Chapter 2 - Metal Health

The sun still hung high in the sky as Jack pulled into the Miami Police Department. The station was flooded with the usual beat cops, odd pairings, dishevelled criminals and -to Jack- a winking beauty who worked front desk. Carmen was a plucky blonde who always caught his eye; even the other cops turned and stared sometimes.

“Hello Jack” She said, dropping him a subtle wink. “Chief wants to see you”. Jack leaned on her desk, responding with a wink of his own. “When will you ever want to see me?” he replied before angling his way to his boss’s office. Carmen laughed childishly as she watched him enter the office. She wanted to wait for him to come back out, but a yawning beat officer had broken her distraction.

Jack however had bigger problems. Before he even placed his hand on his boss’s door handle, what sounded like an explosion rang out over the entire precinct.

“JACK BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE”

“Oh s**t...” began Jack.

The office door swung open at once. Jack was unsure of how it opened so swiftly as his boss was seated, but he has known his vocal cords to drown out a jet engine.

“Sit your worthless a*s down Blake” spat his boss. Lieutenant Lewis was a big man, his large brown eyes seemed to hold nothing but contempt for himself. He was black with a neatly cut haircut that refused to branch out into a wiry afro. Despite his neat appearance, a hint of a oversized stomach was stuffed behind a clean white shirt. Jack shared one habit with him however: a love for cigars; which was obvious as the stench clung to the office despite the open windows and liberal uses of air freshener.

“Answer me this” he began, stretching his fingers slowly, not once taking his eyes off Jack “Why do you undermine me time after Goddamn time? We had a perfect bust set up and you go in and raise Hell! Two months work wasted! Two months Jack... if I had my way, you’d be shunted off West-“

Jack sighed and slumped back in his chair. When Lieutenant Lewis was on a roll, nothing could stop him. His voice began to rise louder which each proclamation of the damage even indirectly caused by Jack.

“NOW EXPLAIN TO ME WHY I SHOULDN’T TAKE YOUR BADGE NOW AND STOP YOUR PITIFUL-YET UNDESERVED- PAY?” His eyes popped madly, as though he dared Jack to challenge him.

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but then a thought occurred to him.

“Okay then. Fair enough. I blew up the whole f****n’ city again... but there’s just one thing I don’t understand.”

“Yeah and what is that Blake?”

The atmosphere was deadly silent. Even the officers outside had stopped what they were doing. The criminals hauled in were even listening.

“Why were they NO police officers in the area where this drugs bust was going off? I saw NO ONE down at the damn pier!”. He brought his fists down onto the table with a crash. “A whole bunch of those guys turned up and I was outnumbered twenty to one!”.

Lewis stared at Jack in disbelief with his mouth hanging open.

“WHAT? ARE YOU TRYING MY PATIENCE TODAY, BLAKE? THERE WAS FORTY OFFICERS STATIONED AND READY TO STRIKE AT 4 O’CLOCK AND YOU TURN UP A HOUR EARLY READY TO BLOW UP THE WHOLE DAMN OPERATION TO SHREDS”

It was Jack’s turn to look surprised. He was told 3pm... unless it slipped his mind?

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY DAMN OFFICE YOU USELESS WASTE OF SPACE. I OUGHTA THROW YOU OUT OF THE DAMN DEPARTMENT-“

His voice still rocked the precinct as he departed furious. Jack didn’t even say goodbye to Carmen who glanced hopefully in his direction. He was a good cop; never took a bribe and always did his job... even if he did it too well. After the hostage situation with the psycho from Lehrte, he thought he’d ease up on him a little. But then again, having the mayor’s arm broken for threatening to leave those innocents behind and blowing up half the city... he could see where he was coming from. But no, he kept him around after all this time.

“Leaving so soon?” came a smooth voice. Jack spun round to see his old partner Officer James Black standing before him. James was a short guy who still wore a suit to work rather than a cop’s uniform. He claimed it helped him blend in with the civilians, but having muscles like Jack, that was a laughable thought. His hair was a light auburn, which contrasted with his own darker brown though his face bore the lines of many a stressful night.

Jack smiled and raised his right arm as they clasped hands. They had been through it all together; though he suspected they were separated as Jack blew up more of the city with a partner than alone.

“How’s life as a desk jockey? If it wasn’t for that box of doughnuts, someone could mistake you for an actual police officer” said Jack with a grin.

James barked with laughter. “It’s gonna get a whole lot worse now you killed everyone involved in my drugs bust, Blake. You really know how to break up the party huh?”

“You know me. I don’t like surprises”.

“Neither do I” Then his face went serious “I’m gonna need your help on a lead I have. It might be nothing but...”

Jack finished the sentence in his head. That usually meant something big.

“We’ll take my car” said Jack as they took leave.

James barked with laughter again. “That monstrosity? After the damage we caused in ’82?”

“Saved your a*s!” Jack replied, simply.

Author's Note

I enjoyed writing about Lt. Lewis!

Playlist:

Metal Health by Quiet Riot
Beat The Bullet by Vain
Dream On by King Kobra
Sweet Little Sister by Skid Row
Sweet Soul Sister by The Cult

Reviews

[Infinity Blues]

And he proves his weakness for novel writing wrong again! Damn I did enjoy chapter 2. Seeing the downside to the excitment in chapter one was enjoyable...Whoo, I'd hate to have a boss like that.
Again, very descriptive and held me entrapped, right from the beginning. Love it, love it love it. I will buy this book, if you ever decided to get it published ^.^
-Bravo- Elliott