FAKE First Year Together: A New Day (May)

FAKE First Year Together: A New Day (May)

chapter 18

 

 

A New Day Chapter 18 

 

Pairing:  Dee/Ryo

Fandom: FAKE

Rating:    Still work safe. You can read this in the same room as your boss if you want, but only if it's your break.

Spoilers:   To Volume 7

Timing: Set in May directly after Book 7 ended

Summary:  Ryo is coming to terms with the changes in his relationship with Dee, as well as his new sexual identity. Meanwhile, Dee and Ryo are trying to find enough evidence to expose a crooked cop. This story explores homophobic attitudes but is primarily a love story between two men.

Disclaimer:   I do not own these characters.  They are the property of Sanami Matoh.  I am not making any money from this.

Author's notes: It's customary for Karateka (people who practice Karate) to greet each other by saying "Osu."  It looks like a two syllable word, but the 'u' at the end isn't pronounced.  There is a technique to pronouncing it, which you would learn in a Japanese language class, but non-Japanese Karate students invariably end up saying "Os" as in "Carlos" or "adios".  If you ever go to a Karate class, you'll be amazed at how often the class members repeat that word.

There are more author's notes at the end of the chapter.

Please read and review.     

Thank you to BlueSimplicity for so devotedly continuing to beta for me right through thick and thin.  I adore you, as you know!

 

A New Day chapter 18    

 

As Detectives McLean and Laytner exited the dingy little bar, a light rain began to fall.  It delivered some much needed freshness to the metallic heaviness of the air on the busy street that ran past the Bronx station.  Ryo breathed it in gratefully.

     "What was the other nasty black mark?" Dee asked when they had achieved a little distance from the bustling front door of the 51st Precinct. He was pissed off that Ryo had kept this information to himself, but was prepared to tread carefully for the time being.  It would have been helpful if they had both been on the same page when they went in to see Shaver.  However, this was not the first time Ryo had been inexplicably secretive with information on cases they were both supposed to be working on together, so Dee was somewhat used to it.  And although no harm had been done this time, it still made him feel uneasy.  Dee had complained to Ryo about this tendency in the past, but every so often his partner did it again.  Dee had every intention of calling him on it this time too, but first he wanted the information.

     "Shaver and his partner-- his last partner --were doing a routine drug bust at a small warehouse around Christmas time. Somehow it all went sideways on them," said Ryo.  "For reasons that were unclear, they went in before back-up arrived and his partner, a guy by the name of Roy Bannerman, got a bullet in the leg.  Shaver got himself out, but Bannerman couldn't walk.  By the time back-up arrived, the gang and the drugs were gone and Bannerman was dead.  He'd been shot up pretty badly."

     "Fuck, I remember that now," Dee said.  "The Chief used them as an example of why we shouldn't be cowboys and should always wait for back-up instead of rushing in to do it all by ourselves."  He furrowed his brow.  "But Shaver wasn't Bronx then.  Didn't that happen in Brooklyn?"

      Ryo gave him a sideways look.  "You have a good memory when you want to," he remarked.

      "Well, not really.  I just tend to remember stories about cops getting shot, that's all. And this guy got one in the leg, which always brings back memories, you know?"

     "So then I take it you remember the rest?"

     "Well, I don't really know much more than that.  Apparently there was some kind of investigation."

     "That's right," said Ryo. "By... Internal Affairs."

      "Lemme guess: Abernathy?"

      "You got it.  He was the Lieutenant in charge."

      "This is getting good. Go on."

      "What Shaver said happened didn't tally with the radio and cell phone evidence.  Bannerman had continued to report from inside until they crushed his radio for him.  And even then, he'd managed to leave his cell phone on in case the gang said anything about business while they were kicking the crap out of him."

      "Jesus."

      "Yeah," Ryo agreed.  "Shaver claimed he hadn't been able to help his partner, but Bannerman seemed to think he'd been set up and that Shaver was somehow in on it.  He shot the guard who had shot him, but the call records show that Bannerman was alone in the warehouse office for at least five minutes before the rest of the gang found him.  It's not like they were under fire or anything."

"Well at least now we've got some idea of what Abernathy's got on Shaver.  I take it Shaver was cleared, and if he's still in narcotics, then he didn't get demoted or anything."

"One month's suspension without pay, during which he put in for a transfer."

"I wonder if Abernathy really is trying to get rid of him?" Dee spotted the car up ahead and automatically reached into his pocket for the keys before he remembered that Ryo was supposed to be doing all the driving until the end of the month.

          "Mmm...Probably just Eddie.  Or maybe he wants to eliminate both of them, for whatever reason.  I'm pretty sure we'll hear more about that missing cell phone video before we're done with this case, too."

     "So, when the hell did you find time to do all this digging?"

    "Oh, here and there over the last couple of days.  I got some help with part of it."

      Dee took the bull by the horns. "And you couldn't have told me this before we went to see Shaver?"

      Ryo looked uncomfortable.  "Well, I didn't get the key information until I talked to a friend of mine from the CCRB this morning," he muttered.

      "Dude, we drove here together.  You didn't say one word to me on the way over."

      "Come on Dee, it wasn't life or death," said Ryo with a touch of asperity.  "Don't tell me you would've done anything different in there if you had known."

      "That's not the point.  The point is that a cop shouldn't withhold important case evidence from his partner.  I went in there suspecting that Abernathy and Shaver were in bed together; YOU went in there knowing." 

        Ryo looked at his feet as they walked.  Dee was right and he knew it.  He hated it when Dee was right.  Or more to the point, he hated being in the wrong.  What could he say? I didn't feel like talking to you this morning, so I didn't tell you about Shaver's past? That sounded petty and unprofessional.  Ryo didn't like to feel as though those two words could be applied to him.  But he was still too unsettled from the scene at the breakfast table to be able to apologize.

        "Look," he said defensively,  "I know it was wrong, and I know I should just say I'm sorry and get it over with, only I can't do that right now because I'm in a really crappy mood and it wouldn't be sincere.  All right?"

         Dee met his stormy eyes calmly.  "I don't care if you never apologize," he said.  "Just don't do it again, that's all.  It's a matter of trust.  You either trust me, or you don't." 

Famous for losing his temper frequently, Dee often felt astounded at the way he was able to keep his cool around Ryo.  In some measure, it proved Mother right.  She had told him for years that he had to get a handle on his temper and that it WAS possible to do so.  He had always insisted that it was just his nature to blow off steam and that a leopard couldn't change its spots.  But he had realized in the first year of getting to know his partner that while Ryo could handle a yelling match when he happened to be in the mood for it too, there were other times when it was fatal to start hollering at him and he had therefore learned to put a lid on his anger whenever Ryo managed to piss him off.  Not that it happened often.  Ryo had a way of freezing a person out that Dee shuddered to recall, and it was partly fear of this that enabled him to master his ire when Ryo had done something that made him want to rant.  Ryo didn't seem to mind too much when Dee ranted at or about someone else, but he became very cold and distant indeed if Dee directed any invective at him.

Dee considered that in all honesty, his partner usually had far more to put up with from him than the other way around. But he pushed back that little burr of dejection that always seemed to get under his skin whenever Ryo demonstrated a lack of trust in him.

        By that time they had arrived at the car and Ryo's only response was silence as he got into the driver's seat and fastened the seat belt.  During the drive back to the 27th, the silence remained unbroken except for the crackle of the police radio, which featured the dispatcher's voice and cops calling in various routine codes. Dee's eyes became heavy as he felt his lack of sleep over the past few days catching up with him.  Deciding that he needed some fast music to wake himself up, he changed the radio station half a dozen times until he found an old Nickelback song, which he turned up really loud. Ryo immediately reached over and turned the music down.  

        "Driver chooses the music," he said firmly.

         "No way!  That wasn't part of the original deal.  Driver only drives."

         "If the driver crashes the car because his partner forced him to listen to loud stressful music when he was already in a bad mood, then his partner will lie in hospital later, wishing--"

         "All right, all right!  Geez.  I'll find something that we both like."  Dee resumed changing the stations, muttering resentfully to himself.  Suddenly a familiar jazz tune started winding its way through the car, and he smirked and leaned back in his seat, one eye on his partner.  "Here's a good one," he said innocently.

        Ryo suddenly stiffened as he realized what was playing and his hand shot out and hit the off button.

       "Hey! Ryo, come on," Dee protested. "I was enjoying that song."

       Ryo shot him a glare.  "You were enjoying it last night too.  Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do here."

        "I am NOT trying to seduce you in a moving car in city traffic, if that's what you're implying," protested Dee indignantly.  "I'm just trying to get a smile out of you, that's all."

        "Maybe I don't feel like smiling."  Ryo pulled into the parking spot outside the 27th that was reserved for Car Two and started to unbuckle his seatbelt.  It was true.  He hadn't smiled all morning so far.

         "Hang on there a minute, dude."  Dee laid a hand on Ryo's arm.

         "Dee," said Ryo warningly, narrowing his eyes at his partner.  "I'm not in the mood for this."

         "Look, I know you're pissed about Bikky hearing us and all," said Dee, "and I know you think it's all my fault, but I just wanna let you know that last night was the hottest sex of my entire life and I don't regret it, not for a second.  I refuse to apologize or feel bad about something that was so completely beautiful and amazing."

"Re--really?"  Dee had succeeded in surprising Ryo out of his grumpiness.

"Yes, REALLY.  It makes my balls twitch just thinking of it."

"But... but you must've... I behaved like such a..." Ryo winced at the memory. "I'm not very experienced and I still don't know what the hell I'm doing." 

"Well in that case we might as well take out a life insurance policy on me now, because when you do finally figure out what you're doing, I'll be a dead man for sure."

Cheeks burning, Ryo suddenly felt that he didn't want to meet Dee's eyes. "The noise we made..." His voice was softer than usual.  "I've never been so embarrassed, Dee.  I know it was...mostly me.  I just couldn't think how to handle that situation with Bikky this morning."

"You know, just about every kid eventually hears his parents having sex.  It's not like he's the only one that has ever happened to.  If that kind of thing scarred kids for life, the species would've died out a long time ago."

"I guess so."  Ryo was trying to remember if he had ever heard his parents having sex.  Actually, he had. Maybe Dee was right.  But it didn't make it any easier.  "But why..." he began hesitantly.

"Why what?"

"Why do I make so much noise with you?  I mean, I was never like this before when I was with women."

Dee grinned at him.  "You just never had a ride on the Dee-machine before, baby," he said with a wink.

         "Now don't start getting a swelled head because it's not going to happen again," Ryo said as he got out of his seat, and for a moment Dee felt alarmed. He jumped out of the car and looked hard at Ryo across its dusty roof.

"What, no more sex?" he demanded.

"Well, not for a while.  From now on all sex is going to happen at your place unless Bikky's away on a sleep-over or something."

"Whew."  Dee assented, relieved.  For a second there, he thought that had been it, the dreaded moment when they returned to being 'just friends'.  At least he was still in the game. But, dammit, no more sex while Bikky was at home?  That was going to significantly reduce potential sexual encounters until that perpetually-grounded brat went off to friggin' college. He wondered if Ryo would be able to stick to this new rule, considering the length of time he had been celibate and how much pent-up sexual energy they both had kept trapped inside them for so long.  Also, it was clear after last night that even if Ryo wasn't consciously aware of it, his body had certainly noticed that sex was a great stress-buster after a hard day at work.  Dee was also counting on his own seductive capabilities, which Ryo was finally responding too, thank God.  The fact that Ryo really seemed to like having sex with him was one of the main things he had going for him in this relationship. However, it would be best not to try to seduce Ryo while Bikky was around for at least a week.  His mind went to his own apartment.  It was still reasonably tidy from the cleaning job he had done on it last weekend.  A quick dusting and vacuuming of the pizza crumbs from in front of the sofa would probably set it to rights...The weekend was almost here...How soon could he get Ryo over to his place without the monkey brat?

His scheming plans were interrupted by a shout from James who was exiting the building ahead of them with Eliza. "Hey Laytner!  Don't think too hard, buddy! You're gonna pull a muscle in your brain."

"Hey at least I have a brain!" Dee tossed back good-naturedly.

"Yeah, and he's walking right beside you," Eliza put in sweetly, gesturing to Ryo.

"What is this, 'Gang up on Dee' Day?" 

         "Every day is 'Gang up on Dee' Day," said James, who smirked at Dee as they passed each other.  "Hey, Chief's looking for you guys.  He was saying something about overtime."

Dee's cheerful grin vanished.  "That damn walrus!  Overtime!  What the fuck!"

"Bye guys!  Good luck," Eliza called and she and James continued on towards Car Three.

"Relax.  It might not even be true," said Ryo as he signed the clipboard for Car Two and noted their return time.  "Besides, I'd to see the Chief anyway and find out if he's talked to the DA yet.  I hope he thinks it's worth letting us proceed on Abernathy, because I'd really like to nail that guy."

"Yeah, and that bastard Shaver.  What a creep. I can't imagine leaving my partner down in a hostile situation.  I wouldn't do that even if it was JJ!  Not even --" Dee paused "--Rose!"

"That's big of you."

"Well it was a nice fantasy. The gratitude...The indebtedness...The extra paid vacation time..."

"Yeah, I'm sure JJ would find a way to show his gratitude, all right."

"Quiet over there!  You're killing my fantasy.  Now I need a goddamn cigarette."

 

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

 

Ryo, early as usual, stood outside the Karate dojo, waiting for Thomas.  He had been tempted to go inside and chat with Ben, the young instructor for the teen class, but then he had considered that Thomas would probably prefer that they go into the building together. He made sure he stood on the street in plain view so that Thomas couldn't miss him and while he waited, he ran his mind over the details of the various cases the CI Division of the 27th was working on. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.  Exasperated with the lack of leads in the Lydgate murder, the Chief had finally consented to let JJ and Drake drive up to Canada to check out the hotel that Mr. Lydgate had allegedly been staying in at the time when his wife had been murdered in New York.  This meant that he and Dee would have to work overtime to partially cover their shifts.  Ryo would be working from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and Dee would work from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm, but they would be able to work together on the overlap.  Ryo knew that since he wouldn't be home until after dinner, he would have to remember to defrost something tonight for Bikky to heat up tomorrow.  He was just mentally reviewing the contents of his freezer, when he heard Thomas call out his name.

He turned around and exclaimed in shock at the boy's appearance.  He had a large bruise on one cheek and he was limping slightly.

"Thomas!  Oh my God, what happened?  Did your dad---"

"Nah, it wasn't him, " Thomas said matter-of-factly.  "IF he hit me, he'd be careful not to mark up my face or anywhere that shows.  It's too soon for that anyway," he added pragmatically.  "No, this time it was a bunch of fag-hating guys from that stupid school my dad likes so much.  I wasn't quick enough off the mark, and they managed to corner me behind the gym."

"Are you okay?  Maybe it's not such a good idea to exercise tonight."

"This is my life. I'm here; let's do it." Thomas spread his hands in a gesture curiously like his mother's and tried to sound tough.   But Ryo could see the pain and fear still hiding in plain view on his face, and he sensed a deeper soul-hurt and confusion.  He wished he could enfold Thomas in his arms and protect him from all the danger in his life, but he knew that the best thing he could do for this boy was to help him to become stronger.

"You're right," he said, slinging a friendly arm around Thomas' shoulders. "Might as well at least check it out, huh?"

When they arrived at the top of the stairs, the sounds of chattering and sports practice drew them toward an open door beyond a small waiting room with change rooms leading off it.  Ryo showed Thomas a pair of old bookcases that were being used as shoe racks and explained that they had to remove their shoes before entering the dojo.  After they had done so, Ryo stepped through the door ahead of Thomas, and paused at the threshold to bow.  Thomas wasn't sure if he should do the same thing or not, so he just inclined his head a little as he went in.

"Ryo-Sensei!" A young man with a black belt came hurrying over with a delighted expression on his face. "Osu!"

"Osu, Ben!" said Ryo and Thomas watched as they both bowed to each other and performed a strange movement that involved crossing their fists in front of their bodies.

"How have you been, Sensei? Are you planning to practice with us tonight?"

"No, not tonight," Ryo informed him apologetically.  "I haven't come to a class for over two months and I'm a little out of practice.  I do plan to return to the adult class next week, though.  How's it going with the teens?  It looks like you may have a few new members."

"Oh, we lost a couple since the last time we saw you.  Jess got a job and Reza went backpacking around Southeast Asia.  But we've got four new ones, so we're keeping our numbers up. So what brings you here this evening?"

"Well, I've been telling Thomas here about what a great workout Karate is, and so he came here tonight to have a look and maybe practice for part of the class with you guys." Ryo turned to Thomas and nudged him forward.  

Ben frowned at the bruise on Thomas's face, and said, "Whoa there, buddy.  You look like you could maybe use a little Karate."

Thomas gave him a weak grin and tried for a joke.  "Yeah, well you should see the other four guys."

"Ben-Sensei teaches the youth class," Ryo explained.  "He's only twenty-one, but he's a fourth-dan black belt."

            "Nice to meet you... Ben-Sensei," said Thomas shyly, holding out his hand and thinking that this sensei didn't look very dangerous at all.  He wore glasses and stood only about five-eight or five-nine.

            "Thomas, do you do any other kinds of exercise or sports?"

            "I'm a runner," offered Thomas.  "It sometimes helps when I get into those four-guy situations."

            "Well, that's a great start.  Good lungs are essential in the fighting sports.  Listen, in a few minutes we're going to start the class.  First we'll do the opening ritual, and then some stretching followed by a warm-up routine and finally we'll get into practicing our techniques and katas. It looks pretty complicated to first-timers, but it's not actually that difficult. Are you up for joining us tonight, or would you rather just watch?"

"I'd like to join in, if you don't mind."

"Not at all!  Good spirit there, Thomas.  Hmmm...I think I'll put you with Becky and Hiro for now."  Ben turned away and scanned the group of high-spirited students and gestured to a nearby girl in a yellow belt who was practicing a kata routine with a companion.

"Osu Sensei!" she said, and hurried over, a thick red-gold braid flapping behind her.

Next, Ben called to an Asian boy in his mid-teens at the back of the dojo.  "Hiro!"

When Hiro had arrived and he and Becky stood looking expectantly from their sensei to the new boy, Ben gave them their instructions.

"Becky, Hiro, this is Thomas.  He wants to try out the class, but he's had kind of a rough day, so go real easy on him, okay?  No sparring this time. Just help him through the warm-up and then I want you to teach him some blocks."

"Osu!" said Becky.  "Hey Thomas, nice to meet you.  Would you like to--"

"Wait!" Thomas said suddenly, holding up a hand to interrupt her.  "Before we start, I got something I gotta say."

Everyone looked at him in surprise, including Ryo.

"Go ahead then," said Ben.

Thomas took a deep breath and in a voice that shook only a little, he said simply, "I just want you to know that...I'm gay.  And if anyone here's gonna have a problem with that, then tell me now, okay?"

After a short silence, Hiro spoke, his hands holding the ends of the blue belt that was knotted around his slender waist.  "So am I," he said.  "Well, maybe bi. I'm not sure yet.  But that's not important in here. Now do you wanna go meet some of the other students before class starts or what?"

"Sure." Thomas' face wore a shy but relieved smile, and the three of them ran across the mats together.

Ryo stared after Thomas for a moment, still feeling amazed by the words that had come out of the boy's mouth.  While he didn't think the announcement of one's sexual preference right off the bat was necessarily an appropriate thing to say at a first meeting, he could not help but acknowledge Thomas' courage in doing so.

"Don't worry about him.  He'll be fine," Ben said with a smile.  "Now can I tell Brian and Tania that you'll be back for sure on Monday night?  We've all missed you."

Ryo reiterated his intention of returning to practice and urged Ben not to let him delay the start of the class. "I'll just hang out and watch tonight, if you don't mind.  I'd like to have a chat with Thomas after, anyway."

"Great to see you, Ryo-Sensei. Stay as long as you like."  Ben bowed and then strode back across the mats calling to the students to form their ranks.

 

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^

 

Bikky paused in front of an ugly, grey concrete building and assessed his surroundings.  This had to be it.  Two blocks past Gino's Pizza and across the street from a secondhand furniture shop, his directions had been.  He was looking for a four storey concrete building with some kind of rental store on the ground floor. "Pinkton's Equipment Rentals and Sales," the sign said.  Yep, this had to be the place.

There was an alley between this place and the brick building next door.  After a quick glance around to make sure no one was paying particular attention to him, he slid into it and eyed the fire escape above his head. Definitely too high to jump, but there was a dumpster off to one side that he figured he could make a leap from. He sure hoped Eddie would be up there and he could get this over with quickly.  It was going to take him a while to get back, and he still had Math homework to do.  And he was sick of riding buses and trains as he crisscrossed all over looking for traces of Eddie.  Oh well, the sooner he hauled his butt up there, the sooner he would know if he had to keep looking.

He had just jumped nimbly up onto the dumpster and was in the process of tightening his backpack straps, when he heard a high, confident young voice call, "Hey you!  You up on the dumpster! Hang on for a sec, okay?"

Bikky looked down to see a small boy entering the mouth of the alley, clutching a greasy brown paper bag."

"'S'up, kid?"

"You goin' up on the roof?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I ain't.  What's it to you?"

The boy came closer and dropped his voice conspiratorially. "You lookin' for Eddie C?" he asked.

"Yeah, you seen him?"

"I'm pretty sure he's on the roof," the boy said.  He was a small, chubby Italian kid, about eight years old, who looked as though he'd grown up eating hearty pasta dinners every night.  "Got his supper here. I bin calling to him to come down and get it, but I don't think he can hear me."

Bikky's face broke into a smile.  So Eddie was up there after all?  This was good news.  "Want me to take it up to him?"

"Yeah! 'Cause I can't climb up there, 'specially if I gotta hold this in one of my hands.  Tell him it's from my cousin Mario. He's on the grill tonight."  The boy passed the bag up to Bikky, who deftly transferred it to his pack.

"Hey, you think you can jump onto that fire escape?" he asked looking a little doubtfully at the distance between it and the dumpster.

"No problemo," replied Bikky shaking out his legs.  "Got my good basketball shoes on."

The kid's face lit up with excitement.  "You play basketball?  What position?"

But Bikky was already bored with the conversation and itching to get up on the roof and discharge his duty.  Disregarding the question, he said, "Hey kid, in case Eddie asks, who should I say delivered this?"

"I'm Robbie. Oh, I almost forgot. Can you tell him my mom says thanks for the tea biscuits?"

"Tea biscuits.  Gotcha.  Now watch this."  Bikky rocked back and forth from heel to toe for a moment and then backed up as far as he could on the lid of the dumpster.  In two energetic bounds he was springing upwards and outwards from the edge, and then in the next second, his outstretched hands were closing over the lowest railing of the fire escape.  Robbie whooped in excitement as Bikky swung himself up.

"Shhh, kid!" Bikky hissed at him.  "Let's not bring the whole neighborhood here."

Robbie clapped a guilty hand over his mouth and then stage-whispered, "Sorry!  But that was cool, man.  Hey, what's your name?"

"Bikky.  Now go home and watch TV or something.  Later, kid."  He began hurrying upwards, trying not to let his feet clatter too loudly on the steep metal steps.

The fire escape stopped at the fourth floor, and one glance up at the overhang of the roof above him was enough to inform Bikky that there was no way up externally, even for a world class climber like him. It would have been impossible for Eddie, with all of the gear he habitually trucked around with him, to have gotten up there. Then Bikky's eyes fell upon the door and he laughed softly to himself when he saw that it bore the marks of a recently changed lock.  Eddie didn't pick locks; he just removed them and replaced them with different ones that he happened to have the keys to.  Although installing and removing locks was certainly beyond Bikky's abilities, picking them was one of the many useful skills he still retained from a misspent childhood and the next few minutes saw him closing the door gently behind him and creeping toward the stairwell.

When he emerged into the open air of the roof, he did not immediately see what he was looking for and he felt a momentary pang of alarm.  What if Eddie had moved on again?  Or what if that trouble that Ryo was talking about had caught up with him?  At this point, all he knew was that Ryo and Dee had busted in on Eddie for the second time and found him with drugs.  Eddie had gotten away and was hiding out and there was a rumor that someone with Eddie had OD'd, but no one on the street knew who it was.  There had been a lot of yellow police tape over at the Westington since last night, or at least that's what that sneaky bastard "Mosquito" had been saying this afternoon.  Bikky wasn't sure he believed anything that came out of Mosquito's mouth.  That guy would say anything to get attention, the fucking poser.  But there was no denying that he had to find Eddie, and the sooner the better.

He sighed in relief when he came around the corner of a raised stairwell skylight and found a makeshift tarp shelter anchored on three sides by Eddie's familiar tool kit, a hammer, and the old lock apparatus.  A camping style backpack with an aluminum frame stood upright inside the shelter, helping to prop it up.  Under the tarp lay Eddie, curled up on a thin blanket, gray-faced and sweaty.  He definitely did not look good.  Bikky recognized the signs.  Eddie was hurting bad.

"Fuck, Bikky, I'm glad it's only you," Eddie gasped out in a voice that trembled.  "How the hell did you find me?"

"Well, I wasted some time in Woodhaven, first," Bikky informed him, as he lowered himself into a crouch beside Eddie.  "Wish I'd come straight here.  Remember a couple years back, you brought Crazy Bo here before he turned into such a Jesus-Nazi?"

"Uh yeah.  Well, no.  I dunno.  Look Bik...I--I can't really talk right now--" A ferocious cramp seemed to seize Eddie mid-sentence and he left off speaking to clutch himself around the middle and curl up even tighter, groaning through clenched teeth.

Bikky looked away, feeling bad, but knowing there was nothing he could do.  He had half-expected to find Eddie all strung out like this. Tony Elliot had even offered to sell him a hit to take to Eddie, but he hadn't dared to take him up on it, especially not after how Ryo had reacted to the whole marijuana escapade.

When Eddie crawled a short distance out of his shelter and retched horribly onto the pebbly surface of the rooftop, Bikky sighed and swung his pack off his shoulders.  It was going to be a long night.  And Eddie probably wouldn't be interested in the dinner that Robbie had brought him.  But he should get it out of his backpack before it started to leak out through the bag, whatever the hell it was.

"Hey Eddie," he called, setting the bag down next to Eddie's shelter. "Some friends of yours sent you dinner.  It's here if you want it, man."

"Huh?"  Eddie raised his head, puke dripping pathetically off his chin, and fixed Bikky with a blank stare.

"Little brat by the name of Robbie gave me this.  It's from his cousin...Mario, I think he said.  And his mom says thanks for the--"

"MARIO?" cried Eddie in a cracked and creaky voice.  "Why the hell didn't you say so, dude?"

In a flash, Eddie had scuttled crab-like toward Bikky and with a grunt of desperation, snatched up the bag and ripped it open.  A couple of Styrofoam containers jumped out of it, one of them popping open and spilling some kind of indeterminate meat cutlets onto the ground.  Eddie pawed frantically among the napkins and plastic utensils and then emitted a half-sob as he held aloft a tiny orange balloon that contained a lump of something dark.  He immediately withdrew to the shelter and pulled out what looked like a small drawstring bag from one of his backpack's outer pockets. He dumped out the contents on the blanket he had been lying on, and unhesitatingly selected what he needed. This consisted of a metal soup spoon from an Asian restaurant, a lighter, a syringe, a length of rubber tubing, a single cotton ball from out of a baggie containing several, and finally a small square packet that Bikky at first took to be a condom until Eddie tore it open, revealing it to be an alcohol swab. He used it to clean first the spoon, then his fingertips, and finally a spot on his left arm before tossing it aside.  Next, he squirted some water from a plastic bottle in the base of the spoon and began the careful process of cooking up his hit.

Bikky couldn't tear his eyes away.  He'd seen junkies shooting up in washrooms and back alleys often enough, but he had never watched the whole procedure from beginning to end like this.  It made him feel a curious combination of disgust and compassion, and he felt a little guilty for staring.  However there was a certain amount of suspense and drama in what Eddie was doing, so he continued to watch.  Now Eddie was slowly drawing back the plunger on his syringe, filling it with his precious mixture.  When he was sure he had gotten out every drop of available liquid, he tapped out the air bubbles and tied off his left arm above the elbow with the tourniquet.  At that moment, he had to put down the needle and bend double as another cramp wracked his skinny form. When it passed, he struggled to master the dry heaves that followed it until he was ready to pick up his syringe and carry on.  He inserted it into the crook of his bony arm and slowly, carefully, depressed the plunger. Bikky watched in a kind of horrified fascination as the pain and tension were almost instantly lifted from Eddie's face and body, and an expression of purest happiness altered his features.  Suddenly, for a brief moment, Eddie once more resembled the happy-go-lucky young guy who used to baby-sit him for a few bucks back when his dad, his first dad, used to have to go out to do a drug deal or take care of some other business.  Eddie had been so different in those days, already handy with the set of tools he was so proud of, bursting with plans for a future as a carpenter, and full of goodwill, affection and brotherly advice towards the motherless brat of a two-bit drug dealer. What a far cry from the undernourished, homeless drug-addict he had become.  Sure Eddie had a lot of contacts, but he lived outside the system and his future contained nothing but danger and hardship.  It made Bikky shiver to think that but for Ryo, he might have ended up like this.

Eddie lay back with a sigh.  In Bikky's opinion, he wouldn't be good for a serious conversation for at least half an hour, maybe longer.  He sat down in a cross-legged position and resignedly pulled out his Gameboy. "I picked up your meat," he said without looking up from the small screen.  "It's a little dusty, but probably still good.  There's spaghetti too."

"Thanks.  You're a...good guy, Bik.  I'll eat it...later."

A car drove slowly by below, stereo blaring, and a neighbor shouted angrily down into the street.  In the distance horns honked and sirens flung their warnings this way and that. The sounds of the city ebbed and flowed around them, but could not intrude into the miniature electronic world Bikky had willingly lost himself in and the unseen, dreamlike world that was suddenly flowing like a thousand warm rivers of light and color inside Eddie's head.

 

&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&^&

 

Ryo sat in the dojo watching Thomas being shown how to block punches and kicks by his two new friends.  He wished Bikky would call.  It was getting close to eight o'clock, and there was still no word from him.  If he hadn't heard anything by 8:30, he was going to call him and tell him to start the long trek home.  Maybe he could get Dee to pick Bikky up.

Suddenly, the buzzing of his phone as it vibrated in his pocket interrupted his thoughts.  He jumped up, flipping it open as he hurried out of the dojo and into the waiting room.

"Yo, Ryo."

"Bikky!  How are you doing?  Did you eat dinner?"

"Yeah, I'm fine and I ate.  I'm here with Eddie.  He's willing to listen to what you gotta say.  I'm putting him on, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, B."

Eddie came on the phone.  "Uh, Bikky's dad?  That you?"

"Yes, Eddie.  Recognize my voice now?  I'm Detective McLean, but you can call me Randy if you like."

"Look man, I'm only talking to you because you're Bikky's dad.  And this is off the fuckin' record okay?  You better not be taping this call."

"Eddie, I give you my word that I'm not taping this call," said Ryo with quiet dignity. "And even if I wanted to, I don't have any equipment to do so.  I'm at a Karate class with Thomas right now.  Hear that?"  He held out the phone toward the open door of the dojo where the group was practicing their katas and letting out a kiyai-shout at the end of each ten-count.  When he returned the phone to his ear, he said, "If it would make you feel more comfortable, I'll put Thomas on the phone and he can confirm for you that I'm not taping it."

"No, no, that's okay," said Eddie in a slightly less defensive tone.  "I apologize, sir.  I know that even though you're a cop, you're a good guy.  Least, that's what Bikky tells me and that kid's got a good head on his shoulders, you know?"       

"Yeah, I do know," Ryo said softly.  "And I'm very proud of him."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Eddie.  "Bik's one less kid I gotta worry about.  Now let's get down to business.  First of all, are you gonna pin Tamara's death on me?"

"No, Eddie, but I'll get into that further in a minute.  First, I want to talk about her.  She's basically "Tammy Doe" in the morgue right now. We don't even know her last name.  We think her family has a right to know what happened to her.  Can you help us out with that?"

"Stanley.  Her last name is--" There was a pause. "Her last name was Stanley.  But I don't think her family will care all that much.  Her mom never knew who her father was, and she had four or five different step-dads over the years, all gone now.  I don't think her mom is even in the state.  Tamara's been livin' with a guy by the name of Ricardo Romero, who pimped her out most nights. He got her to quit school and start hookin' a couple years back. They might know her at the methadone clinics.  She had a little problem, see. Like me." 

"Does Mr. Romero go by any other names?"

"Yeah, on the street we mostly call him 'Rick'.  But he's been trying to change his name to Ja Romeo 'cause he's got some fantasy of becoming a rapper."  Eddie snorted in a way that spoke volumes on the subject of his opinion of Rick's rapping talent. "But, sir, I'm sure I don't need to tell ya, you did not get any of this stuff from me, understand?"

"Sure, Eddie.  I've been a detective for long enough to know not to reveal a source.  Can you tell me how old Tammy was?"

"Only seventeen, maybe eighteen.  She might 'a recently had a birthday."  There was a pause.  "So...I thought I heard you say you weren't planning to nail me for her death?"

"No, because we saw Detective Shaver give you the drugs.  We got them off you, or most of them, anyway, real soon after.  We followed you to the Westington, so we know you didn't have enough time to add the substance that killed her."

"'Substance'?"  Eddie was surprised.  "What kind of substance are we talkin' about? You mean it wasn't an OD?"

"No. The lab confirmed extremely high levels of something deadly in the two little bags marked "Yours".  None of the other bags were affected."

There was a long silence.

"Eddie?  Are you still there?"

"Yeah.  Yeah, I'm here."  His voice had suddenly lost its tough-guy edge and sounded very young and unsure. " Uhh, don't suppose you're gonna tell me exactly what that, er, deadly substance was, huh?"

"No, I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to reveal that detail at this point in the investigation," Ryo informed him apologetically.

"I understand, sir.  I guess." He took a shaky breath and fell silent.

"It's worse than you thought, isn't it Eddie?  No one knew Tammy was with you, so she wasn't the most likely target.  You got any idea why someone like Detective Shaver would want to take you out?"

"N-no. That was only the second time I ever met him. He's not my usual delivery guy. I mean, it's pretty obvious he thinks I'm scum, but...I didn't think the guy actually had it in for me..."

"How about the person you're both working for?  You think he might have a reason for wanting you out of the way?"

"No, don't be saying that, man.  That can't be!  I never did nothin'!"

"What about the cell-phone video?  Don't you think that might have pissed him off?"

"Oh, I guess you know who it is, then."

"Yeah.  Thomas gave us a quite a few clues."  Ryo forbore to say which clues. "Look, Eddie, where's that cell phone video now?  Do you still have it?"

"No sir.  He made me give it back to him a couple days ago."

         "Has he contacted you since?"

"Yeah, he called and asked me if I had any other dirt on him that I was thinking about sharing with the cops.  But I told him no way, that's not why I took the video!  It was only for Tom.  I thought I could help him-- that if his dad knew there was a video, he wouldn't hurt him any more.  Guess I miscac...miscul...made a mistake," Eddie finished lamely.

"Did he believe you?"

"I'm not sure.  Maybe not. I got a bad feeling.  But I can't afford to be enemies with him."

"Why not?  What do you think will happen?"

"He's a prick but he steps up whenever I'm in trouble," Eddie said.  "I kinda need him out here, you know? Yeah, he can be a little scary when he gets mad, but I've had about 40 meetings with him over the last couple years, and more than 50 phone calls, and I gotta say, in all honesty, he's mostly been good for me."

"Hold on a second there...Forty meetings and fifty phone calls?  That's pretty specific, Eddie.  Are you sure about those numbers?" said Ryo

"Yeah, my memory sucks since this head injury I got when I was a teenager.  I gotta keep records of everything, or I get confused."

"Eddie...uh, does Mike know you keep records of your meetings with him and your phone calls?" 

"I don't know," Eddie replied.  "At least I don't think I ever mentioned anything about it.  But then again, my memory is crap, like I said."

"Eddie, think about it," Ryo said urgently.  "You keep records of meetings and phone calls.  You taped him beating his son almost to the point of injury.  You've become a danger to him, don't you see that?  Please let me take you into protective custody.  I think you're in a lot more danger than you know."

"P-protective c-custody?" squeaked Eddie.  "You fuckin' kidding me, man?  If anyone wants to get me, that would be the place to do it.  If I'm really in danger from a cop, I got a better chance out here.  Besides, I...I just can't believe Mike would go that far.  He and I go BACK, man!"

"Okay, okay," Ryo said quickly in soothing tones.  "Forget police custody.  Would it be all right for me and my partner to meet up with you in person, say tomorrow or the next day?  I promised Bikky I wouldn't arrest you or take you anywhere against your will, and I'm making the same promise to you."

"Wh...what for?"  Eddie's voice was suddenly wary. "We said all we gotta say.  I don't want no one following me.  I don't wanna be seen talkin' to no cops, either."

"We're going to be receiving some new information in the next day or two," Ryo told him, hoping to advance the relationship a little. "You're in some pretty big trouble, Eddie, and I think you're starting to realize that.  I can't force you to accept my help, but at least I can give you some details that might help you to make decisions, all right?"

"Yeah, sure.  But you're also gonna want something from me, right?  That's the way it always works with cops."

Ryo sighed, and decided to go with honesty. "Yeah, Eddie, I might need a statement from you sometime, and that won't be possible if you're dead.  You ducked it this time, but next time you might not be so lucky."

There was another silence.  Finally, Eddie's voice came back over the line sounding troubled. "I'll think about it.  Bikky gave me your home and cell numbers.  I'll call you if...if anything else happens, okay? That's the best I can do right now, man."

"I understand, Eddie.  Keep your head down, okay?  And please send Bikky home ASAP."

"Yes sir. Bye." And he was gone.

Just then, Thomas came up behind Ryo and said, "Hey Ryo!"

"Oh, hi there.  Is the class over already?"

"Yeah, wasn't it great?  I love Karate.  I'm definitely gonna come back on Tuesday. Ben-Sensei is so awesome!  I just gotta get my dad to sign these forms and cough up some money. Say, were you talking to Karl just now? Dad is looking for him.  He told me to keep an eye out for him."

"Did your dad say why he was looking for him?"

"Oh, he's going to buy Karl's MP3 player off him for me!  I was telling him about how Karl uses it for everything, even taping phone calls because his memory is so bad, and Dad said it would be a good thing for me to use at school.  I know Karl would give us a good price, which is important to my dad because he's such a cheapskate, normally."

"Did you say Eddie, I mean, 'Karl', tapes his phone calls?"

"Yeah, he has to because his brain doesn't always work the way it should.  Then he converts the calls to sound files in his computer.  It's pretty cool actually.  Karl has to be super organized even though he's a drug addict, or he couldn't survive on the streets as well as he does. Anyway, do you know where he is?  Dad says he hasn't been able to get him on his cell phone for the past couple days."

"No, sorry, I don't know where he is," Ryo answered truthfully.  "And Thomas, please do me a favor and don't mention to your father that I was talking to Ed -- er, Karl.  Your dad doesn't like me, you see."

"Yeah, what's up with that?"

"I don't know."  Ryo sighed.  "I think it's maybe partly about fatherhood and a couple more things that don't even have anything to do with me.  But it's better for Karl and me if you don't tell him about this phone call.  I mean if he asks you directly, then don't lie to him.  But don't bring it up voluntarily, okay?"

"Sure Ryo, no problem."  Thomas looked a little confused.  "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for bringing me here.  Some of the class members are going out for a soda now, and they asked me if I wanna go with them, so I think I'm gonna do that.  Tell Bikky I'll call him on the weekend, okay?"

"Sure thing, Thomas.  I'm glad you had fun tonight."

Just then, Hiro and another boy emerged from the men's change room, saying, "There he is. Tom!  Ready to go?"

Ryo watched with satisfaction as Thomas' face lit up.

"You bet!  See you, Ryo!"  The boys tramped down the stairs together and Ryo stayed just long enough to thank Ben and assure him that he would see him in the adult classes next week, before hurrying in the direction of home himself. On the way to the subway station, he dialed Bikky's cell phone number.

"Yo Ryo," came Bikky's stock answer.  "You still mad about this morning?"

"No Bikky.  Come on home and we'll talk about it.  You want me to send Dee to get you?"

"No way!  That would just be his ticket right back into the apartment!  I know you probably don't feel the same way, but I for one could use a break from him. I'll come home by the F-train.  I'll be there before you know it."

"Okay, see you soon," Ryo said.  "I guess we've got a lot to talk about."

"Yeah, I guess we do. But can we do it over pizza?"

"I thought you said you ate dinner."

"I did, but it was only a burger.  Besides, this Italian neighborhood is getting to me. There's a pizza joint practically on every block.  Now I can't stop thinking about it."

"Sure, I'll pick some up on the way home."

"Cool! Ciao."

 

--End of chapter 18--

 

Additional author's notes:

 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  This was the one that had to be rewritten because my computer ate most of it.  I've discovered that rewriting from memory something that one has already written is harder than doing the first draft.  You know how certain people are always saying, "Stand up straight, drink more water, save money when youÕre young and always back up your work in another file? " And we just say, "Ahh, whatever?"  Well, it turns out that those annoying people are right!  Pardon me while I crack open a water bottle and click on 'save'.  (The money may be a lost cause, however.)

By the way, Ben addresses Ryo as 'Sensei' as a term of respect because he's a black belt.  It doesn't mean that Ryo is the instructor of a class.

Just in case it's not clear, Thomas and Bikky go to different schools, but they know each other through Eddie.

If there are any heroin experts out there who feel I didn't do a good job of describing the shooting-up procedure, go ahead and let me know. I shortened that scene because it was a little long and unwieldy, and in my opinion, it's still a little too long, but I'm sick of rewriting it! 

Thank you to all the people out there who regularly read my story and give me feedback on my LJ and the other sites I post at.  It's your kind encouragement that makes me want to keep going with this project, even at those times when Real Life is trying to drown me with stress, duty and obscenely long to-do lists.