We headed towards the rendezvous point in silence. I swear I heard the sweat dripping from Tully’s back into the PGO’s leather lining. Shit, we might as well have been in a sauna. We had a two-hour drive to Hoboken ahead of us, and none of us were eager to talk. Truth be told, there wasn’t much to say. All our thoughts were internal, kept that way for good reason, I suspect. The last thing any of us needed was to get into even more of a mess with Milton.
I cradled my head back into the crevice between the head rest and matte-tint windows, but there was no shot for falling asleep. I was showering myself in guilt – and for no reason! I’m a cop, and I do as I’m told. This shit’s an occupational hazard. You probably wonder how I can deal with this. I don’t. There’s no hope in coping. What the hell would it even solve? Each day, it seems like more of my soul is chipped away at the expense of innocence. I lost my identity the day I put on that badge. From then on, Officer Huntley took orders from others. But for every man, there’s a point at which everything becomes seemingly numb. You just sit back and enjoy the ride, because that’s all you can do.
We arrived at the rendezvous, an abandoned shoe factory. Upon picking up the car phone, I proceeded to call Milton to confirm the news. Through the glass, I saw Tully and Sprad stretching their muscles while sharing sips from a flask, and I could smell the stench of rotten rubber. After several rings, the sharp pitch of the open line was interrupted by the hollow husk of Milton’s breath. “Yes,” he asked.
“Mr. Mossberger, I just have to thank you,” I replied outright, remembering the message we had been ordered to give via telephone.
“Oh, why’s that, dear boy?”
“The North district, sir, was a real fun time. A real fun time.”
R-E-A-L F-U-N T-I-M-E
F-U-N-E-R-A-L T-I-M-E
“I see. Give me one moment, will ya. One moment.”
“Yes, sir.” This was the best I could do, I thought. Knocking off wise guys with huge portfolio investments as their backgrounds. This was a dead end for me, I could feel it. Suddenly, Milton’s voice emerged, again, this time in a more eerily.
“Mr. Huntley, is it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, Mr. Huntley, I thank you for taking care of this issue. It’s been troubling me for quite some time. Anything to add, then?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“Not even a measly thank you,” he asked while laughing heartily.
“Sir?”
“Well, apparently those tramps at the office can’t even manage to send a congratulatory message to their new Chief of Police. No matter, I’m certainly happy to tell you.”
“Are you serious, sir?”
“Oh please, drop the goddamn formalities. Call me Milton. You’ll be hearing a lot more of me in the coming weeks, Huntley. A lot more.”
“I don’t understand, sir.” I was partially at a loss for words.
“You see, I’m looking to make a run for Mayor in the upcoming election, and I feel that it’s always beneficial to have some operatives on staff. It’s already been cleared with your department head. I was assuming you wouldn’t mind. You don’t mind, do you, Ed?’
“With all do respect, sir, this seems awfully unsettling. I’ve been stationed in homicide for twelve years nearly five before that back in Birmingham. Don’t you susp-”
“Twelve years plus too long, I’m afraid. Mr. Huntley, I’m certain that you have earned this position. You’ve committed yourself to doing what’s right. Now, go back to the wife and kids with a full blown grin on your face. After all, you’ve got quite a bit of celebrating to do.”
“But sir-”
“Oh, and one more thing,” he said. “I fear Mr. Tully and Mr. Spradlin will be in quite a bind once they hear of our little conversation, don’t you?”
“What conversation, sir,” I asked.
“Atta boy, Ed. Atta boy.”
I thought the title of this chapter was really captivating. I think the dialogue was a nice touch to this post. I think that I learned more about the characters and relationships in this chapter. I enjoyed your passion blog!
Love the dialogue! It’s interesting to see how this keeps progressing and and how the characters continue to interact. The title and the art that you included were awesome and are always great touches.
Wow. This chapter was very interesting. Nice touches on the picture and the dialog.
I really enjoyed reading and love seeing the steady progression of the characters! This was written so well and kept me captivated the whole time.
Great chapter. As usual, you use a diverse sentence structure and personal tone with the story that makes it interesting. The dialogue was brilliant. Can’t wait for the next post.