Chapter 4:

Whispers of Thorns & Pedals

Great Wonder Outlier


The early morning of Saturday relinquished  in a period of relaxation and well needed rest of those toiling the security and maintenance of the city. Children woke up far ahead of their parents, tuning into their favorite cartoon, grabbing bowls of their sugary cereal digesting both their treat and attention. Parents awoke shortly after, to the kitchen to grab their coffee and newspaper outside their door. Double checks from both sides of the neighborhood to ensure nothing suspicious was taking place. A sublime natural peace that the weekend brought on was like a brief healthy fog over a larger continued storm that saw no end in sight. In some time, some place, ill intentions are being construed, and victims are waiting in the cross hairs of a deadly confrontation.

In an apartment building near the post office, Kaye: lied in her bed; her comforter half way off the bed, while her body laid crooked in an awkward position that seemed to look painful at first glance. She was wearing a white nightgown with her left hand placed under her pillow and her right hand hanging off the right side of the bed. The sunlight from her pink window shades glimmered into her eyes, awakening her to the day. Her eyes opened, but she quickly noticed that her right hand had gone numb; all the blood had not been focused there. She lifted the arm and made it level to rush the blood and stop the sensation. She laid her head back into her pillow; her eyes now musty and half awake, now knowing there is no return to her sleep. She lies up in bed, and stares at the clock and it reads 8:54 AM. She looks around the room blankly as if it were a foreign bedroom. Delicately, she proceeds to sit upright, dancing her feet into her white slippers that had rested at the side of her bed. Juxtaposing her feet like weighted irons were mounted, she slowly exits her room and makes for the bathroom. Still half asleep, she looks in the mirror, which was glossed with fingerprints and scratches. She groans at the image she sees, “Ugh, I feel so gross.” She grabs her face and notices her eyes are bloodshot and sagged. “I’m completely worn out.”

She proceeds to remove her nightgown and hop into the shower to rejuvenate her senses. The hot steam races through the small room as the water and moisture pours out. She hums a short tune to work her vocal chords to assist in removing any mucus in her mouth from her slumber. Shortly after 3 or so minutes, the hot water she had started raising started to cool off.

“Oh no no no, please don’t-“

The hot water immediately turned cold on a dime. And with that, her shower abruptly came to an end. She opened her shower curtain and exclaimed, “Argh! I bet it was that Mr. Frederick above me who wasted the hot water. Jeez, does he have to take such a long shower?” She grabbed a blueish gray towel that was in the closet and washed off, before walking back to her room. She patted her head, drying off the excess accumulation in her long brown hair. “OK, what do we have ready for today?” she said as she stared at an almost empty closet of clothes. In the background, a large hamper of all of her unused clothes sat paddled, waiting to be washed. “Awww, c’mon, I could’ve sworn I did the laundry like a couple of days ago. This sucks.”

While Kaye can be responsible with her tidiness, the occasional slip of mind and fast paced lifestyle of a policewoman can stifle her free time. Raised in a family household with 3 elder siblings, Kaye was often pressured to match the expectations and standards to her parents. Being the youngest of an older brother by three years and sister by two years, fitting in appeared to be difficult, as they both possessed radically different lifestyles. Kaye’s older brother Ethan was a hard working scholar, who performed well on standardized testing. He was very strong and handsome for his age, who garnered the attention of peers of all fields. Her sister Meredith was difficult, judgmental, and by all means unpleasant in contrast. Her appearance, both in demeanor and style emanated a disgust for those around her. Kaye would often have to play to the mood of her sister to get along with, but in a normal circumstance, it’d be impossible to find common ground with. This led to Kaye reassuring respect for her older brother, and while she knew she would never reach the heights he had climbed, she would often find her brother interesting and vying to learn more about his habits. She often keeps in touch with her siblings via social media, and rarely speaks verbally to them over the phone. Ethan was engaged to a beautiful floral owner he had known for a couple of years, finally deciding to settle down and start a family. Kaye had to determine this herself through information online, as her siblings did not share personal information with each other. Meredith is living with roommates a couple of states westward in a small apartment complex. It was not the kind of area that would attract someone like Meredith. Her roommates are twin sisters who have a special knack in annoyance. One coming in and out, and the other bringing guys in nonstop. In Meredith’s eyes, it was a place that seemed more tolerable than where Kaye and her family lived. The downside being the rent extraordinarily high, something she had not expected. Everyone in the family offered to assist; a resolute no response was always sent from her, too proud to accept help. Fair to say, she has not worked on improving herself as a person.

Kaye, still feeling the slight fatigue from the previous day, gathers her clothes and dumps them into the tight spaced washer, grabbing pods above to throw in. She gently places the door down, places her hands on the surface, lost in thought of the turbine rotation sounds. Just like the clothes in the wash, her mind was mixed and clouded. It was the first weekend she had off since starting at the police station. How often would this opportunity be presented? Once she is more experienced, the weekend may be off limits to her. Come the retirement of a veteran officer, it may be up to her to step up and work sixteen, seventeen hour shifts. Enrolling in the police academy, that’s a truth that all newbies should be faced with. To make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the community, yet the possibility still scared her. This time should be treasured and spent well, but at the same time, can’t be irresponsibly wasted that’ll impact work on Monday. “What to do?” she thought, putting her thumb on her moist lips. A weak high pitched doorbell rang down the hall. She paused for a second, confused who could be visiting her.

“Who’s that? Someone next door or in the complex? I should be up to date on payments…Hmm.”

She reached out her hand on the doorknob, seeing a tall head near the four square. Opening the door completely, she was surprised to see Officer Goody from the department, in khaki shorts, a baseball cap, and a white t-shirt.

“Officer Goody? Hey!”

“Miss L’Valeah, hey, did I catch you at a bad time?”

A small smile bridged on Kaye's face, her fingers holding onto the door frame.

“No, not at all, w-would you like to come inside?”

Officer Goody made an awkward head tilt and gesture with his eye brows as he was invited into the small apartment of Kaye.

“Nice pad you got here, this is not bad considering starting out in the department, especially when I first started.”

Kaye closed the down after the enthusiastic men entered her living space, crossing her arms in surprise at a visitor. Turning to him, he seemed enthralled at a new spec of scenery.

“You had a shift late last night, right? Shouldn’t you be home sleeping?”

Not making eye contact with her, he continued making passes at her living arrangements in awe.

“It was pretty quiet for the most part last night. Early morning work is easy, since activity in the city seems to peak around mid-afternoon. It’s just archiving reports, which I’ve done like millions of times.”

“Then, the word is true around the office.”

“What’s that?” as Goody turned around to hear her answer.

“I overheard some of the guys talking about how it’s nice fresh of air every time you enter the office.”

“No kidding, huh. I have that effect on people.” Kaye giggled, making a second point; “They also say you’re very naïve, childish, and plain.” Goody’s face turned to a look of astonishment, playing up the fact that it was a startling new revelation.

“I’ll find whoever said it and kick their ass, that’ll be my work out for today. I’m joking by the way.”

“I find it odd someone with such a carefree bliss attitude is a part of the police force, especially someone who is my senior.”

He raised his pointer finger at her. “Senior, ugh, now that’s a word I can’t stand. You know I’m not that much older than you, right?”

The conversation was running its course and the curiosity of the visit was scratching at Kaye. What’s a senior doing at her residence on her time off?

She came out with it, sitting down on her blue suede sofa, “So, why’re you here to see me? Something that can’t wait until Monday?”

A tone change sounded off in Officer Goody’s voice.

“Yeah, something like that. I was hoping if you could help fill in a few blanks for me that is if you’re not too busy. I can get this is your time off from the busy life, so I’d understand.”

She tried to match the tone he was changing into, knowing the truth behind his visit.

“Yeah no, I’ve got time. I was actually trying to figure out what to do with my time today, since I don’t know when I’ll get this luxury again.”

“It’s hard, this profession is all about giving up your free time for the sake of mere strangers. We sacrifice what time could be with friends and family to make sure others can live a safe life,” retorted Goody.

Goody made a gesture pointing his thumb as if someone was behind him, “And you got a short glimpse of your work so far, it’s not exactly perfect out there, even for a normal PO. My advice to you is to make as many connections as you can, both interdepartmental and socially around the city. It pays off in dividends. Hell, if I were in your shoes, I’d decline the offer to oblige me. You’re not on the clock.”

“You’re judging me?” sternly responded by Kaye.

The atmosphere changed ever so slightly. It was if the discussion had switched to something as serious as homeland security.

He switched tones again, “Eh, I don’t judge, that’s what our bosses do. I’m just curious what type of character you’ll serve the department. Comparing and contrasting, you know?”

“Well Officer Goody…”

“Yeah you know what, like I said we’re off the clock, no formalities, just Joel.” He made it official by extending his hand for a handshake.

Kaye followed and shook his hand with a strong grip, embracing a grin.

“Kaye…but I’m sure you knew that already.”

Already in the brief encounter, Joel was making distinctions from Kaye from the rest of the department. He sat down comfortably in a couch away from Kaye, as if they were close friends sharing sodas.

“Hmph. I already like you. I’ll get right to it then. I figured I’d come to you since you’re the newbie in the department, so you’re the most straight out of all of us. You won’t pull punches or bullshit about this.”

Kaye made a twitch with her face and made an angular adjustment like a dog, not getting what was being asked of.

“I wasn’t assigned this case, but the homicide yesterday of the small child.”

“Of course, I was there, the body literally plopped out of nowhere. Have you seen the report?”

“No, probably won’t get to. It’ll get swept under the rug in no time.”

“Meaning what, the team will let it hold for the average investigation time, and close it without a perpetrator?”

“It’s not within reasonable doubt some of our peers would do that, especially those higher up in the organization.”

“Pay outs.”

“Exactly, it’s partially how our division is able to keep going, as shitty as that sounds. Keep up the appearance we’re competent and appearing to solve these cases, the media and public will eventually palce more trust. Yet in this case, it’s more alarming than what meets the eye.”

“You’re talking about the lack of witnesses and motive?”

“Investigators combed the streets and the building for all families near the fall, and nothing stuck out. I’m in the dark about the actual room from where projected fall occurred, but the part to me is how you heard no scream from the fall, and the distance the child was thrown from the window.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was explaining when I was giving my interviews. Take it as a hypothetical, but let’s say it was accidental, at most the body would’ve fallen a little off the window still, landing well on the sidewalk, way off from the actual road itself.”

“I’d find it hard to believe a child as young as that was committing suicide by football diving out the window. That’s what’s so bizarre about this.”

Kaye getting into the momentum of the crime inquires more about what Joel has learned.

“I did a quick search around me at the time, but nothing stuck out to me, somebody was hiding anything. It was just a normal crime scene. Then again, I was catching my breath from being startled. It’s not a site you can remove from your conscious so easily.”

“See a psychologist about it yet? Go too long without venting about it, it can affect your work. Worse, get you killed if you’re not focused on the task at hand.

“Doing it right now, yeah? Though, I’ll probably see someone real quick next week to clear with my boss.

Joel paused for a second and quickly changed the topic for a second.

“You like kids, Kaye?”

Her cheeks brightened up, suddenly flustered, unsure how to answer.

“W-What? Uh, yeah. I mean, too many at once, might be annoying-but.”

“I want to make sure the kids of this city don’t grow up with terrible memories of the place I love. And more recently, I want to make the department better in the eyes of the public, the right way.”

“Th-That’s a very optimistic goal you have.

“I want you to help me realize this goal, Kaye.”

“H-Huh? Who me?” Kaye said in a continued flustered expression. An unprecedented request that came out of nowhere to her. She felt unsure how to answer, as she did know her limits to her ability to uphold the law.

“Uh I mean, I don’t know If I’m the right person you should be asking. I’m flattered you’d come to me, but you don’t even know what kind of officer I’ll turn out to be. I might not hold up to what you’re asking.”

“Maybe not right now. Of course, I could be completely wrong about you and you’ll turn out like the rest of them, taking first opportunity to grow your pockets. Call it more strokes of optimism, but you just don’t seem like the type of person who’d do that.”

Kaye came to express a look of disdain, hinting what she was thinking about him.

“Oh for sure you know everybody, huh?”

Joel, being observant of her sarcastic behavior, picked up on her earlier point and responded in his usual carefree attitude, “Alright, alright you may have a point, I have a nasty habit of making rash deductions about people, but damn it, I love doing it, haha.” Speaking to Joel in a homely environment acclimated Kaye to eagerly look forward to the shift on Monday. A familiarity with another member who shared her interests was the therapeutic jolt she needed to reaffirm her career decision.

In the faintness of ambiance of the home, a siren could be heard in the far distance. Still new to the city, Kaye has no underlying understanding of the crime points where incidents occur. She got up from the sofa, peeking to her window, lifting up the window curtain, knowingly aware that nothing certain was in the area. The gnawing reaction to check was embedded regardless. It could always move forward closer to her location operating the conclusion that someone was in immediate danger. She couldn’t recall the number of times she had heard the ambulance siren since she moved, but it was far more where she previously had come from. The people of this town are drowning in an invisible crisis, or staring at the eyes of a problem they can’t fix. Such hopelessness and helplessness shouldn’t be allowed, no matter who it is. Kaye turned, and walked towards her small kitchen.

“You want anything to drink, I got iced teas and some flavored waters?” Joel gazed his eyes towards Kaye’s direction and held up his right hand proclaiming he was all set in liquid nourishment. Kaye grabbed a lemon flavored water bottle from the bottom shelf of her fridge, opened the cap and started guzzling.

She released her thirst and asked her colleague a question.

“So when do you have to go in again? To your next run?” Joel turned up from his position from the sofa, and walked towards her direction and answered in a nonchalant matter.

“Monday actually, 8 AM, bright and early.”

Kaye slammed her bottle on the island counter, small droplets flying in the air to escape.

“Wait – same as me. Are you kidding?” You have this weekend off then?”

“Rare, right?” Joel didn’t seem stammered to be getting that time off. Does he take his post that seriously, he’d rather be in uniform patrolling the streets?

“I don’t have much around here, so sure it wouldn’t be a kill joy ride to work this weekend, but there’s somebody on our force who would jump at the opportunity to work 7 days a week if he could.”

Based on the time spent on the job, Kaye clicked the answer in her head who he was alluring to.

“Mr. Desrosias, is that who you mean?”

Joel’s tone kept laterally with his goal, as if the police force was his life. He nodded his head, biting his lip, balanced his body against the countertop, crossing his arms, bestowing his head down in thought.

She added to the thought, “Yeah now if there’s anyone who’d best work along with your dream there, it’d be him. Every time, I look at his eyes, it’d be like I’m looking into a void. Or I don’t know, like you can’t read too much into what he’ seeing. Almost like he’s running every simulation at one time in his mind, blocking all the outside noise.”

Joel grabbed his chin and smirked with curiosity at Kaye’s remark.

“Ohoho, didn’t know there was that much of an infatuation with the guy.”

“What? No, nothing like that. I’m just trying to pick up what type of guy he is based on your observation of him, that’s all. I mean, he is pretty remarkable, wouldn’t you say?”

“You say that based off of word of mouth and his notoriety, but you don’t realize until you’ve actually worked with him in the field. A true animal. And I don’t say that lightly.”

“You like him? Inquired Kaye.

Joel’s reaction changed to a face of confusion and dismay.

“Do I like him?” Joel took out his cell phone and pressed his different options, and placed his phone to his ear, the dial tone playing quietly. It clicks, and Joel releases the phone from his ear, knowing what would come next. A groan floated from the speaker and the low decibel ambience of a pillow falling to the bedroom floor.

“What! I knew you would pull this shit Joel, but could you have done it like an hour later, I was sleeping, you asshole!”

“Aw he’s so cute when’s up in the morning, too bad we don’t see this side of you at the office.”

Lyle Desrosias, is as described from Joel Goody, a different animal. Waken up prematurely, the hostile demeanor and grogginess make known to the two twenty year olds aware of what not to do in the future. Well, Joel doesn’t seem to care.

“The hell do you want, how are you up right now, Jesus.”

“I was just checking in with the #1 ranked officer on the boards what he was up to today.”

Joel worded with his lips to Kaye in a soft tone in a way that Lyle could not hear on the phone.

“He’s not #1.”

Annoyed and disgruntled, but more awake, he responded, “ I –I don’t know.”

“Alright well, we’ll make something happen later, you go and do you, and we’ll be in touch.”

“Unfortunately.”

Joel’s mischievous eyes turned towards Kaye, propagating for the joke to continue. Kaye was horribly underprepared for what kind of stunt he was about to pull.

“Is there anything you’d like to add Kaye?”

“W-uh…” Kaye froze, shoving Joel playfully for getting her wrapped up in his waking of Lyle.”

Lyle responded, “Kaye? Joel, what the hell-

Joel ended the phone call and placed the phone back into his pocket, approving of his jovial ways.

“So then- “, an unamused Kaye retorted.

“Yeah we’ve uh….we’ve know each other since the police academy days. He was naturally top of the class, and I was-

“Bottom?” interrupted Kaye.

“Third from bottom to be precise. Though if you’re going to get technical on me, from the class, I’m the last remaining cadet.”

“What happened?”, Kaye asked.

“Well, this one girl I knew, her name was Whitney. She really didn’t look like she belonged in the first place, you know. Wasn’t quick on her feet, made noticeable mistakes, timid with her reactions, just kind of expected something different I guess. Now the other cadet, Hector, I think his name was, he was a flirtatious jerk. He had a tough looking appearance to him, had us all thinking he was a shoe in to pass, but his attitude showed otherwise. Had he just fixed his attitude, he might’ve passed off for a great officer in our forces today.”

A sudden hollow knock was heard at the front door. They both got up from their seats, conceding their time together was at an end.

“Should probably get out of your hair, huh?”

Kaye opened the door to reveal an older man in his 60s or so, who looked to be in urgent assistance. He was wearing a long sleeve brown shirt, with a Vietnam style hat.

“Mr. Regal, hi there, sorry about the wait”, Kaye addressed.

“Ah sorry, I didn’t know you had company over. The old man did a check over Joel, as if he were judging the type of character Kaye was by inspecting her friends.

“Uh no, its fine, he was just leaving now anyways.”

“She’s right, I had some business to attend to with a knucklehead. Kaye, I’ll see you around.”

Joel exited the house around Mr. Regal and stepped down the two foot stone staircase to the street waving Kaye off.

“A knucklehead, huh? Boys will be boys, I suppose.”

“So, what can I help you with today?”

Mr. Regal turned his attention to her with a different tone his voice. “It’s more like how I can help you.”

A puzzled look on her face took shape, as Mr. Regal abruptly entered her place.

“I didn’t know who else to turn to about this information I just uncovered, but if it’s you, I know you can be trusted.”

The matter sounded serious. Ordinarily, the citizens of this town are too narrow to see the sense in asking for help, when the help isn’t appreciated. No one trusts each other on a level high enough to entrust information or their wellbeing. This was an extraordinary circumstance.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What information?”

“I’m retired from the force, but I’m not dead, I at least keep my tabs open.”

“Wait – you mean you’re a former cop?”

“That man that was just here, I take it, he’s also on the force.”

Kaye couldn’t respond as did Mr. Regal knew the implications of revealing an officer’s identity, especially in their hate filled climate. Kaye’s heart began racing, as whatever information is to be spilled is expected to be high priority and top secret. It was the last thing to be expected on her day off.

“He just wanted to talk, about how I was doing, and if there was anything I needed, to come to him for any help.”

“Trust…

Kaye didn’t know how to respond to what the elderly man was saying. He was reaching into his jacket and pulled out a ripped piece of paper. The old man grabbed her by the arm and planted the piece of paper onto the table, expecting her to read each line back to him.

“I obtained this from a covert from the town offices. Look at it. Read it.”

The intrepid excitement was evident in his voice, but it was more shock than anything that was raising the alarm for Kaye. Kaye picked up the ripped piece of paper and read it to herself.

“It’s like some scripture of sacrifice, a vow of some kind. Reminds me of something I’d read out of a history book.” You said this was found in the hands of the town office?”

“Yes, doesn’t it strike you as odd someone would be holding onto this? There’s probably more, considering this is just a piece of a bigger collection.”

The doubt began to creep into Kaye’s conscious, as it seemed to be a big misunderstanding.

“I don’t know what you expect me to take from this. It’s definitely odd, but it’s not indictable for a crime, unless it’s committed. There’s no direct threat pointed at anyone here. For all you know, it might be someone’s novel they are writing in their spare time. Bad too.”

Mr. Regal turned to Kaye and placed his hands on her shoulders, definitely on alert.

“I came to you because of all the known officers I’m aware of, on the force, you’d be the least likely to doubt my story. I guess I was wrong.”

Mr. Regal took back the piece of paper and rolled it up into 1 and re-placed it back into the sleeve of his jacket.

“A word of advice – you must be able to think outside the box, if you expect to survive this line of work. Your warpath out there, it’s a jungle. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of that.”

Mr. Regal headed for the front door, and paused when Kaye interrupted his leave.

“You like this city, is that right? – The last remarks of the veteran spoke of. Kaye nodded to the man as he turned his head toward her.

“Then stick around long enough to enjoy what this city has to offer.” He tipped his hat off in a hospital matter and took his leave down the street. Kaye stood at the front of her door in the morning and closed the door behind her.

“I need to set appointments from now on, sheesh.”

Mr. Regal, on the cold brisk morning, continued walking down Main Street, the main hub of the city. There were a few sparse amount of people around shopping. He recalled the old sights of restaurants and shops that used to take residence, but are no longer around due to new re-establishment. Memories flooded in of kids playing ball in the streets, hockey nets on both sides of the road, skidding to the sounds of concrete being ripped up. He stopped in front of an empty building that used to be a local tux and floral shop for men and women planning their weddings. He pulled out his phone and pulled up a sepia scanned photo of a younger man and a woman striking a pose at a formal event. He whispered to himself, “I miss you so terribly.” When he looked up from viewing the picture, he saw a reflection in the mirror of the shop that did not match his own. A quiet pop, and a sharp pain rained through the sternum of the veteran. Falling to his knees, he placed one hand on the ground to catch himself, and tried to look up, but only a crowd of people. He had shrieked without even realizing, bringing a crowd of people to his location. His eyes were getting weak, a tired feeling wrapped itself around his head, and a warm feeling shrouded his face. And then his face froze with his eyes open, not another breath to be taken. A man brushed through the people surrounding him and crouched down to Mr. Regal’s body and proclaimed to the crowd, “Does anyone here know CPR, this man is on the brink of death! He slipped his hand through his coat and retrieved the crumpled paper. Another man popped up and replied, “Yes, I do, please move out of the way.” This man moved through, and as the two men bumped into each other, the 1st man replied, “You know what to do.” The man walked out, his objective complete, retrieving a page from something no one was meant to see. He took out his cell phone, and made a call out to a number. The phone picked up and a voice answered.

“He’s gone, and the page has been assumed. Where would you like it dropped? No. It doesn’t seem he had any connections. Of course, right away.”

A car pulled up to pick up the strange man who had completed his prime objective. As the car stepped on the gas, a group of teenagers appeared on the road behind the bumper, as if they were aware of what had transpired. One teenager stood in front, pulling out a revolver from his pocket, lifting it up into the air, when another teenager came up from behind and stopped his motion, turning his gun down. He was a mulatto skinned, afro shaven kid with average build, with a command in his voice.

“Not now. It’ll work out in our favor if we let them do the work instead. Let’s focus on what we do. Enforce the turf. Anyone who wants to cross us, will have a bullet in their head, courtesy of La Fin.” 

A group of 7 teenagers follow the afro youth and walk into an alley, the darkness that morning did not shine on. This would not be considered the underbelly of society in this city, but the overall affliction that has covered the skin of the city. Stability, on appearances are in control of the city board and the mayor, but the ones who control the free passages are the many with ties to gang affiliation, who in collective numbers, will wreak havoc on the masses. Masses who have come to expect the inevitable of violence and conflict. A weekend opens in false peace. The end of the week is not the end of the work week. It is the beginning of the same. The continuation of the restlessness. An emergence is coming. For what intent and why? Even the day abroad is old to expect upheaval.

Great Wonder Outlier


gainzone
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