He had the normal 'one for the road' with the owner, Manny Blum, a friend of years and years, and then he headed outside. He'd parked the detective car out on the road and walked across their lot to get to the bar at 'Manny's Home Place'. (It frequently made them, he and Manny, laugh at the thought of 'home place' but Manny was stubborn about the name of his establishment, upscale eating and a pleasant bar. He even provided valet service for his customers.) It was after his normal night cap with his pal Manny that Charlie, Detective Lieutenant Charlie DiAngelo was out approaching the parking lot.

He noticed, as he was on his way to the lot, that the valets were standing around, a fairly empty lot and talking and laughing. He also noticed them pass around a bottle that they were drinking from.

Then one of the lower doors of Manny's opened and a fairly tall, afro american woman, mid thirties looking to Charlie, emerged.

"It's Shauna!" one of the valets cried out.

"Blow job time!" another sang out.

The woman, Shauna, apparently, ignored their taunts. That was all that they needed. They closed in, not seeing Charlie and, even if they'd seen him, after imbibing their courage, they wouldn't have bothered about him.

They moved quickly and had her surrounded in a ring, continuing their taunts, about Shauna's blow jobs and general nonsense.

"Leave me alone!" the woman said, with barely controlled fury.

"Why, Shauna," one voice said, "You know as well as we do that you want to get on your knees and service us. It's what you do!"

She pushed past the speaker in a rage then but he pulled her back by the collar of her blouse. That was all that Charlie needed.

(Maybe a word at this point might be helpful. Charlie DiAngelo was raised by a strict Italian Momma who, from the earliest possible time in his life, impressed on him the need to be polite and especially protect women. His Momma had had a good effect on Charlie. He was never one to put up with rudeness or any hassles to women. As a matter of fact, he'd moved one of the detectives out of his squad, when he caught him being snotty and mouthy to the new woman detective, Jane Rollins. He just wasn't going to put up with that, not in general and certainly not in his own squad. So, from that point of view, Charlie DiAngelo was the right man at the right time.)

He moved with a speed that the valets probably wouldn't have believed, had they been watching, and he was over to where the circle of the valets were still pushing the woman and making their comments. Charlie simply picked the biggest of the valets for his first target and as he got to where they were hassling the woman, punched the kid in the kidneys. The kid let out a yell and went down on a knee, but Charlie wasn't finished yet. He proceeded to wade into the rest of the group of guys, who had, by now, forgotten about Shauna and were intent on this new 'danger/interruption'.

There were five of them originally. The one that Charlie had hit was still on the ground, and, as he waded into them, two more were on the ground quickly. One of the others backed away with his hands held out but the last, the smallest of the group, was grinning at Charlie and said:

"What you want, Mr Tai Chi?" As he said this, he slipped a knife out of his pocket and his grin got more evil.

The woman, Shauna Blain, standing aside and watching all of this, at first with wide eyes, and increasingly with a certain amount of pleasure, let out a gasp, when she saw the knife.

Charlie spoke then, and as he spoke, he pushed his coat aside in one direction, showing his detective's badge, and sweeping the coat to the other side, showing his gun. "Didn't you see the damn movie, crap whit? You never bring a knife to a gun party."

Then Charlie had the gun out and the kid was staring at Charlie and the loaded gun with a sick look on his face.

"You get to choose!" Charlie said, "Either we dance or we don't, and if we dance, you can even call the first limb that you'll lose: right knee, left knee, right elbow, left elbow. You can choose!"

"No, please!" a voice said and it was Shauna, standing over to the side.

"You're lucky, kid!" Charlie said, staring the young man down. "Here's what we're going to do with you and all your fellow creeps. It's up to the lady. If she says that she wants you all arrested for aggravated assault, then that's what happens. She already put a damp on any further violence, luckily enough for you."

Their heads moved at that point, and all of them were looking at Shauna.

She turned to Charlie and said: "No, I don't want them in trouble. I just want them to act more responsibly. We don't need to take this any further at all."

There were looks of absolute relief on all the faces, even the one that had the knife. Charlie smiled at her and put his gun away. The kid had already put his knife away.

"You realize, all of you, that the only reason that you're not going to the station to be booked and put into the cells over night is that this lovely woman doesn't want that!"

They shook their heads 'yes' and most of them glanced at Shauna, after they did so.

"I am a friend of Manny's from way back in the old neighborhood," Charlie went on, "But because of the lovely lady, I'm not going to talk to him about this and get you fired. I'm not even going to take a moment to check the legality of your status. Got that?"

"Yes, officer!" one of them said, managing finally to emerge from the fog of their fear to respond correctly.

"But I will not have you hassling people, especially women! You were that close to criminal assault, and it would stick, if the lovely lady wanted to press charges. Do you understand?" he demanded next.

(There was an unseen, small smile on Shauna's face, as the big cop again referred to her as 'the lovely lady'. She worked to suppress it.)

He got many more 'yes officers' from them about that.

"My Momma always told me, that when I think of the possibility of being nasty to a woman, I should think of someone doing that, being that way to my sister. It always stopped me. But there'll be no more of this crap! And that had better be clear."

He nodded to them, and they went back to the small shack at the far edge of the lot where they kept their stuff. They were essentially done for the night.

As they were leaving, Charlie called after them: "All of you, go to this woman and apologize and thank her, each individually!"

They didn't hesitate. All of them went to Shauna and gave an apology and then thanked her. Then they left. It left Charlie and Shauna standing in the lot. She walked toward him and was grinning: "Protect and serve!" she said, using the police motto.

"Something like that!" he said.

"The part about your Momma," she said then, "True or just for effect?"

"True!" he said, "If Momma ever caught me being mouthy to a woman, she'd kick my butt!"

He smiled, when he said it and Shauna giggled.

She stuck out her hand then and said: "Shauna Blain".

"Charlie DiAngelo," he said.

"Officer Charlie DiAngelo?" she asked next.

"Actually it's Lieutenant Charlie DiAngelo," he said.

"Oh, help from the brass," she said.

"Yep!" was his answer.

"Well, Lieutenant Charlie DiAngelo, I want to thank you for helping me out here. They get frisky and I think had been drinking tonight. I hope that it'll kind of teach them a lesson and help them to stay out of trouble," she said.

"I'll make it my business to stop by now and again to see them and talk to them just a little and see if I can't persuade them to straighten out," he explained.

"Very nice of you," she said.

"Just protecting and serving," was his reply and they both laughed.

"May I please walk you to your car?" he asked softly.

"Yes, you may, Detective!" she said, "It will be so marvelous to feel safe and secure, especially after that little incident.

"It's impressive that you went to bat for them, uh ... Ms..." he began and faltered a little.

"Shauna!" she said.

"Yes, Shauna," he echoed, "But it was nice that you stuck up for them. I hope they realize it."

"We'll see," she said, as they walked along to her car.

When they were at her car, he said: "I'll say 'good night' now."

"First," she said, "Here's part of my thank you!" With that she moved to him and pulled him into a hug.

He was surprised and pleased by it, by the texture of how she felt plastered against him in the hug. It left him grinning.

"Hold that thought, Lieutenant!" she said, as though reading his mind, and kissing his cheek, she got into her car.

AT MOMMA'S

He went to his Momma's apartment, on his way home.

(A few years earlier, his Momma, Angelina, and a few of her friends, 'girlfriends' she always called them, had gotten apartments in the same new building. It was, in fact, Charlie's building, which his Momma and Poppa had bought as an investment and had given to him as a gift, when he made Lieutenant. The place was new and sparkling; it had great new features, and provided Charlie with more monthly income than he could really handle. She'd wanted the apartment and had given Charlie the big house to live where he resided, essentially using it as his bachelor pad.)

He rang the bell and she buzzed him in.

"Hey, Momma!" he said at the door, hugging and cheek kissing the petite, woman, over whom he towered.

"Charlie my big, brave cop!" she said with great pleasure.

(Both his Momma and Poppa had been proud of Charlie being a policeman, and had sincerely enjoyed his progress through the ranks.)

"He's great now that he is visiting his best girl!" Charlie answered.

She let out a barely suppressed giggle and she hugged him again.

"I have some fresh made cannoli," she said.

"Trying to fatten me up?" he chuckled and sat to a cup of coffee and one of his Momma's marvelous cannolis.

"How was the day?" she asked.

"Had a drink with Manny," he said, and grinned. "He sends his love!"

"A shyster, your friend Manny's a shyster!" she complained, half in good humor. This was part of their normal banter.

"Well, he sends his love anyway," Charlie said, and she smiled.

"Had a tussle at Manny's place," Charlie explained.

Then he went on to describe the scene with Shauna and the valets taunting her.

"You helped her?" Momma insisted.

"Yes, I did, Momma," he said. Then he went on with the story to describe how he'd intervened.

"None of the boys were badly hurt?" she asked next.

"No, Momma," he assured her. "We got it straightened out."

"And the woman?" she asked next, giving him a piercing look.

"Pretty," he said, "Definitely pretty!"

She picked up on his tone immediately: "Charlie! You were struck by this woman, how pretty she is!"

"Yes, Momma," he said, "But..."

"Tell me!" Momma went on.

"Well, Momma, she's black or afro american, I guess you say these days," he said, shaking his head.

She laughed: "Charlie DiAngelo, when did I raise you to be a racist or prejudiced?"

He gave her a piercing look: "Yes, you're right, Momma. It's just that you never know if a woman like that wants a guy like me to be bothering her or anything."

"Charlie, Charlie," Momma said, "Eat your cannoli and then go home and think about it. You don't need to make any decisions about; certainly not tonight. Just don't you be prejudiced against the woman because of her skin color."

"Yes, Momma," he said.

"So, tell me about her; what did your policeman instincts find out about her?"

He laughed at how cagey she was being as he described Shauna Blain in greater detail.

She smiled, when he was done: "My Charlie has a crush!" she said with great glee, as he blushed.

"Momma!" he protested, but she simply went to him and wrapped him up in a hug.

"I love you, Momma!" he said kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too, my brave policeman!" she said, leading him to the door.

INVESTIGATION AND ACTION

Both Charlie DiAngelo and Shauna Blain had relatively sleepless nights that night. The incident in the lot was working through both of their minds, pushing sleep away.

"Lovely woman!" Charlie finally concluded and remembered his Momma's words about how he should act but he just wasn't sure that he was up to it. It was as though Charlie DiAngelo's legendary courage was failing him.

For Shauna Blain it was a kind of glow that refused to be turned off. She relived the scene in the parking lot and the intervention of the big, fast policeman and she was pleased all over again, it even set her to giggling. At that point, she took herself in hand and tried to stop it:

"Alright, girl," she said to herself with some asperity, "No more of this mooning over a probably married policeman, even if he did do you a good turn. Just stop it!"

Sleep came to each of them, after that only slowly.

Charlie decided to look into Shauna Blain further but decided that he'd try to do it quietly, to not raise a fuss. He did succeed in discovering that she was at Manny's frequently because she worked as his accountant. Her normal job was teaching economics at a local college. He also discovered that she was unmarried and lived in an apartment. He was pretty pleased with the things that he discovered.

It was a few nights later, he'd also discovered, by then, her schedule at Manny's and knew that she'd be there that night. He was having his usual drink with Manny, later, after his shift.

"Momma sends her love," he said.

"Probably called me a 'shyster'!" Manny said with genuine affection.

"She did!" Charlie said.

"Thought so," Manny replied, laughing. "How is the world's most wonderful Momma doing?"

"Doin' fine," Charlie said. They talked a while and then he finished his drink and left, telling Manny that he might see him the next night.

He made his way outside then and stopped in the back parking lot at the edge of the trees. He was waiting there, when Shauna emerged from the door at the back of the restaurant. As he watched, she stopped, noticing that the valets had not yet left for the night. She watched them a bit tensely and they regarded her. She simply nodded her head and they did the same. It was then that Charlie stepped out of the shadows. The valets saw the big cop emerge from the shadows about at the same time that Shauna saw him.

Charlie saw her smile broadly and the valets, nodding to Charlie went their way. Charlie waited as Shauna made her way across the parking lot to where he was.

"Lieutenant DiAngelo," she said with a broad smile, "Are you by any means stalking me?"

He smiled in return and said: "Just protecting and serving."

She giggled and said: "I do appreciate you being here; I have to admit that I was nervous coming out tonight."

"They know now that I'm around and will be less likely in the future to cause trouble," he clarified.

"Yes, I think, hope that you're right," she said.

"I'll be around," he said.

"How nice that sounds!" she said then.

Then she ventured into an unknown territory with her next remark: "Don't you have to be home to the wife and kiddies?"

"No wife," he said, "No kiddies, and my Momma isn't expecting me to stop this late."

"Oh," she laughed, "A Momma's Boy!"

He laughed too: "You bet!"

She was chagrined almost immediately at what she'd said, and apologized: "Charlie, I'm sorry! That was rude. Here you are being so nice to me and I mouth off that way!"

He gave a short laugh and said: "Nothing but the truth. Up to now in my life, my Momma's been my girl!"

"Yes," she said,"Up to now!"

There was a silence then, which she broke saying: "Well, for being so nice to me, you get a hug!"

That took him aback a bit but she suddenly was in his arms and against him. It was only brief but felt wonderful. He was sorry that it hadn't lasted longer, and didn't know that at that precise instant, she was thinking the same thing.

"Thank you," he barely whispered, trying to keep his breath even and undisturbed.

"Thank you for protecting and serving," she said, giggling a bit, having realized that the hug had riled him up.

"I'll be here now and then," he replied.

"Wish you would!" she said and got into her car and left.

It was the following Wednesday. He'd been busy and hadn't looked in on her but he was there that night. The valets had already left, when the back door of the restaurant opened and she emerged. She saw him immediately and waved, going to him.

"How nice to see you, Charlie," she said, as she approached.

"Maybe the problem is taken care of," he remarked.

"Maybe but don't stop protecting me!" she said with a small laugh.

"Won't!" he said and by then, as they stood in the shadows of the tree at the edge of the lot, she was there and had her arms around him.

This wasn't a casual hug to thank him. This time Shauna was plastered against him, and rubbing her hips against him.

"Ohhh," he said softly and kissed her.

He found the kiss one that he could get lost in; it went on, and on, beginning soft and wet and getting more and more passionate as it went along, with her opening her mouth to invite his tongue to come for a visit.

Charlie got an erection immediately but before it could even disconcert him, she rubbed up against him again and said: "I can feel that, Charlie."

"If you keep up doing that," he said softly, "I'm going to cum in my pants!"

She giggled, and moved back just a bit.

"That's what I want!" she said. "What a compliment that is! That's what I want right now!"

"Oh," he groaned. "I've gotten myself tangled up with a crazy woman!"

"You have, Charlie DiAngelo!" she said, reaching down between them and, feeling the outline of his erection, began to rub it up and down."

"Ohhhh! Woman!?" he moaned.

"Yes, Charlie?" she said softly and pleasantly, "Problem? Officer in danger?"

He made a throat noise then and said, through clenched teeth: "Officer cumming!"

She giggled and held him with one arm, while finishing her manipulation of his erection through his pants with the other. He kind of shook and jerked around a bit for a number of seconds, as he did indeed, with her manipulations, cum in his pants.

She reached down between them then, brushing her lips along his.

"What are you doin' now?" he asked, still in half a trance.

"Gonna clean up my Charlie now!" she said.

She undid his belt and then the button on his pants unzipping them and letting them fall. She knelt and took off his loafers and helped him step out of his pants. He was too mesmerized to protest or do anything but what she wanted.

She was grinning, as she got his slacks off. She giggled, when she saw how stained his briefs were.

"I want these too," she said, taking his briefs off, leaving him almost naked from the waist down.

He was still staring at her as she stepped back and unbuttoned the waist button on her slacks, unzipping and slowly taking one leg and then the other out of the beige, raw silk slacks.

With him staring, not missing anything that she was doing, and fascinated by the swell of her hips, she took her panties off. She wadded them up in her hands and began to use them to clean the mess off of his stomach.

"You get these," she said, "And I'm going to keep these. I'll clean them up for you and give them back." She hesitated for only a few seconds and then said: "Okay, hug now, Charlie, before we get dressed."

They were arm in arm again, with him first smiling down at her and then kissing her.

"Doesn't feel like only an affair, Charlie!" she said to him softly.

"No, doesn't feel that way at all!" he agreed.

"Bring me back my panties soon!" she said.

"Where do you live?" he said.

She giggled, as she pulled her slacks up: "You're a detective! Detect!"

"I will!" he said, dressed too.

Then, before they went their ways, she sighed and hugged him again, holding on to him and moaning: "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie!"

"Yes, yes," he said, "I understand!"

LUNCH WITH MOMMA AND A VISIT:

Every time that he thought about it, let his mind wander back to that scene in the parking lot, the image of her smiling, laughing and giggling, as she rubbed his erection and made him actually cum in his pants, dominated his thinking. It fairly made him shake his head in wonder at this woman every single time that he thought about it.

He was in that frame of mind, when he stopped at his Momma's for coffee the next morning. She met him at the apartment door:

"Morning, love!" she said with her usual great affection.

"Morning, Momma!" he said giving her a hug and a kiss.

"Coffee, Charlie?" she asked.

"Yes, please!" he said.

They seated themselves at her kitchen table and each had a cup of coffee; she also gave him a muffin that she'd baked that morning.

"Okay, tell Momma," she said.

"Oh," he began and didn't know exactly how to proceed.

"It's that woman, isn't it, Charlie?" she asked softly.

"Yes, Momma," he said. "She's on my mind all the time!"

"Not a bad sign, it seems to me!" Angelina said.

He smiled at that and she went on: "Charlie, Charlie, just let yourself enjoy this for what it will be."

"Yes, I think so!" he said, shaking his head as though the thought had never occurred to him, but finding relief in her having said it out loud.

"Why are you so torn by this?" she asked.

"Because it doesn't feel like a simple 'liking' kind of thing, Momma!" he said, pain in his voice.

She put her hand over his and then got up and went to him, cradling his head against her stomach.

"Oh," she said softly, "My lovely, lovely Charlie, my big boy, my policeman is falling in love!"

"Momma with a black woman!" he said.

"What does it matter if she's green or blue or orange, so long as you feel what you do for this woman?" she said.

"As usual, you make such good sense," he said. "I love you, Momma."

"I love you too, my marvelous Charlie and I just want you to be happy!" she said. "Give her a chance. Does she feel the way that you do?"

"I'm beginning to think so," he said. "It certainly seems that way."

"Then give her a chance," she said.

"Yes, precisely," he said, as though the issue were settled to his contentment, "I'll give her a chance."

They sat a bit and talked about other things, with Angelina DiAngelo making up her mind about what she would do next.

Shauna Blain was having an afternoon cup of tea at her kitchen table, and looking over a magazine. She had had classes that morning and one in the early afternoon but was home for the day now, and didn't need to go to Manny's that night. The time stretched ahead of her and she was pleased and relaxed. The doorbell rang. She went to the door and was surprised to find a short, lovely Italian looking woman there.

"Shauna?" Angelina asked pleasantly.

"Yes?" Shauna responded.

"I'm Angelina DiAngelo," Momma explained.

"Momma? Charlie's Mom?" Shauna asked with some surprise.

"Yes," Angelina said, smiling broadly at the lovely, tall woman, who simply gaped at her.

"Please come in!" Shauna said, "Forgive my lack of manners!"

"Your manners are just fine, dear!" Angelina said, running her hand across Shauna's cheek, giving her goose bumps.

Shauna led Angelina toward the kitchen area and made her a cup of tea also. Then they sat pleasantly together.

"I know why you're here!" Shauna said, "I also suspect that Charlie doesn't know."

"He doesn't," Angelina said.

"The answer to your unasked, but I realize very important question, is that I have no intention of hurting Charlie," Shauna said.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Angelina said with great pleasure.

"He's big and he's good but in some ways our Charlie is fragile," Angelina went on. "He lost his father, when he was still young and it's been him and me since then. I'm afraid that you're bargaining for a Momma's boy."

"Sounds lovely to me!" Shauna said with a grin.

"He grew up and was chubby until mid high school, when he shot up in height and has been big and..." she was saying and hesitated when Shauna stepped in with:

"Gorgeous!"

"Yes," Angelina agreed, "Gorgeous ever since. But he never had much experience, emotionally with women."

"Yes, I understand," Shaun said, and put her hand over Angelina's. "I'll be so careful with him!"

"Thank you for letting me come into your home and talk here like a Momma!" Angelina said.

"Thank you for coming," Shauna said. She giggled then and said: "We need to take him out to dinner one day, the two of us."

"Yes," Angelina said, who loved the idea immediately. "Charlie and I have dinner every week. Why don't you just happen by and join us?"

Both of them were giggling about that possibility and decided to do it.

It was the following Wednesday, Charlie picked up his Momma and they went to a favorite Italian restaurant. They settled down and were each having a glass of wine, when Shauna Blain appeared at the table.

Charlie was dumbfounded. Angelina stood and gave Shauna a hug and said that she was glad that she could join them.

Charlie was gaping. His only comment, the only one he was capable of right then was: "Ohhh!"

"Give your girlfriend a hug, Charlie!" Angelina said, with a big grin at Shauna, and that stirred him into action. He stood and pulled her into his arms. While they were hugging, Shauna winked her eye at Angelina. When the hug broke, they kissed, and Angelina sighed.

"You two!" Charlie said, helping the two women with their chairs, and settling down at the table with them.

They both giggled.

"Feel outnumbered, Charlie?" Shauna asked.

He grinned.

"And you a big, bad copper!" Shauna went on, while Angelina put her hand over her mouth and giggled, and Charlie blushed.

"He blushes, Momma!" Shauna said with great appreciation, and they all shared a laugh.

Dinner was a smashing success. During the course of it, Angelina admitted that she'd found Shauna's address and went for a visit. They visited as though they had been family for a long while. Once Charlie settled down with the idea that he had been outmaneuvered by his Momma and Shauna, he was pleased and enjoyed the dinner.

ANOTHER VISIT:

Charlie was finished later that day than he thought that he would be. He'd promised Shauna that he'd come round to her place, after work, which was supposed to be by 9 PM but he was still at it at 11:30PM, when he finally left the station house. He called her on the phone, and got a somewhat sleepy voice.

"Shauna?" he said softly.

"Oh, I knew you'd call!" she said.

"Sorry to call so late!" he said.

"Not too late!" was her answer.

"Shall I come over?" he asked.

"Wish you would," she said, "You have something of mine and I don't have a thing to wear!"

He laughed and said: "Yep, have them right here, all laundered and pretty. They've been decorating the desk at the station house by the coffee machines all day."

He started to laugh at that point and she interrupted to say: "Be careful, policeman, I bite!"

He plunged on: "Had a nice sign on them: 'Property of Ms Shauna Blain, call 495-7723 for a good time!"

"Now I know that I'm going to bite you!" she said.

"Assaulting an office, and talking about it constitutes battery!" he said, "I'll be there soon to arrest you!"

"Try it, copper! Just try it!" she taunted.

He was there in quick time and rang her doorbell. She buzzed him in and he went to her apartment. When he got there he knocked softly.

"Who's there?" her voice said.

"Police, open up please!" he said.

She opened the door and stood there totally naked. He gaped for a few seconds and sighed.

"Told you that I don't have a thing to wear!" she said. "Give me my panties!"

Instead, he took her by the shoulders and turned her around. She squealed softly as he did. With expertise, he had her hands up in the air quickly and, getting another squeal from her amid her laughter then, he put hand cuffs on her extended hands at the wrists.

"What are you going to do?" she said, once he turned her around, still squealing softly with delight.

"Something massive!" he said, "We don't put up with intended biters!"

"Never said it!" she said stubbornly.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" he said.

"Not true," she said, giggling again, "I'm not wearing any; you have them!"

"They're still at the station house with your advertisement!" he said next.

She was about to answer him, when he cut off her reply by grabbing her and picking her up. She made a sound akin to 'eeeeeek', as he slung her over his shoulder. He was laughing and she was also.