“Yes, sir.”
The office door opens. The six men walk toward the door, carefully stepping around the Arab leader’s body, trying not to step on him or in his blood and brain matter. Once all of the leaders exit the office, the door is closed. Lester III shakes his head and laughs.
My daddy
Vincent sits slouched on his leather couch with his legs on the coffee table. He has a bottle of beer in his left hand and is flipping through TV channels with the remote in his right hand. Ruger walks over to Vincent and sits to his right. Vincent puts down the remote control and pets Ruger on his head. “Hey, good boy.”
Ruger begins to whine and pant.
“What’s wrong, boy?” Ruger barks. Vincent throws his hands up. “What the hell do you want?” Ruger trots away and Vincent says, “Good. Get out of here.”
Ruger returns shortly with a leash in his mouth and drops it in Vincent’s lap. Vincent looks over at the clock to see it is 10:45 pm. He looks over at Ruger. “Really? You want to go for a walk this late? Ok, well, guess what—I’m gonna get my work out in and make you run.”
He goes into the bedroom and gets dressed. When he exits the room, Ruger is sitting by the door with the leash in his mouth.
Vincent laughs. “Man, you’re something else, I should’ve got a cat.” He takes the leash out of Ruger’s mouth and clips it to his choker. They exit the building.
Vincent put headphones in his ears and presses play on his iPod, blasting hip-hop music into his ears. They begin running southbound on Woodward Ave, and pass one of the most iconic pieces of artwork in the city. The fist of the great boxer, Joe Lewis, stands in the median of Jefferson Ave.
They continue into Hart Plaza and stop briefly. Vincent looks around and notices that there are no people around. He says to Ruger, “Ok. I’m gonna unleash you, so you better behave.” They continue running through Hart Plaza and then along the waterfront.
They run for another half mile and come upon a camp for displaced persons. Vincent can see several hundred white tents with hundreds of people walking around. The camp is brightly lit and enclosed by very high chain-link fences lined with razor wire.
Vincent continues running along the fence line and says to himself, “Displacement camp. Looks more like a prison to me.” They continue with their run and now find themselves running through the streets of downtown. Ruger runs past Vincent and is now 20 yards ahead of him.
Ruger suddenly stops and sits. When Vincent catches up to him, he notices something unusual. He notices a little girl around six years old standing by herself on the sidewalk. She is wearing a pink knit cap and has straight blonde hair. She has on a fluffy white jacket, white snow pants, and pink rain boots.
Vincent stops and removes the earphones from his ears. He presses pause on his iPod. The little girl is facing away from him, looking at Ruger. She asks Vincent, “Can I pet your dog?”
Vincent tries to catch his breath. “Yeah, sure. Just do it slowly because he is a security dog and might bite if you make any sudden moves toward him.”
The little girl smiles and begins to pet Ruger’s head. “I love dogs. What’s his name?”
“His name is Ruger.”
“I like that name, how old is he?”
Vincent looks around and doesn’t see anyone who might be with the little girl. “Hey kid, where are your parents at? It’s kinda late for you to be out here all by yourself, don’t you think? It’s not safe for a little girl like you to be out here by yourself.”
The little girl continues to pet Ruger and says, “Don’t worry, mister, I’m safe. My father will keep me safe.”
“Oh, your father is around? Ok, good. Where is he? I don’t see him.”
“My father is all around. You can’t see him, but if you try hard enough, you can feel him.”
Vincent looks around him again, but sees no one. “Ok, kid…stop messing around—it’s cold out here, so why don’t you tell me where your father is so I can get you back to him, and I can be on my way.”
The little girl still does not look at Vincent. “Do you have a father?”
“What? Um…yeah, of course I do. Everyone has a father.”
“You should talk to him. My father always tells me stuff.”
“Well, that ain’t gonna happen, kid. I haven’t talked to my father in 15 years. I don’t even know if he’s alive.”
The little girl turns around and looks up at Vincent. She has big, bright-blue eyes that seem to glow. She giggles and says, “Your father is alive, silly, but he’s not going to be around forever. Mr. Vincent, you should go talk to him. Fathers always give their children good advice. I know mine does.”
“Yeah, well, thanks for the advice kid. Do you live around here?”
“Yes, I live right here.” She points to a duplex house. Vincent looks at the house and notices the address is 11244.
“Wow, you live in a nice home.”
Suddenly, without warning, Ruger takes off running down the street. Vincent turns and yells to him, “Ruger, get back here!” As he begins to turn back to the little girl, he asks, “Hey…how did you know my name?”
He looks down and notices that she is no longer there. He calls for her. “Hey, little girl, little girl…where are you?” With a confused look on his face, he looks around in all directions. He looks down the street and sees that Ruger is almost out of sight. He gives up looking for the girl and runs after Ruger, yelling. “Ruger, get back here you, little shit!”
After sprinting several blocks, Vincent finally catches up to Ruger. “Stay, goddammit!” Ruger stops and lies down.
Vincent bends over and places his hands on his knees. He is breathing heavily and takes several deep breaths. He stands straight up, places his hands on top of his head, and continues to take deep breaths. As he stands there, trying to catch his breath, he turns toward the street and notices a black SUV moving very slowly in the middle of the road about a half-block away. Vincent reaches for his waistband and realizes that he forgot to bring his handgun with him.
“Shit. Ok Ruger…I’m sick of these assholes following me. You wanna have some fun with these guys?” Ruger barks back. Vincent begins to jog at a slow pace. He turns to look back and sees the black SUV accelerating. It picks up speed, getting closer to them.
Vincent runs into the middle of the street and stops. He turns toward the SUV, grabs his crotch, and spits on the ground. Vincent looks down at Ruger. “Ok, boy…I’m sure that pissed them off—let’s do it.”
Vincent and Ruger begin sprinting down the middle of the street. Vincent hears the screeching of the SUV’s tires. He looks ahead and sees an alley on the right. He looks back and sees the SUV is very close and gaining on him.
Vincent and Ruger reach the alley and make a sharp right turn. The driver of the SUV slams on the brakes and stops in the middle of the road. Vincent turns around to face the SUV and continues running backwards. He laughs, knowing that the alley is too narrow for the SUV to follow him.
He turns back around and continues to laugh. “Come on, boy. Fuck these guys—let’s go home.”
Why do you talk to yourself?
Estrada and Vincent load their equipment into the trunk of their patrol vehicle. “I think I’m gonna drive tonight,” Vincent says.
“What? You never drive.”
“Yeah, well, I feel like driving tonight.”
Estrada laughs. “What’s up with that, vato? When was the last time you drove—like a year ago?”
Vincent smiles. “Yeah, something like that.” Vincent gets in the driver’s seat and starts the car.
“Hey, vato…let’s go get a coffee. I need some caffeine.”
“Yeah, sure, I just need to drive by a house first.”
“You doing a follow up on a case?”
“No, I
had a weird experience last night. I took Ruger for a run, and I ended up talking to this little girl because she wanted to pet him. So out of nowhere, Ruger takes off running. So I tried calling him back, but he just kept running. When I looked back at the girl, she was gone. It was like she vanished into thin air. I just want to go knock on the door and make sure she’s ok.”
“Yeah, that’s kinda weird. Let’s go check on her.”
Vincent drives down the street where he encountered the little girl. He pulls up in front of 11244, the address where the little girl said she lived. He puts the car in park and looks at the house. “What the fuck?”
Estrada looks at him. “What?”
Vincent exits the car and stares at the house. He looks back at Estrada with a confused look on his face.
Estrada also exits the vehicle and stands next to Vincent. “What’s up, man? What are we doing at this burnt-out abandoned house?”
“There’s no way. This can’t be.”
“What do you mean?”
Vincent walks up the steps of the home and stands on the porch. He looks into the home through a broken-out window and can see it is abandoned and has sustained major fire damage. He walks to the front door and touches the address numbers. He says, “1-1-2-4-4. I swear to God, this was the house. I looked right at this address, but it wasn’t like this—it was clean and intact.”
“Are you sure? Maybe it was one of these to the right or left of it, and you just misread the address. You know it was dark out, and you were tired from running.”
“No, man, I’m positive it was 1-1-2-4-4.” At that moment, Vincent notices an elderly man at the house next door walk out onto the porch. Vincent calls over to him, “Excuse me…sir?”
The elderly man replies, “Yes, officer?”
“I’m looking for a little girl who lives here…blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Does she live here?”
“Are you talking about Alyssa?” the elderly man asks.
“Um, I don’t know. I didn’t get her name.”
“Well, she used to live there.”
“Well, where is she now?”
With a sad look on his face, the man replies, “Well, I hate to tell you this, officer, but she passed away in the fire two weeks ago. Did you know her?”
Vincent looks at Estrada with a confused look on his face. Then he looks back at the elderly man. “Um, yeah…kinda.”
“Well, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, officer. If you don’t have any more questions for me, then I’ll be on my way.”
“Yeah, that’s all. Thank you for your time, sir.”
Estrada puts his hand on Vincent’s shoulder. “C’mon, man…let’s go get those coffees.”
They both walk down the front stairs.
Vincent stops at the base of the porch and looks back, staring at the address. “Yo, vato, open the door man—it’s cold out here.”
“Oh, yeah…sorry, man.” Vincent places his right hand near the door handle and the doors unlock.
They pick up two coffees then drive to the top of a parking structure. “What’s up? What are we doing here?”
Vincent gets out of the car. “Come out here. I think it’s time I tell you a secret.”
Estrada gets out of the car. “Oh man, you’re making me nervous.”
“Shut the fuck up and just come over here.”
Estrada walks over to Vincent, who is leaning up against a concrete ledge, looking out toward the high-rise buildings.
Vincent looks at Estrada. “I have to tell you something, and you’re probably going to think I’m fucking crazy.”
Estrada laughs and says, “Well, I already know you are crazy. What is it, homie?”
“Well, you know how sometimes you catch me talking to myself?”
“Yeah.”
“Well…I’m not talking to myself.”
Estrada laughs. “Um…ok…well then…who do you talk to? Ghosts?”
“No, not ghosts…angels.”
“Come on, man…for real?”
“Yeah, man, I’m totally for real. I’m not fucking with you.”
“No, vato, I believe you. I remember back in the day, my grandmother used to tell me about them. She would tell me they were real, but I never had anyone say they’ve seen or talked to them. What do they look like? Do they have big wings and halos and shit?”
“No, they look like…well…they look like you and me. Like regular people.”
“Well, if they look like you and me then how do you know they are angels?”
“Well, the first thing you notice is that some part of their body glows… like their teeth or their eyes or hair. Second, they don’t talk normal. They always say fucked-up shit that‘s confusing. Third, they don’t just walk away when the conversation is over. They just always seem to disappear.”
“Disappear? Like…poof disappear?”
“Yeah, like…I’ll look away and when I look back, they are gone.”
“How long have you been seeing them?”
“Shit…damn near my whole life. Remember when I told you I got hit by a car when I was seven?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that was the first time.”
“Fuck, man, that’s some crazy shit. So what do they say to you?”
“I don’t know, man. I really don’t know, and the weird thing is…the angels are always adults. That’s why I had to go back to where I saw the little girl. It’s the first time the angel was a child.”
The female dispatcher’s voice interrupts their conversation. “Radio 5-13.”
Estrada picks up the microphone and responds. “Five-thirteen radio.”
“Make Eastern Market to assist the military police. They are searching the area for a male subject that ran from them during an investigation. Subject is described as a white male, 5’9”, slim build, wearing a black hoodie and dirty blue jeans.”
“Ten-four, unit five-thirteen is en route.” Vincent drives several blocks to the area of Eastern Market. They see several military personnel on foot and in vehicles checking the area.
“I bet this guy is ducking down in one of these alleys somewhere,” Vincent says. He drives past several alleys as Estrada lights them up with the police vehicle’s spotlight.
“Wait!” Estrada shouts.
“What?”
“Back up, vato. I saw something moving over by that dumpster.”
Vincent backs up the vehicle.
Estrada opens the car door. “I’m gonna go check it out, just wait here.” Estrada exits the car and turns on his flashlight to check the alley. He hears a noise coming from the dumpster. He draws out his Glock .40 caliber handgun from his leg holster and approaches the dumpster with caution. He quickly opens the side door of the dumpster. A black cat jumps out at him and startles him.
“What the fuck!” He looks back at Vincent, who is in tears from laughing so hard.
Vincent yells out, “That’s the closest thing to pussy that you will get. Come on, let’s go.”
Estrada turns and begins walking back to the patrol car when he hears what sounds like a glass bottle rolling on a floor. Estrada pauses a few seconds to listen then turns back toward the dumpster. With his handgun pointed out in front of him, he tactically approaches the dumpster. As he reaches the dumpster, he slowly turns the corner.
He sees the tip of a black boot. He looks back to face Vincent and points down at the boot. He puts his left hand up replicating and gun, which is tactical sign language for “bad guy.”
Vincent gives Estrada a thumbs-up sign and puts the car in drive.
Estrada yells out, “Police! Let me see your hands!”
The man takes off running down the alley.
“Stop! Police!” Estrada yells as he starts chasing the man.
Vincent takes his foot off of the brake pedal and drives around the block at a high rate of spee
d. Just as the man reaches the end of the alley, Vincent pulls up in the police vehicle and cuts the man off. In one fluid motion, Vincent exits the vehicle, draws his handgun from his leg holster, and points it at the man’s head. “Got ya, motherfucker.”
Estrada catches up and slams the man onto the hood of the police car. He quickly handcuffs him.
Vincent lights up a cigar and says, “What’s your problem, man? Why are you running from the police?”
“Please, officers, I’m sorry. Please…just let me go! If you turn me over to them, they will kill me. I have a family!”
Estrada scans the man’s right hand, but no information pops up on the scanner. “Why don’t you have a chip?” Estrada asks.
“I shouldn’t have to. It should be a choice.”
“Soooo…is that the reason why you’re running?” Vincent asks.
“Yes…I swear, I’ve done nothing wrong, I swear. I was out trying to find food for my family.”
Vincent pulls out a handcuff key from his pocket and tells the man to turn around.
“Yo, vato, what the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m letting him go. What does it look like I‘m doing?”
“Are you fucking crazy? Do you want us to get arrested at the same time? We have to arrest this asshole.”
Vincent pulls Estrada close and whispers into his ear. “If we lock this guy up, you know damn well what will happen to him. Do you want that on your conscience?”
In an angry voice, Estrada replies, “And do you know what the fuck they will do to us?” Estrada talks into his shoulder microphone. “Five-thirteen radio. Advise the MP’s that we got the suspect in the alley two blocks west of Eastern Market.”
“Ten-four, I will let them know.”
With an angry look on his face, Estrada stares into Vincent’s eyes. Estrada then grabs the handcuffed man by his left arm and walks him over toward the street where he waves down an approaching Humvee. Estrada passes the man over to two soldiers, who then force the man into the backseat of the Humvee and quickly leave the area.
Estrada walks past Vincent and says in a low voice, “I’m driving.”
Vincent shakes his head, sucks his cigar, looks up into the sky, and blows out the smoke.
Poster child