Just before passing her, though, Little John reached out and slapped her on her rear end. "Nice ass, bitch," he laughed. Elise did not hesitate for a moment, she just reacted. Her left hand shot out, slamming into Little John's solar plexus. Her left foot kicked out behind Little John's knee, toppling the large man backward. He landed on top of a startled Librarian and the third biker. "God damn cunt!" Little John grunted, struggling to his feet. X.X.X "Could have just let him off with a warning," Darren grumbled as they filled out the mountain of paperwork. "Could have," Elise agreed mildly. "I mean, most they'll do is give him a fine," Darren went on. "Probably," Elise shrugged. "But it'll be on his record; he does it again, it'll be a bit bigger fine." "Uh huh," Darren grumbled. Coming down was never an easy thing for Little John. Coming down in a jail cell that reeked of stale sweat, vomit and urine was worse. "Fucking bitch!" Little john screamed down the corridor. "Ass is fucking grass next time I see it, hear me?" "Man, bitch, just go to sleep, huh?" another drunk complained. "Ain't shit you can do until morning, huh?" Chapter 2 Mrs. Givens tightened her jaw firmly, waddled up the driveway, then knocked on her neighbor's front door. Elise carefully checked the peephole and blinked in surprise as she saw her neighbor's stern face looking intently at the peephole. Every time Elise had gone to her neighbor's home for any purpose, the African-American woman loudly proclaimed "I don't let no white people up on my porch!" Yet, here she was, standing on Elise's porch. "Mrs. Givens, hi, how are you?" Elise asked pleasantly, opening her door wide. "I need to ask you a favor," the woman snapped, getting right down to business. "Of course, anything, if I can," Elise smiled, gesturing. "Why don't you come on in?" "Thank you," the woman muttered, entering the small living room. She looked around solemnly. The girl's furniture was neat, clean. It was obvious that the girl did not have a four year old grandson living with her, making a mess everywhere. Or an ill-behaved puppy making messes everywhere. "Like some coffee?" Elise asked. "Just made a pot." "That would be nice," Mrs. Givens grumbled, urging her bulk forward. "Now, I don't make it as good as my mom," Elise warned, getting down an extra mug. "Well, I've never had your mother's coffee so I wouldn't know," Mrs. Givens grumbled. Elise bit back the retort; she was being polite, neighborly to the miserable old woman, but the woman was not making hospitality come easy. "What you take in it?" Elise asked. "Cream and sugar please," Mrs. Givens said, easing her bulk into a chair. "Me too," Elise said. "My dad says real cops drink it black; I just can't do that, though." Elise put the coffee mug in front of her neighbor, flung her long blonde hair back out of her eyes, then took a seat across from Mrs. Givens. "So, what's up?" Elise finally broke the silence. "Need to ask a favor," Mrs. Givens repeated. "Okay," Elise said and waited. "I've got to go in the hospital, ain't nothing serious, just some lady problems, you know? But I'm be in there two, maybe three days," Mrs. Given s said. "Okay," Elise said and waited. "Well, need somebody look after Henry," Mrs. Givens said. "Okay," Elise agreed. "Um, and Sam too," Mrs. Givens went on. "Well of course, kind of expected that," Elise agreed. "So, um, you watch them?" Mrs. Givens asked, staring at a spot on the wall above Elise's head. "Of course I will," Elise agreed. Mrs. Givens did not tear her eyes from the spot above Elise's head. "I am going to need some information, though," Elise said. Over a second mug of coffee, Mrs. Givens gave Elise the information she requested. Then she eased her bulk out of the chair and left the woman's house. She did feel a slight twinge of conscience for lying to Elise. She had declared that Henry was potty trained, but Henry had been extremely resistant to the training and quite often had 'accidents.' She had also said that Sam was house broken, but Sam was not. The ill-behaved beast would often sneak behind a piece of furniture to urinate. "Oh well, bitch's house smells too white anyway," Mrs. Givens decided as she let herself into her own home. X.X.X Iris Gauchet enjoyed her job as Housekeeper for the widowed Dr. Charles LaPointe. The work was minimal; other than cleaning and cooking, she also looked after Dr. LaPointe's three year old daughter, Carmen. Adding a second child to her duties would not be any imposition, she assured Elise when Dr. LaPointe's sister called. Sam, however, would have to stay at Elise's house. Richard's dog, Nemo, was an extremely territorial and temperamental dog. "Not a problem," Elise assured the woman. "We have a crate at the office; Sam can stay in that while I'm on duty." Elise quickly cut her grass, raked and bagged the clippings, then drove to Early's Grocery Store. Mrs. Givens' assertions of 'Oh no, he'll eat whatever you put in front of him' had not fooled Elise; she had two nephews and a niece. Each one of them was very finicky eaters. Mrs. Givens' bald faced lie hadn't fooled Elise either; she could tell, by looking at Henry's clothing that the boy was not potty trained. There was always the telltale bulk of a diaper underneath the boy's pants. So, she bought a few boxes of diapers, judging that Henry would be between thirty to fifty pounds in weight. Finally, she also picked up three coloring books and a big box of crayons. "Hi," Paige mumbled, not looking up as she rang up Elise's purchases. "Hi," Elise agreed, watching a group of teenage boys that seemed too interested in the liquor section of the store. Paige gave her the total and scanned Elise's debit card. Noticing that they were not invisible, the teenage boys walked away from their target. X.X.X Henry was excited about going to stay with 'that white woman next door,' Miss Leesey was a nice woman and often talked with him. She treated him like a young man, which he was, instead of like a little kid. "I'm going tonight?" he asked as he played with the hot dog on his plate. "No, not tonight, tomorrow night, how many times I got to tell you that?" Mrs. Givens snapped. "Why I can't go tonight?" Henry asked. "You pooped in your pants?" Mrs. Givens asked, sniffing the air. "I don't know," Henry denied. "What you mean, 'you don't know,' huh?" Mrs. Givens shrilled, slapping the boy's face. "How many times I got to tell you, huh? You need to tell me when you about to poop!" Chapter 3 Elise nerves were frazzled by the end of her shift. Little John had not taken his two hundred and fifty dollar fine very lightly and the Kingsmen motorcycle gang had taken to harassing her and her partner as they patrolled the streets. "Fucking punk ass mother fuckers," Darren had muttered as the bikers raced past them. "Let it go," Elise had advised. "They'll get tired of this silly shit sooner or later." Frazzled nerves or not, Elise had a little boy and his puppy to watch. And she had the next day off. (Sheriff Dick Davis had nodded his approval when his step-daughter explained that she was babysitting the next door neighbor's child. "Best birth control device in the world," Dick had told his Deputy, Orville Jackson. "Let them baby-sit someone else's kid." "Or their grandparents," Orville muttered. "Me and Rosy are taking care of her grandmother? Damn! What a pain in the ass!" "Better hurry up and have some kids," Dick encouraged. "Y'all need someone change your diapers before too long.") Ass if she had been watching for the cruiser, Mrs. Givens marched up the driveway, leading an excited Henry and a yapping Sam. "Hello," Elise smiled, putting her day behind her. "Uh huh," Mrs. Givens snapped. "His pajamas in here." She thrust a paper bag at Elise. "Oh!" Elise said, taking the bag. "What kind of pajamas you got? Mine were Barbie but I bet you don't have Barbie pajamas, do you?" "No!" Henry yelled. "That's for girls!" "Well, guess what, sweetie," Elise smiled. "I AM a girl." "I got to go; cab be here in a minute," Mrs. Givens snapped and stomped down the driveway. "You eat dinner yet?" Elise asked, leading Henry and Sam into her house. X.X.X Henry declared that the canned spaghetti was his favorite, ate all of the fruit cup, and happily helped Elise set up Sam's water bowl and dinner bowl. "Now, he's your dog, not mine, so you have to be the one to make sure he's got water and make sure he gets his food, okay?" Elise said. "Yes ma'am," Henry agreed. "And, he needs to go outside to go potty," Elise went on. "But he's not my dog. Whose dog is he?" "Mine!" Henry exclaimed. 'That's right, yours. So, you have to make him go outside, and make sure he goes potty," Elise continued. A slight sniff of him assured Elise that Henry had not had a bath that day, despite his claims otherwise, so before she put his Spider Man pajamas on him, Elise bathed the boy. He complained bitterly about having to have his head shampooed, complained bitterly about having to have her scrub him, complained about the lack of toys in the tub. "Goodness gracious!" Elise finally said. "You sure do complain a lot, buster!" "It's your fault," Henry declared. Henry was amazed at all the colors available in the large box and happily began to color. "Henry, Sam needs to go out," Elise said. "I'm about done," Henry said. "You can finish that AFTER you get done with Sam," Elise said firmly. Henry wasn't happy with Elise, but Sam was able to avoid making a mess in the house. Sam happily ran around the back yard, barking at everything. Just as darkness began to fall, Elise decided it was bed time for boys and dogs. She made Henry bring Sam outside again, then made Henry try to go potty himself. Then she made him wash his hands and brush his teeth. "Uh, hey Mr. Henry, what about them prayers, huh?" Elise asked as Henry sullenly got into the bed. "Man, you white people got a bunch of rules, huh?" Henry complained. "I'm afraid so," Elise agreed, then knelt down next to him. "You say your prayers too?" Henry asked eyes wide. "Well yeah!" Elise smiled. "You don't ever outgrow God, you know." "You don't?" Henry asked. She recited the story of Cinderella from memory, mentally kicking herself for not asking Mrs. Givens for Henry's books. (She would have found out that Henry didn't have any books.) When Elise finished the story, both Henry and Sam were asleep. She turned off the light, but left the door open for her peace of mind. X.X.X Henry found out that 'White People Rules' also applied to morning time too. Sam needed to go outside, then Sam needed to be fed, then he had to try to go potty and wash his hands and brush his teeth. Then he was allowed to have scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then Sam had to go back out again. Elise cursed Mrs. Givens under her breath. The old woman had packed one change of clothes for the child, but did not pack any shoes. All he had were the slippers he had worn the previous evening. "Come on," Elise smiled, dressing the child. Sam did not like going into the crate, but Elise did not give the animal any choice. Then she put Henry into the rear of her cruiser. I don't need no shoes; I got these," Henry declared for the hundredth time. "I told you, those are not for playing outside. You need outside shoes," Elise patiently explained. If Grace Breaux thought it unusual to see a blonde haired white woman with a black child, she did not show it. The owner of the Bargain Bin clothing store smiled and helped Elise find some appropriate shoes. "I bet you'll be able to run real fast in those shoes," Elise encouraged as she pulled the Velcro strap tight. "Watch," Henry said, and then took off running down the aisle. "Wow!" Elise said. "That was mighty fast!" Elise also picked up two changes of clothes and a pair of pajamas that had horses on them. "Yes sir, those are cowboy pajamas," Elise said as Grace rang up their purchases. X.X.X Mrs. Givens did not feel well when they woke her up that morning, but she did not tell the nurse anything. The nurse would not have listened if Mrs. Givens had complained; the woman had complained all night. Even during the intake procedure, Mrs. Givens had been extremely unpleasant. When asked about whom to contact in the unlikely even that anyone would need to be contacted, Mrs. Givens had snapped, 'That white bitch lies next door, I guess.' The nurse's aide smirked; as long as it was a black orderly pushing her gurney, Mrs. Givens didn't complain. The anesthesia was administered and she slipped under the drug's effect. "Blood pressure's rising," the nurse said. "See that," the doctor agreed. Mrs. Givens' blood pressure shot up, two blood vessels in her brain burst and she died before the doctor could ask for the nurse to prepare a syringe. X.X.X "Dad?" Elise said. "Yeah, Honey?" Dick asked. "Dad, Mrs. Givens died," Elise said, close to tears. "Oh, Honey! I'm so sorry to hear that," Dick said. He then thought about it for a long moment. "Um, hey Sweetie?" he asked. "Yeah?" Elise said, fighting the tears. Henry and Sam ran around her back yard. Sam was excitedly chasing the tennis ball that Henry was throwing for him. Elise sat on her back steps, keeping an eye on the two. "Who's Mrs. Givens?" Dick asked. "Henry's grandmother," Elise said. "Sweetie, that still doesn't tell me..." Dick patiently said. "The little boy I'm watching," Elise explained. "Oh!" Dick said. "Damn! That is rough!" "Dad, I did a background," Elise sniffled. "Henry's dad's dead and his mom's in St. Gabriel doing life for first degree murder." "So..." Dick urged. "His grandmother was it, Dad," Elise said. "He doesn't have any other living relatives." "I'll give Child Protection a call," Dick sighed. "No!" Elise cried out. She lowered her voice. "Dad, all they'll do is sticking him in a foster home!" Elise whispered. "They probably won't let him keep his dog; Dad, he's lost so much. I can't let him lose Sam too!" "What else you think we ought to do?" Dick asked. "How hard, what if, suppose I wanted," Elise stammered, trying to think of the best way to phrase her question. "I'll check into it," Dick promised then hung up. "What's wrong?" Carmen asked. Dick smiled at his wife. "Your daughter?" Dick said. "MY daughter?" Carmen said, amused. "Hmm, isn't she usually YOUR daughter? Guess she did something wrong, huh?" "Your daughter's about to be a mom," Dick smiled wider. "She's pregnant?" Carmen hissed, horrified. "No ma'am, she's looking to become a foster parent to that little boy that lives next door," Dick smiled. "Could have said THAT, instead of telling me she's about to become a mom, smart ass," Carmen groused, throwing a pillow at him. "Could have, but wouldn't have been as much fun, now would it?" Dick laughed. Chapter 4 Iris was happy and bubbly and soon had the nervous Henry happy to be there. Carmen was happy to have a friend to play with and happily shared her toys with him. Nemo, however, growled and snapped at him until Iris put the dog into the laundry room. X.X.X "So, what's up?" Darren asked. "Not much; you?" Elise answered, not really paying attention. "No, I mean, what's going on? You're doubly quiet today," Darren asked. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 01 Elise explained her situation as best she could. Darren showed all the signs of a good partner. He listened. "Pull up over here," he asked when Elise stopped talking. "Coffee shop?" Elise asked. "We're cops, right?" Darren smiled. "And we're no where near Mache's, so let's get the coffee instead of doughnuts." "Works for me," Elise shrugged and parked the car. "Nuh uh," Darren said after they got their coffee. "I'm driving for a while." "You don't know the area as well as..." Elise argued. And how am I supposed to learn you're always driving?" Darren argued. "Fine," Elise said and surrendered the keys. "Thank you," Darren said. "Welcome," Elise said. "So, um, where's a nice place to take a girl on a date?" Darren asked. "Manny's got the best Mexican anywhere," Elise said. "Dollar Cinema's got a couple of good movies showing." "Best date you ever had?" Darren asked. "Kind of personal," Elise said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Look, I got a date tonight; want to make a good impression," Darren said. "Best date, Tony Baloney, sorry, his name is Tony Bordelon but we always called him Tony Baloney, anyway, he took me to the Bowlarama in Flowers; I beat him, like one twelve to ninety three, then we went next door to the Mini-golf and again I beat him and then we went right next door and went skating," Elise said. "God, how old were you? Ten?" Darren asked. "No; this was last month," Elise said, face flushed with anger. "You are kidding me, right?" Darren asked. "No; believe it or not, sometimes a girl doesn't need all the fancy dinners and flowers and stuff," Elise said. "Every now and then, we kind of like to work up a good sweat." "Makes sense," Darren conceded. "Anyway, that was a lot of fun," Elise said. "Of course, then he had to go and ruin it by thinking I owed him some pussy." "Oh, oh, almost forgot; had one date took me to the petting zoo; no, I wasn't ten; this was last year," Elise said, looking in the side view mirror at the motorcycles that were tailing them. "No, I and see how that would be a lot of fun," Darren agreed. "Date's tonight, though; how late the petting zoos stay open?" "Don't know; this was on a Saturday; turn at the next street, huh?" Elise said, growing annoyed at the motorcycles. Darren reached to put on his turn signal, then thought better of it and did not. Three of the seven motorcycles did not react in time and broke off from the horde. "Cute," Elise smirked, noticing that they'd lost nearly half of their harassers. "Taught me well," Darren smiled and took the next street at a high rate of speed, but the motorcycles kept with them this time. "Oh well, you tried," Elise said. "So, Manny's really is that good, huh?" Darren asked. "Are you kidding me?" Elise said. "They got the best salsa, and oh my God! The enchiladas? Owned by Bobbi; went to school with her, her husband is the cook; her daddy used to own it; that was Manny, but then he had that stroke and Marlon; Bobbi's husband? Anyway, Manny's the one taught him, just tell Bobbi you're my partners, you'll love it." "I'll see if Amber's up for Mexican; I love a good fish taco; they got fish tacos there?" Darren asked and took another turn. "Stop," Elise ordered. She got out of the car and approached a man that was staggering, nearly lurching out into the street. "Public intoxication..." Darren recited. "Mr. Deeds? Are you okay?" Elise asked. "Mr. Deeds, did you take your insulin today?" The man mumbled and slurred something. "Got any mints on you?" Elise asked Darren, digging in her pockets. She remembered that she had a candy bar; a treat that she'd bought but could not give herself. "Sheriff?" she asked, touching her shoulder mounted radio as she dug the candy bar out of her purse. "Who is that?" Dick asked. "It almost sounded like my daughter, but she never calls me Sheriff." "Dad, need an ambulance; Mr. Deeds didn't take his insulin and he can't tell me when the last time he took it is," Elise responded. She gave the address as she unwrapped the candy bar. "Ambulance is on the way; where's Martha?" Elise asked the man. The seven Kingsmen kept up the harassment as Elise tried to administer to the man. Darren tried to approach, but they would ride away, or circle him, taunting him. Elise was relieved when the ambulance roared up. "Damn! Good thing you came by when you did," one of the EMTs said, looking at a test strip. "Blood sugar's off the chart." "He sometimes forgets to take his insulin," Elise said as they loaded the now semi-conscious man onto the ambulance. "Then he forgets to take his blood pressure medication, and then things really go out of whack." "You know him?" the other EMT asked. "He was my first arrest; found him naked, walking down the middle of Highway fifty two," Elise smiled tightly. "That's when I found out about his medical history." X.X.X Elise frowned; there was a strange car in the driveway. As she pulled into the carport, a heavy-set African-American woman got out of the car and approached. "Hello, I'm Mrs. Anderson," the woman said, attempting and failing at a smile. "From Childrens' Services?" Elise resisted the urge to push Henry behind herself. "Mrs. Anderson," Elise said, forcing herself to remain calm. "We just got home; there's a puppy inside needs to go out and go potty and a little boy needs to have his supper. Can we do this at another time?" "No, no, tell you what; I'd really like to see how you're taking care of him," Mrs. Anderson said. "After all, since you're applying to be his foster parent and all..." "So, um, how'd you hear about Henry needing a foster home?" Mrs. Anderson asked, and then shrieked as Sam charged at her, growling menacingly. "Sam!" Elise snapped. "That's enough!" "Sorry about that; he's very protective of Henry," Elise smiled and herded both the still snarling and snapping puppy and Henry out through the back door. Mrs. Anderson had already formulated an unfavorable opinion of an unmarried white woman caring for a small African-American boy. Elise did not help her opinion by making the woman wait while she prepared Henry's meal, made her wait while Henry (with Elise's assistance) fed Sam, made her wait while Henry said Grace, then ate his meal. "Now, let's take a look at this paperwork," Elise said as Henry colored in his coloring book. "What makes you think you can care for him?" Mrs. Anderson snapped. "His grandmother obviously thought I could," Elise said calmly. "She came here, asked me to look after her grandson while she went into the hospital; and believe me; she was even more racist than you." "I am not racist!" Mrs. Anderson gasped, outraged. "Anyway," Elise said, ignoring Mrs. Anderson's outrage. "His grandmother asked me to look after him and Sam trusted me with the most important thing she ever had in her whole life. I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job." She turned to Henry. "What about you, huh, boy? You like living here?" Elise asked him. "Yes ma'am," Henry said. "How about Sam? Think Sam likes living here?" Elise went on. "Yes ma'am," Henry agreed. "Now, let's look at the paperwork," Elise asked an agitated Mrs. Anderson. "I just think he'd be better off with a family that's..." Mrs. Anderson grumbled. "That's black? Like him?" Elise asked. "Precisely," Mrs. Anderson admitted. "Got any in Bender?" Elise asked. "Miss Leesey!" Henry exclaimed. "You said I ain't black!" (Henry had made yet another observation about Elise being white. Elise made him get out the black crayon and the white crayon, and showed him that he was not black and she was not white. He was a brown color and she was a lighter brown color. "So?" Elise had said. "I don't want to hear no more about you being black and me being white. We're both brown.") "That's right," Elise laughed, despite Mrs. Anderson's look of triumph. "What color are we?" "Brown. I'm dark brown you light brown," Henry said. An hour later, Elise had a heavy feeling in her stomach when Mrs. Anderson left the house. Dick tried to be supportive, sympathetic when Elise called. After a few minutes, he had to admit defeat, though. "Honey, this might be a time you really need to talk with your mother," Dick said, handing the telephone to Carmen. Chapter 5 "So?" Elise asked. "How'd it go with Amber?" "Fine, took her to Manny's..." Darren said. "Was I lying?" Elise crowed. "Is that not the best salsa you've ever had?" "It was, and Marlon sent out this green salsa; my tongue's still on fire from that stuff," Darren agreed. "Green chili salsa? Should have warned you about that," Elise said, frowning at the motorcycles that suddenly swarmed around the cruiser. "Marlon likes seeing who can eat that stuff." "God damn! Sick and tired of these mother fuckers!" Darren yelled, looking around at the Kingsmen. "Uh huh," Elise agreed, tight lipped. Elise suddenly twisted the wheel to the right, causing the three Kingsmen on her right to slam on their brakes and the fie Kingsmen behind her to swerve to avoid ramming into her. "Oh, did they have those fish tacos?" Elise asked, smiling at the angry looks the Kingsmen were giving her. "Uh, yeah, yeah, fresh catfish," Darren said. "Then what did y'all do?" Elise asked. "Went bowling," Darren admitted. "I thought she was going to tell me just take her home when I pulled up in front of the place, but then she just went along with it." "So who won?" Elise asked and pulled in front of the Dead End bar. "I did," Darren said. "Lunch; got a problem eating here?" Elise asked. "No; heard they got half-naked girls running around here," Darren smiled. Rosy smiled tiredly as the two uniformed officers entered. "I'm going to try the pepper salad," Elise said. "Hey!" Amber said as Darren sat down. Hey; how's it going?" Darren asked. "That wasn't very nice of you," Amber cooed, playing with his neck tie, pouting. "Beating me; I told you I was no good at bowling!" "Threw three gutter balls in a row; what more you want from me?" Darren smiled. "Next time throw ALL gutter balls," Amber advised. "What fun would that be?" Darren smiled. "I'll show you how much fun it can be," Amber whispered and planted a wet, open mouthed kiss on him. "Got to go; I'm up next." "THAT?" Elise asked as Amber strutted away, putting extra wiggle in her walk. "THAT'S who you had a date with?" "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Darren asked, defensively. "Nothing," Elise shrugged. "She's cute." "Oh, forgot to tell you; bowling is a very sexy sport," Darren smiled as Rosy put their salads in front of them. "So, thanks for that idea." "Huh?" Elise asked eyes scanning the bar before putting her head down to take a bite. "Yeah, I'm standing there, watching her; can't help but bend over, can't help but shake that ass; I love bowling!" Darren said. "Men are pigs," Elise said. "Yeah?" Rosy asked him. "And what you think she was doing every time you got up there? She was checking your butt out too." "Hey!" Darren protested. "Hey!" Elise protested, realizing that, when she went out with Tony Baloney, he had been leering at her rear end. They ate their lunch in silence. "What time you get off?" Amber asked, coming out from the backstage area, still dress in only pasties and thong. "Five but then I come back in for the midnight shift," Darren said as she fiddled with his tie again. "Oh," she said, disappointed. "But them I'm off all day tomorrow," he went on. "Midnight gets off when?" Amber asked. "Eight," he said. "In the morning?" Amber asked, screwing her face up. "Yes, Honey, midnight to eight," Darren laughed. "Tell you what, how about lunch?" Amber asked and gave him a quick kiss before he could answer. "And then," she husked. "We'll see what's for dessert, okay?" X.X.X "And then we'll see what's for dessert," Elise mocked as Darren drove. "Shut up," he laughed. "And then we'll see what's for dessert," she mimicked again. "That's enough. Darren said. "And then we'll..." Elise mumbled under her breath. "Hey Elise?" Darren asked. "Yes, Darren?" Elise asked, smiling. "Chew rocks, huh?" Darren snapped. She laughed, then frowned as the Kingsmen came roaring up behind them. X.X.X "All of this shit, over a fine?" Elise asked herself as the gang members followed her and Henry home from the grocery store. Sam yapped incessantly as the normally quiet neighborhood was besieged by countless motorcycles revving their powerful motors and racing up and down the street. By the time darkness fell, Elise's nerves were at the snapping point. Then, inexplicably, silence fell. She was able to get Henry bathed and dressed in his cowboy pajamas and ready for bed. They did their prayers, and then Elise read to him out of his favorite book, 'Curious George.' Elise wasn't a drinker, had tried wine, beer, and even a couple of cocktails, but never really saw what all the fuss was about. But at that moment, she wished she had something a little stronger than grape juice. Instead, Elise contented herself with a hot bath. X.X.X Sam's growling woke Elise up from a deep sleep. "Sam!" she snapped. "Be quiet!" Then she heard it; scraping sounds. "Good boy," she whispered as she slipped on her sweat pants. She grabbed her cell phone and her service revolver. "Nine one one, what is your..." Becky Yuma's voice came on. Becky, this is Elise; I have someone trying to break into my house," Elise said, shutting the door to Henry's room. "Darren's on his way," Becky said. "Thanks," Elise said, peering through the darkness at her back door. She could see two shadows trying to jimmy open the atrium doors. She peered out front and saw only two motorcycles parked at the street. She opened her front door as quietly as she could. "Becky, there are two of them, rear of the house; I'll call you right back," Elise reported and flipped her phone shut. Librarian and Booger cursed; whomever had installed the atrium doors had also installed a thin steel flange over the lip of the door, making it nearly impossible to jimmy the doors open. "Fucking right!" Booger whispered exultantly as he managed to chisel underneath the flange with his crowbar. "Hands up where I can see them," Elise screamed from directly behind the pair. "Up! Up! Let's see them!" "Fuck!"Librarian screamed, startled. "Now!" Elise screamed, verifying that neither Librarian or Booger had any weapons in their hands, Booger having dropped the crowbar when Elise startled them. "Get down on the ground. Down! Down! Now!" "Hi Elise," Barren said, letting himself into the back yard. "Becky said you're having a little trouble?" "Trying a little breaking and entering," Elise said, nodding at the two bikers on the ground. "Oh, hey, cute pajamas," Darren said, nodding at Elise's sweat pants and camisole top. "Shut up," Elise yelled, embarrassed. "And, good God could've brushed your hair or something, huh?" Darren continued to tease her. He frisked both suspects, read them their rights, handcuffed them and shoved them toward his cruiser. "Hey," he said as Elise walked toward her front door. "Yeah?" Elise asked, turning around to face him. "I'll see if Amber has anything like that," Darren smiled, snapping a picture of Elise with his cell phone camera. "Hey!" Elise screamed, outraged. "Believe this shit?" Booger asked as Elise chased after Darren. "Hmmph!" Librarian said, beyond caring. "Bye!" Darren called out as he jumped into the cruiser. "I swear to God, you show that picture to anyone!" Elise threatened. Chapter 6 "Oops," Elise laughed as she 'accidentally' knocked over Librarian and Boooger's motorcycles as she backed out of her driveway. "Why we got to go get my hair cut? I don't want my hair cut," Henry complained from the rear of her car. "Because we've got to go to court today," Elise again explained. "Remember? That woman? We're going to meet with a judge and tell him all about living with me." "But why I got to get a hair cut?" Henry again asked. "Because, you look like Buckwheat," Elise again told him. X.X.X "If you don't quit fidgeting, I'm going to duct tape you to the ceiling," Elise told the child as he tugged at the collar of his new shirt. "Why I got to sit here? They got them swings outside; I want to go outside," Henry complained. "In a little bit; first we have to do this, though," Elise explained again. "Why we got to just sit here? They ain't doing nothing," Henry complained. "My goodness, you sure do complain a lot," Elise said. "It's your fault," he said. "St. Elizabeth Parish, hearing the case of Elise Simone," the bailiff intoned. "Oops, that's us, come on," Elise said, taking Henry's small hand. "Please state your name for the records," the bailiff announced loudly. "Officer Elise Simone," Elise said. "Your mom and dad named you 'Officer?'" Judge Jesse Johnson asked, amused. "No, sorry, your honor," Elise gave him an embarrassed smile. "I'm..." "Dick Davis's kid," Judge Johnson said. "I know who you are." "That's right," Elise said, throwing her shoulders back a little. The older man smiled. "And this is...?" "Henry Linus Givens," Elise said, moving Henry closer to the bench. "And you're..." Judge Johnson prompted. "Petitioning the court for guardianship of the minor child," Elise stated. "Mrs. Anderson?" the man asked. Elise felt her face flush with anger as the woman came very close to perjuring herself in front of the judge, embellishing her findings. Mrs. Anderson's opinion was never in question. "I suppose you have an alternative suggestion?" Judge Johnson interrupted Mrs. Anderson's shrill litany. "There are three African-American foster families available in St. Elizabeth Parish," Mrs. Anderson crowed, glaring triumphantly at Elise. "Two," Judge Johnson interrupted. "The Hendersons have had their application rejected; they are petitioning for divorce." "Oh," Mrs. Anderson said, some of the wind taken from her sails. "The Paxtons already have four children in their domicile and the Johnsons have four. The court is removing the three minor children from the Hendersons care and will have to place them with the Paxtons and Johnsons, or find other suitable accommodations," Judge Johnson continued. Mrs. Anderson tried to argue, but Judge Johnson stopped her. "Mrs. Anderson, I do not know what you observed at Ms. Simone's home; I sat here and watched her talking with the child. He was bored, he was fussy, he wanted to go out and play. Well, she put up with it; she put up with him being cranky, and whiney, she put up with a hell of a lot more than I would have," Judge Johnson said. "But your Honor," Mrs. Anderson argued. "The court is temporarily granting Miss Officer Elise Simone's petition," Judge Johnson said. "The court would like to convene again in ninety days and will make a final decision at that time." "Now can we go?" Henry asked petulantly. "Not until I bang this gavel," Judge Johnson smiled at the boy. With a smirk at an angry Mrs. Anderson, he brought the gavel down. "Yay!" Elise said, swinging the boy up into an embrace. "Now, you got to go potty?" "Um," Henry hesitated. He wanted to go play on the swings a lot more than he wanted to go potty. "Come on, boy, I know you got to go potty by now," Elise said, carrying him to the door. X.X.X Little John sweated profusely. He normally sweated; he was a large man. This, however, was a cold sweat. Librarian and Booger had been popped trying to break into that cop's house. Bail for the two of them had been set at one hundred thousand dollars apiece; a sum neither had a chance of rising. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 01 They only needed to put twelve percent down, but the club's funds didn't have the twenty four thousand for both Librarian's and Booger's bails, so Librarian and Booger sat and waited. Maggie was being a stupid bitch again; she pointed out that they already had two mortgages on their house and most likely would not get a third one. "Remember?" she asked in her little girl voice. "You needed a new sled? We had to get that second mortgage, remember?" "Yeah, yeah, God, shut the fuck up, huh?" he yelled at her. If Librarian or Booger even breathed a word about Little John giving the orders to have the fucking bitch cop taken out, he'd be popped. The only way to make sure they didn't talk was to bail them out, then take them both for a little ride out to the cypress stumps of the Basin. He looked at Maggie again. She had been St. Thomas Aquinas' Homecoming queen of 1999. Her father looked like he'd just eaten a turd when John Cox showed up to take his daughter to the dumb ass prom. Her mother had tried to be polite, but John wasn't there to win their approval. They went to the prom, even posed for some stupid pictures, then stood around until she could get her crown. "Come on," he ordered, dragging her out of the gymnasium. "Fucking wanted to go to this stupid shit, I would have stayed in school," he grumbled. Her prom dress had several petticoats underneath, hampering his progress so he simply ripped it off of her, slammed his cock into her, and then slapped her until she quit complaining about her stupid dress. Two weeks later, he gave her the ultimatum; she could either be with him, or continue to live in her lily-white ultra-conservative, boring life. Thirteen years later, Maggie was still a stunning beauty, large pendulous breasts with fat nipples, flat belly, and nice round ass. Her legs were still sleek and tanned; her hair was a luxurious thick mane of blonde. Her eyes, however, were flat, dirt brown. Her full, pink lips rarely smiled. Her chin was nearly always pointing down. "Fuck! Stand there? Make yourself useful, huh?" Little John bellowed at her. "What you want me to do?" Maggie whimpered. "Fuck, I don't know, just get out of my face, huh?" he snarled. She turned and he batted a meaty paw into her backside for not moving fast enough. She yelped and moved faster. He admired the way her cutoff shorts molded themselves to her rear end and almost called her back. He decided to snort another line of meth instead. "Fucking bitch's got to go," he decided. X.X.X Henry didn't know why they were having a party but didn't really care either. There was hot dogs and cake. That woman that Miss Elise said he was to call 'Maw-maw' kept smiling and that man he was supposed to call 'Paw-paw' also kept smiling. Miss Iris and Dr. Charlie also kept smiling. And Trey and Richard and Carmen said that they were now cousins. "But I thought we were friends!" Henry complained to the three year old Carmen. "No, no, Cousins is better!" Carmen assured him. "Sweetheart, cousins is much better," Elise squatted down and looked into his eyes. "That means, no matter what ever happens, you'll have family. Friends? Friends fight and then decide they don't want to be friends no more. But cousins can fight and decide they don't want to e friends, but they'll always be together anyway. See? You can lose a friend, but you'll never ever lose cousins." That was why Henry loved Miss Leesey; she talked to him like he was a man, not a little kid. Miss Iris was nice; she was real pretty, but she talked to him like he was some dumb kid. X.X.X Maggie held the bag of ice to her face. With her tongue, she tested her tooth. He'd knocked it loose again. Dr. LeMoine had fixed it once; at a price of seven hundred and nine dollars. She didn't have seven hundred and nine dollars and her parents weren't going to give her any more money. She wanted to leave; she wanted out. She'd left him once before. All Little John did was find her, kick in the front door of her parents' home and beat her mother and father into bloody pulps. Then he dragged her out of the house by her hair, threw her onto the back of his motorcycle and take her back to his house. "You're out when I say you're out," he said, then took off his belt and beat her until she passed out. X.X.X "And then we'll see what's for..." Elise mocked as she drove. "Shut up, okay? Shut up!" Darren laughed. "And then we'll see what's..." she mumbled under her breath. "What's it to you anyway?" he asked as six bikers came up behind them. Elise looked in the rear view mirror. "I have had more than enough of this shit; hold on," Elise ordered her partner. "Son of a bitch!" Darren screamed as Elise turned, directly in front of an eighteen wheeler, and then slammed on her brakes just after clearing the path of the large rig. Little john slammed into the rear of the patrol car, Slick skidded to a stop before hitting the car, Nicky Nick swerved around the car. The other three bikers kept going straight down Highway 52, not having enough time to turn. Gabriel Florez screamed in anguish as his rig slammed into the two motorcycles and their riders. "Dad, need an ambulance, Highway Fifty two and Georgia," Elise yelled into the handset of her radio. "Two bikers, hit by a truck." Got it; they alive?" Dick asked. "Doubt it," Darren said, pointing to Nicky Nick as he lay on the side of the road, his motorcycle bent around a telephone pole. "Need a one for him too." "Third motorcycle, telephone pole," Elise said, opening the door of the cruiser. She put her hand on her gun as the remaining three motorcycles roared up. "God damn; they cut right in front of me!" Gabriel screamed at Elise. "I, there was no way I could stop in time!" "I know, sir," Elise said, trying to calm him. "Got a pulse," Darren said, kneeling by Nicky Nick. "Elise walked down to where Little John lay. She did not bother trying to find a pulse; his head was flattened into the pavement. "Dad?" she asked, touching her shoulder mounted radio. "Yeah?" he asked. "Need the M.E. out here; Little John's definitely not going to need an ambulance." "Okay," Dick said. She did not see Slick or his motorcycle, so she walked the one hundred and four feet from the site of the crash to where the tractor and trailer idled. "Yep, need the M.E. out here," Elise said, spotting the motorcycle and rider pinned underneath the dual tires of the trailer. "Need a crane out here," she said into her shoulder mounted radio. Rider trapped underneath rear of the trailer." "He alive?" Dick asked. "No sir," Elise confirmed. "Guy's going into shock," Darren said as Gabriel sat down on the pavement. "Get him in the back of the car," Elise ordered and walked toward Bug, the tallest of the three remaining bikers. "You saw what happened?" she asked him in a flat voice. "Not really," he admitted. "You?" she asked the other two men; they both shook their heads no. X.X.X "Look, I'm sorry, all right?" Darren said into his cell phone. "Look, I was involved in a fatality..." He listened for a moment. "A fatality; someone died, Amber," he said, exasperated. "I was involved. It means paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork." "Fine, see you tonight," he sighed and ended the call. "Trouble in Dessert Land?" Elise asked. "Fuck you, all right Elise? Fuck you, okay?" he snapped and slammed the office door open, then slammed it shut again after he exited. "No Dad," Elise said as Dick got to his feet. "Let him be." "Tells my daughter 'fuck you' and I got to let him be?" Dick asked, angry. "Afraid so," Elise said and put her signature at the bottom of the report, then slid it over to him. Chapter 7 The Medical Examiner confirmed that both Myron Mitchellson and Jonathon Cox had substantial amounts of methamphetamines and alcohol in their systems. The hospital confirmed the same for Nicholas Gumm. Gabriel Florez, with the testimony of Elise Simone, was cleared of any culpability in the deaths of the two men. Without the leadership of Little John, the Kingsmen seemed to have lost their teeth, lost their bite. X.X.X "You're mighty quiet today," Elise commented. "Uh huh; how'd it go in court yesterday?" Darren asked. "Judge just renewed my guardianship," Elise shrugged. "Really waiting on the paperwork from St. Gabriel's, though. Soon as Henry's mother signs..." "I put in for a transfer," Darren interrupted. "What?" Elise asked, mouth open in shock. "I told Sheriff Davis I want a new partner," Darren said, staring straight ahead. "What? Why?" Elise asked, pulling to the side of the road. "Because," Darren swallowed hard. "Is it because of what happened?" Elise asked. "Well, no, that's not all of it, well, yeah, kind of, I mean, I saw how you handled..." Darren said, stammering. "We were cleared," Elise defended. "I mean you handled it; boom! Put a fucking stop to it, once and for all and..." Darren said. "I had no choice!" Elise said, tears of rage building up in her eyes. "When they started threatening my Henry..." "I know that," Darren said, looking at her for the first time. "Then why? What is it?" Elise demanded. "I um, I wanted to ask you out," Darren admitted. "Wait, what?" Elise asked. "I wanted to ask you out but it's really not a good idea for partners to be dating," Darren explained. "Are you serious?" Elise asked. "See, if I ask you out and you say 'no' then there's all kind of hard feelings might get in the way," Darren went on. "You say 'yes' and then we're all up into each other and not paying any attention to what's going on, could be dangerous as hell." "You want..." Elise processed the information out loud. "...to ask me out." "See? It's getting weird all ready," He said. "What about, I mean, I thought you and Amber were..." Elise asked. "God, I have to listen to her bitch one more time about my job, her job, God! Or some dumb ass reality show; you got any idea how many of them idiot shows they got? All she does is get drunk and bitch and moan!" he admitted. "What about dessert?" Elise asked. Darren smiled widely and shook his head no. "Dessert's not all that great," he admitted. "Half the time it's 'hurry up, my favorite show's coming on' or she's so drunk it's like..." "More than I need to know," Elise said, holding up a hand for him to stop. She looked at him for a long moment. "Listen, before we go any further, there's a couple of things you need to know," she said seriously. "Okay," he agreed. "Number one, I'm a package deal," she said. "No shit?" he laughed. "No shit? Really? Sit here day after day hearing 'Oh, Henry said this' and 'Henry did that' and you think I don't know you're a package deal?" "Shut up!" she let an embarrassed giggle escape. "Yes, Elise, I know, there's you, and there's Henry, and there's Sam, I know that," Darren said. "Number two and this is usually a real deal breaker," Elise said and took a deep breath. "Yeah?" Darren asked. "There will be no 'dessert,' none. THAT is for my husband and my husband alone," Elise said, searching his eyes. "I can live with that," Darren agreed. "I mean it," Elise said. "I am being one hundred percent serious." "I said I can live..." Darren agreed. "Not even a blow job, you hear?" Elise said. "My pants stay zipped up and so do yours." "Okay, fine," Darren smiled. "So, would you like to maybe go to Manny's for dinner tomorrow night?" "Darren, I am being serious," Elise said, taking his hands in hers. "I've had all kind of boyfriends tell me that am fine then get all pissed off because I mean it. I was even engaged one time; I guess he thought putting a ring on my finger would open my legs or something." "I believe you," Darren assured her. "And I catch you out getting 'dessert' somewhere else while we're together, I will make damned sure you regret it, you hear?" Elise said seriously. "Got it," Darren said. "So, how about..." "Let me see if I can find a baby sitter; Henry doesn't like Manny's," Elise said and touched her shoulder radio. "No, not just no but hell no; get someone else, ANYONE else to watch your kid," Dick said before Elise could even speak. "Dad!" Elise giggled. "How'd you know what...?" "I told him why I wanted a transfer," Darren laughed as they both heard Dick's belly laugh over Elise's radio. "Fine, I'll call Mom," Elise said. "Drop him off, aw what am I; we'll just pick him up from Charlie's," Dick said. "When y'all going?" "Tomorrow night," Elise said. "Oh, didn't tell you?" Dick said. "Darren's got the late shift tomorrow," Dick said. "Sir?" Darren said. "Just kidding," Dick said and terminated the connection. "Um, okay, Officer Simone; we're still on duty; think you could um, you know, um, actually drive around and stuff" Darren said, pointing through the windshield at their surroundings. "Shut up; so where are we eating lunch?" Elise asked and put the cruiser in gear. "Not the Dead End; that's for sure," Darren said. "What? Why not? Today's pork chop day," Elise said. "Um, Amber?" Darren said, clearing his throat. "Um, Bender's a pretty small town; we're bound to run into her sooner or later," Elise reminded him and pulled up to Clark's Drive In. A pretty teenage girl skidded to a stop and took their order. Elise watched Darren's eyes as the girl skated away. He passed the test; he did not leer at the girl's round ass in the short red shorts she wore. "Damn! I'd bust my ass I ever tried anything like that," he admitted as another girl whizzed past, skating backward. "Yeah; it's a little tricky," Elise said. "You do that?" Darren asked. "That your way of saying 'want to go skating?'" Elise asked. "Sure, why not?" Darren said, smiling. "You can watch me make a fool out of myself." "Okay, one bacon burger, adds cheddar, one chili burger, extra jalapeño, chili cheese fries, two waters," their car hop chirped. "You had to order chili fries, huh?" Elise asked. "Yeah, love them," Darren said. "Hands?" Elise said. "What?" Darren asked. "Hands are going to get all dirty eating that stuff; suppose we get a call?" Elise smirked. "Uh huh," Darren smiled and pulled out a wet wipe. "This boy scout is always prepared." "You were never a boy scout," the car hop giggled flirtaceously. Elise glared white hot anger at the girl. The girl looked stricken, accepted the cash for the meal and beat a very hasty retreat. "God bless, Elise!" Darren guffawed. "She was just being friendly!" Elise looked at him, her mouth hanging open in shock at her own behavior. "Yeah, I see what you mean," she finally said quietly. "It could get a little distracting working together." "I do love it when I'm right," Darren smirked. "Whatever," Elise giggled as Darren did a small 'victory dance' in the car. Chapter 8 "But why I can't go?" Henry asked again as Elise packed his pajamas for his night with Paw-paw and Maw-maw. "It's a date, Honey; sometimes grown-ups like to go out on dates," Elise patiently explained again. "But why I can't go too?" Henry asked again. "Because we'll probably be kissing and stuff; you really want to watch all that yucky stuff?" Elise asked. "No, y'all can just have a date without all that kissing huh?" Henry asked. "Probably not; that's what makes a date fun," Elise explained. Iris nodded her understanding that Maw-maw would be picking Henry up when she got off of work. Elise gave her niece a hug and kiss and embarrassed Henry by giving him a hug and kiss too. Elise then drove to the station. She waved to Darren as he and Jack Vogel got into a cruiser. Jack had been assigned one of the three motorcycles purchased by the Bender police department. He was taken off the motorcycle because of a careless, easily avoided accident. He still wore the flexible cast on his left wrist. Elise frowned as she thought to herself, "I hope that jack ass doesn't tell Darren all kind of stupid stuff about me." Jack and Elise had been classmates at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, and had been partners when Eric Greene was injured in the line of duty. She had not liked the brash, arrogant Jack when they were in school together, and had barely been able to tolerate him as a partner. "Officer," Dick Davis nodded in greeting as Elise entered the building. "Sheriff," she nodded back. "Oh for crying out loud; stop it, just stop it," Deputy Orville Jackson guffawed. "Finally got you calling me 'Sheriff,'" Dick laughed, hugging his daughter. "Whatever, Dad," Elise laughed, accepting the embrace. "Ready, Partner?" Officer Eric Miller asked. "Yeah," Elise smiled and grabbed a set of keys for one of the cruisers. Officer Eric Miller had applied for, and had been granted a transfer from the DeGarde Police Department; the hazing of the openly gay officer had reached a point that the captain feared for Eric's life. Captain Charles Villeaux admitted that he was unable to defend the officer against his own fellow officers. "Oh, Darren told me, best place to have lunch is either Dead End, or Clark's Drive-In," Eric said as he settled into the passenger seat of the cruiser. "Clark's got great hamburgers and Dead End's got good old comfort food, kind of stuff that sticks to your ribs," Elise agreed. "Well, you must not eat there a whole bunch; you look great," Eric complimented her. "Got a four year old boy," Elise said. "Running after him burns off any fat I might have hanging around." "Oh, got any pictures?" Eric asked. "My sister's got two; Tiffany's three and Tabitha just turned one last month." "No, no pictures," Elise said and edged up behind a pickup truck. "You don't have pictures of your own son?" Eric asked, handsome face wrinkled in confusion. "Just became my son a few months ago," Elise said and nodded as the pickup truck pulled off the highway. "And he's actually my foster son." "Oh," Eric smiled. "But I am trying to adopt him," Elise continued. X.X.X "No fucking shit? You? And the Ice Bitch?" Jack hooted. "Hey, 'Partner?'" Darren said through gritted teeth. "Yeah?" Jack laughed, not noticing his partner's anger. "I ever hear you call her that again, we'll take the badges off and go a few rounds, you hear?" Darren said. "Aw, come on, man," Jack laughed, still uncomprehending. "Just that she was so fucking high and mighty all through school; fuck, really? Everybody kind of thought she was a fucking dyke; hung out with a couple of them, you know?" Jack noticed that Darren wasn't smiling or laughing and lapsed into uncomfortable silence. "Um, how about dead End for lunch? Jack said, unable to sit for long in silence. "No, how about 'Best Wings In Bender?'" Darren said. X.X.X Elise almost laughed out loud as Amber flirted outrageously with Eric. Kirsten did a little flirting as well; the man was model handsome with dimpled chin, curly blonde hair, and ice blue eyes. His muscles were prominently displayed in his tight uniform shirt. "You going to tell them?" Elise asked as Amber wiggled her way toward a customer and Kirsten prepared their pork chop dinners. "No," Eric said, smiling a gorgeous smile. "Just because I ain't interested don't mean it ain't good for my ego have all these beautiful women throwing themselves at me." "God, men are pigs," Elise smiled and slid a five dollar bill to Kirsten. "Officer, meals are on the house," Kirsten reminded Elise. "Tip," Elise nodded. "Thank you," Kirsten nodded, pocketing the bill. "Damn this is beyond good; this is sinful," Eric declared as he tasted the mashed potatoes and skillet gravy. "Thank you," Kirsten smiled proudly. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 01 She leaned forward, affording Eric a glance down her blouse to her lacy bra. "Couple of months back? Couldn't boil water; I was all geeked out on meth. Then Miss Rosy starts showing me how to do this stuff," she admitted. "Now she's almost as good as my mom," Elise complimented. "I'm going on in a minute," Amber said, leaning close and toying with Eric's tie. "Hope we see you again. Real soon, okay?" "Oh, I'm sure we'll be back," Eric smiled. "Pitiful, just pitiful," Elise smiled as she scraped the last of the mashed potatoes and gravy into her mouth. "That's Amber; she and Darren were dating for a little while," Elise said as they made their way to the door. "Yeah? Heard him talking in the locker room; says he's got a date with a real beauty tonight, though," Eric said and opened the door for Elise. "Yeah? What'd he say?" Elise asked, unlocking the door to the cruiser. "Not a whole lot, really," Eric shrugged. "Said this girl makes all the others he's ever dated look like puppy chow." "He said that, huh?" Elise smiled, blushing. "Oh come on!" Eric suddenly exclaimed. "What?" Elise asked, looking around to see what Eric would have reacted to. "It's you, isn't it?" he laughed. "You're the date!" "Guess so," Elise smiled. "Don't know, though; Amber's a real cutie and..." "You said it perfectly," Eric smiled. "She's a real cutie. That's it. Cute. Ten years from now, she won't even be that. You? You'll e..." "Shut up," Elise said, embarrassed. "Woman, I've seen pictures of your momma; she is one beautiful woman," Eric said, smiling. "You look just like her." "You sure you're gay?" Elise asked. "And then some," Eric smiled. "Just checking," Elise said. X.X.X "Maw-maw, I don't think I like this," Henry said, pushing the string beans around on his plate. "Really? Miss Leesey told me it's your favorite," Carmen said. He looked up at the woman to see if she was mocking him. She smiled at him. "She did?" he asked. "Pretty sure she did," Carmen said. "When she called me up last night to see if I'd watch you, Miss Leesey said 'Mom, Henry's favorite is string beans, okay?' and so I fixed them for you." "Did she say I like it?" Dick asked. "Said you love it," Carmen smiled. "Said it makes you big and strong and happy." "Good enough give me more, please," Dick said. "No; Henry gets the last of them," Carmen said. "Ha!" Henry said, smirking triumphantly at Paw-paw. X.X.X "Running your mouth in the locker room, huh?" Elise teased as they munched on the chips and salsa. "Oh shit," Darren smiled, blushing hotly. He made eye contact with Elise. "Anything I said, I meant it," he admitted. Their food arrived and Darren dipped his spoon into the green chili salsa. "You are not..." Elise said. "Hey, this stuff is killer on the fish tacos," Darren said. "All right, just don't call me up all whining because your little tummy wummy's all upset," Elise shrugged. "Oh, I will," he promised. "And I'll cry and tell you it's your entire fault and..." "Shut up and eat," she smiled. After she beat him in bowling, Darren and Elise decided a banana split at Clark's was in order. "Hey, I'm real glad you said 'yes' when I asked you out," Darren said as he scraped the last of his ice cream into his mouth. "Yeah?" she smiled, scooping up some of her frozen treat. "Even if I beat your ass at..." He leaned over and kissed her. A moment later, when he released her mouth, she sat still, gazing at him. "Still doesn't change the fact that I beat you," she finally said quietly. X.X.X "So? How'd it go?" Carmen asked as Elise let herself into the house. "Mom?" Elise said, looking at her mother. "I think I get it." "Finally got him down," Dick said, coming down the stairs. "Get what, Baby?" Carmen asked. "That," Elise said as Dick sat down next to his wife. "What?" Carmen asked, baffled. "That," Elise said again. "Look, y'all are doing it right now." "What's she talking about?" Dick asked. "Don't have a clue," Carmen shrugged. "He comes in and you immediately reach out for him," Elise said. "I mean, I used to think it was kind of silly; why y'all always got to be touching each other? I mean, y'all are married, get over it, right? But I think I finally get it." "Called love," Carmen smiled, holding her and Dick's interlaced fingers. "I know; I get it," Elise said. "So, how'd it go?" Dick asked. "Where'd y'all go?" X.X.X "She fuck you better than me?" Amber screamed drunkenly at Darren. "Huh? She suck your cock better?" "Amber, leave," Darren said firmly. Leave now before I arrest you." "Go ahead, mother fucker!" Amber screamed, shoving him. "Arrest me, fucking ass hole!" Deputy Orville Jackson was highly amused as Darren hustled the still quite intoxicated and irate Amber into the squad room. "Take them shoes off her," he cautioned and Amber again launched into loud complaints as her four inch pumps were removed from her feet. "I pay your salary," Amber declared as Becky guided the girl into a holding cell. "Oh! Do you?" Becky Yuma said brightly. "Well, thank you so much!" "Fuck you, you think that's funny?" Amber spat at Orville. Darren pulled out his wallet. "Just hold her for a while, huh? When she quits screaming, get her a cab, okay?" he said, slapping a twenty dollar bill on the counter. "Sure," Orville smiled, shoving the twenty back toward Darren. "I'll just have Becky run her home when shift ends; how's that?" Darren nodded and wearily went to the door. "Hey; how'd it go with Elise?" Orville called out. "Good?" Darren turned and smiled widely. "Better than good; went fucking great," Darren admitted. The End **Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure. I post them here for your enjoyment. Thank you for reading my stories. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 02 *Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age. Also, this is not a 'stroke' story. The sex is minimal. If you are looking for a 'stroke' story, hit the backspace key on your keyboard. * Amber glumly looked up when her cell door clanged open. "Come on, Sweetheart, let's go," Elise smiled, pushing Amber's ridiculously high heeled pumps toward her. "I'm being arraigned?" Amber asked as she slipped her feet into her pumps. "No, Sweetie; we're taking a little ride," Elise said. She put Amber into the rear of her cruiser and pulled out. "Ann?" Elise said into her cell phone. "On our way." "My um, my apartment's that way," Amber said as Elise crossed over Highway 27. "Uh huh," Elise said, pulling up to the drive-through window of Meche's Doughnuts. "Damn, I just love these things when they're hot," Elise said. Amber started getting nervous as they drove through a maze of side streets. "And we're here," Elise said, pulling up in front of a modest home. "Where? Where are we?" Amber asked, becoming shrill. "Bitch, you do anything to me..." "Now, that's not very nice," Elise said. "Calling me 'bitch' when I've got a gun." She opened the back door and took a firm hold of Amber's arm. Elise lugged both Amber and the box of doughnuts to the door. "Hey," Ann Greene said, opening the door. "Hope you got coffee; we've got doughnuts," Elise smiled. "Cops?" Ann smiled. "We've ALWAYS got coffee on; you know that." Amber looked at the woman, a blonde roughly the same age as herself, with tired eyes and tired smile. "Police!" Evie exclaimed as Elise entered the house. "That's right!" Elise laughed. "Police! You are so smart!" Elise pulled the very nervous Amber into the kitchen and pushed her into a chair at the small table. "Amber, this is Ann Greene. Her husband is Sergeant Eric Greene," Elise said. "I brought you here; I think you need to hear it, straight from the horse's mouth, what it's like being a cop's wife." Ann sat down and let out a loud sigh. She looked up at the nervous Amber. "He puts on his uniform; my God! He is the handsomest man I've ever seen. He has that look of pride, of self-confidence; damn, gets my pussy wet just thinking about it," Ann said, almost in a monotone. "Then he goes out and when you hear the door close, for a split second, your heart stops. Suppose that's the last time you'll ever see him? Then the baby needs changing, the boys are hungry, the boys need their lunch, where's my shoes? Life goes on, but you just can't quit hearing the door click shut." Ann wiped at her eyes. "I really...when he pulled me over for speeding; see, Sammy was whining about needing something and I just wanted to get home so I didn't wind up killing him or Robbie; Robbie was encouraging it and he hits his lights and siren and I'm just so damned mad I could scream and this cop's got the most beautiful smile and I just melted looking up at him," Ann smiled sadly at the memory of that speeding ticket. She looked up at Amber. "I didn't know," Ann said. "I didn't know about hearing the door closing. If I had known about the door, I would have just paid the ticket and told Officer Eric Greene to go fuck himself." "Tell her what happened," Elise quietly encouraged, sipping her coffee. "The door closed," Ann said. "But I've got to help Jacy; that's my sister, see this is her house; mine got burned down and she took me and our three kids in and the door closed; Eric goes off to work and Jacy needs help getting dinner together and Robbie needs construction paper for some school project; of course he waits until the night before right?" "Eat a couple of doughnuts; sugar helps with alcohol withdrawal," Elise ordered. Amber took a doughnut out of the box. Her hand shook horribly. "Want coffee? Or, I got juice, um, let's see, we got orange, apple, that God-awful white grape stuff; Sammy loves that, or milk?" Ann said, getting to her feet. "Coffee please," Amber said. "I'll get it; you finish telling her," Elise ordered. "What you take in it?" "Cream and sugar, please," Amber said. "And I just about got them down," Ann said and I'm getting ready to fix myself a good old drink and I get the call." "Thank you," Amber said as Elise put a mug in front of her. "Some God damned fucking piece of shit mother fuckers decided to hold up Jitters; that little coffee shop?" Ann spat; her rage bursting out. "Two kids; that's all they had working there and these two fucking scum bag losers decide they're going to put guns to their heads and Eric walked in." Ann burst into wailing sobs at the memory. "And I got the call," Ann wailed. Amber looked on, stricken. She looked at Elise and her wide eyes opened even wider as Elise calmly finished chewing her doughnut. "My husband, my husband the cop is fighting for his life in the back of an ambulance," Ann sobbed. "Them two piece of shit ass holes? They're in Hell, right where they fucking belong but my sweet, loving, brave husband might not make it." Elise finished her cup of coffee. Ann wiped at her eyes. "What happened?" Amber barely whispered. "Got shot in the neck. Paralyzed from the chest down," Ann croaked out. "Stuck in a wheelchair; he'll never walk again." "Saved those two boys' lives, though," Elise said. "And still gets up every fucking morning, and still puts on the fucking uniform," Ann spat bitterly. "Fuck! Put it on this morning just to go to physical therapy! Can you believe that? Physical therapy! But, got to have the uniform on! And it's got to be clean and pressed; got to be perfect!" Ann sneered for a moment. "He's a cop, you know?" Ann spat out. She looked into Amber's eyes. "So, even though he's in a wheelchair, even though he can't drive himself; my dad drives him everywhere, I STILL have to hear that door close behind him," Ann said. "And I still got to wonder, 'this the last time I'll see him?'" "Thanks, Ann," Elise said and nudged Amber with her shoe. "Come on, Sweetheart; let's get you home." Elise again put Amber in the rear of the cruiser. "So, think you got what it takes to be a cop's wife?" Elise asked. "No ma'am," Amber whispered. "So, I need to worry about you around my boyfriend?" Elise asked as she turned onto Highway 27. "No ma'am," Amber whispered. Elise pulled in front of Amber's apartment. "Might want to cut back a little on the drinking," Elise said as she held the back door of the cruiser open for Amber. "My drinking's got nothing to do with..." Amber weakly denied. "Good bye," Elise said and closed the door of the cruiser. "Good bye," Amber quietly said and dug around in her purse for her keys. Chapter 10 Elise's cell phone buzzed. She looked at Eric Miller, her partner and frowned. The display showed it was coming from the station. "Silent alarm at First Union Bank," Orville said. "Didn't want to use the radio in case they're using scanners." "First Union," Elise ordered her partner. "We're two blocks away," she said to Orville. "No siren; go by real slow," she ordered Eric. She saw the van and saw a nervous looking man sitting at the wheel. The man stared at them. Elise smiled and waved in friendly greeting. The man, caught off guard, returned the wave. 'NAIS' was emblazoned on the sides of the van and 'National Alarm Installation Systems' was in smaller letters on the rear doors of the van. "Smart," Elise said. "If anyone had called it in, they would claim they're testing the equipment." "What a time for Dick to be out of town," Eric said nervously. "Orville's on it," Elise assured her partner. "Orville?" Elise said into her cell phone. "Damn it, that's 'Deputy' and you know it," Orville tried to joke. "One white male, look-out slash get away driver sitting out front in a gray cargo van, Ford, license number nine two A five three one," Elise reported as Eric turned onto a side street. "Could you see inside?" Orville asked. "I'm looking through the Drive Through window right now; sees two white males, armed, wearing vests," Elise reported. "And they're on the move!" Eric exclaimed. "Hit the siren," Elise ordered as Eric put the cruiser in reverse and floored the accelerator. The two bank robbers saw the police car as Eric drove in reverse, blocking the van against the building. The pair ducked back into the building. "Get out of the van! Get out of the van!" Elise screamed at the terrified driver. "Now! Get out of the van!" Two shots rang out, striking the cruiser very close to where Elise stood. She whirled around and fired two quick shots toward the glass doors of the bank. "Fuck!" she yelled. "Forgot they put in bullet-; proof doors!" Eric made the driver lay on the asphalt of the parking lot while Elise carefully watched the glass doors of the building. "Hey! Barbie!" she heard someone call out as the door opened slightly. "Yeah?" she called back. "Let our friend there go, let him bring our van up to the door, or this stupid bitch is dead; you hear?" the man yelled out. Elise saw the tear streaked face of Mandy Hebert, a former class mate of hers. She saw the man holding a gun to Mandy's head. "Please," Mandy begged silently, clutching protectively at her pregnant belly. Elise nodded slowly. "Eric," she said. Loudly "Let him go." "What?" Eric asked, shocked. "Put him in the van, let's just get in the car, and drive away," Elise ordered. "Elise, no!" Orville ordered. "Darren and Jack are on their way right now; don't you dare..." Elise hung up on him. A second later, her cell phone buzzed again, but Elise ignored it. Inside the bank, the two armed men smiled in triumph as they saw the police cruiser slowly pull away. "Bert, you the man!" one of them said. "You are the man!" "Like Barbie and Ken Cop were going to stop us?" the taller man sneered. They watched as the van slowly pulled forward, and then began to back up to the front doors of the bank. "They're going to kill you, and that pregnant bitch too, you know that!" the driver shrilled as Elise positioned the van. "Uh huh," Elise smiled as she saw the taller man shove his intended hostage away. Then she jammed the accelerator to the floor board and smashed the rear of the van through the doors. "What the fuck?" Bert screamed as the van smashed through. The rear doors of the van burst open and Elise put two bullets into Bert's hand, knocking his nine millimeter gun out of his hand. "Down!" she screamed at the two suspects. "Down! Get down on the floor! Now!" The smaller man immediately complied, but Bert charged Elise. Elise put a bullet into his knee cap, bringing him down. "Is there anyone else?" Elise yelled over the screams of the customers and tellers. "Anyone else I need to be looking for?" "What the fuck?" Darren yelled at Elise as he barged in through the rear door of the bank. "Woman, are you fucking crazy?" Eric and Jack followed, guns drawn. "Are you?" Darren screamed at Elise. Huh? Where in the hell did you learn that?" "Saw it in a movie," Elise admitted. "God damn it!" Darren screamed, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You could have been killed! Did you even think of what I'd do, what Henry would do without you?" "Oh my God!" Elise gasped, horrified. "Henry!" "And me too," Darren said. "Oh my God," Elise said, feeling light-headed. "Situation under control; need ambulance," Eric intoned into his shoulder mounted radio. "Did she really...?" Orville asked over the radio. "Yep, backed the van right through the front door; it's a mess in here," Eric said, letting a nervous giggle escape. "You? You're a cop," Elise mumbled. "But Henry...." "Has already lost everything," Darren agreed. X.X.X The driver of the van, Chad Davis, was actually a cousin of Dick and Donnie Davis. He'd heard about Donnie Davis' wedding, knew that Dick was the Sheriff of Bender and would certainly be attending his younger brother's wedding. So, he and Albert 'Bert' Blanchard and Kevin Ramirez planned, scouted the area, and planned again. They just didn't plan on Sheriff Dick Davis' daughter being on duty the day of her uncle's wedding. X.X.X "Come on, Sheriff, quit watching that," Orville said as Dick re-wound the surveillance video from the bank and again played the scene of the large van smashing into the bank. "Look at this, just look at this; you and I couldn't have done it any better," Dick said as the silent tableau played out. The rear doors of the van burst open, then Elise, dressed in police skirt and blouse, police cap firmly on her head, jumped out of the van, gun blazing. "Joseph Marcolonie said he's suing for the cost of them doors," Orville remarked. "Sue him for being a dumb ass too," Dick muttered as he watched the monitor. He looked up and smiled at his Deputy. "I mean, really? Stops three dangerous men from escaping with forty thousand and he wants to sue us over some ugly ass doors? Fuck him; let him sue us," Dick commented. X.X.X "Darren, I'm sorry, I'm wiped out," Elise said. "How about..." "How about we grab Henry, just go get pizza?" Darren offered. "No. We get pizza, he's going to want to go to Chucky Cheese and I just don't have the energy," Elise whined head down on her desk. "Good God, you always so whiney?" Darren teased, stepping behind her and beginning a gently shoulder massage. "Oh, God, don't do that," Elise moaned, moving her long blonde hair out of the way for him to continue. Damn it, Darren!" Elise yelped, sitting up abruptly. "Oops! Now how'd THAT happen?" Darren chuckled as Elise quickly re-hooked her bra. She stood up and glared at him. "Damn it! I hate when you do that!" Elise yelled, slapping at him. "There is a way you can stop that," Darren said, putting his arms around her. "Yeah? What?" Elise asked, struggling to slap him again. "Don't wear one," he suggested and quickly kissed her. "Uh huh," she growled, biting down on his bottom lip. "Let go," he mumbled, trying to pull his lip away. "Nuh uh," she said, pulling slightly. "Ow, Elise, let go," Darren insisted. "I love you," Elise said, letting go of his lip. "And I love you too, you evil woman," Darren said, rubbing his lip. "Evil, and woman, now there's a redundant statement if ever I heard one," Dick said, sticking his head into the small office. "Honey, there's a bunch of reporters want to see you." Elise looked frightened. She looked from Dick to Darren, searching for support. "Come with me?" she asked. "Of course," both Darren and Dick said. "Well, I um, well I guess I better get used to getting out of the way," Dick said after a moment. "But, but I meant both of y'all," Elise said. X.X.X Occasionally, Dick interrupted the reporters' questions to remind them that that this was an on-going investigation, but for the most part, he let Elise and Eric answer the questions. "Were you scared?" Chelsea Guidry, a very young, attractive brunette reporter from Performance 12 News finally managed to ask over the other reporters. Elise looked into the reporters large blue eyes for a long moment. "There was a pregnant woman," Elise answered and paused. "What was the woman's name?" another reporter asked. "I'm sorry, we're still..." Dick interrupted. "And I could see her eyes," Elise said, swallowing. Chelsea held Elise's gaze intently. "One of the suspects had a gun to her head. She was scared; she was scared out of her mind, she was begging with me to help her," Elise swallowed again. "She wanted to live; she wanted her baby to live." Elise swallowed again. "Was I scared?" Elise asked. "Yes ma'am, I was. But that woman was even more scared than I was. She was just a customer, in there to cash her pay check and then go to the store and buy her and her friend some milk; they'd been out of milk for a couple of days and she was just going to the store and get them some milk and then suddenly a couple of men were in there with guns and they were screaming and yelling and threatening everyone. She needed someone to help her, to protect her." The reporters listened intently, hanging on Elise's words. "So, my partner and I? We did what we could to protect her," Elise said. "Whether we're scared or not, our job is to protect and to serve." Elise broke her gaze with the reporter, stared down hard at the makeshift podium she was standing behind, swallowed hard then looked up at Chelsea Guidry again. "Ma'am, that was an excellent question," Elise said. "It really cut to the heart of what it means to be a cop. We do it. We do it whether we're scared or not, whether we're tired or not, whether we're aggravated or not. We're cops. We do our job because people need us to be cops." Chelsea Guidry broke into a wide grin; she had been intimidated by the other reporters and had to jostle and elbow her way close to the makeshift podium. The other reporters had been shouting questions, shouting over her. "Thanks," she mouthed to Elise. Elise nodded and then asked her partner to answer a few of the questions. "She is a professional. She may not be a twenty year veteran, but she has street smarts, she knows procedures, she knows what she's doing," Eric answered a reporter, putting a hand on Elise's shoulder. "So yeah, when she said 'put him in the van' I wasn't sure what she was doing, but I knew she knew what she was doing. Partners have to trust each other; they have to rely on each other." Eric smiled at the attractive brunette reporter. Chelsea felt her panties flood as the drop-dead gorgeous officer smiled at her. "Ms. Guidry, any questions?" he asked. "Are you single?" she blurted out. Hoots of laughter went up and she blushed hotly. Eric smiled and looked over at Dick for assistance. "Um, as I've said before, this is an on-going investigation..." Dick smiled. "I cannot believe I said that," Chelsea groaned, hand over her face. "I meant, any questions related to this case?" he smiled. "You said the call came in over your cell phone, right?" Chelsea recovered. "Yes. We did not want to use our radio in case the suspects were using police scanners," Eric smiled. "Great question, Ms. Guidry. Great question. As we saw, from beginning to end, we had the element of surprise in our favor. Had they known we were on to them, someone may have gotten hurt. So, we communicated with Deputy Orville Jackson via cell phones." After a few more questions and answers, Dick called an end to the press conference and ushered all of the reporters and cameramen out of the small station. "Now, Officer Simone, don't go getting all 'Hollywood' on us," Dick teased. "Are you single?" Jack Vogel mocked Eric. "Ooh, I think someone's jealous!" Eric shot back. Chapter 11 "We seen you on TV!" Henry shouted when Elise stopped at her brother's house to pick him up. "Oh my God," Iris said, face pale. "I mean, I kind of knew what y'all did was kind of dangerous, but I never in a million years..." "Yeah?" Elise smiled at the very excited Henry. "Did I do good?" "You did great!" Henry affirmed. "Aunt Leesey!" Carmen called out. "We seen you on TV!" "I know!" Elise agreed. "Weren't you scared?" Iris asked. "I was terrified," Elise admitted. "And then, when it was all over, all I could think about was coming and seeing my little man." "Why you keep calling me your little man?" Henry asked as Elise picked him up and cradled him in her arms. "Because, Henry, you are my little man," Elise said. She thanked Iris, waved good bye to her nephews Trey and Richard, and her niece Carmen, then left the house. Elise smiled as her mother came walking rapidly toward her. Her smile faded when she saw the raw anger on her mother's face and her red, puffy eyes. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 02 "You could have been killed!" Carmen screamed at Elise. "Not. In. Front. Of. Henry," Elise whispered, clutching Henry closer, protecting him. Carmen looked at her daughter and the now confused and frightened Henry. "You could have been killed!" Carmen whispered. "Mom, please, not in front of my baby," Elise pleaded. "I'll call you tonight, all right?" Carmen reached out a hand, stroked her daughter's face, then turned and walked back to her own house. "Why was Maw-maw mad at you?" Henry asked. "She wasn't mad; she was worried. Moms worry," Elise assured him. Elise grimaced as she pulled up; she could see Mrs. Anderson's car, and inside the car, the dour faced woman. "Hi Mrs. Anderson; I didn't know you were coming tonight," Elise called out. "Called 'surprise visit' for a reason," Mrs. Anderson said, lugging her battered briefcase with her. "Uh huh, remember, we have things we need to do when we get home," Elise said and unlocked the door of the house. Mrs. Anderson stayed out of the way while Sam and Henry were cared for, and then graciously took a seat at the kitchen table as Henry colored. "So, any questions?" Elise asked. "Um, well, everything seems to be in order," Mrs. Anderson nervously agreed. "You seem disappointed," Elise smiled. "Oh, want some coffee?" "Oh, no, no ma'am, trying to eliminate caffeine from my life," Mrs. Anderson hastily said. She opened her briefcase, looked at Elise, and then took out a few papers. "Um, Ms. Simone, I, well, since you're already, since the judge gave you..." Mrs. Anderson said. "Yes ma'am? Elise asked, confused. "I have a four year old girl; we're removing her from her guardian; she's been physically abused, and though we can't prove it, we suspect there has been some sexual abuse," Mrs. Anderson forged ahead. "Oh! The poor baby!" Elise said, shocked. "And she's only four?" "And I was wondering if we could..." Mrs. Anderson said. "I'm off tomorrow; bring her here," Elise immediately said. Mrs. Anderson let the first smile she'd ever displayed to Elise crease her face. "I was hoping you'd say that," she admitted. "I mean, this is a two bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch," Elise decided. "Okay," Mrs. Anderson said, standing. "Here, here's her case file; I'll leave it here with you." Elise flipped the file open and nodded her head. "Jennica Michelle Wilson," Elise read out loud. "Thank you, Ms. Simone; you don't know what a relief this is," Mrs. Anderson admitted. "Um, not that it matters, but is Jennica light brown or dark brown?" Elise asked. "She's whi... Light brown," Mrs. Anderson smiled. "I'll call you tomorrow." Elise's heart broke as she read the child's file. Her mother, Renee Kay Wilson was deceased, a drug overdose. The father was unknown; Ms. Wilson had been a prostitute. Jennica had been living with Renee's widowed father, William Eugene Wilson, a forty nine year old, chronically unemployed drunkard. A neighbor had called the police when she glimpsed the girl's bare legs were covered in welts. William had beaten the girl with an electric cord for soiling her panties. "God, please help me help this poor child," Elise begged silently as she read. X.X.X As promised, Elise did call her mother as Henry and Sam ran around the back yard, tiring both dog and master out. "Really, Elise, what were you thinking?" Carmen asked. "Guess I really wasn't," Elise admitted. "I just saw Mandy, remember? She was in my Algebra class? And she's pregnant and that guy had a gun to her head; good thing he pushed her away when I started backing up; I was going to have to kill him if he still had her." "But they have men there," Carmen said. "You should have let them take care of that!" "Carmen Marie Thibodaux Simone Davis; I cannot believe I just heard you say that," Elise gasped. "How many daughters do you think I have?" Carmen hissed, ignoring Elise's outrage. "One. One that's a cop and damned proud to be a cop too," Elise snapped. "Well, I can see there's just no talking sense into you," Carmen said and hung up. Carmen turned to her husband and snapped. "I told you! I told you, I do not want my daughter working there! Didn't I? Next thing I know, sure enough, she's a cop! A God damned cop!" Carmen shrilled. "Worse things to be," Dick said. "Yeah, Dick, yeah there is," Carmen screamed. "She could be a DEAD cop!" It was dark outside, but Dick still found a reason to go to the back yard. It took a long time to 'check' checking' the lawn mower and the weed eater for him to calm down. He let himself back in the house. The downstairs was dark. He double checked the front door, brushed his hand over the stove to make sure none of the burners were on, and then wearily walked up the stairs. It had been eight years since Elaine had lived at home, but he still paused for a millisecond outside of her bedroom door. Elise's old bedroom door was wide open; out of habit Dick looked in. He smiled sadly. In the middle of the bed was Bah Bear. The fourteen year old Elise had slept with a teddy bear when Dick moved into the Simone household. Every morning, she would hide the bear under her bed, but every night when he would check their bedrooms, he'd see Bah Bear, safely clutched to Elise's chest. One night, after Dick and Carmen had married, he checked and Elise did not have Bah Bear. He looked to see if the bear had fallen onto the floor and saw it, still underneath the bed. Dick quietly pulled the bear out and put it into the bed with Elise. The next morning, Elise, long blonde hair a tousled mess had sat down at the breakfast table. She looked at Dick and blushed hotly. "I um, I don't need Bah Bear anymore," she said and looked away, embarrassed. "Okay," Dick said, letting the matter drop. Now, Dick looked at Bah Bear and remembered Henry's delight in finding out that Miss Leesey had slept with a bear when she was his age. Bah Bear sat on the bed, waiting for the next child that would need him. Dick sighed, walked into the bedroom he and Carmen shared. It was dark; the only light coming from the small television set in the corner of the room. "I'm sorry," Carmen said quietly. "Me too," Dick said. "Baby, I don't want to fight," Carmen sniffled. "Me either," Dick agreed and undressed. "Hold me?" Carmen begged. "If I hold you, I'll probably get scared," Dick said. "Scared?" Carmen asked. "Scared of what?" "Of you," Dick said. "I'll hold you then I'll get scared stiff." "Mister, I think you better be afraid," Carmen smiled. "Be very afraid." Chapter 12 Sam barked like a dog possessed when Jennica came into the house. Finally, Elise made Henry bring the yapping animal outside. Elise looked at the small child, her heart braking all over again. Jennica's hair was a dark honey blonde in color; Elise suspected, if the smell was correct, that the hair was actually a lighter shade of blonde. Her round eyes were flat; mud colored, and haunted looking. Snot ran freely from one nostril and she flinched and turned her face away when Elise bent to wipe at the mucus. Her bare legs were mere sticks; Elise suspected that, along with poor bathing habits, the child also had bad eating habits. The whelps from her beating were still visible. The child was dressed in a filthy shirt that showed a NASCAR logo, her shorts were filthy as well, and her small feet were shoved into cheap plastic flip-flops. Mrs. Anderson and Elise showed the frightened girl around and finally went outside to join Henry and Sam. Again, Sam started barking, but Elise had given Jennica a dog cookie and Sam quieted down. "And this is Henry," Elise introduced the two children. "He lives with us too. Isn't that nice? You'll have a brother to play with. How about that, huh?" After the two children and done dog ran around the yard for a while, Elise and Mrs. Anderson loaded the two children into Elise's car and drove up the street to Charlie's house. Mrs. Anderson was clearly perturbed by Richard's dog, Nemo, barking at her until Iris shut the dog in the laundry room. "What is with you white people and your damned dogs?" she snapped. Elise looked at her for a moment, and then smiled. "We 'white' people know how much it irritates you 'black' people," Elise answered. "That is not... I didn't mean..." Mrs. Anderson stammered. "But in case you forgot, Sam is Henry's dog, not mine, right Henry?" Elise smiled wider. "That's right," Henry agreed. "Are you my cousin too?" the three year old Carmen asked Jennica. Iris, Elise, and the very helpful Henry showed Mrs. Anderson and Jennica Carmen's room and the living room where Henry, Carmen, and Iris spent the majority of their day on the days when Iris minded Henry. "No ma'am!" Iris said forcefully when Elise brought up doubling her payment for watching Jennica and Henry. "Two hundred a week is already plenty enough!" "You pay; you pay two hundred a week for baby sitting?" Mrs. Anderson asked, shocked. "Well, yeah; she's got to watch Henry and Carmen and clean up, and cook and do laundry; I'd charge Two hundred a minute it was me doing it," Elise said. "Two hundred is plenty; don't forget, Charlie pays me too," Iris said. "Charlie? Not Dr. LaPointe?" Elise asked, eyebrow cocked. Iris' pale face became even paler and she put her hand up to her mouth. "Please, please don't..." Iris begged voice barely above a whisper. "Iris, it's all right," Elise quietly assured the stammering woman. "It's just that, oh God! I was putting Carmen down, remember? She had that fever? And I heard Charlie; he was crying and I..." Iris said, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks. "Iris!" Elise hissed, making the woman look at her. Elise smiled and patted the woman's arm. "It's all right; it was bound to happen," Elise said. "You're a drop dead gorgeous woman; he's a man. Human nature." "Please, don't hate me," Iris begged. "What? Now why would I hate you?" Elise asked. "I'm not trying to take Lala's place," Iris hastened to assure Elise. Mrs. Anderson approved of the arrangements Elise had made for Henry and Jennica's care during her work days. "That's where my Maw-maw and Paw-paw live," Henry declared to Mrs. Anderson, pointing across the street to Dick and Carmen's house. "His... I thought his..." Mrs. Anderson said. "My mom and dad," Elise explained. "They're his Maw-maw and Paw-paw." Mrs. Anderson buckled Jennica into her car seat while Elise buckled Henry into his car seat. "Now, on the nights that Darren and I go out; he's my boyfriend," Elise said as she started her car. "Henry stays with Maw-maw and Paw-paw; you need to see their house too?" "No; I think you've got it under control," Mrs. Anderson smiled. "Good," Elise said. "Now, who's hungry for lunch?" "Chucky Cheese!" Henry demanded. "Grilled Cheese," Elise countered. "Now," Mrs. Anderson said as Elise drove back to her small home. "Jennica is registered at Andrew Jackson; she starts Pre-K in..." "Oh no ma'am!" Elise said forcefully. "No child of mine's going there! She'll be going to St. Richard's; just like Henry!" "Now, Ms. Simone, the State only pays..." Mrs. Anderson argued. "I don't give a damn what the State pays; my kids are not going to that zoo," Elise said and put the car in park. "I'll eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the rest of my life if I have to, but they will get the very best education possible!" "Well yes ma'am!" Mrs. Anderson smiled. Elise smiled an embarrassed smile at the government employee. "My mom; she sacrificed everything, I do mean EVERYTHING so Lala; she was my sister, Lala and I could go to St. Richard's and St. Thomas Aquinas," Elise said as they unbuckled the children from their car seats. "Before she was killed, my sister was a council member, representing Bender on the board of St. Elizabeth Parish. Me? I'm a cop. We didn't turn out too bad and I think a lot of it goes to the home life we had and the schools we went to." "Lala LaPointe, Lala was your sister?" Mrs. Anderson asked. "Yes ma'am," Elise smiled. "Couldn't have asked for a better big sister either." "Again, you know that the State will only pay eight hundred a month for their education," Mrs. Anderson said as Elise unlocked the front door of the house. "But if you're willing to pay the difference, I won't argue with you." Jennica barely noticed when Mrs. Anderson left. She and Henry engaged in the mindless chatter of children while Elise quickly made their sandwiches. "We have to pray," Henry demanded before Jennica could take a bite of her sandwich. X.X.X As Elise had suspected, Jennica's hair was a lighter shade of blonde. The child had stiffened tremendously when Elise said it was bath-time and had cried silent tears as Elise removed her stained clothing. Elise tried to make the bath as quick as possible to minimize Jennica's fears. "Can see we're going to have to do a little clothes shopping," Elise commented as she found the threadbare pajamas the child had. Jennica sat, entranced by the silliness of the Disney Channel while Elise bathed Henry, then sat and quietly colored with Henry, until Elise declared it to be bedtime. Again, the child tensed up in fear. "No, no, Sugar Bear," Elise whispered to the child. "This is Miss Leesey's house. No bad people EVER come to Miss Leesey's house." "They don't?" Jennica asked. "No they don't!" Henry affirmed. "Miss Leesey's the police! Bad people come? She arrests them and puts them in jail!" "That's right," Elise agreed. They did their prayers, and then Elise read from her book of Fairy Tales. She then carried Jennica to her own bedroom and laid the child on the bed. "Hello?" Darren's cheerful voice answered. "Oh my God, Baby; I don't know if I can do this," Elise whispered, tears streaming down her face. They chatted on the phone for nearly an hour before the stress of the day began to take its toll on Elise. "Go," Darren said. "Go take your shower, go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." "Love you," Elise said. "Love you twice as much," Darren countered. "Nuh uh," Elise argued. Chapter 13 "Are you sure?" Elise asked Ethel Yaks, the clerk of court. "I'm sorry, ma'am," the bone thin red head shrugged. "I think I can pencil you in for next Thursday; that be all right?" "Really?" Elise asked again. "There's no way he can see me now? All I need is his signature on this adoption..." "Next Thursday work for you?" Ethel asked. "Fine, fine, I'll make sure I'm off that day," Elise sighed. Ethel smirked as the attractive woman walked away. Outside, Elise blinked back the tears of disappointment and hit the number 2 on her cell phone. "So? How'd it go?" Darren's cheerful voice asked. "Didn't," Elise said, close to tears. "His damned clerk of court said he was jammed today; some attempted murder case ran over or something and wouldn't even let me see him." "Oh, damn, that's a shame," Darren said. "Get another date?" "Yeah, next Thursday," Elise agreed. "Well, I've already got the reservations at La Scalia's; we'll just go and celebrate next Thursday tonight, okay?" Darren said his voice light and cheerful. "Yeah, I guess so," Elise smiled, walking down the steps of the courthouse. "La Scalia's?" Jack asked as Darren hung up. "Yeah, it's a special night," Darren smiled. "So, she's adopting that little n*gger, huh?" Jack asked. "Jack, you are one big ass hole; know that?" Darren said and pulled up in front of the Dead End Bar. "Aw yeah, love this place," Jack enthused. Darren waved in greeting as Tita gyrated to Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love.' The dancer smiled and waved back, peeling her black faux leather bra off. "Pepper salad any good?" Darren teased Kirsten. "Was until I dropped it on the floor; don't tell no one, okay?" Kirsten smiled. "Why? That's what you want?" "And an ice tea, unsweetened please," Darren said. "Give me the volcano burger," Jack said. "Yeah right," Darren snorted. "What?" Jack asked. "Like you can eat that," Darren scoffed. "Bet you a hundred bucks," Jack said. "Twenty," Darren said. "Kirsten, give me one of them too." "With the pepper salad, or instead of?" Kirsten asked, digging the ground beef out of the cooler. "Instead of," Darren said. "You'll be sorry," Darlene, a red headed dancer sang out as she poured herself a diet coke. "Love your hair like that," Darren complimented her. "Y'all want fries or onion rings with that?" Kirsten asked, forming the patties. "Onion rings," Darren said. "Fries; onion rings make my breath smell bad," Jack said. "What you worried about? Ain't nobody kissing on you anyway," Darren said. "Ah ha!" Elise said, smacking Darren on his rear end. "Thought I'd find you in here! Perving on all those half naked girls running around, huh?" "Oh, they got half naked girls here?" Darren asked, looking around. "Hi, needed a hug and a kiss," Elise said quietly. "Hi; don't worry," Darren said. "Thursday's just a week away." "So, what you getting?" Elise asked, watching Kirsten drop the patties onto the sizzling grill. "Volcano burgers," Kirsten volunteered. "Well, give me my hug and kiss before you eat that," Elise demanded. He did hug her tightly and gave her a kiss on her lips. She smiled at him, and then walked out of the bar. Jack watched as Elise walked away, and then grinned at Darren. Darren's face flushed with anger. If Jack noticed, it did not stop his smirk. "And, here you go, gentlemen," Kirsten said as she put the plates in front of the two officers. "I'm going to sit right here and watch," Tita said as she struggled into her snug top. "Son of a bitch!" Darren coughed as the first mouthful went down, burning his esophagus. "Aw, too spicy for you?" Jack teased. He bit into his own burger and immediately felt beads of sweat pop out on his forehead. Jack struggled to swallow; his throat tried to refuse the peppered mouthful. Darren swished some iced tea around in his mouth, stuffed a few onion rings in his mouth, and then took another bite of the burger. "Damn, Kirsten, that is just insane," Darren laughed as he forced the second mouthful down. "Uh huh; I do like the grilled jalapeños though," Kirsten agreed and poured a mug of beer for a customer. "Can't do it, amigo?" Tita teased as Jack tried valiantly to force the second mouthful down. "Eat some of the French fries with it; makes it a little easier," Darren suggested. Ten minutes later, Darren gratefully put the last bite into his mouth and swallowed. Jack glumly put his own burger down; there was more than half of it left. "You win," Jack said and fished out a twenty dollar bill. "Thanks," Darren said and handed the bill to Kirsten. "You're the best," Darren smiled and got to his feet. "Come on, Sweaty Smurf," he taunted Jack and Tita and Darlene laughed. Outside, Jack looked over the roof of the car at Darren. "I got to say; you're about the luckiest bastard I ever met," Jack complimented. "What you mean?" Darren asked, still fanning his sweating face. "I been trying to get a date with Elise for years; you just walk up and get one," Jack said and opened his car door. "Uh huh," Darren agreed. "How about an ice cream from Clark's?" "And that bitch Amber? Fuck, Asked her out about a hundred times, nothing," Jack went on. Darren pulled up to Clark's Drive-In and smiled as the young girl skated out to the cruiser. "Hi," the bubbly blonde chirped. "Welcome to Clark's!" "Hey, give me a vanilla cone," Darren said. "Jack?" "Vanilla's good," Jack agreed. "Want them dipped?" the girl suggested. "Dipped in what?" Jack leered. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 02 "Chocolate, bad boy," the girl tittered. "No thanks," Darren smiled. Since Elise wasn't in the car, Darren was free to ogle the girl's round ass as she skated away. "Damn; would love to just..." Jack muttered. "Then why don't you ask," Darren said. "They love a guy in uniform." "Yeah," Jack agreed. "Just don't cock-block me," Jack said as the girl skated back, two soft serve cones in hand. "Oh, I'll just sit back and let you fuck yourself like you always do," Darren laughed, pulling out a five dollar bill. The girl quickly agreed to a date and gladly gave Jack her phone number. "Just checking, Sweetheart, but how old are you?" Darren cut in. "Nineteen," the girl assured him. X.X.X "But suppose the bad people come there?" Jennica asked as Elise readied herself for her date. "Then Paw-paw will beat them up!" Henry assured his 'sister.' Elise put down her eye shadow brush and picked up the small girl. "Would I ever leave you someplace I wasn't one hundred percent sure was safe for you?" Elise quietly asked the girl. Elise had intended to sleep on the couch but the child's terrified screams had woken her up. To reassure the child, Elise had lay down on the bed with the sobbing girl. The second night had the same results, as did the third night. Now, they shared the queen sized bed every night. Elise would put Jennica on her side of the bed, and then crawl into the other side. During the night, though, Jennica would wiggle and squirm her way over to Elise's side of the bed. "No ma'am," Jennica said, unconvinced. "And, guess what?" Elise smiled. "What?" Jennica asked. "You'll be sleeping in the same room I used to sleep in when I was a little girl," Elise said. "Really?" Jennica asked, excited by that prospect. "Now, who's going to take Sam out for his potty break?" Elise asked and both four year olds ran out to be the one that got to play with Sam. X.X.X "Wow, La Scalia's, huh?" Carmen said as Elise ushered Henry and Jennica into the house. "Yeah, said it's our 'two month anniversary,'" Elise smiled. "Hmmm, how many anniversaries I have to have before YOU'LL take me to La Scalia's, Honey?" Carmen teased Dick. "Huh? What? Didn't hear you; that 'Selective Hearing' keeps kicking in," Dick said. "Miss Maw-maw? Miss Leesey said I get her room; where is it?" Jennica asked. "It's right up them stairs," Carmen smiled. "That's not Miss Maw-maw; that's just Maw-maw," Henry declared. "All right now; y'all behave for Maw-maw and Paw-paw; I get a call that y'all are being bad, there's going to be some real unhappy children," Elise threatened. "Yeah? What are you going to do?" Dick teased her. "Make them pancakes?" Once, when she was only fifteen, Elise had tried to make pancakes for Carmen, Elaine, and Dick. The smoke detector alerted the family of Elise's attempts. Jennica and Henry, not even knowing the history of Paw-paw's statement, thought that it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard and squealed with laughter. "Okay, give me kisses," Elise demanded when Darren knocked at the door. X.X.X They were seated right away; Elise glanced around the dining area, having never eaten at La Scalia's before. "Oh, look, there's Judge Johnson," she whispered to Darren. "Oh, how about that?" Darren asked, glancing over and nodding in friendly greeting to the judge. The room was large, full of patrons and staff. Even as full as it was, though, the plush carpets and padded ceilings absorbed the lively conversations. Both Darren and Elise declined ordering a before dinner drink; Elise really didn't drink and Darren preferred an ice cold draft beer but didn't think it'd go well with the rich Italian cuisine. They ordered and continued to chat; Elise mainly about her disappointment and Darren about his day of patrolling the quiet suburb of Bender. "Oh man, this is good!" Elise said as she ate the shrimp scampi. "Finally!" Darren said. "Finally got something nice out of you!" "What?" Elise asked, surprised. "All night, all I've been hearing is 'The judge was too busy,' or 'I really wanted to have all of the adoption stuff done' and I'm sitting right here and this meal is costing me almost as much as my rent but am I hearing anything about that?" Darren asked, wadding up his napkin and tossing it on the table. "Honey, I'm sorry," Elise gasped. "You're right." "And maybe, just maybe the judge was too busy to sign your adoption papers because they weren't filled out right," Darren snapped. "I checked everything on that form; they were filled out perfect," Elise argued. "I looked at them, Elise," Darren snapped back. "You left out a pretty big chunk!" "What? Huh? What'd I leave out, huh?" Elise angrily demanded. "My name," Darren said, standing up. "My name isn't anywhere on any of them papers!" "Why would your name be on...?" Elise yelled, also standing up. "Because I'll e your husband," Darren said, dropping to one knee and holding out an engagement ring. Elise sat back down hard, staring at the ring. Finally, she looked into Darren's eyes. "What?" she finally asked. "I want to be your husband," Darren said, smiling. "I want to be your husband and I want to be Henry's dad, and Jennica's dad and Sam's dad and..." "Sam?" Elise laughed. "Sam's a dog!" "Shh, don't tell him that!" Darren said. "Honey, yes or no? Huh? My knee's getting kind of sore here." "Yes," Elise whispered, nodding her head. A few tables nearby applauded as Elise and Darren kissed. "And here are your amended adoption papers, signed and notarized and just put my stamp right here and..." Judge Johnson said, stamping a sheet of paper and handing it to Elise. "Congratulations you two." "What? How'd you...?" Elise stammered as the judge walked away. "Went and saw him yesterday; had to pay for his dinner here to get him to agree to it," Darren smiled. "You?" Elise sputtered. "You set that up? I went down to the court house expecting..." "I know, I'm sorry, I really didn't think you'd get that upset," Darren apologized. He kissed her fingers and again admired the engagement ring on her finger. "I just wanted, Honey, I just couldn't think of a better way to let you know, to show you, I'm in it," Darren said. "I am in it. All the way. For better or for worse, all of it. I really do want to be Henry's dad and Jennica's dad and take them to the zoo and to the park and..." "Compliments of the judge," the waiter said, putting a bottle of champagne and two flutes on the table. "Remember when I took that picture of you? With my cell phone?" Darren asked after trying a small sip of the champagne. "The... Oh God! That one?" Elise asked, horrified. "You in some ratty old top, sweat pants look like someone died in them, hair all messed up," Darren smiled. "God, please tell me you deleted that picture," Elise begged. "It's my desktop on my computer," Darren said. "I've never seen a more beautiful woman in my life. "Oh no it is not!" Elise argued. "Oh Darren! Why?" "Just told you, Darren smiled, finishing his lasagna. "Most beautiful woman I've ever seen." "I hate you," Elise hissed as she finished her meal. "And..." the waiter said, setting down a large slab of raspberry cheese cake with two forks. "Um, we didn't..." Darren said. "Compliments of Judge Johnson, sir," the waiter smiled. "Better get started," Elise said, grabbing one of the forks. X.X.X "Oh?" Dick said, squatting down to look into Jennica's terrified eyes. "Miss Leesey didn't tell you? This is a special bear." "A special bear?" Jennica whispered. "That's right; a special bear," Dick affirmed. See? Bah bear looks like any other old bear, doesn't he?" "Uh huh," Jennica agreed. "But, when you fall asleep, he wakes up," Dick explained why Bah Bear was a special bear. "So, while you're sleeping, he's wide awake, looking all around to make sure you're safe. He won't let anything come get you." "He won't?" Jennica asked. "Then, when you wake up, he goes back to sleep; he knows you'll be okay," Dick explained. "Cute," Carmen said as Dick wearily came back into their bedroom. "Next time that kid screams YOU go get her," he grumbled. X.X.X Since Darren was driving, he did not drink any more of the champagne. Elise, however, had the entire bottle. "Hey," she drunkenly slurred, leaning heavily against Darren. "Hey," he agreed, trying to open her front door for her. "Um, listen," she whispered in what she hoped was a seductive voice. "The kids are at my parents' so..." She planted a hot, wet kiss to his neck. "Want to come in? We could..." she said, grinding her crotch against his leg. "Get a little crazy!" She giggled and rubbed her breasts against his chest. "We could see what's for dessert," she sang teasingly. Darren grimaced; his cock was throbbing in his jeans. "Baby, no," he said, opening her door and walking into her home; not an easy task as Elise was still hanging on him. "No?" Elise asked, incredulous. "I, you don't, no?" "Baby, yeah, I do want to see what's for dessert, but you're drunk and I really, I would never be able to look at myself in the mirror." "Here, I'll show you what's for...." Elise said, unzipping her dress. "Sam needs to go out," Darren said, indicating the large crate where Sam whimpered for attention. "He can..." Elise said, letting her dress pool at her feet. "Son of a bitch, please, Elise," Darren groaned. She wore a lacy bra which held up her 36 C breasts beautifully and a pair of French cut white panties, obviously a matching set. Her lightly tanned skin made the white lingerie appear to gleam. "Fuck!" Darren hissed. He could see a slightly dark shadow in the front of her panties. He wanted to peel the panties down, expose the pubic hair. Elise looked on in drunken shock as Darren suddenly bolted from the house. X.X.X Elise came to, sprawled across the couch. Sam lay at her feet, soundly asleep. "Oh, holy cow!" she groaned as a knock sounded at the front door. Sam went ballistic, screeching at the door. "Sam!" Elise yelled, and then regretted yelling. "Damn dog! Shut up!" She opened the door to find a grinning Eric standing on her door step. "Well, if I'd known we'd be working in our undies today..." Eric teased. "What?" Elise shrieked, looking down at herself. "Oh no!" "Hi Sam!" Eric said, squatting down to pet the dog. "Oh God!" Elise groaned. "Go get ready; I'll take Sam out into the back yard," Eric said. "Thanks," Elise said, beating a hasty retreat to her bedroom. "And do something with that hair, huh?" Eric teased as he opened the atrium door. "Oh yeah, like I bet you just roll out of Ed looking gorgeous," Elise shot back. "Lawrence says I roll out of bed looking good enough to fuck," Eric responded and took Sam out the door. "Like I really wanted to hear that," Elise grumbled as she grabbed her uniform blouse. Chapter 14 "August forth? That's..." Carmen said as she and Elise discussed the wedding. "Lala's birthday," Elise said quietly. "I know." Elise looked up, her eyes wet with tears. "If she was here, Mom, she'd be my maid of honor. We'd be planning all this stuff together; she'd be going all out and..." Elise put her head down. "But she's not. I couldn't think of any better way, though, of making sure that my big sister's right here, with me, forever," Elise said. "It's a great day for a wedding," Carmen agreed. "Oh God, are y'all looking at all that junk again?" Dick mock-complained as he came into the kitchen. "It's not junk!" Jennica shrilled. "It's beautiful!" "You tell him, sister!" Elise encouraged. "And me and Carmy's flower girls and you better not laugh at us and you better be nice!" Jennica went on, waggling a finger at Paw-paw. "Well! Yes ma'am!" Dick said. "I see someone's been eating all her spinach!" Carmen smirked at the four year old girl. "That Dr. Leblanc's been helping a lot," Elise agreed. X.X.X Darren stood at the altar, looking resplendent in his dress blues. Elise had actually toyed with the idea of getting married in her own dress uniform, but the idea of wearing a beautiful white gown won out. "You look, oh my God, I remember when you were just a little squirt," Dick said as her mother and Iris and Becky fussed needlessly over Elise. "Knock knock everybody decent?" Connie Edwards, the photographer asked, sticking her head in. "Afraid so," Dick teased. "Can I have the ring bearer and the flower girls out here for just a minute?" Connie asked. "It's all right; she'll bring you right back," Elise promised Jennica as the small girl looked to her for confirmation. "Gosh, the bride sure is beautiful," Connie praised. "And you all look so nice today! Must be a very special day, huh?" "Yes ma'am," the three children agreed. "That's my Mom," Henry said proudly. "Me too!" Jennica shrilled at Henry. "Aunt Leesey's my Aunt Leesey," Carmen told the woman. "Oh, okay, I think I got it," Connie said solemnly. "Okay, how about some big beautiful smiles for the camera, okay?" "Cheese!" the three children said and Connie snapped off a series of shots. "Okay, thank you," Connie said and herded the children back into the small room. X.X.X Jack Vogel was a little hurt that Darren did not ask him to be Best Man; they were partners, after all. Melinda sat next to him in the pew, looking much more mature than her nineteen years of age. She wore a pale blue skirt and matching jacket with a beige blouse, very appropriate, very proper Jack found out that her dress was not the only thing mature about her. (Jack had picked her up at her mother's home; Melinda insisted that he get out of the car, come to the door, and meet her mother before they left for their date. Melinda insisted on knowing what their date would consist of before they left her mother's home. "Chinese; I assume we're talking about Hop Kim's in Kimble" Melinda said. "Then all the way back here for bowling? Why don't we just eat at Manny's? It's right around the corner? But it's your gas, not mine." In front of Mrs. Fontenot, Jack did not want to say 'because the Hotel Acadiana is right by Hop Kim's.' "Don't know, just had a hankering for Chinese," Jack lied. "She is to be home no later than eleven o'clock," Mrs. Fontenot ordered. "If you are late, you better have a very good reason. 'Oh, we just lost all track of time' is not a reason." At dinner, Jack made a crude comment; his previous dates either laughed his crudities off, or gave as good as they got. Melinda did not. She put her hand on his, looked into his blue eyes and asked him not to do it again. He made a remark about her body, comparing how she looked in jeans to how she looked in her Clark Drive-In outfit. "Jack, I know I have big old boobs and I know I have a big old butt," Melinda said quietly. " But I also have a very big heart and right now you are breaking it. I would like to go home now, if you don't mind." Jack sat back and stared at her, mouth open in shock. "And maybe I did give you the wrong impression; I can get kind of flirty," Melinda continued. "But I did ask you to stop." "If you won't take me home, I will call my mother," she said, putting her napkin on the table. "I am sorry," he said quietly. "I asked you earlier to stop," she said as she stood. "I am sorry," he stammered again. "Um, please, can we, give me another chance?" "One more," she said, holding up a finger. "One more comment about my boobs, or my butt and I will not wait for you to take me home; I will call my mother. Is that clear?" They did go bowling; Jack mentally thanked Darren for that suggestion. He could freely look at Melinda's very nice, round rear end in their snug jeans and got to see her bounce up and down when she managed to knock anything down. "Boy this is a noisy sport, huh? She laughed. Outside of her mother's house, Melinda smiled prettily at him. "Well, I liked the second half of our date," she said. "Think we could do it again?" he asked. "Okay," she agreed. "My next night off is Thursday; give me a call." "Damn, I work the midnight to eight shift," Jack said. "Oh, well, um, I'm off during the day on Saturday; I don't go in until four," she said, opening the car door. "That's it?" Jack said as she waved to him from the front door of her mother's house. "That's it?" he asked again as she closed the door of her mother's house. "Not even a good night kiss?" "God damned cunt," Jack spat as he started his car. "I better get a fucking blow job next date; that's all I got to say!") "Aw!" Melinda's sigh brought Jack out of his reverie and he actually smiled as Carmen, Elise's three year old niece came walking up the aisle, throwing hands full of flower petals high in the air. Carmen was followed by Jennica, who was also hurling the flower petals. "Aren't they cute?" Melinda asked and chanced a quick kiss to his lips. Her small kiss went from his lips to his heart and his crotch. Jack was amazed at how much the five foot tall blonde now controlled his life. ("You're twenty five? And you still live at home?" Melinda asked. "You still live at home too!" he defended. "Because I'm in school, Jack," Melinda explained. "You're a grown man, with a job. But I suppose you are saving a ton of money, right?" He had to confess that he was not. "What? Why not? What are you spending your money on?" she asked. Now Jack was living on a budget. On a budget, driving his gas guzzling 2010 Dodge Challenger from Bender to Kimble back to Bender and down to Jazz Beach was out. Gas cost money and his car was not cheap. Her tiny Toyota was much more economical, so they drove that. A few of their dates didn't even count as dates, as far as Jack was concerned; he came over to the Fontenot house and Melinda and her mother cooked a simple meal, then they got out the Scrabble board and played. "Ha!" Melinda would cry out. "Add 'd' to your 'core' to make it 'cored' and spell 'dive' and that's..." :You can do that?" Jack asked her mother. "Afraid so; you are going to have to really be on your toes you ever think you're going to beat her," her mother said. Sex was completely off the table. "My mom gave in to some ass hole, some Glen guy," Melinda said when Jack complained of his blue balls. "Next thing she knows, she's knocked up and he's out of there. Believe this? He was married. Married! No sir, that's not happening to me. You want s. e. x? Put a ring on it." She cuddled up close to him. "Jack, there's more to life then just sex," she said. "I mean, really. Don't you think I get all hot and bothered too? You ARE a man in uniform, you know?" She kissed him hotly. "You do like being with me, don't you?" she asked. "Yeah," he said in a strangled voice. When the wedding invitation came, Jack planned on getting Darren and Elise a gift card for fifty dollars. Melinda shook her head 'no.' "This is their wedding," she patiently explained. "Probably one of the biggest days of their lives. We need to get them a gift that every time they look at it, they'll say 'we got that at our wedding' and they'll remember that it was Melinda and Jack that got that for them." She found a stained glass picture frame and framed the beautiful wedding invitation. Jack had to agree with Melinda; it was an appropriate, mature gift.) "Oh boy!" Melinda giggled as Henry carried the pillow, stern expression on his face. "That's one serious young man!" The music picked up in tempo and Orville Jackson and Becky Yuma came down the aisle. "What a beautiful dress!" Melinda commented. She turned to Jack. "Usually, bridesmaid's dresses are so God awful ugly!" Melinda explained. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 02 "Should have seen my sister's wedding," Jack snickered. "Her first one? Both our cousins Looked like tulips on steroids!" Iris came down the aisle on the arm of Steven Richards, Darren's younger brother. (She had been extremely surprised when Elise asked her to be her maid of honor. "But Elise, I mean, really? We don't even know each other!" Iris protested. "You're standing in my sister's kitchen, cooking dinner for my sister's kids," Elise explained. "I let you watch my little man and my little girl. How much more we need to know each other?" "Yes," Iris said happily and the two women hugged.) The music swelled and the congregation rose to their feet. "Oh!" Melinda gasped. "Damn!" Jack agreed. Glen Simone looked on miserably. His daughter was getting married and he was little more than a guest. He stared at Dick Davis with all the hatred he could muster; the man was not Elise's father, he was her step-father. Briefly, Glen thought of committing homicide on the smiling, crying man. Darren's expression went from happy smile to stunned amazement as Elise walked toward him. He had thought her beautiful the first day he was partnered with her and each day he knew her had solidified that opinion. Today, however, she was breathtaking. "Close your mouth; you're letting out all the flies," she whispered as she stopped next to him. "And who gives this woman to be married?" Father Gregory asked, smiling down at the girl he'd known from the time of her baptism. "Her sister, her mother, and I," Dick said. Glen wanted to jump up, wanted to scream that it wasn't Dick Davis' place to give his daughter in marriage. Jack felt Melinda's hand in his as they watched the ceremony. He smiled and for a brief moment, could imagine himself and Melinda standing in front of Father Gregory. Jack almost gasped aloud, almost flung Melinda's hand away, almost stormed out of the church, screaming obscenities at the cruel hoax God was perpetuating upon him. "Oh!" Melinda sighed happily, leaning into him as they watched Elise and Darren kiss. X.X.X Connie and her assistant were everywhere at once, taking pictures, posing guests, posing the wedding party, running back and forth with more equipment. Angela had her DJ equipment set up and had music playing softly while the photographs were being taken. Connie's assistant nodded to the DJ and Angela gripped her microphone. "If we could have the bride and the father of the bride come to the front," she asked in her soft voice. "She said 'father,' not 'sperm donor,'" Carmen said frostily to Glen. "That is my daughter!" Glen said loudly; his anger at the boiling point. "Oh okay, 'Dad,'" Carmen laughed mirthlessly. "Why did Elise pick this date? As the father, you should be able to answer that." "Because, because it's a Saturday," Glen sputtered. "Anch! Wrong!" Carmen laughed derisively. "It's her birthday?" Glen guessed. "Oh! So close!" Carmen said. "Then what?" Glen asked. "Today would have been Elaine's twenty ninth birthday, Glen," Carmen snapped. Glen very nearly said 'Who?' but stopped himself. "Just be grateful that Elise's Dad insisted that she invite you," Carmen snapped and began to walk away. "Sure as hell wasn't MY idea, that's for sure!" On the dance floor, Elise and Dick twirled around to the waltz. "Thank you so much," Dick said quietly. "For...?" Elise asked. "For calling me 'Dad,'" Dick said. "There has been no greater honor I could ever dream of." "You earned it," Elise smiled. X.X.X "Thank you so much for inviting me," Amber slurred horribly. Elise grimaced; maybe it was a bad idea to have an open bar at their reception. "Kind of wonder why?" Amber asked. Again, Elise grimaced; Amber had asked the same question an hour earlier. X.X.X "Um, uh, Carmen said you said to invite me?" Glen asked Dick as Dick picked up a diet cola at the bar. "Of course," Dick smiled at the man. "You are her father, right?" "Uh, yeah, but, I mean, Carmen said she wasn't even going to..." Glen said. "Glen, can I call you Glen?" Dick said. "Yeah, of course," Glen agreed and took another Jack and coke from the bartender. "Glen, Ten years ago, I was fortunate enough to marry Carmen; God what a beautiful woman!" Dick smiled. "And she had two daughters. Two of the sweetest little girls you could ever ask for. I became 'Dad' to those two girls; yes, I know, they were both young ladies when I came to live with them, but to me, they were just girls." Dick put a friendly hand on Glen's shoulder. "I may be 'Dad' but you helped bring them into this world, Glen," Dick said. "I could not imagine you not being here for this beautiful day." Dick held out a hand and Glen took it. Dick shook Glen's hand, patted the man on the shoulder, and then walked away. "Wow, that was so beautiful," Amber slurred and nearly toppled into Glen. "Think you've had enough," the bartender said forcefully. "I'm Amber," Amber said. "Glen, Glen Simone," Glen smiled. "Get me a drink, Glen, Glen Simone; fucking ass hole bartender says I'm too drunk," Amber whispered hotly into Glen's ear. "It'll have to be Jack and coke; he knows that's what I'm drinking," Glen said. "Good," Amber agreed. She turned around and pointed in the general direction of a table. "I'll be sitting right there," she said. Glen decided that he'd only taken one sip of his drink; she could have it. "So, um, how you know Elise?" Glen asked, taking a seat next to Amber. "I was fucking her boyfriend," Amber said, finished Glen's drink in two gulps and then made a face. "Fuck! I asked for a rum and coke; that the fuck was that?" When it came time for the throwing of the bouquet, Amber was face down on the table. "I'll make sure she gets home, Glen promised the bartender. Chapter 15 Darren very easily picked up his bride and carried her into the room at the Hilton and Towers in Lafayette. Their flight to Niagara Falls did not leave until ten thirty the following morning. "Wow, Mr. Richards, alone at last," Elise smiled up at him as he put her on her feet. "Yes, Mrs. Richards," he agreed. "Listen, I um, you wait right here, okay?" Elise asked, grabbed a bag off the pile of suitcases the bell hop had arranged by the closet, and ran to the small bathroom. "Right here?" he asked, teasing. "This very spot? Don't move?" "Um," she said, sticking her head out of the bathroom for a minute. "Why don't you um, get ready for bed?" "Bed?" he cried out. "Bed? But it's not even six o'clock yet!" She didn't answer, just closed the bathroom door again. Darren smiled and took off his polo shirt and jeans (he'd changed out of his dress uniform at the reception hall) and hung them up. He could hear his wife talking to herself inside the bathroom. He shrugged out of his plain white tee shirt and his boxers and walked to the king sized bed. "I um, I really, me and Iris picked this out, I..." Elise stammered as she opened the door to the bathroom. She stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a white teddy outfit. It was held up by tiny spaghetti straps; her dark nipples were barely visible under the pale material, and her pubic hair was obscured by her hands as she nervously shifted from one foot to the other. She would not look at him. "Elise!" he almost laughed out loud. "Honey, are you nervous?" "I well yeah," she admitted, blushing hotly. "Come here," he laughed. Elise Simone, now Elise Richards; a woman that could drive a van through the front doors of a bank, have a shoot out with bank robbers, could take on bikers that were nearly three times her body weight, could take down bikers that were trying to break into her house, had the highest arrest record in their precinct, was nervous. Was nervous being in the same room with him. Her husband. "Don't laugh at me!" she cried out, hot tears springing to her eyes. "Oh, no, no, no!" he protested, leaping from the bed and running to her. He caught her before she could slam the bathroom door shut. "No, no, Sweetheart!" he crooned, pulling her to him. "Honey! I'm not laughing at you!" "I just wanted to look pretty for you!" Elise sobbed. "Pretty?" he asked. "Pretty? God, Honey; you're beautiful! Just absolutely beautiful!" He sat down on the bed and pulled her onto his lap. She cuddled against him, still sobbing. "Shh, shh, nothing to cry about," he soothed. Finally, she stopped crying. "Here, why don't we try this again?" he asked. "You go into the bathroom and I'll get in bed and then you come out again, okay?" "Okay," she whimpered. "She tottered into the bathroom and shut the door. Darren got into the bed and fluffed up the pillows. A moment later, he heard the toilet flush. "Ready?" she asked. "You wash them hands?" he asked. "Yes!" she snapped. "I didn't hear you wash them," he said. "Darren Michael Richards!" Elise yelled. "I washed them!" "If you say so," Darren chuckled. "Cute," Elise said, stepping out of the bathroom with more confidence. "No," he disagreed. "Beautiful." "Uh huh," she said, sliding onto the bed. "You really are," he said quietly. "You really think so?" she asked, her fear returning. "Yeah, Baby, I really think so," he said. "I um, me and Iris watched a bunch of these videos," Elise admitted. "On her computer? They were kind of gross, really, but she said..." "I'm not interested in doing anything kind of gross," Darren pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips. "Oh!" she sighed, feeling his bare arms around her, feeling his bare legs against her bare legs, feeling something poke her in her belly. "I'm interested in doing things that make you feel good, make you feel loved," Darren whispered, kissing her neck, easing one of the thin straps off her shoulder. "But Iris said that those things make you feel real good," Elise said. "I watched a whole bunch of it!" "Uh huh," Darren said, nibbling on her bare shoulder, just above the swell of her breast. "And she said I should at least try..." Elise murmured as Darren eased more of her top down, kissing on the exposed flesh. "And even if I don't like it..." Elise sucked in a breath as he located her nipple. She attacked his mouth with hot kisses the moment he released her nipple. He pulled away and took her other nipple into his mouth. She arched her back up, trying to force more of her nipple into his mouth. He edged more of the garment down and kissed the exposed flesh. "Oh my God!" she laughed out loud. She combed her fingers through his red hair as he tongued her navel, and raised her hips up so that he could slide the garment down over her pubic mound. ""Aeigh!" she cried out the moment his tongue touched her pussy and he felt his chin being drenched. He lapped at her slit for a few moments, tasting her, savoring her, then sucked her small clitoris into his mouth. Aeigh!" she screamed very loudly and again drenched his chin with her spending. "Oh my God!" she cried out. "That was..." she gasped, wiggling to fully remove the lingerie. She wiggled around and kissed his mouth, then frowned. "Why's your face all wet?" she asked. He stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "What? What's so funny?" she demanded. "It's wet from you," he laughed. "That's...?" she asked, mouth open in shock. "Eww!" "Not 'Ew,'" he said and kissed her again. "'Yum!'" "That's so gross!" she said. "Here..." She bounded out of the bed and again ran into the bathroom. A moment later, she came into the bedroom, wet washcloth in hand. "Here, let's get you..." she said and wiped at his face. "Damn, you are so fucking gorgeous; I just love you all naked like that," he praised. "So I pretty much just threw fifty eight dollars away on that teddy, huh?" she asked. "Nah, I thought it looked pretty hot on you too," he said and pulled her to him for a kiss. "Let me, we watched a bunch of..." Elise said, clumsily grabbing Darren's hard cock in her hand. "Careful," Darren cautioned. "Oops, sorry!" Elise gasped. She gripped him in her left hand and brought her mouth close to the head of it. "Tell me if I'm doing this wrong, okay?" she asked, looking up into his eyes. He wanted to laugh. He knew better than laughing, though. "Bet you'll do great," he encouraged. Her brown eyes never left his as she took the head of his cock into her mouth, never left his as she lapped her tongue at the slit. Her left hand slowly but firmly stroked his cock as she slowly bobbed her head up and down on the head. She pushed a little more of his cock into her mouth and bathed it with her tongue. "Damn, that feels so..." he groaned. Her eyes crinkled in happiness at his praise. "Elise, I'm about to..." Darren warned. She pulled his cock out of her mouth and began to jerk his cock somewhat violently. "Shit! Damn, oh!" Darren cried out and jetted a hot spurt of semen directly into Elise's widely stretched mouth. She closed her mouth and looked at him with a surprised, quizzical look on her face. A second spurt struck her on her chin and she opened her mouth in shock. The third hit her on her lips and she wrinkled her face in confusion. "How much you soot out?" she asked and got hit on the lips again. "Damn it, cut that out!" she protested. He did laugh. How could a woman be twenty five years old and still know so little about men and women? "I mean, in them videos, they'd put out a whole bunch of stuff, but Iris said that was fake," Elise complained as she used the washcloth to wipe her face clean. "Come here," he laughed. "Listen, I know, in most of those videos, the women let the man shoot his stuff all over their face, but in real life, most women prefer to just let the man shoot it in their mouths," Darren said. "Iris says that's what she does when Charlie shoots," Elise admitted. "It's a whole lot cleaner than letting me squirt all over the place," Darren agreed. "You not kidding!" Elise said. I didn't think you were going to stop!" "But God designed it that way, to make sure we have a good chance of fertilizing the egg when we..." Darren explained. "God, Darren!" Elise barked. "I'm not a kid! I know how babies are made!" "Do not!" he argued. "I most certainly do, I mean, shit! I was thirteen when my mom had the talk with me!" Elise shrilled. Nuh uh! Prove it!" Darren challenged. "What?" Elise asked, face twisted in confusion. "I don't believe you!" Darren said. "You know how babies are made? Prove it!" "You are such a retard, you know that?" she giggled. "I'm going to lay right here and wait until you prove it to me," Darren said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Come here," she giggled, pulling him to her. "That's not proving it to me," he said firmly. "I love you, you know that?" she asked, cupping his face in her hands. "Love you too," he said and began to rub his hands over her arms and shoulders. She pulled him on top of her and spread her legs wide. "Mmph!" she grunted when his cock bumped into her hymen. "This is going to..." he warned and thrust his hips down hard. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and balled her fists up, but did not cry out. X.X.X Amber came to, lying nude in her bed. She staggered to her bathroom, not bothering with the light and yelped as she almost fell in; someone had raised her toilet seat. "God damned mother fuckers!" Amber screeched, slamming the toilet seat down and sitting down again. After she finished urinating, she blotted her pussy clean and noticed that her strip of pubic hair was stiff, sticky with what she assumed was semen. "Aw, fucking great!" she snarled. "I get pregnant again..." She flushed, turned on the light and gasped as the forty watt bulb burned her eyes. Amber looked through the medicine cabinet, could not find any more of the 'Morning After' pills she had, but did find the Tylenol. She staggered into the kitchen and almost whooped with happiness; there were two half-gallon bottles of bargain brand rum sitting on the table. She frowned; there was also a half-gallon of bargain brand whiskey on the table. She didn't like whisky; it left a foul taste in her mouth and the hangovers were terrible. Amber opened the freezer and cursed; of course they were out of ice. At least she had remembered to fill the ice trays with water, though. The trays had the beginning film of ice forming on the tops, though. She'd just drink the first two or three drinks hot, then have ice with the next few. "Ice is in the Tupperware," a male voice offered and she screamed in terror. "Don't hurt me, please," She begged, putting her arms out in defense. "Please; I'll give you whatever you want, just don't hurt me." "What? What are you talking about?" Glen said, grabbing the jug of whiskey and pouring a good amount of the amber liquor into a glass. Amber looked at the old man that stood, nude, in her tiny kitchen. He was definitely not her type at all; he was too old, his hair was obviously died, his chest was sunken in, his belly was sticking out, and he had absolutely no ass at all. "You the dumb ass mother fucker left the fucking toilet seat up?' she snarled. "You the dumb ass mother fucker didn't look before you just flopped down?" he asked, adding some cola to his drink, then reaching over her head to grab some ice cubes. X.X.X "But you have to go to bed, then wake up, and go to bed and wake up, and you have to do that seven times before Miss Leesey and Mr. Darren get back," Carmen tried to explain to Jennica and Henry. "Maybe they'll get tired and come back early," Henry suggested. X.X.X "Aw, you didn't shoot as much that time," Elise complained. "Damn, Elise!" Darren laughed. "They're just about empty!" "They get empty?" she asked, face a mask of shock. "It grows back," he assured her. "It better!" Elise said. "Listen, I don't know about you, but I'm about to starve to death here," Darren laughed. "You want room service? Or, there's a Chili's right across the street, or..." "Chili's?" Elise asked. "I've never eaten at Chili's!" Darren was a little slow getting out of the bed. Elise however bounded out of the bed and dashed into the bathroom. "Hey, do something with that hair, huh?" Darren called out. "Aw, Darren!" Elise cried. "It was perfect when we left the wedding!" Darren gingerly pulled up his boxers; she'd given him two blow jobs and pulled him into her three times. He was grateful that his jeans were loose fit, wide legs. "Now, it's better, see?" Elise said, sticking her head out the bathroom. "Mind hurrying up in there; I got to pee," Darren said. "Pee in front of me; it's not like I haven't see Henry do it a hundred times," Elise shrugged., still combing her hair. "Out," he said, shoving her to the door. "Go get dressed." "Aw, you don't think they'd appreciate me showing up like this?" Elise asked, striking a pose. "They'd love it; I wouldn't," he said and shut the door. She smirked at the door; Mister Darren Richards, policeman, big strong man, too shy to urinate in front of his wife. X.X.X Amber sullenly drank her rum and coke. Obviously, the old guy had nowhere to go and she had promised him a couple of nights in her apartment in exchange for the two bottles of rum. Obviously, he also expected pussy to be part of the deal. She had to admit, she had fucked guys, and a few girls, for a lot less than a few bottles of rum. "And here we go; you're about out of eggs, you know that?" Glen asked and put a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. "Yeah, usually go on Sunday," Amber said and grabbed the toast. She tried to scoop up the over-cooked eggs, but her hand shook horribly. Love, Bullets, and Badges Ch. 02 "Use the toast," he counseled. X.X.X "Remember? This is Bah Bear?" Dick explained to Jennica. "He won't let anything get you." "And Henry and Sam are right here too," Carmen said. "And Paw-paw's the police," Henry chimed in. "Going to be a long seven days," Dick muttered as Carmen read them a bedtime story. The End. **Author's Note: I write these stories for my pleasure. I post them here for your enjoyment. Thank you for reading my stories.