Authors: Derek Blass
“
Yo, what the hell you doing?” Eduardo screamed. His sentence trailed off as the cop put more of his weight onto Eduardo's face. The cop was lifting himself onto that one foot.
Eduardo's voice changed from its cool self to the high pitched scream of a teenage boy, “Get off me! You gonna break my face!”
Cruz watched in terror as he lay there, face to face with Eduardo. Eduardo's face was turning purple-red as tears welled up in his bulging eyes. Then he started to sob uncontrollably.
“
No, no, no…Cruz…help me man...” The cop was standing with all of his weight on Eduardo's face. Cruz heard something snap and Eduardo scream. Cruz closed his eyes and began to yell.
“
Look at these two pussy cholos,” the cop said as he turned his head to look at Cruz. “So fucking tough, you filth of the streets.” He lifted his foot from Eduardo's face. Cruz looked at Eduardo and it seemed like his jaw wasn't attached anymore. Eduardo's cries were guttural, muddled.
The cop moved to Eduardo's back and started kicking him in the kidneys. Cruz couldn't take anymore of it and he yelled out, “Stop it please! He isn't doing anything!”
The cop didn't even pause. Between kicks he said, “You spics are here, that's enough.”
Cruz looked back at Eduardo whose eyes were rolling back into his head. He had vomited all over the ground in front of him. Cruz could smell that Eduardo had shit and pissed his pants.
“
You're killing him!” The tears streamed down Cruz's face. He desperately wanted to get up and rip the cop apart. He sobbed on the ground and started to claw his way over to Eduardo.
“
Get the hell away unless you want to be next, shithead.” Cruz ignored him and threw his body over Eduardo as best as possible. He felt kicks start to rain down on his side. A rib cracked. But he wasn't going to move.
Cruz heard the voice of the other cop, “Fuck, that's enough.”
The cop who had been beating the boys stopped. “You think these
putas
learned their lesson?”
“
Yeah man, enough's enough.”
Cruz's head dropped on Eduardo's shoulder. Short, strained breaths came from Eduardo's broken mouth. He had stopped crying, and seemed to be unconscious. Cruz closed his eyes again and passed out.
N I N E
_________________________________________________
I
t was two days since the incident and Max was living like
he
was the criminal. Every loud noise made him jump. Every cross stare had him questioning what that person may know. He avoided contact with everyone.
Max went to his living room window and contemplated who he could contact for help, for support. Anyone who could listen really. He was still very close with his father, seemingly more so as he got older and his father's wisdom became apparent. However, this wasn't the situation to drag friends and family into. Max knew they may be in danger even without him voluntarily getting them involved.
As he absentmindedly perused the mail and other junk on his kitchen table, he flipped over a business card that read:
Sandra Gutierrez
Broadcast Journalist, Channel 9 News
He remembered this woman. She was the striking woman who was supposedly hunting for a bathroom. Max flipped the business card around in his hand while he thought about how he could use her. She could be exactly the help he needed.
* * * *
Martinez and Williams pulled up to Martinez's house. He saw his wife standing at the front door.
“
Oh shit, what's this about?” Martinez groaned.
“
Looks like you done something wrong
ese,
” Williams sneered. It always irritated Martinez when Williams used Spanish slang against him.
Martinez got out of the car and screamed out to his wife, “
Que paso mujer?”
His wife kept staring him down, hands on hips and eyebrows on fire.
“
What happened? How about that
loco
racist sergeant of yours calling to ask how I was doing? And his equally racist
cabron
Tomko called your wife, Williams. What the hell did you two bastards do now?”
Martinez felt a ball of fury rise from his gut. He turned to look at Williams who seemed unaffected, like he was expecting this.
“
What'd you think man?” Williams asked. “You had to know those punks would pull out all the stops to get that drive back.”
“
Man, they're threatening our families! Screw them! We don't even know what's on the drive.”
“
Doesn't matter what's on there. Perception trumps reality,” Williams said. “They ain't gonna stop until you give them the drive or you do something with it.”
“
Look, let's go check out your house, just to make sure,” Martinez said.
“
All right, man.”
“
Hey
mujer
, you remember where the gun is and how to use it?” Martinez asked his wife.
“
You know it.”
* * * *
Tomko and Lindsey walked up the driveway to Williams' home. The sun was just falling behind the horizon, making them cast long shadows that ran up the side of the house. Lindsey stood on Tomko's right side, pressed up against the house while Tomko rang the doorbell. Tomko heard footsteps coming from the back of the house.
“
Hello?”
“
Alicia? It's Tomko. I got some bad news.”
“
Well, tell me through the door.”
“
Alicia, something's happened to your husband. Let me in, I don't want to tell you this through a door.”
“
Bullshit you pig. I just talked to him. He's on his way over.”
Tomko laughed at her posturing. He looked at Lindsey and gave him a signal to go behind the home.
“
I didn't say he was dead, Alicia. Look, he's got something we need and we don't want anything to happen to him. So, let me in and I'll tell you what's going on.”
“
Forget that!” Williams' wife screamed. “You can go to ...” A scream cut off her sentence. Tomko could hear her cry out, “What the hell are
you
doing in here?” Tomko heard more screaming and the sound of glass breaking. He took a step back and lunged through the front door. Lindsey was behind Williams' wife with one hand over her mouth and another wrapped around her chest.
“
Now,” Tomko started, “can we please talk?”
* * * *
Williams was driving this time as he and Martinez headed to his house.
“
So, you talked to your wife?” Martinez asked.
“
Yeah, yeah, man. She's doing all right.”
Almost before Williams could finish the sentence, they came around a street corner and saw Tomko's car parked in the driveway.
“
No way… that's Tomko's cruiser.” As they drew closer, Martinez could see that the front door was open. Williams slowed the car to a stop and pulled his handgun from its holster. Martinez did the same.
Williams leaned over before they got out of the car, “Listen Martinez, I want you to go in through the front. I'm gonna go in the back of the house and see if I can't catch them by surprise.”
“
Why surprise? What do you think they're doing?”
“
What the fuck does it matter? They're in my house with my wife!” Williams shouted.
“
All right bro, just don't get crazy. Don't forget they're cops.”
“
Martinez, I'm blood red, just got kicked in the nuts crazy now. Just do what the fuck I tell you.”
Martinez moved toward the front door while Williams crouched for cover and followed the perimeter of the house around to the back. Martinez heard faint, muffled sobs as he neared the door.
“
What's that I smell?” came a voice from inside. It was Tomko. “Martinez, how's a spic like you ever gonna creep up on anyone? I can smell your ass from a hundred feet away.”
Martinez stepped through the front door and said, “Fuck you Tomko. What the hell you think you're doing?”
“
It's easy,” Tomko started. “Give me the drive and we're done.”
“
You ain't gonna do shit, Tomko. You're crazy to get Williams' wife involved.”
“
No, Martinez! You're crazy for keeping that fucking drive! Hand it over or this bitch gets a cold one in her dome.” He pulled her hair back and held the barrel of his gun to her temple. Martinez stood there for seconds that felt like an eternity. He saw Williams' head slip past a window in the back of the house. It was almost like Lindsey sensed Williams because he wheeled around and aimed his gun at the back door.
“
Tomko,” he started, “where do you suppose Williams is? These two don't travel solo.”
“
Damn good question Lindsey.” Tomko turned to Martinez. “Where's your ass-buddy, Martinez? I doubt you're on a solo, charity mission here.”
“
Listen you shit, here's the drive. Just let his wife go.” Martinez held the drive out toward Tomko. Lindsey turned around to look at the drive. Right as he did, Martinez saw Williams come out from behind the back door. He held his pistol with two hands, locked directly on Lindsey.
“
Williams, don't do it!” Martinez screamed. The roar of Williams' gun drowned Martinez out. Martinez heard at least four shots bellow from the gun, and every one connected with Lindsey. The first two pierced Lindsey's torso, the third his neck and the fourth tore the top of his head off. Lindsey crumpled to the ground without even getting a shot off.
Tomko twisted his body around to aim at Williams. Martinez went to fire at Tomko but it was too late. The sound of Tomko unloading his gun shook the room. Martinez could see bullets rip through Williams' body. He stumbled forward and collapsed. Tomko coldly took aim and shot Williams in the head.
“
You motherfucker!” Martinez screamed. “Put your fucking gun down!” Martinez yelled. Martinez felt his hand shake as adrenaline, rage and fear coursed through him. Tomko turned back to Martinez and aimed his gun at Williams' wife.
“
Listen Martinez. Calm yourself.” Tomko took a step toward the back door and pulled Williams' wife with him. “I'm gonna walk out this back door or she gets smoked.” He took another couple of steps back.
“
Fuck you Tomko—don't fucking move!”
Tomko kept moving in the direction of the back door. Martinez took aim at Tomko's right arm and fired. The bullet screamed through Tomko's bicep and his gun dropped to the ground.
“
Fuccck!” Tomko screamed. He ducked behind Williams' wife then ran the last couple of steps to the back door and out of the house. Martinez ran over to Williams' wife who was passed out cold. He grabbed her in his arms and looked over at Williams. His eyes were open and flooded with blood.
* * * *
Max sat in his cubicle and watched his phone ring. He had dealt with so many calls in the last day that he couldn't stomach any more.
“
Max!” came a voice from an adjacent cubicle. “Pick up your damn phone!”
He grabbed the phone and slowly lifted the receiver to his ear. “Yeah?”
“
Maxie, how you been?”
“
Who the hell is this?”
“
Your old pal Max, Sergeant Shaver.”
The hairs on the back of Max's neck bristled. “Oh yeah? What do you want?”
“
You know what I want Max.”
“
Martinez has the drive—go bother him.”
“
You haven't heard?” Shaver asked.
“
Heard what?”
“
Oh man. Martinez is on the run, Max. He and Williams killed a cop. They killed Lindsey.”
“
No way. I don't believe you Shaver. You can go to hell for all I care.”
“
Listen, you Jew prick. I'm gonna personally gut you if you don't cooperate. Let's try this again—
has Martinez contacted you
?”
Max felt his chest tighten as he tried to deal with Shaver. “No way. Why would he?” Max answered.
“
Have you spoken to any newspapers about what you saw? 'Cause you understand my problem, right Max? You're a witness and I don't need anyone talking but me.”
“
I haven't spoken to a damn soul. Believe me, my life is more important than some payout for this story.”
“
See, my problem's bigger than that. What if you just tell one friend...”
“
I don't have any.”
“
...or one family member? What if you get drunk one night and try to tell some girl you want to impress? I don't trust you to be quiet, Max. There's only one way that I know for sure.”
“
Goddammit, Sergeant. I'm not going to say a thing to anyone.” The person in the cubicle next to him popped her head over the wall. She gave him an are-you-okay expression and he waved her away.
“
We'll see, Max.”
“
We done, Sergeant?”
“
One more thing. I want the copy of the drive that you made.”
“
What copy?”