Chapter 1

Abuse.

At school ... first hour ... home room. We call it study hall ... because that’s what we do, study. Since the rash of school shootings we eliminated student lockers. No place to conceal weapons. Coming in, there’s a metal-dector we have to walk through. A couple of kids got expelled for trying to bring ‘things’ through.

“Jesus, David, another doorknob.?”

“Daddy, they’ve all been daddy.”

“What on earth happened to your eye?” The questioner was the studyhall monitor.

I turned to look at her.

“My mistake ... both eyes. Here’s a hall pass ... go see the nurse. Jackie ... go with him and see he gets there.”

The nurse took one look and summoned the principal ... he called the Super and David pleaded, “Don’t call the police.”

“Why not?”

“Daddy is a cop. They protect their own.”

The Superintendent called the State Police and they called State Abuse Control. The abuse officer tended to call all males son and girls by Miss.

“Son, it’s obvious ... who did this?”

“Daddy. He came home drunk ... again ... and started in on mom.”

“You should have called the police.”

“Daddy is the patrol Sergeant.”

“I see.” And he did.

“After she was down he hit me. I hit him with the hot skillet from the stove. He tried to get up. I kept hitting him until he stopped ... I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Then what?”

“I got mom off the floor. We went to bed ... daddy was still on the floor in the kitchen. Mom had to go to work. She works for the County Prosecutor. I came to school. Daddy was still on the floor ... there was a lot of blood. I don’t know what to do.”

“This wasn’t the first time, was it?”

“Every time he got to drinking.” I said, “Usually on the weekends he had off.”

“Didn’t your mom complain?”

“Once ... after ... it was bad ... very bad. She had to take her vacation time and all her sick days. After that the only one who got hit in the face was me.”

“And?”

“I’m ‘clumsy.’”

“Fall a lot?”

“Run into doors and like that.”

The super knocked on the door.

“What?”

“The police want to speak to David.”

The old guy drew his gun and held up his badge.

The door flung back and half a dozen of the city’s finest rushed in. This was not going to be fun. Or maybe...

The abuse cop said, “Stop!”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Federal,” he said.

Surprised me ... I thought he was state.

The chief said, “We want him.”

“Out of your jurisdiction.”

“We want him.”

“Too bad ... for the duration he’s mine.”

One of the cops in the room said, “We’ll just take him.”

From behind the officers a voice said, “Please ... resist ... dead is so much easier to explain.”

The cop in the back drew and spun ... and kept on spinning until he fell. I’ll tell you one thing ... gunshots in a closed room are fuck oh dear loud.

The voice outside said, “Until we sort this out the city cops are suspended without pay. The MP’s are rounding up the rest right now. Gentlemen ... turn in your weapons and badges.”