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“No!” She whipped her head back and forth. “I ain’t done nothin’.” She wailed. Oh, he didn’t miss this part of the job.
“Here’s the thing, Darlene. You might be able to help yourself.”
Her drama ended instantly, her eyes intent on the potential transaction.
“I need information. You have it. If you help me, I might ask the officer to let you go, although the call is his.” Will looked toward the young patrolman, who nodded appreciatively.
“Anything, Detective Will. Who’s your partner with the pretty eyes? What happened to that fat nigger you used to run with?”
Will showed nothing on his face. They were words heard from whites more often in Cincinnati than the chamber of commerce types would admit. He had never used them, even though his father had, abundantly. His mother had disapproved. He waited for Darlene to realize her predicament. She was still handcuffed.
“So you’ll talk to me?”
“Sure, darlin’. But not here on the street. I can’t let my buds think I’m a snitch or something.”
A plan emerged in Will’s mind. “If the officer agrees, and you don’t cause any more trouble… One more call, and you’re going to jail. Got it?”
“Sure.” She sulked.
“Then meet me under the bridge by the Serpentine Wall in an hour. I’ll be sitting there. You’ll find me.”
“No problem.” The officer took off the cuffs and she was beaming.
“Darlene.”
“Yes sir?”
“If you stand me up, I’m going to make sure you do jail time.”
***
Cheryl Beth drove silently, her chin set at a pensive angle.
“I’m sorry to put you in the middle of all this,” Will said.
She shook her head. “I am in the middle. That was just a little too close for comfort.” She pulled back on Columbia and sped up. “I grew up around people like that. I could have been one.”
“I doubt that.”
“I beat the odds. My dad died young. Railroad accident. I think he had some ambitions for all of us. We ended up nearly destitute. The church pretty much took us in until my mom could find work. All she wanted was for me to be a cheerleader in high school, then settle down, get married and have kids. I was the one who wanted to be an honor student and get out of town. I had several friends who got pregnant in high school. All my brothers are still down there. Lord.”
He liked the image of her as a cheerleader, but kept that to himself. He admired the honor student part. His dad had only expected Will to do well at high school football and go to work as a cop. Going to college, much less at a fancy place like Miami University, was beyond his comprehension. And yet Will had come back home and joined the force. Maybe he hadn’t beaten the odds.
***
How do you want to play this? That’s what he or Dodds would say to the other as they worked up a strategy before confronting a suspect or a witness. He found himself missing his old partner in spite of everything. Now it was up to him, even though he was constantly afraid the pain might break through, even though his body was a mess of constipation and foreign sensations.
They went through a Skyline Chili drive-thru and ordered a late lunch. Damn the short winter days. As the day streamed by, the time drew closer when he would have to return to the hospital. But the two cheese Coney dogs were ambrosia. Cheryl Beth ate two as well. Fifteen minutes later, they were set up.
Will wheeled himself into the riverfront park by the contoured mass of concrete called the Serpentine Wall. In the spring and summer, the area would be full of people and boats cruising the river. Today it was deserted. Downtown was behind them and the bridges soared overhead on either side. He found a bench that was easily seen and Cheryl Beth helped him scoot onto it from the chair. He was glad to be rid of the infernal transfer board, but his legs were feeling weaker. Just hold out a little longer. Then he instructed her to take the chair back to the car and stow it. She rejoined him and they silently watched the cold, swift, concrete-brown river flow past, and, on the other side, the old brick buildings of Newport and Covington. He thought about his morphine dream of dead children and quickly banished it. The park was one of his favorite places. Overhead, the American flags snapped noisily in the breeze, and the flying pigs looked cold up on their ornate columns. It wasn’t long before he saw Darlene walking quickly toward them from the east, emerging from the shadows of an old bridge abutment.
“So what are we doin’? It’s freezing.”
“Have a seat.” Will indicated for her to sit beside him. Cheryl Beth was on his other side.
“So you have a new boyfriend? What does Bud think about that?”
Darlene held her arms around herself tightly, shivering despite wearing several layers of clothes.
