S1 E10: Death Inc. Pt. 3

Silver Heart (Present Day) 

I looked down in shock at the steel handcuffs as the other side of the cuffs were attached to a man in a brown trench coat. Upon closer inspection, the trench coat concealed a police uniform… And under a hat, I saw the face of the officer I had kicked. 

“You’re not getting away this time!” The officer grinned triumphantly, his nose moving only slightly under his fresh bandage.  

“You're the cop I kicked in the face this afternoon,” I exclaimed, dumbfounded.  

How is my luck so bad that I would run into a police officer with a personal vendetta against me just a few hours before my birthday? 

“Looks like Karma got you,” he spat, gesturing at my nose. Then his tone deepened as he caressed his gun. “Assaulting an officer is nothing to be proud of. It can get you in real trouble.” 

“Look, I’m really sorry, but I can’t go back to jail,” I half apologized while struggling against the cuff trying to get it off. The police officer was a lot stronger than he looked and held his ground while simultaneously fighting to tighten my side of the cuffs.  

“Oh, you’ll be sorry, all right. A night in our holding cell will make sure of that.”  

No, I've worked so hard! It can't end like this! I need to escape somehow… 

My freehand stopped trying to loosen the handcuffs and grabbed my backpack strap, instinctively. Those twin guns, relics of a poisonous past, popped into my head.   

Should I use those again? 

I could feel my eyes burn, slowly changing to that violent red. The echoes of gunfire and tortured screams drifted at the edge of my hearing as I stared at the officer's holstered gun, wondering how quickly he could draw it, since I was in no position to get out my own guns from my bag. It wouldn't have been my first close-quarter encounter, but it was always a huge risk. The injuries, the potential body count and collateral damage... 

No, be better than you were. Do it for Auntie, for Vixen, for Zack, for June, and for Mom... It's finally time to face the music…  I've done a little time before. I can do it again... Even if it's for life this time. I owe it to them; to the only ones who cared about my morality.

I stopped struggling, catching the police officer off guard. We stood there in silence. I could tell he was waiting for me to try something else, but I was done. I was ready to repent. I let out a small sigh to force my body to relax and signal to the police officer that I was no longer a threat. I would go with him peacefully, but I didn't need my red eyes to make matters more complicated. I gritted my teeth and focused on happier things. I needed my bloodlust to subside if I was going to get rid of that cursed color my father gave me. 

As the burning sensation dissipated, removing all traces of the red iris, the officer watched me closely, confused. It was known I had red eyes when upset, plastered all over my jail records. So, it was the only way I could prove to him that I was truly surrendering. A few more moments passed as onlookers whispered safe distances away.

"You gonna call it in or what?"

The cop raised his eyebrows. "You want to be arrested? You just tried to resist, even said you couldn't go back."

"Not really, but I'm tired, cold, and injured from multiple events," I sighed. "I don't have it in me to fight anymore, at least, not tonight. Call it a change of heart or maybe I just wanna get in a warm car. Haven't you heard the saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?"

He stared at me hard, trying to determine if I was lying, before he pulled his radio off his shoulder and pressed the receiver. “I've got that kid we've been looking for in custody. I’ll explain how I got him when I come back to the precinct.” 

“Copy that. What’s your location?” The radio replied in excited surprise. I had been running for so long that I guess some people would be ecstatic at my capture.  

 “I’m outside the precinct's favorite café a few blocks away. The one that's an old-style diner with a big window.”  

“Understood. Sending a backup unit to assist with the transfer now,” the radio informed him before cutting out to static. The officer cleared his voice and smugly recited the typical arrest speech. 

“You have the right to remain silent–” 

I ignored the rest of his annoying speech. This wasn't my first rodeo, and it's not like they've changed the Miranda Warning in the last forty-eight, almost forty-nine years. Once the backup squad car arrived, I was escorted to an unmarked car down the street and had my backpack removed under the watchful eye of four officers. They searched it and found only clothes. The relics of my past were well hidden; a nod to the time in my life where that was a survival skill. I was then tossed in the back and had to endure an annoying ride to the station. The officer seemed to only be interested in gloating loudly with various insulting jabs at my injuries or staring silently, triumphantly at me through the rearview mirror.  

I did my best to ignore him and all the dark memories that were bubbling up to the surface. I tried to distract myself by watching the nightlife outside the window, but the call girls and addicts only amplified the bittersweet past that danced in my mind’s eye. That old way of life was dangerous, exciting even, but it was a cage that could only be traded for a coffin or prison. I had avoided the coffin I desperately wanted and been in prison before… Well, if you could call Juvie a prison.  

We had it a lot easier than the adults. I'm still unsure how my lawyer convinced them not to charge me as an adult. My crimes were nothing to sneeze at, and other kids had been tried as adults for less. Then again, Big Daddy paid him well, and who knows who else got the bribe money? They couldn't get me completely off the hook, but I was back on the streets ready to work a lot sooner than I should've been. Though no one could have predicted my sudden change in career and my rather violent resignation... 

I wonder if that event is what they're arresting me for; or have they not figured out that connection? If this is a different warrant, is it for the crimes I committed surviving in the homeless network? Maybe he just wants to get back at me for his nose? Too many sins to keep track of… 

My thoughts were thankfully interrupted by our arrival at the plain-looking station. I had my bag checked into evidence the moment we arrived; most likely to cover all their bases and have someone else thoroughly check it over. Meanwhile, I was quickly processed, had my prints taken, and got another set of mugshots. Out of everything, I hated the mugshots the most. Cameras made me nervous… Fearful even. They were never a good thing in my life. At least the mugshots were quick, and I got to decompress afterward since I had to wait for the arresting officer to put me in a cell. He explicitly told everyone he ‘got this trophy and was seeing it through to the end’... Cops and their egos. I shut my eyes and decided to doze off for a bit. It was comfortably warm and a lot safer to sleep in than on the street.