by Jesse West
“I’ll give you one.”
“You’ll give me the three you promised and I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
This pleased the captain as he began taking deep breathes while listening to Lynn handle the situation. They both knew as well as Jack that this was the best deal he would get right now.
Rick continued to listen and watch, uncertain to what he can do to help. He was worried about his partner and he didn’t want to abandon him.
“For how long?”
“I can’t promise that, Jack.”
“You give me an hour.” He declared.
“Jack.”
“One Hour. That’s all I want. I give you the three hostages, you give me another hour. If I haven’t come out by the end of that hour then you have my permission to come in here and take me out.”
This didn’t sit well with Rick. He didn’t like it that they couldn’t see inside the house, that they knew very little, and that there was little he can do to fix it.
He saw the look in Lynn’s face as he glanced to the captain.
“What do you think?” the captain asked him.
“I think we should give it to him.” His response didn’t please the captain very much.
“Are you serious? How much longer are we going to allow this to go on for Lieutenant?!” the captain’s patience was wearing thinner by the second but Rick stepped in before Lynn could put in a word.
“As long as it takes captain!” this surprised the captain as he glared at Rick with discontent while he spoke. “That’s one of our guys in there! A good officer! And you want to just take him out! Is that how we help each other?! Is that how we deal with our fellow officer?!”
“You are out of line, Krauthammer!”
“He’s right!” Lynn spoke up in Rick’s defense and for the first time, they were on the same page.
“What?!” The Captain’s expression began teetering over the line of irritation.
“He’s right captain. That’s one of our men in there and we need to do whatever it takes to assure his safety before we attempt to just put him down like his life and service meant nothing!”
“You think he’s still a cop in there? That isn’t a cop. That is a deranged man with issues that are out of our control! And you want to pamper him? You want to give him what he wants? He is not in his right mind to be calling the shots.”
“You’re not in there with him so you can’t tell what’s going through his mind!”
“Another outburst like that against your superior and I’ll have your badge!”
“Enough!” Lynn broke up their argument. “I am still in command here Captain, so what I say is what goes until further notice!”
The Captain was reluctant but he knew he couldn’t do anything. “One more shot gets fired,” he said “and we go in.”
“Captain,” Rick started but before he could finish his thought, Lynn responded to his orders.
“Agreed.”
“What?!” Rick was appalled by this “We can’t just go in and take him out like that! It isn’t right!”
“We have to take all of the necessary precautions right now, officer.” Lynn stated. “He’s already gone back on his word once and we need to be prepared if he does it again.”
Rick was hesitant but he knew he was right.
“We give him the hour. If he doesn’t come out then, and only then,” he looked at the Captain “we go in and get him ourselves.”
The Captain shook his head in agreement. Rick didn’t like it but he agreed as well. He had faith in Jack. Deep down he wanted to believe that Jack would get through this.
“Jack.” Lynn got on the radio.
“I thought you forgot about me.” Jack replied.
“No, just having a little dispute out here.”
“So do we have a deal or not Lieutenant?” Jack’s tone was impatient.
“Yes Jack. You got your hour. Now give me my hostages.”
“They’ll be coming out the front door. Hold your fire and keep everyone behind the fence. I see a single person step foot across that gate, I put a bullet in one of their heads. You got me Lieutenant?”
“Loud and clear, Jack. No funny business. Just show me that you’re a man of your word.”
While the conversation over the radio was going on, the atmosphere in the room drew thick with anticipation. Jack and beaten and bloodied the three eldest men and he hadn’t harmed any of the women or children. Who was he going to let go. Gene. Bobby. Sal. They all needed medical attention. Nobody thought he was going to let his mother go. Perhaps Pauline and Gene together since they were the oldest in the room.
“Jack.” His mother called for his attention. Jack glared at her in his peripheral vision without actually turning his head. “Let Bobby go. He needs to go to the hospital.”
With her plea, Jack did a full turn to face her and the expression on his face was borderline offended at the idea.
“I can’t believe you.” He said “After everything, you are still this centered not only on yourself but also on him?” his voice a tone of disgust and annoyance. He shook his head as he turned away from her, ignoring what she had to say. It wasn’t unreasonable since he was the only one shot but Jack didn’t care. He was going to let him suffer.
He stood in the center of the dining room, looking around at everyone. In his mind, he knew any of the men needed to be carried out. He was only going to send out three and he knew exactly who it was going to be. He turned to the kids in the corner.
“Jimmy, Vick, Sisi.” They all looked at him. “Get up. You guys are getting out of here.”
This seemed like the smartest move to him. No one to carry, no one to untie, and seeing the children come out might win him a bit more leeway later down the line. That’s the rational thinking based on the situation in front of him but he was also thinking that he wanted to get Sabrina out of the house.
The kids stood up in shock and approached Jack. He turned and looked at his mother before walking them into the hallway.
“I guess you don’t care about anyone’s kids.”
She turned away from him as he spoke, as if to not acknowledge his words but she couldn’t hide that he was right.
Jack walked the kids into the hallway. Jimmy was right behind him followed by Vicky who was holding Sabrina’s hand. He stopped as they were approaching the stairs leading to the upper level and he realized he was getting too close. He stopped the kids where they were and did an overview of the surrounding windows by the door. He couldn’t see much but he couldn’t risk it.
“Alright Jimmy,” he turned and spoke to him as if he was a general and Jimmy was his soldier “I can’t go near that door. It’s too risky. I need you to lead your sisters out of the house and close the door behind you once you’re all out.”
“Ok.”
“This might be the last time you guys see me for a long time.”
“Jackie what about our mom?” Jimmy’s voice rang with worry as Jack listened to him. “And Uncle Bobby and Uncle Sal…”
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. You have to look after your sisters. You’re the man of your home. You have to defend it and the family you keep near you because the people in there are certainly not going to help you. You are tough and a smart kid. You have a lot of potential and you need to use it.”
Jimmy listened on intensively, hanging on to every word he was saying. These were words a father should tell his son but Jimmy didn’t have that growing up. Jack’s words were the closest thing he’s ever had. He stiffened his upper lip and shook his head in acceptance.
“Good man. Now get going.”
“Jackie.”
He turned to see the little voice coming from Sabrina. The first time she spoke to him all night.
“Yeah, Sisi?” he was nervous about what she was going to say. He was surprised that she even spoke to him after everything she had witnessed.
“Thank you for letting me go.” She stared at him with
tears building in her eyes.
“You’re welcome, kiddo.” Then he looked up at Vicky “and thank you for helping me before. I’m…I’m sorry I put a gun to your head.”
“It’s ok, I knew I didn’t have to worry.”
Jack looked at all three of them one last time. A once over of their faces is all he needed to know that if he did anything tonight, he brought their family closer. He saw James attempt to end everything by standing up to Jackie. With Vicky’s help, he was able to get things started off on the right foot for what he had planned even though it didn’t go according to how he mapped it out. He saw both of them be brave enough to stand up for what they believed in and they showed no fear of what they were encountering. He saw them both do what was needed to protect the others, especially their youngest sibling. With these two, he knew that nothing would ruin Sabrina. And now that their mother has her own issues to sort through, they can do so together as a family. This was something Jack was confident in.
“They’re coming out.” Jack spoke into the radio. “Now go, all of you. Before I change my mind.” He waved them off to go through.
Jimmy walked up and opened the door as light began to shine through from outside. Vicky following behind him holding Sabrina’s hand but she had let go of her and approached Jack before they got to the door. She stood there and stared at him as if she was hesitant about something. He stared back at her, uncertain to what would come next.
“Come on, Sisi. You gotta get out of…” and before he could finish, she sprung into him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. This feeling crushed Jack. It was the same feeling he got when he first walked in the door and saw her. He hugged her back and attempted to hold in his own emotions.
“I love you Jackie.” She said with tears in her voice.
“I love you too kiddo.” He replied, holding back his own tears.
“Sisi, we gotta go.” Vicky said, knowing the longer they embraced each other, the harder it would make it.
Jack pulled her off and looked at her deeply.
“Don’t hate me forever, ok?”
“I’ll try not to.” Behind her sadness, she was still a sarcastic 13 year old.
Jack smirked at her reply. “Go.”
And with that, the three of them walked out of the house closing the door behind them as they left. No one was able to see Jack from where he was standing and Jimmy had followed his instructions to close the door right as they left. As the kids approached the fence, some officers came by to escort them away.
Jack walked back into the dining room with his head low. But as he looked up, Sue was staring at him with tears in her eyes.
“Thank you.” She muttered.
Jack simply shook his head and walked into the living room, passing his mother who was staring at him as well. He approached the window and peaked out so no one could see him.
The kids were being brought to where Lynn, Rick, and the Captain were stationed.
“Kids, I’m Lieutenant Lynn, this is officer Krauthammer, and Captain Willigar.” He pointed to each of them as they were introduced and Sabrina looked at each one as he spoke their name. “Are you kids ok?” he asked.
“We’re fine.” Jimmy replied.
“He didn’t hurt any of you, right?”
“No. He was good to us.” Vicky said.
“Well, he said before that he hurt someone. Can you tell me who he has injured?”
None of them spoke.
“Is anyone hurt severely?”
None of them spoke.
“You guys gotta know something.”
None of them spoke. Lynn was unhappy with this response.
“Have them all debriefed, separately. I need to know more about what’s going on in there” He directed to one of the other officers.
“You’re the guy on the radio right?” Jimmy spoke up and asked him.
“Yes.” Lynn replied with curiosity in his voice.
“Just keep to your word and leave him alone.” Jimmy said.
Lynn’s curiosity had peaked. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean just let him do what he has to do. That’s the only way this is going to end.”
Lynn was hesitant to what he was saying, as if he didn’t want that to be the only option. But with nothing else going in their favor, he had to keep going the way things were for now.
“Just give these officers as much information as you can. Can you guys do that for me?”
They all nodded in agreement and left with the other officers. Lynn turned and face the patrol car with all of his files. He put one hand on the hood and ran the other through his sweaty brown hair. He was frustrated at the position he was in and he needed something to break in order to change things. He hoped the kids could give him more to work with.
Jack looked on and could tell from his body language that he was anxious. He turned away from the curtain and paced slowly in the dining room. Silence in the house at this point. Jack sat down on the couch and didn’t say a word. Nothing but silence in the house. Nothing but him with his thoughts and like old video footage, the last year continued to reel over and over again in his head. It was beginning to throw him off track even when he attempted to snap himself out of it.
“I gotta get my thoughts straight.” He thought to himself. “I only have an hour. I gotta figure this out.”
He tried as hard as he could but all he could think about was how quiet it was right now. No one was speaking. There was barely any noise from outside. He felt like it was the first time in over the last year that he was ever in a place where it was this quiet. An uncomfortable quiet.
“Why is it so quiet?”
Father
I can’t remember the last time I was in a room this quiet.
It’s unpleasant.
Almost unbearable.
I can’t think straight with the silence.
It seems relentless.
Almost as if it’s beckoning me to break it.
To charge through it like a wave on the beach.
It hurts to think of why this silence makes me so uneasy.
Spending all that time in and out of hospitals for so long.
So much noise.
It’s no wonder this makes me so uncomfortable.
I can still remember the first time.
I had been going to every one of his doctor’s appointments to make sure one of us remembered what he needed to do. His medication, his exercises, and his next appointment. He was always bad with memory. Especially after he had to stop working. He seemed to not care anymore.
But if you didn’t care, then why did you keep going to the damn appointments?
Old man never made any sense to me sometimes…but I was there. I wasn’t going to leave him.
He was all I had…
His first surgery scared me. They noticed an abnormality in his heart. They suggested a few things before it undoubtedly pointed to surgery. It shook me hard like someone tossed my ears in a blender and I had to watch them turn it on. I didn’t want to hear surgery but both he and I knew it was inevitable.
I researched and research as much as I could and thankfully a lot of doctors came highly recommended for the operation. I kept hearing testimonies and seeing statistics about doctor after doctor until it seemed like I looked up every doctor in Brooklyn. I couldn’t have been making sure he was going to be ok more in my life than at that point in time.
When we finally decided on a doctor, we made all the necessary preparations for the worst case scenario. He always had this way about him. As if he didn’t care. He knew the surgery was risky. Christ, they cut open your chest. That idea alone gave me chills.
I still remember sitting in that waiting room. All the hectic hospital sounds. Nurses telling patients what they needed to do, security guards discussing politics amongst themselves, bad day time television, and worried family members waiting for doctors. I was one of them. I just sat there and waited. I didn’t have an appetite or anythin
g. Like I didn’t care about myself in that moment. I was just waiting.
I remember the lack of concern on his face. I couldn’t tell if he was being strong for me, making sure I wasn’t worried, or he was prepared for the worst. The doctor was good, the hospital had a great reputation, but shit happens. He knew that just as well as I did…but I wasn’t accepting that now.
An hour went by.
It felt like a year.
Every second of waiting just making my nerves ring like there was a telethon going on in my body.
Every minute felt like a day.
Just sitting there…waiting.
The doctor finally came out and told me that everything went well. He was resting and he’d be able to go home tomorrow. They wanted to run some overnight tests. I was ok with that as long as he was still alive. I always sad that when the old man died it would be the end of me.
I’d lose my mind.
I got to see him but he was still asleep. The nurse explained to me that his vitals were fine but I was barely listening. I just looked at him for a few minutes and left, thinking all was going to be ok.
I came back for him the next day with the hopes of taking him home. They gave me the rundown of how his life was going to be for him from now on. It meant he needed a lot more help and attention. He couldn’t lift anything or strain himself too much with the risk of effecting his heart. They installed a heart monitor in his chest to track his heart beat rate or something…I forgot what it was meant for medically but I remember them showing me the model of what it looked like. It was tiny and narrow, almost looked like a pack of gum only it was metal.
I knew he was going to need more help after this, I had accepted that I became the adult and he was the child already. Of all the things I was already doing, there wasn’t much that needed to be changed. Just more medication to keep track of.
I knew this was hard with my job. I had only been a cop for about two years. To some, this is still a probation period. They understood me though, so that was good. I just wanted to be out there more. If it wasn’t for Rick and the other guys always helping me with shift changes I don’t know what I’d do.