Levi’s ties are a harbinger to whatever mood he’s in. Yellow means he’s not only out for blood, but he pretty much has his prey cornered with no way out, and Pop’s gonna owe him big. Pop taught me all this a while ago, and it’s stuck because of the pure perfidy of the matter. His smile, along with those frat boy looks of his, like he wouldn’t harm a fly, tends to put everyone at ease. At least he’s not wearing the pink one. Sheesh!
We made it to the commissioner’s office, which looked like a completely different place from the rest of the station, almost like we’d made a wrong turn somewhere. Plush carpet and overstuffed leather chairs compared to the cracked linoleum floors and hard plastic chairs on the floor below.
I recognized the commissioner as he stood to his feet behind his desk to greet Pop but could only guess who the room’s other occupant was. From the way Lance tensed up with a sour look on his face, I figured my assumptions were right and shifted my body to put myself between them. That quick, my mind shifted gears.
I’ve been a horrible friend. My boy is going through something, his life’s dream is being threatened, and my selfish ass has only been thinking about myself. Granted, I have all faith that Pop would take care of it, but still. “Commissioner!” Pop’s first power play was to ignore the other man’s outstretched hand before taking a seat.
He motioned for Lance and I to take a seat in the chairs on either side of him, with me being the one closer to Dempsey. Levi didn’t sit. Instead, he opened up his briefcase and withdrew some official-looking documents, which he passed across the desk. “What’s this?” The commissioner accepted them.
“This is what we’re willing to do unless our demands are met. Your subordinate will make a public apology to the young man he harassed and threatened….”
“Harassed? Threatened?” I guess Dempsey isn’t the brightest.
“Shut up, Dempsey!” His boss muzzled him while Levi just gave him a look.
Pop just looked straight ahead, not saying a word, almost as if he wasn’t interested. I knew better. That tic right beneath his ear is a dead giveaway to the fact that he was barely leashed, and it wouldn’t take much to send him over the edge.
“As I was saying,” Levi carried on. “He will make an apology, and then he will be terminated from his post, or we will sue the department for solicitation of a minor in the facilitation of a crime.” Dempsey flew out of his chair. “Solicitation? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Did you not approach my client and offer him something in return for doing your bidding? Illegal as it was?”
“Did you not use your position of authority to harass and abuse him to get something you wanted? In short, did you not threaten his future livelihood if he didn’t do as you said? Had Lance been Lisa, what would we be looking at here?” Yup, Pop sure knows how to pick ‘em. There are too many holes in his theory to count, but his delivery had even the commissioner falling for his shit.
But then Dempsey made the colossal mistake of trying to save his job and his pension and pretty much ended his own life. “What are you talking about, you smarmy son of a bitch? You’d take the word of this lowlife scum? Who says any of that happened? I met with him, yes, but that was only to talk to him about the program and our plans going forward.”
“Are you saying he’s a liar?” Now you’d think that because this guy was after Pop that he would’ve done his homework, so he would know that those words, said in that tone, meant trouble, but nope, either he was too far gone or too dumb to notice, so he went ahead and planted both feet in his damn mouth.
“Of course, he’s lying.”
“What if I say I believe him?” Even the commissioner was trying to cut Dempsey off at this point, but the guy was literally hot around the collar and missed all the cues. Levi started putting his shit away, and I braced myself for whatever the hell was about to jump off.
“Dempsey, settle down. I told you you should’ve brought your rep, that this was going to happen. My hands are tied this time. You went too far, going after the kid like that. It was a bad move all around.” The commissioner was on diffusion duty.
“I’m saying it never happened, none of it.” He blustered, and the commissioner actually looked at Pop as if begging him to believe his guy over Lance. Something I knew was not possible in any universe and which he quickly learned when Pop gave him his patented ‘you fuck’ glare.
“It’s over, Demps; let’s just get out of this thing as clean and with as much dignity as we can.”
“You’d take the words of this nig….”
Pop reached him seconds before I did, even though I was closer.
The damn room became riotous, with pure pandemonium. Levi pulled Lance back out of the way against the wall, I ended up trying to get Pop’s hands from around this prick’s neck, and the commissioner was ordering his men who heard the ruckus and came running to vacate the room.
“Come on, Pop, let him go. Not here; look at Lance; he’s scared.” Fuck he was, but I knew that would get through to Pop, who looked over at the wall where Levi was busy looking at his phone while holding Lance in place next to him with a hand on his chest. Pop released his hold on Dempsey, which gave me the perfect opportunity to put my fist through his face. The sound of bone and teeth cracking was glorious.
“I’m gonna let you live because my Pop won’t,” I whispered the words over his bleeding stump before walking away. Pop’s always spouting off about the right time and place, but he went after someone in a police station, in the commissioner’s office of all places. Oh well, he did promise to show us our power.
“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t just want him fired. I want him brought up on charges. Levi, start a lawsuit. Boys, let’s go home.” We left ignoring the commissioner who called out to Pop, who’d gone ice and almost walked into Uncle Marvin. “Unc? What’re you doing here?”
“Your father asked me not to come, but….”
He was dressed in his collar with that stoic look on his face. “Lance, are you okay?”
“Yeah, Dad, what’re you doing here?”
“Draco? Did you stick to our agreement? You look a bit ruffled.” Pop walked over and whispered something in his ear, which changed his whole demeanor. “Ah, I see. You boys come with me.”
Lance and I followed him, leaving Pop with Levi. We’re either about to get a lecture, which, I don’t know why because we didn’t do anything, or he’s going to take us out for ice cream like we’re ten years old and try to erase the ugliness of the last half hour. At least I hadn’t thought of her in all that time, so there is that.
DRACO
It took me a good ten minutes after leaving that place to talk. Levi had already gone back to his dungeon to start carrying out my orders, and I had Tommy drive me around a bit before going home. I’d sent the boys off with Marvin because I’m not equipped to handle this particular situation. I’m not a person of color, so I don’t know the first thing about how that skeezy shit feels, to be called out of your name like that, but I know my Lancelot could not have felt anything but gutted by that ugly ass word.