Leaving Sean lying on his stomach on the pavement, Officer Hines looked over at the driver, then toward the unconscious man lying on the side of the road. Officer Hines attempted to reason out what happened before asking any questions. It looked like the driver had decided to stop and there was a dispute of some sort. Knowing dispatch had an ambulance on the way, he turned his attention to the man kneeling on the ground.
“You okay?” Officer Hines asked John as he holstered his gun.
Jacquelyn snorted at the question, drawing a warning glance from Officer Hines.
On the verge of tears, John blurted out, “Do I look okay?”
“Can you stand?”
“Yeah...”
“Here, let me give you a hand.” He helped John the driver stand up. As he did, he noticed a smell about the man he did not like. He ignored his instincts and questioned John. “What happened here?”
Jacquelyn rolled her eyes, huffed audibly, and crossed her arms.
John, recognizing his chance to bend the facts his way, explained, “These guys ran out in front of my truck trying to stop me, probably wanted to carjack me.” He managed a quick glance directly at the officer. Hines noticed his bloodshot eyes and nervous manner. Something registered again in his instincts, but he pushed it back. He needed a solid arrest. Already had the suspect in cuffs. Assault—probably two counts. Officer Hines gave John the driver a warning glance before he replied.
“So, these guys tried to steal your truck?” Officer Hines asked loudly enough for Jacquelyn to hear.
“Are you kidding me?” Jacquelyn demanded.
The officer removed and folded his sunglasses. He let out a long audible breath and made a show of sliding them into his shirt pocket. Then he turned and assessed her, down then up. His silent stare lingered over her body long enough to make Jacquelyn shift in her stance and cross her arms to display her discomfort with his lack of self-control. After a too long moment, Officer Hines snapped back into focus. “Ma’am, is your husband home?”
Jacquelyn froze in disbelief at the question. “I’m not married.”
“Well, is there a man of the house?”
𓂓
After rousing Elena from bed earlier that morning, mother and daughter had settled into their routines with Sade playing softly in the background. As usual, Jacquelyn’s thoughts drifted to Evan, the music they had shared taking her back. He’d been a much better dad than Elena’s biological father.
Shortly after Jacquelyn had finished her degree, Elena’s father had made it clear he didn’t want to be in their lives. Finding herself suddenly untethered, Jacquelyn yearned to reach out and connect. With soccer no longer a part of her life, she had a desire to learn something new. One evening, she found a documentary about martial arts, which inspired her to learn more. After researching local businesses, she settled on an MMA gym she wanted to try, because it emphasized self-defense. She had wound up taking a few intro classes but hadn’t really felt a connection with any of the teachers, until she met Evan. Himself a recon marine, Evan had a way of phrasing things to his students that made sense to her. After a couple years of practice with Evan as her teacher, she found herself in the best shape of her life, fully able to handle herself in a fight. As time passed, Evan had introduced her to his friends around the gym and they had all begun to hang out together. Her connection with Evan grew from there.
Jacquelyn and Evan had what he called a ‘slowmance.’ Over the nearly three years of courtship, things had progressed methodically and logically. They had not been driven wholly by passion but mainly by a sense of kinship. They did what made sense. And after all, Elena and Evan got along great. Plus, Jacquelyn was relieved to feel the security of having a solid man in their life.
As time passed, she and Evan stumbled upon the house on Haynesville Woods Avenue. At first glance, it possessed an idyllic quality they found very appealing. So, they contacted the realtor and scheduled a walkthrough. The home had a lot of nice features, but they appreciated the large front living room window most of all. It provided an immersive view of the mature trees along the curve of the street.
After finalizing the deal, they moved in right away and furnished the living room with oversized chairs and a deep-seated sofa in front of the window—with lots of extra throw pillows. A bean bag for Elena rested in the middle of the floor in front of the TV, an ever-present indentation on top. She had a habit of sitting cross-legged on it and cheering for her favorite soccer teams while Jacquelyn and Evan lounged on the sofa at opposite ends, rubbing each other’s feet, watching through the large picture window as thunderstorms rolled in. Some parts, their parts of the house, had taken on a vague hollowness now that he was gone.
𓂓
“Ma’am.” The officer insisted, “Ma’am!”
“What!” Jacquelyn snapped back.
“I asked you a question. Is there a man of the house? If so, can you call him out?”
Staring at the officer, Jacquelyn crossed her arms again, exasperated by the misogynistic implications of his question. “I heard you the first time.”
Man of the house? Are you fucking kidding me? It’s the first year of Obama’s second term, not the dawn of the McCarthy era, asshole.
She paused and gave Clay a brief concerned glance. Despite her misgivings, she relented and answered his question. “No. There’s no man of the house.” She emphasized the word ‘man’ to make clear her aggravation at having to answer the question. Then it slipped out. “My fiancé died a few months ago.”
Jacquelyn flinched at the pain of the memory as well as her candor. Saying the words conjured up the incident in her mind’s eye. While she was at work, Evan had collapsed from a heart attack at the MMA gym. The sudden shock of his death caused her to retreat into herself. She had tried to keep up with her training. But, after one of Evan’s so-called friends attempted to move in on her too quickly, causing a scene in the gym parking lot, she simply stopped going.
Officer Hines twisted his head to the side. A pained look gripped his face. He hissed a silent curse, dug the sunglasses back out of his pocket and slid them on as if they might conceal his embarrassment. He eventually managed to look back up at her but had nothing to say.
There was a moment of silence among the group, as if everyone felt obligated to pause out of respect. Jacquelyn inclined her head, tightened her lips and pushed her chin out, shifting in her stance as she glared at the officer in silence.
Hines stared back at her from behind the safety of his mirrored sunglasses, his mouth partially open as if he had something to say. But he eventually exhaled and looked down at the ground in shame.
She turned away from the officer to look back at the house. The big picture window in front reminded her of Evan. Jacquelyn missed him deeply. She hadn’t really talked about it openly and wondered why she’d blurted it out just now.
Although the admission felt slightly cathartic, she immediately resented the officer for causing her to conjure up his memory in the midst of all this. Her gaze fell to Clay, still motionless. Jacquelyn turned back around, scowled at the cop, and pointed at the fallen man. “You should be helping this man right now, not interrogating me about my personal life in the middle of the street.”
Officer Hines cursed to himself again, obviously embarrassed he’d overstepped in front of a pretty woman. He started to say something in his defense, but the arrival of the ambulance interrupted him.
The paramedics emerged, grabbed their kits, and walked briskly toward the scene. They gave a curt nod to the officer and knelt to examine Clay, who was beginning to stir, one arm outstretched as if reaching for something.
One of the paramedics tried to calm him. “Take it easy, sir. You’ve had an accident. We are here to help.”
Chapter Three
Right after the ambulance, Officer Michael Street—or Streets, as he was known among friends—arrived at the scene. After a radio check-in, he hauled his heavily muscled frame from the police cruiser. Well over six feet tall, his imposing presence seemed to generate an undeniable field of energy around him, causing the shadows to begin their retreat. He pulled a cap over his low fade haircut, hiding the sharp lines. While he straightened his uniform and adjusted his gun belt, knowing eyes assessed the scene.
As soon as he saw the young man cuffed face-down on the pavement, Officer Street jogged straight to him. Ignoring Officer Hines, he knelt by Sean. “What the hell...” He reached out and put his hand on Sean’s shoulder. “You okay?”
Sean grunted and shook his head in no particular direction. Officer Street helped him to his feet, then turned to face Officer Hines. He glared at him for an uncomfortable moment, then demanded, “What is going on here?” His voice a low rumble within the wooded confines of the otherwise quiet street.
