Read Online Dark Moonlighting by Scott Haworth - Free Book Online Page B

briefing room. I had a few minutes before the
meeting was scheduled to start, but I was eager to begin the
night’s work. The front door of the station opened up to… you know
what? Screw it. It looked exactly like the police station from Dirty Harry .
    The briefing room had three rows of three
tables each. There were two chairs at each table so the partners
could sit together and look towards the front of the room. I, still
having a cool kid mentality despite the fact that I was 677 years
old, took an empty seat at one of the tables in the back of the
room. I had less than a minute of quiet before one of the rookie
cops entered and sat in the middle row kitty-corner to me. He made
a point to slam the newspaper and coffee cup he was carrying onto
the table.
    “What I don’t get,” Officer Crockett started
as if we had been in the middle of a conversation. “Is why NYPD
Blue never had spin-offs. I mean they had CSI: Miami and Law & Order: LA , why not NYPD Blue:
Starside ?”
    “Rook, are you actually suggesting they make
a show called New York City Police Department Blue:
Starside ?” I mocked.
    “Oh, right,” Crockett submitted. “I guess
that wouldn’t really make sense. Still though, Starside needs its
own police procedural.”
    “Starside isn’t a big enough city to make a
show about. There’s not enough exciting crime to fill up the
episodes. Besides, we don’t have the name recognition of the big
cities like Chicago or Los Angeles. Most people don’t even know
that Starside exists,” I countered.
    “I don’t know,” the rookie argued. “I was
looking at the statistics the other day, and we do have the largest
number of unsolved homicides per capita in the entire—”
    “Anyone give this rook permission to talk?”
asked my partner as she walked into the briefing room.
    “Sorry, J.J. I was just—” Crockett
started.
    “J.J?” my partner boomed. She feigned disgust
as she glanced at me and then back to the newest addition to the
police force. “Are we on familiar terms? Are you and me best
buddies, rook? You gonna make a basket full of delicious treats and
meet me in Roosevelt Park for a picnic?”
    “No, Officer Johnson,” Crockett fumbled.
    “Oh so now it’s Officer Johnson,” my partner
pressed. “You don’t want to be close personal friends with me? You
could come over later and rub my poor feet. Maybe you and me could
hop in the shower and—”
    “Jasmine!” I interrupted as I fought back a
laugh. “Leave the poor kid alone. He doesn’t know you’re
kidding.”
    Jasmine shook her head as she took the seat
next to me. “I wasn’t kiddin’. I’d love to get me a piece of that
fine little white boy.”
    “Don’t mind Aunt Jemima over here,” I
explained to the rookie. “She turns into a raging stereotype when
she’s bored… or excited… or mad.”
    “Or lookin’ for some sweet, sweet lovin’,”
Jasmine added. She stared into my eyes, rolled her shoulders a few
times and then burst into hysterics.
    Officer Jasmine Johnson, unlike the new women
who were popping up in my life at the time, was a close friend. We
had been partners for almost two years, and we had formed a bond
that officers who patrol the streets together often do. She
frequently adopted a cliché persona to amuse herself in the
predominately white city where she worked. In reality she was
nothing like the voice she used. Jasmine was skinny and athletic,
which was much more than could be said about the bulk of the
Starside Police Department. She was an educated Negro and was
familiar with every aspect of police procedure. Oh my God, I just
realized I referred to her as a Negro. There are going to be people
reading this book who hate me more for that description than all
the murders I committed. I am writing this on a typewriter so it is
difficult to make corrections. I could rewrite the entire page, but
I think it is better if I leave it the way it is. After all, I did
say I wanted this book to be