21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

Threatening Letters + Breaking and Entering : Tom's Version

November 1987

After Jenko died, it was rough on everyone. Our jobs were up in the air, and we lost a great man who genuinely cared about us and loved us as if we were his own. It was difficult to accept that he was gone, and even harder to welcome someone to take his place.

I suggested bowling together as a way to welcome our new captain, Captain Adam Fuller. When I first joined, they took me to dinner so I thought this was an interactive way to get to know him. We all met at the bowling alley and began playing. I was smoking all of them. I had the best score, but Doug was not that far behind.

Poor Mickey had terrible aim. I tried to teach her to lead with her thumb, but it kept spinning into the gutter. She also had the most basic questions, but I had no problem answering them. I was so excited to teach her how to bowl. But based on her score, I was not that great of a teacher.

"Strike!" Doug shouted. He pumped his fist in the air before pointing to me and said, "write that down."

"I am," I muttered and opened my scorebook to record his score.

Someone hit the pins with their ball, and I noticed Mickey flinched ever so slightly. I stopped writing and I looked at her over the rim of my reading glasses and I asked, "are you okay?"

I have never noticed her so jumpy before. She has always been calm, cool, and collected. I did not think she was physically capable of flinching.

"Yeah, why?" She asked.

"You don't seem... here." I bit into a fry and spun my finger in circles near my head. "Mentally."

"I'm here," she said.

"All my passes are up," Captain Fuller said. He was the first one to bowl, and we were on our last frame. "I'll get us a seat in the restaurant."

"I'll come with you," Doug said and joined him.

Ioki was bowling his last turn, and he got eight pins down in total. Judy got a spare, and I ended with a strike. Mickey ended with a gutter ball, and I reassured that she would do better next time. She laughed, which told me that she really didn't care. I was just glad that she was having fun.

We walked up together to give the counter our bowling shoes, and I could not stop looking at Mickey. I desperately wanted to ask her what was wrong, but I did not want her to feel uncomfortable by my nosy nature.

I walked alongside Mickey to the restaurant, where we all sat in a booth. An upbeat song started playing on the jukebox that the restaurant had, and I thought it would be a good chance to get Mickey to open up to me. I lifted my hand up to her and asked, "wanna dance?"

I smiled at her as she chuckled and took my hand. I led her away from the table and did some silly dance moves around her, trying to make her laugh. She seemed to have forced a smile, so I definitely knew that something was wrong. Her laugh is so pure and genuine, and we have similar senses of humor so she should have laughed, at least a little.

I pulled her into a dance and I felt her place her hand on my arm.

I leaned in close to her ear so I could talk to her without anyone else hearing. I had no idea what was wrong, and I wanted her to feel comfortable enough to talk about it without feeling forced or obligated.

I said softly by her ear, "I know that I haven't known you for very long... but something's got you vexed."

"I'm fine," she claimed. Her years of being undercover have probably made her an expert liar. She sounded convincing, but I did not believe her.

"It's me. Talk to me, Gregg," I said. We are partners and rely so much on each other like our lives depend on it, because they do. We constantly use the 'talk to me' line when we are in the field, so I hoped that by saying it, I would be able to get through to her.