| Requiem For A Family Man |
| Two days later, Tommy Carruthers was pacing in his cell, waiting for his former partner in crime. When the tall, lanky man finally arrived, Carruthers was livid. �It�s about damn time! Where the Hell have you been, Stick?� �I�m sorry, Boss. I was talking to your doctor. He says you won�t take the pain medication, and that you ain�t eating, either. You got to eat, Boss. You got to keep your strength up. And the pain medication is to help you.� �The food in here stinks, and I�m not hungry. I�ll take the pain meds, but not until after we talk.� �OK, I ain�t trying to tell you what to do. What did you want to see me about, Boss?� �I want you to do me a favor, Stick. I know I don�t got the right to ask, but I want you to do something for me, for old time�s sake.� �Sure, Boss. I�ll do anything you want. If I could trade places with you, I would. You were the best Boss I ever had, you know that.� �Do you know what I�d really like, Stick? Do you know what my dying wish is? I�d like to see Micki waiting for me in Hell, Stick. She thinks she�s better than me, and thinks I�m not fit to breathe the same air she does. I want to show her that nobody beats Tommy Carruthers. She might be engaged to that blonde pig, but she�s going to spend eternity with me, in Hell.� Stick nodded slowly. �OK, Boss. If that�s what you want, I�ll take care of it.� The next morning, Hutch woke up first, as usual, and padded quietly into the kitchen to make coffee. He was thankful that Micki seemed to be coming to terms with Carruthers� impending death. He hadn�t pressed her for a recount of the conversation she had with the dying man, but was grateful that she had found come sort of closure to that chapter in her life. Perhaps now they could really move forward, without any more interference from Tommy Carruthers. Micki woke to the smell of fresh coffee, and stretched slowly. She threw on her favorite sleeping shirt and joined Hutch. He watched, bemused, as she added cream and several spoonfuls of sugar to her cup. �Micki, you�re ruining good coffee with that stuff. Don�t you know all that refined sugar will kill you?� He winced as he realized what he had said. He touched her hair gently. �I�m sorry. I didn�t mean it.� She squeezed his hand. �It�s OK. You can�t go around censoring yourself. You�re not to blame for what Danny is going through, and neither am I. Life goes on, and it�s too precious to waste on him.� He pulled her close to him. �I�m glad to hear you say that. In fact, I�d love to spend the day showing you how glad I am, but I can�t.� �Why not? We could always call in and say we�re sick. Not that Dobey would believe it, but hey, how mad could he be?� Hutch chuckled. �Pretty mad, actually. But, we can�t, anyway. We�re helping Vice make that bust today, remember?� �Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Well, in that case, I guess I�d better get dressed. If we hurry, we can grab some breakfast before we go to the station.� They drove to Starsky�s apartment, and the four detectives ate a leisurely breakfast. The bust was scheduled for two o�clock that afternoon, so they spent the morning going over the plans with the other detectives from Vice. Mark Roper was the senior officer assigned to the team, so he outlined the strategy they would follow. �OK, Micki, you and Tracy will be here, at the south end of Main. We know that Billy does most of his dealing out of the back room in Mitchell�s Bar. He�s got a weakness for working girls, so he should head straight for you as soon as he walks out the door. All you need to do is keep him occupied long enough for us to get into position. That way, he won�t have enough time to flush the evidence down the toilet.� Starsky grinned. �Sounds like a plan to me.� Hutch looked up from the map he was studying. �How many officers did you get to help, Mark?� �Counting you, Starsky, and me, there will be twelve in all. There�s only two ways to get in or out of the bar, so a dozen men should do it. I don�t think he�ll have too many of his people hanging around there. He wants them all out hustling at that time of day, so there shouldn�t be anybody in that room when this goes down.� Hutch smiled as he stood up. �Well, that should do it, then. We�ll see you at two o�clock, Mark.� At precisely two o�clock, two new working girls were strolling up the sidewalk on Main Street. One was dark-haired, the other was blonde, and the way they were dressed left little to the imagination. Across the street, a dark blue van was parked. A dozen men crowded together, watching the small monitor. Mark Roper grinned at Starsky and Hutch. �You know, it�s too bad that you guys are getting married. Micki and Tracy have helped us out a lot over the past few years. We�re going to miss them.� Starsky grinned back. �Sorry, Mark. From now on, the only shows they�re going to give will be private ones. But I gotta admit, they sure provide a good diversion.� Hutch agreed. �They certainly do. And there�s our man now, right on time.� Mark nodded. �OK, boys, let�s do it.� The men slipped out of the van, and spread out around the bar and surrounding buildings. At Roper�s signal, they rushed into the bar, and went straight to the back room. Only one man was standing guard, and he was quickly subdued. It only took a few minutes to gather the drugs stored in the room, and take them out to the van. Starsky and Hutch were putting the last of the plastic bags in the van when two uniformed officers walked up with Billy handcuffed between them. Hutch looked around and frowned. �Where�s Micki?� Tracy looked behind them, surprised. �She was right behind me. Now, where did she go?� |
| As soon as the police officers exited the van, Billy tried to run. Micki and Tracy drew their weapons and held him until help arrived. The two uniformed policemen handcuffed Billy and led him away. Tracy turned to her partner and grinned. �Well, that�s another dealer off the streets, for a little while at least. Not bad for a couple hours� work, is it?� �Nope.� Micki groaned and reached down to massage her foot. �These shoes are killing me. Why don�t you go meet the guys, and I�ll be there in a minute. I think I�d rather go barefooted, if I can pry these shoes off my feet.� �OK, but watch where you step. There�s no telling what�s on these sidewalks.� Micki grimaced. �Thanks, partner. That�s just what I wanted to hear.� Tracy smiled sweetly. �Hey, we have to look out for each other, don�t we? Don�t be too long. If you can�t get them off, we�ll borrow a crowbar when we get back to the van.� �Ha-ha. You�re getting funnier by the minute. Go on, I�ll be right behind you.� She watched as Tracy caught up with the two policemen and Billy, then reached down and pulled the offending shoes off her feet. She was massaging her sore toes when a large hand was clamped over her mouth, and her arms were pinned to her side. Her unseen attacker pulled her into the abandoned building behind them. It wasn�t until her abductor stepped in front of her that she recognized him. �Stick. How did you know I was going to be here?� �It wasn�t hard. Tommy might be in the joint, but he still has his connections.� His face was expressionless as he aimed the gun at her. She backed up a step, and spread her hands out at her side. �That�s not very smart, Stick. You�re on the outside, walking around free. If you kill me, you�ll spend the rest of your life in prison.� �I ain�t going back to the joint, Micki. I know there are cops crawling all over the place. I�m doing Tommy a favor. He said he wanted to see you in Hell, and that�s what he�s going to do. What happens to me don�t matter.� �Think about this, Stick. Is he worth your life? You�re right about the police. You won�t get out of here alive if you shoot me. Don�t throw your life away for Danny. You can�t save him, no matter what you do. It�s way too late for that.� �Of course he�s worth it! He�s my friend! He took me in when nobody else wanted me. He gave me a place to stay, put food in my gut, and gave me a job. Nobody gave a damn about me until Tommy came along. I�d do anything for him. Besides, it�s his last wish. I gotta give him his last wish, don�t I?� Micki held her breath as he cocked the trigger. Before he could squeeze it, another shot came from behind him. Stick stiffened, then fell face first on to the concrete floor. Micki looked up in surprise. Mark Roper, along with Starsky and Hutch, stood in the doorway. Micki moaned softly as she knelt beside Stick. She turned him over gently. �Take it easy, Stick. We�ll get an ambulance. You�ll be OK.� He coughed, then tried to smile. �Don�t bother. I didn�t have nothing against you, Micki. I know the Boss didn�t do you right, but that�s the way he is. I was just tryin� to do him a favor.� �I know. Hush, don�t try to talk. The ambulance will be here in a minute.� �It�s OK. I told you I wasn�t going back to the joint. Tell the Boss that I�m sorry. He wanted to see you in Hell, but I guess I�ll just have to do. Tell him that I�ll meet him there.� Micki closed his sightless eyes, and cursed to herself. �Damn you, Danny. Damn your hideous, black soul.� Tommy Carruthers was lying on his cot when Micki walked up to the cell. He didn�t try to hide the surprised look on his face as he slowly stood up. Micki�s eyes flashed green fire as he stared at her. �He missed, Danny. You just couldn�t leave it alone, could you? Wasn�t killing those girls enough for you? You couldn�t stand the fact that I was the one that got away. You had to try one last time, didn�t you? Only this time, you got somebody else to do your dirty work for you.� �Those sluts were nothing. They didn�t matter. Who cared whether they lived or died? We could have been something, baby-cakes. But you wouldn�t leave that lousy job. You cheated on me, and nobody does that.� �I�m a cop, Danny! I was under cover. We didn�t have a relationship. It was all a lie. I did it to put you away where you belong, and that�s what I did. You have nobody to blame but yourself.� �Where�s Stick?� �He�s dead, Danny. You�ve destroyed every single life that you have touched. And now you�ve killed the one person who actually cared about you. I hope you�re satisfied. Oh, by the way. He said to tell you he was sorry. He knew you wanted to see me in Hell, but he would have to do. He said he would meet you there. Sweet dreams, Danny.� Micki walked away for the last time, and didn�t stop walking, even when she heard the bellow behind her. �NNNOOOOOO!!!!!� |
| Micki Ellis sat on the large, smooth rock and gazed out over the city. For as long as she could remember, this had been her favorite hiding place. The tall trees that surrounded the rock hid her from prying eyes. Only the small creatures that inhabited the trees kept her company. She smiled to herself when she saw the bushes along the path start to move. A few minutes later, a blonde head rose up out of the bushes. Tracy dusted her hands off, and stood beside the large rock. �I figured I�d find you here. It�s beautiful this time of year, isn�t it?� Micki smiled wistfully. �Yeah, everything is so green, and so full of life.� Tracy walked over to a large Elm tree to the right of the rock. She bent down and ran her hand over the trunk, near the base of the tree. �They�re starting to fade. We�ll have to do it again, someday.� Micki scooted around and looked at the tree. Four sets of initials barely showed at the bottom. ME, TE, RE, and KS were joined together in a circle. Tracy sat down beside her friend. �Do you remember what our teacher said? Do you remember why we put them in a circle?� �Yeah, she said that love was the link that binds friends together, and as long as there was love, the circle would never be broken. I guess that�s true, isn�t it? It�s been over twenty years, and our friendship is as strong as that old tree.� �Yep, and now it�s growing even larger. We have Ken and David now, and Kerry and Rachel are married. Our friendship will last even longer than that tree, Micki.� �I know. I�m glad.� Tracy held out her little finger in their secret sign, and Micki hooked her own finger in Tracy�s. Tracy smiled and nudged her friend. �So, what were you thinking about when I came up?� �I don�t know. Wasted lives, I guess. He was so smart, Tracy. He ran DiConti�s organization from across the country, and started one of his own. He could have done so much more.� �Danny made his own choices, Micki. We don�t know why he chose that kind of life. We can�t predict who will end up a criminal.� �Someday we will. You�ll see.� �Maybe we will, at that. Come on, we promised David and Ken that we�d be home early. We don�t want them to worry.� �No, we don�t. I�m coming.� The two women walked slowly down the path, enjoying the fragrance and sight of the plants thriving around them. Two strong voices rose above the city in the celebration of life. But green�s the color of Spring And green can be cool and friendly-like And green can be big like an ocean, or important Like a mountain, or tall like a tree. When green is all there is to be It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why? Wonder, I am green, and it�ll do fine, It�s beautiful And I think it�s what I want to be. Author�s note: �It�s Not Easy Bein� Green� � Jim Henson�s Muppets, lyrics by Joe Rappaposo, Sung by Kermit � ,the frog. |
 |