by Bill Bernico
“What a coincidence,” Matt said. “I was just in your city a couple of days ago.”
“Not such a coincidence,” Darnell said. “That’s kind of the reason I’m calling. I got your card from one of our local merchants, Antonio Navarro.”
“Yes?” Matt said. “What about him?”
“Actually, Mr. Cooper, he’s dead.”
Matt’s mouth fell open and he remained speechless for a moment before saying, “How, when did this happen?”
“As I’m sure you are aware, Mr. Cooper, some of our merchants had been having trouble with some of the gang members in Venice. They were being shaken down for protection money.”
“Excuse me?” Matt said.
“Come on, Mr. Cooper,” the lieutenant said. “You don’t have to play coy with me. I know the whole story and you’re not in any trouble, so why not do me the courtesy of not acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Sorry, Lieutenant,” Matt said. “Go on.”
“After the shooting at Mr. Navarro’s store I had my men out combing the neighborhood for the shooters. We didn’t find them, but they found Mr. Navarro and confronted him about talking to the police. Well, one thing led to another and Mr. Navarro pulled a gun from somewhere under his counter and shot one of the gang members, killing him. The other gang member pulled his own piece and killed Mr. Navarro.”
“Oh gees,” Matt said. “Sounds like it really got out of hand.”
“That’s not the half of it,” Darnell said. “Some of the other merchants who had had enough banded together and surrounded the second gang member and managed to subdue him. His partner, the one who was shot and killed was the lucky one. They took this second gang member and covered his mouth with duct tape and drove him to the 5800 block of Wilshire Boulevard.”
“The LaBrea Tar Pits,” Matt said, knowing of the famous tourist attraction. “Don’t tell me.”
“I’m afraid so. They tossed him in and just stood there watching him sink over his head.”
“How do you know all this?” Matt said.
“We sent a diver down and he brought the body up early this morning,” Darnell explained.
“You can send a diver down into tar?” Matt said.
Darnell sighed. “Mr. Cooper, most people think the LaBrea Tar Pits are filled with only tar. Not so. The pit is actually filled with black murky water with deposits of tar in and around it. It looks almost like a pond filled with drain oil.”
“But I always heard that is was a bottomless pit. How did your diver get down far enough to recover a body?”
“Actually the tar pits are only twenty-two feet deep or less,” Darnell said. “We purposely made headlines with our find to send the message out to the criminal element that the tar pits would not be a good place to try to dispose of weapons or other evidence.”
“You said you were calling me because you found my card on Mr. Navarro,” Matt said. “Was there something specific you wanted from me, Lieutenant?”
“Actually, I need you to come into the Venice station and give us your statement in this matter of the merchants versus the gangs. Merely a formality, Mr. Cooper. Do you suppose you could stop in sometime this morning? I’d like to tie up these last few loose ends as soon as possible.”
“No problem, Lieutenant,” Matt said. “I can be there within the hour. I’ll see you then. Goodbye.”
“Did you get a case for us, Matt?” Benny said.
“Not exactly,” Matt said. “It’s a follow-up to something I was working on last week. I have to go to Venice and talk with the police there.”
“Could I come along?”
Matt thought about it for a moment and decided it could be a good learning experience for Benny on how to interact with the police departments in the area. “Sure. Grab your jacket and I’ll lock the place up.” Matt switched on the answering machine and headed out the door with Benny in tow.
It was quarter to ten when Matt parked his car in the police department parking lot. He and Benny got out and walked into the station. Matt asked for Lieutenant Darnell and was asked to have a seat on the bench in the hall. A minute later a no-nonsense looking policemen with lieutenant bars on his collar walked up to where Matt and Benny were sitting.
“Mr. Cooper?” Lieutenant Darnell said.
Matt said that he was and introduced the lieutenant to his new partner, Benny. Darnell told the two men to follow him to his office and invited them both to sit. Matt looked around the office and noticed several framed documents with fancy scroll work around the edges. Each document had Lieutenant Vincent Darnell written in the middle in a calligraphy font. There were several framed photos of the lieutenant shaking hands with people Matt didn’t recognize.
Benny watched with fascination as Matt and the lieutenant went through the necessary steps to secure Matt’s statement and make sure they covered all the bases before they concluded their business. Matt’s eyebrows furrowed. “Lieutenant,” he began. “What happened to the gangs? Were you able to prosecute any of their members?”
Darnell sighed and shook his head. “The two we could have prosecuted are dead. Navarro shot the first one and someone, we still don’t know who, dropped the other one in the tar pits. With all the merchants keeping their mouths shut, there’s no one we can directly connect to the second killing. The D.A.’s not anxious to go any further with the investigation anyway. Things are as they should be around here and he wants to keep it that way.”
“And the gangs?” Matt said.
“They followed the example of several other Los Angeles area gangs and pulled up stakes and moved down to Inglewood. I don’t know what they expect to find down there, but at least they’re out of our hair and that’s got to be worth something. It sure makes my job a lot easier, I have to tell you.”
The meeting ended with the two men shaking hands and parting ways. Matt led Benny back out to his car and then turned to Benny. “Well, did you learn anything in there?”
“I think I did, Matt,” Benny said. “For one, I learned to keep my mouth shut and to listen. I think I was able to follow most of the steps in that paper shuffle you and the lieutenant went through.”
Matt smiled and nodded. “Good man. I think you’re going to do well in this business. Say, have you ever been to Venice? Want to see the town as long as we’re here?”
“Actually, Matt,” Benny said. “I used to come down here all the time.”
“You did?” Matt said. “For what?”
Benny blushed a little and then said, “Mostly for the girls, but it’s also a great place for me to use my roller blades. This area is just made for roller blades.”
“I suppose so,” Matt said, trying to remember if he ever tried roller blades or skates. He couldn’t think of any time he rolled along the sidewalk in a vertical position. Ah, to be young again, he thought. But then, that’s probably the same thing Elliott thought every time he looked at Matt. It’s all relative, I suppose.
On the ride back to the office Benny spotted a small mom-and-pop market and pointed to it. “Can we stop there for a minute, Matt?”
“I suppose,” Matt said, pulling his car into the parking lot alongside the market.
“I’ll just be a minute,” Benny said, sliding out of the car and hurrying into the market. He emerged several minutes later carrying a brown paper bag and slid back into his seat.
Matt gestured at the bag with his chin. “What’s in the bag?”
Benny smiled, pulled out two plastic pint bottles of chocolate milk, handed one to Matt and said, “Here’s to my new career,” and twisted off the cap. Matt followed his example and did the same. The two men toasted to Benny’s new job. Benny opened the top of the bag and tilted it toward Matt. “Donut?”
Matt grabbed a chocolate frosted cake donut and took a big bite, washing it down with some more chocolate milk. As far as this being a career for Benny, it was still up in the air. Only time would tell.
141 - The Mentor
/> Matt Cooper’s new partner was a kid named Benny Briggs who knew how to handle himself better than one might think at first glance. Benny was a slight kid and probably didn’t weigh more than a hundred and a half even though he stood six feet one in his stocking feet. Benny had taken his share of beatings from the bullies in school and that was what prompted him to spend the summer before his senior year at Hollywood High School taking self-defense lessons. Needless to say, after that it took only one aggressive act from any of those bullies before they found out that they would no longer be using Benny as their personal punching bag.
Matt liked that about Benny. On the outside he was tough as nails but on the inside there was something endearing about his meek and shy demeanor. Matt had hired Benny three weeks earlier after a brief twenty minute interview. Benny was to fill the slot left by Matt’s dad, Elliott, after Elliott had fallen and fractured his hip. It was just a matter of time, Matt figured, since Elliott had recently turned seventy. He had retired once before but came back after just three months idle. This time he was retired for good.
Benny had spent the first week of the new job riding along with Matt and getting to know the neighborhood as well as Matt’s friends and colleagues. At the start of Benny’s second week, Matt had taken him to the shooting range to familiarize him with firearms; handguns in particular. Though he had not had much experience with a .38 revolver like the one Matt carried, Benny took to it like a natural marksman, scoring high and passing the safety course on his first try. He secured his carry permit with a little help from Matt and Matt’s friend at the twelfth precinct, Lieutenant Kevin Cole. Matt and Benny had a good working relationship—like a mentor and his protégé.
This morning as Matt sat reading the morning paper, the office door opened and Benny walked in, ten minutes early as usual. He was one of those guys who’d rather be ten minutes early for anything than ten seconds late.
“Good morning, Matt,” Benny said as he hung up his jacket and headed for his desk.
Matt laid the paper down and stood. “Don’t get comfortable, Benny. I have an assignment for you, if you’re interested.”
“You bet I am, Matt,” Benny said eagerly. “Are you giving me a case to work on?”
“In a roundabout way,” Matt said. “Come on, you can ride with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
The two of them slid into Matt’s car and tooled it east on Hollywood Boulevard, heading for Glendale. As they passed the local foreign car dealer, Benny pointed to a black sedan on display in the front row. “Someday,” he said, keeping his eye on the iconic car as they drove by, “That’ll be mine.” He turned to Matt. “Didn’t you ever want something so bad you could almost taste it? Well, that’s the way it is with me and that car.”
“Aren’t you setting your sights a little low?” Matt said. “That’s an old car by anyone’s standards. Hell, it’s got to be thirty-five years old.”
“Exactly,” Benny said. “It’s a classic. Did you know you can buy that car now for less than the price of a decent motorcycle? But boy, when that thing was new it would have set you back a cool quarter million.”
“Doesn’t say much for holding its value, does it?”
“That’s the beauty of it, Matt. Someone else has already taken the depreciation on it. Let them dish out the big bucks for a new one. I’ll take that old style any day. There’s just something about the grille and hood ornament of a Rolls Royce that I love.”
“It’ll be more expensive than you can imagine,” Matt said. “Those things get, what, ten miles to the gallon if you’re lucky?
“Still,” Benny said, “It’s a Rolls Royce.” He lost himself in daydreams about riding around town in that car and then snapped out of it. “So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“We’re going to my house,” Matt said.
“But I’ve already met your family,” Benny said. You’ve got a couple of great kids, by the way.”
“That’s kind of why we’re going there,” Matt explained. “I’d like you to talk to my boy, Nicky, if you wouldn’t mind. He’s having some trouble at school and I think you’ll be able to help him.”
“What’s the matter, doesn’t he quite grasp the concept of dividing fractions, or is it the spelling that’s got him stymied?”
“No,” Matt said. “He’s a regular whiz kid as far as the academics go.”
“Then what else could he be having trouble with in school?” Benny knew what it was as soon as the words left his mouth. “Oh, I get it. Is he having trouble with some of the other boys in his class?”
Matt nodded. “Poor kid. We’ve told him from an early age not to hit his sister, but she has no hesitation when it comes to hitting him. That kind of put him in the mode of not defending himself, but this thing at school, well, that’s a different story. A guy has to be able to know how to defend himself. You of all people should know that.”
“I know it all too well,” Benny said. “Sure, I’ll be glad to have a talk with him.”
“I was hoping it could be more than just a talk, Benny. How would you feel about giving him a few self-defense lessons? I’d take it as a personal favor and I know Nicky would appreciate it as well.”
Benny held up one hand. “Say no more. I’ve been in his place and boy, what I wouldn’t have given for someone to have taken me under their wing, so to speak. Could have saved myself a beating or two. So, tell me, how far do you want me to take this thing? Are we talking enough to send the other guy to the intensive care unit, or just enough so they won’t bother him anymore?”
“How about if we go with the second option for now,” Matt said. “There’ll be plenty of time later to turn him into a stone killer.”
Benny’s face went blank. He wondered if he’d overstepped his bounds with that offbeat sense of humor of his. Then when Matt broke out in laughter, Benny breathed easy again and laughed along with him.
“You’ll do just fine with him,” Matt said. He paused momentarily and then added, “And one more thing, Benny. Maybe you could put it to him in a way to make him think it’s his idea to have you teach him.” Matt elbowed Benny. “There he is now.” Matt gestured with his chin out the window at Nicky, who was playing in the yard. He and his sister, Veronica had the summer off and they knew how to make the most of every minute of it. Matt tapped his horn and got Nicky’s attention. Nicky came running over to the car when he saw his father pulling into the driveway.
“Hi, Dad,” Nicky said with a smile. “What are you doing home already?”
“I forgot something inside,” he lied. “I just came by to pick it up.” Matt tossed his head toward Benny but looked at Nicky. “You remember Benny, don’t you, Nick?”
“Sure,” Nicky said, waving at Benny. “Hi Mr. Briggs.”
“Hi Nicky,” Benny said.
Matt turned to Benny. “Wait out here, would you? I won’t be long. Why don’t you talk to Nicky until I get back?”
Benny slid out of the car and came around to Nicky’s side and extended his hand. “Enjoying the summer?”
“You bet,” Nick said, shaking Benny’s hand. “Are you and Dad going out on a case after this?”
“Not that I know of,” Benny said. “So, how’s it going for you in school?”
Nicky shrugged and spread his hands. “Okay, I guess.”
“So what grade are you going to be in this fall?”
“Sixth,” Nick said. “Mr. Nash’s class.”
“Ah, sixth grade,” Benny said. “I remember it like it was yesterday. Boy I tell you, I had one kid in my class that was a real… Oh, you don’t want to hear about this, do you?”
“Sure I do,” Nicky said. “What about that one guy?”
Benny sighed and gave his head a single shake. “Ray Miller,” he said. “There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t pick on me. What a son-on-a…gun he was.”
Nicky gave Benny his full attention now. “Really? What
did you do?”
“What could I do?” Benny said. “I was scared of him and he knew it, so he would always hit me. I figured that if he was mad at me now, that he’d be even madder if I hit him back. But you know that’s the worst thing I could have done because it made him want to hit me all the more. I wish I would have had someone who could have taught me to fight back.”
“Yeah,” Nicky said, almost dreamily. “I mean, yes, that would have been nice.”
Benny looked Nicky over and then said, “Take you, for example. You look like someone who could take care of himself in a fight. Am I right?”
“Well, I don’t…”
“I mean, just look at those muscles. I’ll bet you have to fight those sixth grade girls off with a stick, don’t you?”
Nicky blushed and looked down at the ground.
“You know, Nicky,” Benny said. “I was almost finished with high school by the time I finally got around to learning how to fight. Boy, I wish I’d learned sooner so I wouldn’t have had to run away from Ray all the time. But now that I know how to fight, I never get the chance anymore. I haven’t even seen Ray since high school. I just wish I had someone who wanted to learn what I learned about self-defense. I’d get a real kick out of teaching someone.”
Nicky fell silent for a moment and then said, “I guess it would be all right if you showed me what you learned, I mean, that is if you want to.”
Benny grabbed Nicky’s biceps and gently squeezed. “Of course a guy like you doesn’t really need lessons, but I’d consider it a personal favor to me if you’d let me just show you what I learned.”
“I guess that would be all right,” Nicky said, trying to contain the inner glee he was feeling.
“That’s great,” Benny said. “I don’t have time right now, but how about later today when I’m done with work. Would it be all right if I stopped back later?”
“Sure,” Nicky said eagerly and then toned it down a little. “I mean, if you want to.”
“Perfect,” Benny said. “I’ll stop by sometime after five.”