Under Suspicion

Separate Corners

“Separate Corners”

Scene:  The following day, in patrol car at start of watch.

Wry:  Well, how was your little coffee klatch last night?

Earnest:  It was a card-game, Pete, not a coffee klatch.  I don’t think anyone even drank coffee.  It was more of a scotch and wine kind of occasion.

Wry:  Ah, the women had the scotch and you men drank wine?

Earnest:  Make fun all you want, but you should’ve come over.  You would’ve enjoyed it.

Wry:  I doubt that.

Earnest:  So what did you end up doing?

Wry:  Just what I said I was gonna do:  I went to the gym for a while, and then went out for a bite to eat.

Earnest:  Where?

Wry:  Curley’s.

Earnest:  (Looks over at Wry.)  Your date cancels and you go work out and then go to a bar—by yourself—to eat dinner.

Wry:  Yeah, well—

Earnest:  You could’ve come over to our house and ate a good meal, and hung out and had some fun, but instead you went and sat alone at a bar.  What kind of an evening was that?

Wry:  Actually—

Dispatcher:  Lincoln two-four-five, four-fifteen in progress, Swifty’s Tavern, 51 Rock Ave.

Earnest:  Lincoln two-four-five, roger.

Wry:  Ask me again later about my evening.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few minutes later, Wry and Earnest pull up in front of Swifty’s.  As they get out of the patrol car, sounds of an altercation greet them, and a few curious passersby peek in the dirty front window of the bar to see what’s happening inside.

Opening the door, the officers pause for a second or two as their eyesight adjusts to the dimness.  Then, stepping inside, they take in the scene:  two men are in the midst of a fist-fight near the bar, while the other patrons give them a wide berth and simply watch.

Wry speaks sharply, using what he calls his businessvoice.  “Come on, break it up!  Separate corners, you two!”

His words have minimal effect on the two combatants, who are apparently so fired up they neither knew nor care that the police have been called, so the officers prepare to physically break them apart.  Earnest grabs one man’s arm as he rears back to throw a punch, and manages to force it down, neutralizing the threat while finally gaining the man’s attention.

Wry tries to do the same with the second man, but the bar-fly is too far gone with booze-fueled anger to listen to reason.  Moving into the man’s line of vision, Wry inadvertently makes himself the new target.  The man doesn’t seem to notice that he is now facing a police officer; he continues his punch, which is directed squarely at Wry’s head.  In a dual defense, Wry executes a slight bob-and-weave to duck the punch, as his left arm shoots up to block the blow and capture the man’s wrist.  This tactic only serves to enflame the man’s anger further, so Wry deems it necessary to put an end to this confrontation as quickly as possible, for the safety of all concerned.

The man is large, but at 6’1” Wry is no slouch himself.  His right arm flies up and connects with the man’s jaw.  The brawler reels back slightly, and in that instant of imbalance, Wry is able to twist the man’s arm behind his back and subdue him.

Earnest escorts his combatant out to the patrol car while Wry speaks briefly to the bartender.  Upon his return, Earnest takes statements from some of the patrons who witnessed the onset of the fisticuffs.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

                                                                  To be continued.....