“Let me go. You can’t take me.”
“Either I take you or we wait for the police cars to show, and they will. That’d be tougher for you, ’cause they’ll take you straight to Youth Division. Either way, you’ll be going home.”
I let go of her left wrist, hold tight to the other, and force her to walk toward my car. She tries to pull away.
“Please, just let me go.”
I stop again.
“Why don’t you wanna go home? They abuse you?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then why?”
Before she can answer I see the other Latina girl at the corner, about twenty feet away. She’s pointing at us, looking back, as if she’s directing someone. Couple seconds later, I see Little Monster run up, with another Latino boy. A second after that, Playboy makes his appearance.
I grab Miriam with my left hand now and pull her to my side. I pull my jacket back and grip my holstered weapon.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I tell them. “She’s going home.”
“Don’t let him take me, Playboy,” she cries.
“Shut the fuck up, girl,” Little Monster orders her. He turns to the Latina girl and says, “Get yourself back to the house.”
She runs back. Little Monster’s smart, but not that smart.
He reaches for his back pocket. I draw my weapon and aim it at him.
“Don’t go stupid on me,” I tell him.
“Ain’t nothin’.” He smiles wickedly.
He slowly pulls out a cell phone, holds it out for me to see.
“Just back the fuck down,” I order. “There’s been enough commotion that the police’ll be showing up soon. Might be better if I wait.”
Little Monster lifts the cell to his ear.
I look behind me toward the Ritz, then start pulling her back toward my car. I don’t know who the fuck he might be calling, but I sure as hell don’t wanna see any more of them. Little Monster is speaking to someone on the cell. When he’s finished, he slips it in his back pocket.
He shows me that wicked smile again.
“Let me go. Let me fucking go,” she demands, but quieter this time.
“Listen to me,” I tell her, and squeeze her wrist hard so she grunts. “You’ll get hurt much worse if I let you go back to them.”
“They’re about to hurt you real bad, asshole. You’d better let me the fuck go.”
“C’mon, now. Let me take you outta here. I’ll even take you to Justine’s if you want.”
A couple more players show up, and I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a real clusterfuck. I’m hoping whatever good neighbors live on this block have already called the police. I’m sure as hell looking forward to hearing some sirens about now.
“This ain’t a joke, Miriam. They don’t want you now that I’ve been here. I know you’ve seen what they can do.”
She might agree, ’cause she doesn’t struggle anymore. I get to the driver’s side door and open it.
Some of the corner boys start stepping toward me, but not Little Monster or Playboy.
“You’re gonna step in first, and I’ll follow.”
I notice a black Ford Taurus stop at the corner on 17th, behind the crowd. These boys make cars to look like ours, so I’m thinking this looks like it might be a drive-by. I back up with her so we’re on the other side of the open door and she’s toward the front of my car.
A few of them, including Little Monster, turn to take notice.
“Get your crew off my fucking corner, Little Monster,” a man orders from within the car.
Little Monster spits on the sidewalk toward the car. Stands his ground for a second or two, and calmly walks away. The rest follow and they disappear up 17th.
I notice a red bubble light on the dash. It starts flashing as the cruiser turns onto Euclid and stops about two car lengths behind my vehicle.
The driver’s side door opens and a large man steps out. A silver officer’s badge hangs around his neck.
Plainclothes. That’s all the cavalry I need to see.
Sixty
Let me see your hands,” the large officer commands.
He’s on the other side of his open door, weapon out and pointing at me. His view is obstructed by the open car door we’re standing behind, so it allows me to slowly holster my weapon without getting noticed (and possibly shot). I keep my hold on Miriam.
“This girl’s a teenager, reported missing by her parents,” I tell him.
“I said show me your hands. Now.”
He’s calm and in control.
He keeps his hair high and tight, like most guys who come on this job straight out of the military. He looks familiar, but too young for me to have known when I was on the job.
“I’m not going to let go of the girl, because she might run.”
“I’m not going to run,” she says calmly, maybe a bit too calmly given the circumstances.
“I’ll slowly step from behind the car so you can see I’m not armed.”
“Nice and slow.”
I obey and sidestep from behind the car, with Miriam at my side.