Sons of the City Read Online Free PDF

said, then smiled. “But aren’t we doing this backwards?”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “Well usually, two cops meet on the job, and then get together off-duty. So since we’re meeting off-duty, where are we going to go on a date, a hostage situation?”
    I laughed. “That’s a good idea. We could have dinner first—Italian hoagies in the patrol car.”
    “We hear the hostage call,” said Michelle. “We rush to the scene …”
    “We talk the gunman into surrendering …”
    “Right,” said Michelle. “By offering him our food.”
    “And then,” I said, “the three of us go get some water ice for dessert.”
    Michelle nodded approvingly. “Sounds like the perfect date to me.”
    I looked at her. She was great, I couldn’t believe my luck. I hadn’t met anybody like her in a long time. Maybe not since Patricia.
    Of course, all the other cops at the retirement party saw the two of us talking and laughing together, and apparently we became a big topic of conversation. By the next day, everyone in the district had heard there was something going on between Michelle and me.
    Now in the supermarket parking lot, Steve, Buster, and Nick were looking at me, waiting for me to reveal all. I felt like I was back in seventh grade.
    There was loud rumbling and clanking, and we all turned to see a police tow truck pulling into the lot and heading toward us.
    Steve almost giggled. “This is going to be great,” he told me. “We’re having our sleeping captain towed to the impoundment lot.”
    The tow truck backed up in front of the Plymouth, and the driver, a stocky Italian guy, climbed out.
    “This is Dominic,” said Steve. “Friend of mine.”
    We all nodded hello. Steve quietly explained the situation to Dominic, whose eyes widened when he got to the part of who was actually inside the car.
    “Yo, Steve,” he said, “I don’t wanna get into any more trouble, why do ya think I’m in the Tow Unit to begin with?”
    “Don’t worry,” said Steve. “In order for Little Napoleon to jam any of us up, he’d first have to explain what he was doing sleeping in his car in the middle of West Philadelphia at ten o’clock at night.”
    It was a good point. Dominic walked over and started hooking up the Plymouth, and we watched as another police car pulled into the lot.
    “Looks like Michelle and Donna,” said Steve.
    It was the first time I had seen Michelle in uniform, and it was a treat. Police uniforms are designed for men, and they tend to flatten out the curves of most women. Michelle’s blue uniform just brought out her curves, which she had a lot of, all over her body.
    Michelle walked over and said hello to me, and I said, “Welcome to West Philadelphia.” But I was thinking, damn, I ain’t never seen no cop like this before.
    It would have been hard to imagine a more dramatic contrast between Donna and Michelle. Donna was a short, chain-smoking, smart-ass, frizzy-blond-haired cop who grew up on the streets of Philadelphia’s working-class Port Richmond section. She had a soft, friendly face—it was her personality that was rough around the edges.
    Donna was Buster’s usual partner and, as we all knew, his girlfriend. They tried to keep it a secret, but we could tell, just by the way they acted together.
    Michelle couldn’t help noticing the stickers all over Little Napoleon’s car.
    “What is this?” she asked.
    “Shhhh,” said Steve. “It’s a captain, sleeping. We’re having him towed.”
    “Why?”
    “Because,” Buster said solemnly, “he is an interloper.”
    “Get outta here,” Donna said, and laughed. “You don’t even know what that means.”
    “I used it right.”
    “Sure you did. Gimme a cigarette.”
    Buster obediently reached into his blue shirt pocket, pulled out a cigarette pack, and handed it to Donna.
    Michelle was watching, amused. I wanted to talk to her, alone. About what, I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter.
    A call came over our portable radios,