“Have you ever 69’ed?” My breath catches in my throat.
“Um, no. I haven’t,” I reply meekly.
He nods, looking out the windshield. His jaw ticks, his face unreadable.
“All right, I’ll see you later, Rookie.” He taps the dashboard and gets out.
***
Glancing at the MDT, it looks like the police officer needing assistance is Alessandra, so I turn my lights on and fly toward her to make up for lost time.
Driving onto the strip, I find a crowd circled around part of the sidewalk and road, lights flashing. That must be her. Pulling over I get out, hand on my weapon, and head toward her.
“Sir, get out of the fountain!” Alessandra shouts.
“Hey, what do you got?”
She turns toward me, her face full of pure aggravation.
“This.” She gestures toward a guy wearing a flamingo costume, a revealing one, sitting in the fountain of the Flamingo.
“Why didn’t you get him out?”
“I tried, but he got violent.”
“Where is your partner?”
“Fuck if I know. He went to the bathroom and apparently fell in!” She throws her hands all around like a mad woman.
Looking over my shoulder, the crowd has their cell phones out recording.
“Sir, you cannot be in there. This is your last warning to get out of the fountain!” I shout.
“Leave him alone, he ain’t hurting anybody,” one of the citizens yells from the crowd.
Pinching my brows, I know this isn’t going to end well. I hate when citizens get involved.
“I’m about to pepper spray his ass,” Alessandra mutters under her breath.
The man turns, flapping his… wings, and half of his ass and balls reveal themselves. Old, wrinkly balls.
“Ooh,” “Eww,” and “I’m going to barf,” are all heard from the crowd.
Oh, now everyone wants us to do our jobs.
“Please don’t make me go in there.” Alessandra swallows, her face pale.
“You go left, I’ll go right.” I laugh.
Stepping into the water, my shoes are instantly soaked. The man notices us closing in on him and tries to run. I grab one arm as Alessandra grabs his other.
“No, I need to be free. I am pink, and I am nimble. I am a FLAMINGO!” the man hollers.
Oh good lord.
We wrestle him out of the fountain, and he starts trying to pull from us. The face of a crazy person is quickly turning to fury.
Alessandra loses her grip and the man takes a swing, hitting me square in the lip. Adrenaline spikes my mobility; the pain in my lip gone, I kick him behind his legs, dropping his ass to the ground. I dig my knee into his back, and Alessandra pulls her cuffs out.
“I know my rights!” he yells. “You can’t do this!”
“Stop resisting or I’ll taze you!” I warn. He stills at that.
Finally getting him cuffed, we read him his rights as I bring him to his feet. “Pinkie doesn’t feel like walking anymore.” The guy pouts like a child and his legs give out. He drops to the ground unexpectedly and I go with him, my knees biting into the concrete.
“Seriously?” I complain, getting back to my feet.
“I’ll grab his feet, you get his arms,” Alessandra huffs.
Struggling, dropping his head on the ground twice, we manage to get him in the back of her cruiser.
“Sir, have you had anything to drink tonight or taken anything?” Alessandra asks before shutting the door.
He smiles big, but doesn’t answer. Pulling my flashlight from my pocket, I shine it into his eyes. He squints, but his pupils are dilated.
“He’s high on something,” I add. “We should check him for drugs.”
“Oh, yeah, let me just look under his left wing.” Alessandra sneers. Taking her eyes from him to me, her attitude subsides and concern crosses her face.
“Jillian, you’re bleeding.” She points to my face. Bringing my fingers to my mouth, there is a lot of blood.
“Shit.”
“We need medical assistance,” Alessandra calls in.
“Hey! What happened?” Another police officer runs up to us.
“What the fuck, man?” Alessandra shoves him in the chest, and he looks at me with wide eyes.
I point to the back of the car. “We had to wrangle that out of the fountain.”
“No more Chipotle for dinner, Harrison!” Alessandra points at him, her face serious.
***
Sitting in the back of the ambulance, an EMT cleans my split lip.
“I think you should probably get stitches,” the young lady suggests.
“No, it would be pointless. They’d be pulled out in a day.”
“If you insist, but at least let me put a butterfly on it.” I nod, and she climbs in the back of the ambulance. My eyes sweep across the way, landing on Sin Casino.