When I arrived on scene, I knew it was going to be a shit show.
I groaned when I saw the responding officer.
Jack was a rookie who had just been weaned from his training officer. While he had put in the work, and had been competent with his TO, he was a nervous wreck on his own.
I got out of the car, and hustled to defuse the situation. Jack stood defensively, his hands raised. He was attempting to calm the belligerent man to no avail. Jesus. If Jack didn't assert himself quickly as an authority figure, he was going to get himself killed.
At seeing me, Jack let out a sigh of relief.
I stepped in between the two men.
"Hey, man," I addressed the perp, "we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You can calm down and leave the scene, or you're going to be taking a ride with me."
The man's already red face darkened. "Oh, fuck you! Think you're so tough? I'm not leaving! This is my town!"
I sighed. "Sir, please. Take a deep breath. You can't be threatening women you'll kill them if they don't give you money. Look, I get it. Times are tough, maybe you're short on cash..."
The man took a step forward and went to shove me. "Shut up, pig!"
I took a step backwards. Jack stood frozen. I knew I was on my own. I had to remain calm.
"Come on, man, just relax," I tried, but the man surprised me by barreling forward and slammed me backwards.
I landed hard on my ass, and he quickly straddled my waist and slammed his fist against my jaw. My head snapped back and I was momentarily stunned.
But my instincts kicked in and I bridged up my hips, knocking the man off balance. I flipped him onto his front and managed to cuff him.
Jack stared at me, still not realizing that he could have assisted at any moment, especially after this fucker punched me. I pulled the man to his feet, my face throbbing in pain.
"Jesus, Jack. Don't just stand there. Get over here, help me search him and get him in my car."
Jack finally moved. He helped me search the struggling man, read him his rights, then managed to get him buckled into the backseat.
Jack looked up at me, his face showing terror and guilt. "I'm sorry, Marco. I just froze. Are you alright?"
I sighed, and rubbed my jaw. I was definitely bruising but I didn't think anything was broken.
"I'll be fine. But you need to assert yourself. You needed to get in there and start doing some verbal judo on that son of a bitch."
"But you saw him, that didn't do shit! He attacked you!"
"And what if he would have attacked you? He could have grabbed your gun and killed you. You have to think, Jack. You can call for backup, but you have to be able to know what to do when you're alone. I'm not yelling at you, but you have to swallow your fear and react to the situation. And every situation will be different."
Jack hung his head.
I hated having to reprimand him. He was only twenty-one. At twenty-eight, I wasn't a fresh faced rookie anymore, but I still struggled some days. We all did.
I sighed and slapped his back. "Buck up, Rook. You just need more time in the field. Go talk to the women he went after. Get statements, be patient. Write everything down. No detail is unimportant, okay? I'm gonna take this creep downtown."
Jack nodded and swallowed. He pulled his notepad from his pocket and headed over to where a small crowd had gathered.
I dropped the perp off with the jail officers and headed back on duty. My mouth throbbed and I needed ice and pain killers. I checked my watch. It was coming up on 8 PM. I had an hour left on duty before I could go home and meet Elena.
I hoped it would be a quiet final hour. I used the lull in calls to write my report from the earlier incident. I headed back to the station, submitted my paperwork, and headed back to my place.
I was pulling in to the apartment parking lot when I realized with a groan that I didn't have anything to make for Elena for dinner.
I guessed I'd be making another food order. I grabbed my phone when I noticed Elena waiting patiently on a bench outside the building. The light from her phone illuminated her beautiful face and all the stress from the day melted away.
I grabbed my backpack, exited the car, and started over to her.
I noticed she had one of those insulated bags at her feet.
"Hi." I said, hoping I wouldn't startle her.
Elena jumped and her hand went to her chest. "Oh, Jesus, Marco!"
I couldn't help cracking a smile. She was so damn cute.
Fuck! Smiling hurt.
Elena stood up, her eyes wide with concern. "Holy shit, what happened?" She exclaimed, her palms pressed to my chest. "You have one hell of a bruise!"
I tried to shrug it off. "Some asshole punched me. I'm fine."
But Elena brushed her fingers across my jawbone. "Oh my God! It looks really painful."
The concern in her eyes tugged on my heart. I blushed and looked down at the bag at her feet.
"Really, I'm alright. Sooo...what's in the bag?"
"Oh!" It was Elena's turn to blush. "I...I thought I'd return the favor from last night. I knew you'd be getting home late, and I wanted to make you a nice dinner."
I caught a whiff of the bag's contents. "Do I smell steak?"
She smiled. "Maybe..." she said in a teasing voice and picked up the bag.