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I wasn’t so sure about that, but Dion seemed like a straight shooter, and I followed his lead as he exited the patrol car and found a gray-haired man with a thick, bushy beard on the ground leaning up against a dumpster.
“Public intoxication?” I asked hanging back and watching Dion in action.
“Probably.” He hit the dumpster with his stick to wake the man up, and as we drew closer, Dion grinned. “Dammit, Al, what did I tell you about falling asleep back here? It’s an easy way to end up run over or crushed by a dumpster.”
The man flashed a toothless grin. His eyes, one green and one brown, were bloodshot as hell. He was clearly homeless but in good spirits. “That you, Jenkins?” he asked, looking up into the bright sun.
“It is. Where are your glasses?”
The guy shrugged and tried to stand, but his legs were weak from booze or a hard life on the streets. “Some kids stomped on ’em a few weeks back. Waiting on my insurance agent to get back to me on a replacement pair,” he said with a laugh.
Dion nodded, jaw clenched angrily. “I’ll get you a new pair, but I’m giving them to Ruby, so you’ll have to go get a meal if you want to be able to see straight.”
“Yeah, okay. Fine.” Al gave a dismissive wave of his hand, but for some reason, I believed the old dude.
“I’m serious, Al. Whiskey alone can’t keep you alive. You need some food to soak up some of that booze.”
“Defeats the point of drinkin’, don’t it?” Al’s gaze landed on me and a smile lit up his face. “I see they got you training the green ones now. Impressive.”
The banter between the old man and my training officer stuck with me. Clearly, they were familiar with each other, but they didn’t have an antagonistic relationship; it was friendly, almost jovial. That was exactly the kind of officer I wanted to be.
“Yep. This is Officer Ellison. Show him why we shouldn’t haul you in for public intoxication.”
Al tried three times before he made it to his feet and blinked to focus his different colored eyes on me. “I been drinkin’ but I ain’t no drunk. I was just sleepin’ on account of all the rooms over at that Emerald Isle hotel are booked up this week.”
“Well, rookie, what do you think?”
I thought living on the streets was a damn hard life, spending every moment of every day scanning for danger and sidestepping people who meant to do you harm. He’d been drinking, sure, but the old guy didn’t appear to be drunk or dangerous.
“I think we let him off with a warning. And a promise to talk to Ruby at the end of our shift.”
Dion flashed a proud smile. “What a softie. I’ll have to train that out of you.” He turned back to the old man. “Al, you got lucky.”
“And I thank ya for it, young man.” He shuffled around the side of the dumpster and pulled a black shopping cart filled with his possessions and a flannel blanket stashed on top to keep everything else in place. “Have a good day, Officers. Stay safe. This city ain’t what it used to be.” He lumbered off, humming to himself before he disappeared from sight.
“You handled that well, Ellison. Al is a hard luck story, but he’s no threat. Good job knowing the difference.”
“Thanks. He been out here long?”
Dion nodded. “Since I was a rookie. I was worried after my last undercover sting he might be gone. But he’ll probably outlast us all.” Back in the patrol car, Jenkins shifted into gear with a smile.
The rest of the day passed without real excitement, mostly drunk tourists, a few stolen purses on the area's major walkways, and a bar fight. Dion Jenkins was a good and fair cop, and I felt lucky to have him as my training officer.
“How did my first day go?” It was a bold question but I needed to know the truth. I had to be better than the other officers because of who my family was, which meant I needed all the feedback I could get. Good or bad.
“It was good, rookie. I’ll let you know when you need to step it up and be tougher. Guys like us have to prove we’re not soft on crime while everyone else gets the benefit of the doubt. Just remember that moving forward, and you’ll be fine, Ellison.”
I nodded and went to change out of my uniform before texting Madison. I hadn’t heard from her since she tore out of my parent’s house after the news broke of Bonnie’s murder. She didn’t answer. Again.
One more day of this and I’d show up at the Ashby place, whether she liked it or not.
CHAPTER FIVE
Madison
It was time for me to stand on my own two feet. I had relied on the Ashby family for a lot, too much actually. Thanks to the kindness of Sadie and Kat, I had a good paying job that would allow me to pay rent on an apartment. Definitely something nicer than our crappy single-wide back at the 215.
