Page 112 of Family Affair

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” the young officer mumbled. “I’ll righten it. We’ll just finish the search real quick and I’ll get to it.” He rubbed his butt and cast a wary eye in Coco’s direction.

“How?” she barked. “Glue the pots back together? Wave your magic wand around and make the plants whole? Oh, wait, I have an idea! Maybe you can run a fundraiser selling doughnuts at your station to collect money for fresh sprouts!”

The cop that had been standing outside, presumably to secure the premises, poked her head through the door. “Everything all right? You need a hand there?”

“Yes, we’re fine!” Smirnoff yelled back. “Kelly fell, that’s it.”

“Oh, okay.” She withdrew.

The intervention released some of the steam from Coco’s pressurized outrage, and her mother used this moment to take her hand and pull her away inside from the patio. Coco tried to dig her heels, but Lucy would have none of it.

“We don’t have to watch. Let’s go, Coco.” That last one she said in a tone she hadn’t used on Coco since her middle school years, betraying that her mother was angry with her.

In the kitchen, Coco sank down into a chair, drained of all energy.

Lucy put water to boil for their tea.

“What’s the matter with you?” she asked in a low voice, checking to see if the cops were out of earshot. “The officers are only doing their job. Coco, I don’t recognize you.”

She hardly recognized herself. The Sheffileds’ manner of dealing with issues was contagious, and she’d caught their bug.

Lucy was right, it wasn’t like her, and she shouldn't get carried away with being aggressive. She didn’tpossess a violenttemper, and she wasn’t big or strong, and as such, she ran a real danger of losing the fight she started.

She put her face into her hands. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I overreacted. When they pulled out all your plants, and that dweeb fell in there… I hate that you’re involved.” Tears fell, and there was nothing she could do to hold them back.

Lucy came over and put her hand on Coco’s back, rubbing in slow circles.

“That’s all right. I will plant another garden.” Lucy rubbed her back and her neck, consoling Coco with kind words and gentle touch. “We will plant it together, you and I, and by next spring you’ll have forgotten it was ever ruined, like a bad dream. I think I’ll add squash, for variety.”

Her mother’s soft voice, her nearness and quiet assurances brought forth a host of memories from Coco’s childhood. She felt all of five years old again.

“Why me?” She whispered brokenly as more tears fell from her eyes. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why is this happening to me?”

“God is giving you a test. And you will pass it. Right now, you need to stay strong and carry on.”

Coco was pretty sure God didn’t approve of liars, but by now she had no choice - in for a penny, in for a pound.

“Are you thinking about them again?” Lucy asked, a picture of calm in her bright mother-earth blouse.

“Yes, how can I not?”

An officer appeared in the kitchen. The other officer, not the one that had fallen.

“It’s all done, ma’am. We’re finished. We cleaned your backyard up, restored it to order.” He smiled guiltily.

Coco flew out of her chair to see for herself if they did a good job. At her approach, Officer Klutz shrank into a corner, and Smirnoff, speaking on his phone, kept her in his sights.

Coco halted at the porch. They did do a good job. All the broken pieces were carefully placed in a large pot in the corner. The spilled soil was swept clean and all the mutilated plants were nowhere in sight.

Without the greenery the patio didn’t look clean, it looked barren. Only a few surviving plants were scattered here and there.

“You’ve done such a great job, thank you very much,” Lucy hastened to say.

Detective Smirnoff approached them, having just finished his conversation. A perpetual satisfied expression graced his bearded face.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Sorry again about the fall.”

Coco shot a killer glance at the guilty officer, hoping his butt would pain him for a long time.