Chapter 30

word count 880

Trudy went back to work in a snit. Still reeling from Buzz's neglect, she was in no humor to suffer fools. She took orders without so much as a “hello” to her customers, and later slammed the food down with such violence, diners ducked from french fry missiles and coffee torpedoes launching on impact.

She heard about Buzz's mishap. It made the 6:00 news and the newspapers. “Officer mugged by unknown assailant” --the newspaper headlines read. Little did she know the “assailant” was a woman. No one knew because Buzz had guarded the secret with his life. But Trudy did feel sorry he was hurt. For now, however, she was miserable and mad. She went about her job speaking to no one.

It was a welcome relief on late Friday afternoon when finally the diner emptied out, leaving only one or two customers. She leaned against the counter and sighed. The peace and quiet was like a tall, icy glass of water on a sweltering day.

“You look exhausted.” The words came from a woman who sat a few seats down. She had been smoking and sipping coffee.

“Yeah,” Trudy replied, keeping it short, not wishing to prolong the conversation.

“Could I have a refill, please?” the woman asked, leaning forward to push her cup closer.

“Sure.” Trudy reached for coffee pot behind her. When the lady pushed the cup over, she spied a police badge attached to the woman's belt. “Excuse me for asking, hon, but are you a cop?”

“Oh, yeah,” the lady noticed her coat was open and badge showing. She smiled.

Thoughts swirled in Trudy's head—did the lady know Buzz? Did she work with him? How was he doing after being attacked? The waitress ignored her inner voice screaming. Don't think about him! He's not worth it! 

“So do ya know that cop who got mugged the other day? Buzz, I think his name was...” Trudy waited with bated breath for the answer.

“Yes, I do. That Buzz is quite a character.”

“Is he all right after the muggin'? I mean, he didn't get hurt too bad, did he?”

The lady shot her a glance. “Well, he's laid up for a while, broken bones. The word around the precinct is he'll be out for several weeks. Someone roughed him up pretty bad.”

“Do you know him, personally I mean?” What is wrong with you. Forget him!

The other lady took a long drag from her cigarette, blowing the smoke in spirals up to the ceiling. “You could say we're personally acquainted,” she replied. “Quite personally,” she murmured. “How about yourself? Do you know him?”

Trudy's face turned every color of the rainbow. Her pulse quickened and she wrestled with what to say. “Yeah, I know him like the back of my hand. Ha!”

The other woman laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean alright.” She looked at her watch. “Look at the time. I've got to go. Nice with talking with you.”

After the lady left, Trudy wondered how well the woman really knew Buzz. She turned green with jealousy.



Adam looked at the drunken guy and flickers of recognition lit up in his eyes.

“Hi, mister!” he said.

“Hey kid!” Gil added an extra stumble before plopping down next to the boy. “I know you. I just saw you the other night! So wha...whas happening?”

Adam didn't answer and clutched the backpack closer to his chest, a fact not lost on Gil.

“Say, wacha got there? In the ba..backpack?” the cop asked.

“Nothing.”

“Ah, now I know whe..when someone sez nuttin', they really mean 'sumpin'...so wacha got?”

Adam froze. Afraid to speak, afraid to move. Gil could see he wasn't getting anywhere. Time to strike harder. He took a drunken lunge toward the boy and grabbed up the backpack before the kid knew what happened. He plopped it on his own lap. The boy watched, wide-eyed.

“Wellll, let's see...,” he murmured tearing open the pack. He peered inside. “Oh my G..ga..GAWD! You got a gun in there!”

“Keep your voice down!” Adam hissed.

“Where did you get this gun, du..dude?

The boy flushed red. “I bought it.”

“You bought it?” Gil couldn't believe what he was hearing. Who would sell a gun to a kid?

“Like from who, man?”

“Some kids.”

Oh, it was getting better...kids selling guns to kids. Gil forgot to stay in character. He leaned close and asked, “Who?”

“Kids in my school, Westfield Elementary.”

“Names, please.”

The no-nonsense approach worked. The boy answered quickly.

“Jack Bowman and Steve Learnagle.” He looked away, uncomfortable with snitching.

Gil made a mental note. The names and school should be enough to track them down. They'd pay for this.

“Well, ya know kid, you're too young to have a gu..gun. I'm gonna have to confi...confissss...CONFISCATE it from you.”

“WHAT? NOOOO!”

Gil crawled to his feet and started walking, clutching the backpack, not looking back. Intensifying his stumble to keep in character, he moved away as fast as he could. He could hear Adam screaming behind him.

“Stop! STOP! How else can I stop my Dad? Gimme it back, PLEASE!”

Gil stopped in his tracks. How else could he stop his dad? What in the hell did the kid mean by that?

chapter 29

word count: 1319

it took everything jack bowman and steve learnagle had in them to suppress their insane laughter till adam was safely across the park,, and out of ear-shot..

jack was the first to break into peels of hysterical laughter.. by the time he let loose, tears were streaming down his cheeks.. steve joined in, as the two of them literally melted to the ground convulsing with the sheer brilliance of what was bound to turn out to be the best prank they had ever played..

“what an idiot!!” jack wailed as he laid gasping in on the grass,, grasping his aching sides..  

“i can’t believe he bought it!! and that ammo!!! bwah!!! he is so fucked!!!” steve barely got out in between the peels of raucous insanity..

“your brother is gonna fucking kill you when he finds out his gun is missing!!" jack huffed, barely able to catch his breath..

“so worth it!!” steve retorted with a loud snort that only sent the two of them further into their howling oblivion..

they laid there splayed out on the grass, until the hysterics subsided and all that was left between them was the sound of their own heavy breathing..

“we gotta get busy.” steve said as his ability to breath returned..

“onward!” exclaimed jack, “phase two!!”

“phase two!” steve repeated mischievously, as the two of them jumped to their feet and jogged off across the park toward the bus stop.. 

“phase two indeed!!!”

 ***

adams heart was beating so hard it felt like it would jump from his throat if he opened his mouth.. ‘please don’t let me see anyone i have to talk to.’ he pleaded with the universe, as he stepped hurriedly aboard the seven bus,, and slipped into a seat right behind the driver..

his eyes darted along the length of the bus.. he was safe.. not a familiar face in the crowd.. he grabbed his backpack, and hugged it tightly.. as he settled into his seat,, and the buses' air-conditioning enveloped him,, adam realized he was drenched in a cold sweat.. he held his backpack firmly with one arm and then the other, as he pushed the rolling beads of sweat off his face, and back into his hair with his shirt sleeves..

he tried his best to breath normally.. to look like everything was ok,, but that was incredibly hard to do.. he settled for sitting completely still,, allowing only his eyes to move.. they darted nervously from side to side.. their rapid movement caused adam to feel dizzy,, he began to wonder if he might get sick.. he closed his eyes, but the movement of the bus just made the nausea that was growing inside of him more intense..

‘stop it!’ adam yelled out to himself.. ‘stop it! stop it! stop it!’ he inhaled deeply and felt a rush of calm beginning to overtake him.. using his left arm to cradle his backpack, he reached into his pants pocket with his right hand and gently stroked the six bullets jack had given him.. as his fingers continued to brush up against them,, the nausea seemed to subside..  they felt smooth and hard.. they were little,, but adam knew, they were powerful.. 

‘just like me.’ he thought to himself.. ‘just like me..’

***

jack dropped the second quarter in what had to be the only payphone left in new albany.. he popped 9-1-1 into the keypad,, and blew his breath out loudly as he waited for the dispatcher to answer..

“911, what is your emergency?” the calm voice of the dispatcher came on the line..

“there’s a kid,, a little red haired kid,, on the bus,, the west bound seven,, and hes got a gun!!” jack yelled into the phone, breathing hard to add emphasis.. he looked at steve,, smiled wide,, and shook his head rapidly up and down to signify everything was going along just as planned..

“could you repeat that?” asked the dispatcher.

jack rolled his eyes as he repeated, “there is a kid, a red haired kid, he is on the west bound bus number seven and hes got a gun!! we SAW him put it in his back pack!!”

“and who is we?” the dispatchers voice echoed out of the phone as jack held it out into the air so that steve could hear what was going on.. he shrugged and looked questioningly at steve,, not quite sure what to do next..

“i repeat, “ the dispatcher droned on into the dead air, “who is we?”

steve could be heard calling out “hang up!!” just as jack slammed the receiver back into its cradle..

“yes!!!” they exclaimed simultaneously,, as they jumped up into the air, smacked chests and high fived..

“we rule!!” said jack as he pumped his fist at the sky.. “we fucking rule!!”

the payphone started ringing back,, just as the bus came to a stop in front of them..

“fuck it!” said steve under his breath as he dug his student pass out of his back pocket,, and glared back at the old lady boarding the bus just ahead of him when she turned,, shook her head,, and shot him a look of great disapproval..

“let’s go!” jack said as they pushed their way past the disgruntled old lady,, and made their way to the back of the bus.. 

***

adam stepped off the bus in front of the dairy queen,, totally unaware that detective gil bettencourt was eying the bus from just inside the window.. a dispatch transmission was blaring in his ear bud,, “all officers in the vicinity, please respond to a possible gun sighting.. west bound city bus number seven.. possible suspect described only as a red haired boy, no age given. no further description available. weapon last seen being placed in suspects backpack.. on scene, please advise”

as dispatch was repeating the transmission,, gil witnessed a little red haired boy stepping off the seven bus right in front of him,, his close cropped red hair matted with sweat,, clutching a backpack tightly with both arms.. it didn’t take long for gil to recognize the boy.. it was adam miller..

‘holy fuck!’ gil whispered to himself,, this was going to have to be handled delicately.. he had to  get to the kid before any other officers appeared on scene.. this was buzz millers kid,, and he owed it to buzz to diffuse this situation as quickly and quietly as possible.. he quickly decided against advising dispatch that he had the subject in his sights.

in one seemingly fluid movement, gil exited the dairy queen, and fell in behind little adam miller just as adam cleared the corner of the building,, and started out across the vacant lot.. gil stopped short at the buildings edge to keep some distance between them.. he watched as adam stopped,, looked nervously around him and then took a seat on the grass beside a clump of low growing bushes..

as he looked on,, the boy proceeded to unzip his backpack,, and allowed his hands to disappear inside of it.. gil couldn’t see a thing.. he needed to get closer.. there was nowhere for him to hide,, and no time for him to lose.. he rolled his head deeply on his shoulders,, took a deep breath,  and set off weaving across the vacant lot in adam's general direction.. as he stumbled along,  a twig broke loudly beneath his heavy foot falls, causing adam's head to jerk around towards him.. he had been exposed.. there was no turning back now..

he looked on as adam quickly zipped his backpack and jumped to his feet.. the look of panic seemed to drain from adam’s face,, as gil ambled closer and adam slowly began to recognize him as the guy who had very probably saved his life just a few nights earlier..

“hey kid!!” gil exclaimed in his best drunken slur,, “boy, am i happy to see you!!”

Chapter 28

word count 932

Adam saw his mother run out of the bedroom, her hands clutching broken telephone pieces, her eyes filled with tears. He'd heard the yelling, the bang bang of flying objects. He should be crying, but instead a rage burned inside.

"Ma!' he called out. But that lady ignored him and rushed on. Soon he knew he'd hear the piano playing. She did it all the time now. Sad music soon made crazy when she lost control and started pounding too loud and too fast. It was wacky and it frightened him. His stupid father didn't seem to notice the fact his wife suddenly played the piano when she never claimed to have a talent for it before. The stupid idiot was too busy feeling sorry for himself.

'There has to be something I can do," he murmured, rushing to to his room. He kept a stash of money in his closet, way in the back hidden in a box. He used to have a blue piggy bank on his dresser, but he was too old for that now. He dug in and pulled out the box, flipping it open. A stack of bills rested inside, lots of ones, some fives. With hands trembling, he counted it...$29.00. Maybe it would be enough.

Later, at school, he searched for Jack and Steve. Normally, they kicked him around, but today he wanted something from them bad enough to take a chance. When he found them, he pulled them aside for a whispered conference, to be finished in a nearby park after class. He showed them the $29.00. They would bring it, they promised.

"What in the hell were you doing talking to those two?" Elliot appeared out of nowhere. Adam had hoped Elliot wouldn't find out he was dealing with the class bullies.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? What kind of answer is that?"

Adam turned to face the other boy. "Look, Elliot! What I was doing is none of your business. Now if you're my friend, you'll let it go at that."

"If you were MY friend, you'd tell me!"

Adam glared back. "Fuck off!" He said it and walked away.

It was hard to concentrate in class after treating Elliot that way. But what he was up to was more important than anything else. Later, maybe he could tell the other boy about it. But for now, he was meeting Jack and Steve in the park, and that was that.

At the appointed time, he waited. The two boys arrived, looking around to be sure no one saw them as they rushed up to Adam. Jack had something bundled under his jacket. He clutched at the bulge as though it were valuable.

"Do you have it?" Adam asked. His pulse was racing so fast he thought he might faint. He had never been so afraid in his life.

"Yeah, right here. You know, I wouldn't normally do this, but hey, you got the money, and it looks pretty good to me," Jack said, a wide grin illuminating his face.

Adam clutched the bills, which now felt damp in his palms. He held the wad toward Jack, who nodded to Steve to scoop it up, then lifted the item from under his jacket and handed it to Adam. It was a well-used revolver, a little one just like that guy at DQ had used. Small enough for a kid to handle. Just like Adam wanted.

"Here's some ammo," Jack said, dropping a handful of bullets into Adam's palm.

***
Gil returned to the stake out after visiting Buzz to find O'Donnell fast asleep. The fellow had dozed off and toppled over, in the process kicking over a tripod which was hooked up with a camera and zoom lens. The entire setup lay waste in the grass and O’Donnell was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Gil saw red.

"You know that equipment is worth several thousand dollars!" Gil yelled, kicking O'Donnell, knocking him enough to roll the fellow over onto the other side. "And what about the stake out, you idiot!"

O'Donnell blinked in surprise, then scrambled to his feet.

"Look at that! His car is missing! Where did he go? You're fucking useless!" Gil yelled. His blood boiled while he considered strangling the other fellow. No, he couldn’t hurt a fellow officer. Turning, he headed back down the hillside he’d just traversed. "Clean this up!" he yelled back. “I’m gonna find him!”

He cruised for an hour looking for Leichtenstein. No luck. Where the hell could that piece of shit be? He needed to get inside the guy's head.

"I gotta think like him," he murmured. "Now where would a pedophile hang out..." And then it hit him, "wherever the boys are...the school!"

He knew he was right. He could feel it in his gut and gunned it toward Westside Elementary. Sure enough, there was Leichtenstein, hanging out on the corner at Elmwood, carrying a sign begging for beer money, waving at cars, grinning at pedestrians, a regular one-man sideshow. He held a sign that read, “I ain’t gonna lie. I just need a beer!!”

Gil reached over to the passenger side and rolled down the window, fishing in his pocket he grabbed a five dollar bill and tossed it out to the guy. "Dude, you do need a beer!" he yelled. In that instant, he caught Leichtenstein eyeing a blond kid heading his way. Gil's stomach twisted and lurched. That sicko! He had to keep him away from that boy.

chapter 27

word count: 1097

it was all over the news.. police chief nolan had abdicated all authority in the “piano wire killer” case over to suffolk county.. buzz had been temporarily relieved of his duties,, and his shoes were to be filled by the chief himself until buzz was in a position to re-assume them. 

“be assured, the investigation will not be hindered in any way by this change in chain of command.” the chief had admonished the viewing audience.. 

“bullshit!” had been buzz’ flagrant response, as he heaved the land line in the general direction of the tv,, and watched it shatter in so many pieces, littering the bedroom floor in its wake..

“jeannie!! get me the other phone!!” he yelled out, caught up in a sea of complete and utter frustration over his lack of control..

‘god, just let there be another body,‘ buzz assuaged himself, as he laid there, in a state of suspended animation,, the collar on his neck and the casts on his legs,, underscoring his willingness to sacrifice yet  another innocent young victim in order to draw out the "piano wire killer' case,, until he was out of this fucking bed,, and back on the job.. 

“jeannie!!” he barked once again.. where was that bitch?? 

that bitch.. buzz didn’t have to be reminded.. if it wasn’t for that bitch, the one who had attacked him in the dead of night, in the assumed safety and security of his own driveway, none of this would be happening.. that bitch, alright.. ‘just wait till I get my fucking hands on you!’ buzz mused as the visual of him slamming the black masked bitches head into a brick wall almost brought a smile to his lips...

jeannie silently rounded the doorway, “here you go buzz,, i was just getting adam.. “

buzz cut her off mid-sentence, “i don’t give a fuck what you were doing. just give me the fucking phone..” jeannie extended it to him, keeping a safe distance.. he snapped it out of her hand.. 

“now go on, get out of here..”

“can i get..” jeannie started sheepishly.

“get the fuck out!! i will let you know when i need something!” 

as jeannie turned to leave,, she instinctively bent down and started picking up the broken pieces of shattered landline that laid strewn about on the bedroom floor..

“out!!” buzz bellowed.. 

seriously,, it took everything he had not spike the fricking phone off her head..

***

it had been an unremarkable few of days in the life of jake leichtenstein.. his most recent failure well behind him now, jake assuaged himself by pouring over the clippings that he so meticulously kept of his past successes,, a virtual holy grail, in which he could immerse himself during a dry spell such as this..

in silent victory,, he stroked a lock of his most recent success’ hair, as he read and reread his precious clippings.. no one even knew about his beloved locks of hair.. or if they did, they had not made it public.. he had watched every sound byte of broadcast,, clipped every morsel of print,, and nowhere had it mentioned that a lock of hair had been stolen from the innocent head of each of his conquests.. as far as he knew,, the secret of the sweet locks of hair was his,, and his alone.. 

he ran the carefully tied lock of hair over the soft skin of his cheek.. he breathed in what he still believed to be its heady scent.. he replaced it ever so gently into the folds of the weary harley davidson wallet he always wore on a chain, safely tucked in his back pocket,, secure in his belief, that no one the wiser.

“first things first.’ he reminded himself as he returned to reality and lifted himself off the soft surface of the motel mattress.. if he intended to keep this room,, and doing so was pivotal to his future success, he had to get out there and get the remainder of the $53.50 it was gonna cost him to stay yet another night.. 

as the sun made its way slowly over the horizon,, jake leichtenstein took his usual place on the corner of elmwood and the main highway.. this corner had always been good to him.. and the fact that it was located in the direct foot path to westide elementary didn’t hurt either.. 

his ever familiar presence on that corner had afforded him the opportunity to become a comfortable fixture in the daily commute of any number of  young succulents that traversed the same path to and from school every day.. sure,, more than a healthy number of parents had taken up depositing their offspring directly on school grounds in light of the discovery of his most recent ‘friend’s’ mutilated remains,, but that had just made it easier to ascertain which children had the least amount of parental supervision.. it helped narrow down the playing field to those that were least likely to be missed.. those he would have the maximum amount of time to entertain,, before anyone would even notice they were not where they were supposed to be..

jake exhaled heartily into his own cupped hands.. he rubbed their hardened surfaces together to distribute the warmth,, and picked up his well-worn cardboard sign.. “i ain’t gonna lie,” it proclaimed, “i just need a beer!!”

jake chuckled to himself as he did every morning. ‘people are so fucking stupid!’ he thought to himself as he allowed the glow of those words to take over his scraggly, bearded face in the shape of his most sincere,, albeit ever so staged smile.

 

“help a brother out??” he called out from his place on the corner into the slow moving, morning rush hour traffic. all the while not being able to take his eyes off the feast of tender young flesh that stood alone, on the corner, waiting to cross the busy street..

well,, if it wasn’t little tommy kennedy,, headed straight into the path of his aching arms .. 

“tommy, my boy, how’s it hangin’?” jake’s voice rang out merrily above the drone of the morning commute,, as he clutched tightly to the corners of his cardboard sign in an unsuccessful attempt to mask the near violent spasm that overtook him at the mere sight of the delicious little tow headed boy..

“dude, you do need a beer!” a voice shot out from a slow moving vehicle as it crept to a stop at the intersection,, a voice, generously accompanied by the first five dollar of the day..