Despite my initial reservations, I’m actually looking forward to hanging out with Rhea. This could be fun.
Chapter 15
Rhea - Go Titties!
“But they really fired you for that?”
Aiden just doesn’t want to believe that the police commission would choose to let me go rather than upset the mayor. Sadly, it’s the truth. Law enforcement is just as much a political game as anything else, I’ve come to realize.
“Yeah,” I say around a mouthful of the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted. “The guy is friends with the mayor and I was a low-ranking officer. His wife refused to press charges and my partner’s word wouldn’t count for anything without a witness.”
Aiden chews his egg white omelette without answering. Who orders an egg white omelette at a diner, anyway. Pancakes and waffles are the only acceptable breakfast foods in a diner. Everyone knows that.
“And you’ve already used your appeals so there’s really nothing you can do?”
“Nope, nothing left. So now I need to figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, now that being a cop is no longer an option. I almost wonder if I’m better off this way? It always felt like my hands were tied when I really wanted to help someone.”
I take a drink of my coffee and have a look around the diner. We’re sitting in a booth in the front window at the back of the diner, and I’m facing the door. I never feel comfortable with my back to the door, and if I can manage it, I like to sit with my back against a wall instead of another table. The thought of someone having access to me from behind bothers me.
The door opens and three older ladies walk in, making a bee-line right to where I’m sitting with Aiden. Well, the diner is a long train car with booths on one side of the aisle, and a counter on the other, so it’s not like they could walk in a different direction, but they seem to stride with a purpose. They’re all wearing track suits in complementary, but not matching, shades of purple, and the one in the front is wearing a trucker’s cap that reads ‘fuck bitches, get money’. The other two haven’t accessorized their track suits, aside from the matching white high-top sneakers all three of them wear.
“Well, would you look at who it is?” The first woman, the clear leader of this trio, says while sliding into the booth next to Aiden. “Are you going to introduce us to your lovely friend here?” She gestures over to me.
Aiden rolls his eyes and mouths, ‘I’m so sorry,’before beginning the introductions.
“Gran, you remember Officer Ryan, don’t you? She was there the day that Denise’s ex tried to get one over on you and Gladys? Rhea, this is Ryder’s Gran, Delores, and her friends Gladys and Lana.”
One of the women, Lana, slides in next to me and the other, Gladys, sits on a stool directly opposite our table.
“Yeah, you old fart. Remember that jack-off whose ball hairs I singed off with my stun gun? And then you tied him up with your pink rope?” says Gladys from her seat at the counter.
I laugh, remembering the proper job these two ladies did of restraining that man. By the time Kaden and I had shown up, they had him gagged and hogtied on the floor at their feet while they sat on the couch drinking whiskey out of teacups. I could barely contain my laughter. Kaden even cried because he was laughing so hard.
“Hello ladies, it’s nice to see you again.” I take a drink of my water. “Please call me Rhea, though. I’m not actually an officer anymore.”
“What?!” the old lady crew yells in unison.
“You’re such a good cop, though. I could tell by the way you handled yourself that day. Very professional. Not like your partner, officer gigglepants.” Ryder’s gran, Delores adds.
The woman sitting next to me speaks up. “What happened, sweetie?” she asks, putting a hand on my shoulder.
Normally I hate when people use terms like sweetie and honey with me, because it’s hard to maintain authority when a person is patronizing you, but this woman is so cute, and so ridiculous in her purple track suit that I just can’t hold it against her.
“I, uh, arrested the wrong person, apparently. Someone with a friend in power and they used that relationship to get me fired using the lie that I used excessive force when I arrested him.”
All three ladies gasp, then turn to glare at Aiden with raised eyebrows. Like a synchronized scolding from grannies, and I’m glad I’m not on the receiving end of it. A chill runs up my spine in sympathy for Aiden.
“And… Have you done anything yet, Aiden?” Delores asks.
“Oh, no, Delores,” I say. “Aiden can’t do anything. I’ve used up all of my appeals and I could never ask someone to lie in my defence.”
The ladies all laugh.
“First, call me Gran. I insist.” Delores, I mean Gran, points at me. “Second, I wasn’t asking Aiden to do that. I was asking if he’d used some of the special tricks he uses on deserving scumbags. This guy who got you fired, sounds like a prime example of someone who needs to be taken down a few notches.”
Aiden looks at me and mouths,‘sorry’again, although I’m not sure what he has to be sorry about. These ladies are hilarious.
“I thought about that as soon as I heard, Gran, but Devon told me not to do anything. They would blame anything I could do on Rhea, and she has enough to worry about right now.”
