Page 38 of For Life
I knew what I wanted—what I needed—and that I wasn’t getting it any time soon.
Chapter twenty-five
MAXX
WHENBULLETSWEREFLYINGand Ant was still locked in a cage I was focused. Not relaxed, but goal-oriented in a way only those with experience staying calm under pressure could understand. Internally, I lost any semblance of calm when Ant was in that cage and the fear of a bullet hitting them was at the forefront of my mind. Getting them out and my arms around them made everything slow down and come into focus. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
Oakland PD showing up had everything coming to a screeching halt.
“Maxx!”
Ant called my name and I looked away from the Captain who was giving me an earful. Seeing them safely with Jefferson and that a cop was bringing them a blanket and water lifted a weight off my shoulders. I nodded and waved to let them know I heard, then turned to face the music.
“You have no authority to barge into my city like this! Or jurisdiction outside of the limits of the City and County of San Francisco,” Captain Young continued, gesticulating wildly, “what did you hope to accomplish with this? How would you have made an arrest?”
“Yes, sir. You’re right, sir,” I kept repeating. “Sorry, sir.”
What I didn’t give Captain Young was any real answers. Yes, I had entered with the knowledge that there were armed members of organized crime in the building. No, I didn’t contact his precinct. No, I didn’t tell my captain either. Yes, I knew Matlock was a dirty cop on the take before I came in. No, I wasn’t certain they held an innocent person captive.
We went around in circles until they asked how the man in the cage knew my name. Instead of answering that I’d spent days with them and knew them inside and out, I corrected him.
“Theyare a person, not a man.”
Thinking of Ant, I looked up and saw them being taken care of on the couch with Jefferson still there. My first instinct was to go to Ant and take care of them myself. I still had a duty, as an officer and first responder, to answer Captain Young’s questions.
Being yelled at by a superior officer from a completely different city and county, straight up sucked. Despite stopping a dirty cop and criminal uprising in the bay, it would mean a ton of investigation and paperwork for this Captain. I got his diligence. On my end, though, I was looking at suspension and possible demotion. I knew I had to go back to SF and quit. If I resigned, they would take that as a sign of punishment and wipe their hands of me.
It was a shitty system, and I wasn’t going to be able to change it from the inside.
When I finally got the all clear to leave, which would mean being escorted to my precinct by one of Young’s men, I tried to find Ant. They were nowhere to be seen, and I almost panicked. No way was Ant up for questioning. The cop who had been sitting with Ant and Jefferson, who was also missing, calmed me down when she said they had gone home for the night and would be questioned in person the next day.
The Oakland cop didn’t speak to me on the drive over, possibly scared to after hearing his boss yell at me, and dropped me off without putting the car in park. At least he hadn’t made me sit in the back.
The captain was waiting for me with the door open, “Come on in, Wu. I just got off the phone with Young. I hear you have some explaining to do?”
“Yes, sir.”
He was much more unruffled than I expected, but maybe Captain Young hadn’t yelled like he did at me. My Captain was a good cop, and one of the best parts of my job had been learning from him.
“I’m here to hand in my badge and gun so you don’t have the hassle of suspending me.”
Captain Brown watched as I unclipped my badge and left it on the table. Oakland PD already had my gun in evidence. He nodded slowly, rubbing his stubbled chin and staring at my badge.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” Brown stood and held out his hand, “but I will accept it,”
It took me a minute to process that he wanted to shake mine in farewell. Taking his big hand in mine, he pulled me forward until our faces were as close as they could be over the desk.
“Thank you for figuring out Matlock’s angle and exposing him. I’ve been trying to do that for years to get rid of the racist asshat.” I blinked in surprise at his words and then he let me go to speak at a normal volume, “You were an excellent Officer, Wu, but I believe you will do bigger and better things. Let me know if you ever need a recommendation.”
“I,” clearing my throat, I continued, “I’ll do that, sir. Though I plan to go back to college to finish Law School.”
Captain Brown laughed “I’m sad to see such a smart cop go, but I know you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
Packing up my desk as others wished me well, I was taken aback at how many whispered their celebration of Matlock being arrested. Everyone wished I would stay but bid me luck on becoming a lawyer. Officer Berry even teased me about being a prosecutor or a defense lawyer and being on the other side of the courtroom. I was thinking more about policy and political reform than along the lines of criminal law, to effect change at the highest level.
Changing out of my uniform and leaving it in the locker for someone else to clean, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I answered without looking, hoping it was Ant or someone with an update, but it was my mom.
After days of using her as an excuse, I knew I had to visit her. She would be over the moon that I had quit and planned to continue my original career path. Plus, it was about dinner time, and I hadn’t eaten anything but snacks since before dawn.