Chapter 2

A couple of days before the move I was having lunch in the diner when three idiots sat a couple of booths in front of me. They were making off-color remarks to Stacy and I was getting a bit pissed but she handled it nicely and took their order. After she walked away I heard the guy on the end saying he was going to put the make on her. Of course his buddies grinned. Stacy came back with their order and set them in front of them when Mr. Macho Idiot asked her out.

She nicely said, "No, thank you. I have a boyfriend and two small children waiting for me."

The idiot said, "Fuck your boyfriend and go out with me."

Stacy had heard enough, "Yes, I will fuck my boyfriend but going out with you will never happen," and she turned to walk away.

Mr. Idiot reached out and grabbed her ass. Stacy swiftly turned and bitch-slapped him across the face and said, "Don't you ever touch me again, you son of a bitch."

The idiot started to call her a damn bitch, when I got up to go to their booth. Marie looked over and Roy was about to come out from the kitchen. They figured the shit was about to hit the fan.

I grabbed him by the nape of the neck and pushed his face down into his food. When he raised his hand I grabbed him in an easy thumb lock where the pain is excruciating and I can dislocate or tear his thumb completely off. He screamed out in pain as I talked to him. His buddies sat there frozen in their seats.

"You piece of shit, who the fuck do you think you are messing with the waitress? You have a choice to make. I can rip your thumb from its socket and you can rush to the hospital to get them to reset it. Or, when your waitress comes back you can apologize to her and explain that no waitress should have to put up with customers like you and then I would suggest a very sizeable tip. What's your choice?"

"I apologize, sir. I acted wrong..." I cut him off and told him I didn't want his apology but to tell it to his waitress. I released his thumb and then his neck and returned to my booth.

Roy and Marie were looking on as well as a number of customers when Stacy handed the man a towel to wipe the food off his face. He apologized to her and said how sorry he was for his actions.

Roy brought him out another dinner as Stacy told the guy that waitresses had a hard enough time earning a living. They were there to take their orders and see that they got their meal. She then said she hoped he would remember that when being served by all waitresses, not just her.

The three guys ate quickly in silence. When they were getting ready to go the guy put a dollar tip on the table. Then as though he had second thoughts he pulled out a ten and replaced the dollar with it. Then the three got up paid for their meal and left.

After the lunch crowd cleared Stacy came over to me and put her butt toward me. I knew she was just teasing me. I reached up pretending to reach for her butt as she walked away. She turned around quickly and said, "You are the only one that would ever get away with that," then smiled and walked away.

Roy was looking through his kitchen opening and gave me the thumbs up sign. I just grinned and waved my hand with the old "get out of here" sign.

Saturday, I rented a U-Haul and headed up to Stacy's place along with three squad cars. There were six of my buddies on the force who were going to help us with the moving.

When Ben saw all the squad cars he yelled to his mom, "The police are here again," only this time he was smiling.

Stacy had all the smaller stuff packed in boxes. She didn't have many large things, mostly personal items. Most of her furniture was furnished with the apartment. Not the nicest looking furniture.

She told me she was heading over to the diner to get our lunch table set up. I told her I would bring the kids with me since they seemed to be having fun watching the police helping them move. That was a good thing. My buddies kept teasing me about Stacy. I didn't care anymore because my life had meaning again. This was the happiest I'd been in a long time. Ben and Marti asked if they could ride in the squad car. Bill, one of the officers said sure. He would even turn on the sirens.

As we headed out of the projects, Bill turned on his siren for a few seconds. It was funny to see all the doors close in the projects. Bill knew they would be back for more arrests one day. After dropping off all of Stacy's stuff at my house, we all headed to the diner for lunch.

Over at the diner, Stacy was setting up tables for our group. There would be six cops, me and of course Ben and Marti. She glanced at Marie who she knew was happy for her. Marie was watching the three guys that had caused trouble the other day, now back with a fourth guy. They sat in Marie's area and when they all sat down she handed them each a menu.

She told them, "Just so you know the man who came to your table the other day is a retired cop. Now I hope you four are just here for a nice meal. If you look out the windows you will see a number of our friends coming in for lunch." When they all turned around to look out the window they saw three squad cars pull up and six cops get out along with me.

"Yes, Miss, we are just here for lunch. What are your specials today?" they asked. Marie told us later she didn't know if they were there for just lunch or trouble but they couldn't have acted any nicer. She said besides that they left her a really nice tip.

All the police sat around the table and ordered dinner. Ben and Marti told their mom about the ride in the cruiser. Stacy was being teased by all my friends. She knew she could handle it now. She gave back as good as she got. Stacy heard one of my buddies say that if I let this one get away to give him a call and he would be nice to me and shoot me.

After the dinner Stacy thanked each officer for helping her move and said that she really appreciated it. Stacy didn't see it but each cop left her a ten dollar tip under their plate. Ben watched each officer and asked me what they were doing? I told him they were leaving a tip for his mom because she gave such good service. He told me he wanted to leave his mom a tip too but didn't have any money. I gave him a dollar to put under his plate. He asked me how come he was only giving his mom a dollar when everyone else was giving her ten? The little shit was smarter than I thought. I had to laugh so I took my dollar back and gave him a twenty. He smiled at me and said his mom would be happy. She would know she gave him better service than anyone else.

Then little Marti tapped me on the knee and said, "What about me? Mommy gave me good service too." That sweet little thing had me wrapped around her finger. I handed her a twenty also even though she had no idea how much it really was. She just knew she gave her mom a big tip just like her big brother Ben. I couldn't be outdone by the kids, so I left a fifty dollar bill under my plate. I didn't let Ben see it because he would just ask more questions.

We got up to leave and Ben said he wanted to wait till his mom seen her tip so I had another cup of coffee until Stacy came back out to clean up the tables.

She looked at the kids who were grinning from ear to ear. "What's going on here?" she asked, looking at her kids.

Ben yelled out, "I left you a tip, mommy," and Marti said she did too.

As Stacy started picking up the plates, she found ten dollar bills under each one. She asked me if it was for the meals because we were going to pay for their dinner. I told her that I had already paid Roy for the meals. The money on the table were her tips. She was getting teary eyed knowing each officer gave her ten dollars. That was more than the meal itself. She picked up Ben's plate and then Marti's and found each gave her twenty dollars. Ben told her it was for the great service. She was almost crying now as she hugged and kissed her two kids. She picked up mine and saw fifty dollars. I asked her if it warranted a hug and kiss also. She came around and give me a real kiss, one that I never expected. Then I got my big hug. I was at a loss for words. I told her I would take the kids home and we would start putting some of their things away.

Marie yelled over to Stacy and said the trouble makers didn't cause any trouble and left her a ten dollar tip. Stacy smiled back and said I just got a hundred and fifty dollars in tips from Charlie and his friends. Marie laughed and said Charlie didn't count. As I was walking out the door I heard Stacy say to Marie, "he counts to me."

Over the next few days we got the bedrooms set up. We had bunk beds for Ben and Marti. Ben of course wanted the top bunk. I already had a queen size bed in Stacy's room. All I had to do was empty the drawers and she set the room up to her own liking. Of course I didn't change anything in my room and I did have a king size bed. The house had two bathrooms. I told Stacy that she could put all her girlie stuff in the one and I would put my manly stuff in the other. Of course if anyone had to go they could use either restroom. I also had a half-bath down in the basement with an extra shower.