“He’s the one who called me.He’s not here to hurt her.He’s here to protect her.Get those cuffs off of him.”Marcus snarled at his officers.
The one who put the handcuffs on Damien hurried to unlock them, then handed his phone back.“Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Damien said.
“It’s not fine,” Marcus barked.“What reason did you have for going after him?”
“There was a woman running out of the building when we got here.She said he chased her and was going after her friend.Told us right where to find him.”
“And you never put it together that she was the one you were looking for?The call said a woman was being followed by another woman, white with blonde hair, wearing jeans and a black top.What did the woman you encountered look like?”
The cops shuffled their feet as their blunder sank in.
Captain Patrick narrowed his eyes at them.“So you both reacted to the word of the person we were here to find and ended up letting her go and detaining the man who asked for our help.That’s not how this is supposed to work.Not in my department.”
“Yes, sir,” the cops said together.
“Mr.Joseph would be within his rights to sue you both for putting him in handcuffs tonight.”
The cops glanced up at Damien as if they were afraid of him.
“That’s not going to happen,” Damien said.
“But it could,” Marcus continued.“It’s not Mr.Joseph’s responsibility to teach the two of you how to treat a Black man.You need to know this on your own.He’s being kind, and I’m not pushing him to do anything different, just making sure you both understand that errors like this are damaging to the people you commit them against.You two need to pay attention to all the things that happen on a call.You reacted in the moment, and you read things as they were presented to you instead of remembering what you were told when you got this call.This job isn’t always about seeing what’s right there, it’s about what people want us to see.”
“Yes, sir,” they said.
“I think you both have the potential to be excellent cops, but it’s about more than just catching someone.It’s about catching the right someone and protecting the ones who need it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Head back outside and see if you can find that woman.I’m sure she’s long gone, but look for anything that’s out of the ordinary.”
“Yes, sir,” the cops said, rushing to get to the hallway and out of the building.
Marcus looked at Damien with shame.“There is no amount of apology I can offer you, but I am sorry for what happened.”
Damien shrugged.“I know how it looked.Even without that woman telling them to come and get me.All that matters is Harmony.”
Both men turned to look at her.
She hadn’t changed out of the dress she wore on their date.The dark blue color complemented her skin tone and her auburn hair.The silver swirls made his finger itch to follow the same lines all across her body.She’d ditched her leopard print flats, but that let Damien see the dark blue color of her toenails.
He’d never thought twice about a woman’s toes until he was staring at Harmony’s and wondering what other colors she painted her toes, if she changed the color depending on her outfit, and if he’d be any good at painting them for her.
“I’m okay,” she said, dragging Damien’s thought from her toes.“I don’t know who she was.”
“Did she hurt you?”Damien asked.
Harmony shook her head and looked between the two men.“No.She… I guess you know she followed me into the bathroom?”
Damien nodded.“I asked the manager to see the security footage.She watched it and saw the woman follow you out of the restaurant.She shared a screenshot of the woman, and I called Marcus on my way here.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Harmony.”
“You, too,” she said, smiling shyly at him.
“Damien is a good man.If anyone ever tells you otherwise, they’re lying,” Marcus said.
