Page 58 of Bazooka
Bazooka
I knew I was playing with fire by playing with Luz, but he needed to be put in his place. He didn’t respect my boundaries; he was an incorrigible flirt, but more than that, he was relentless. Whatever I said, whatever I did, he was breathing down my neck like a freaking Horseman of the Apocalypse. So naturally, I messed with him.
That was our normal. We had a weird dynamic, but we found some kind of balance in the last few days. It was like a truce or something. He backed off, so I backed off. Every morning, he would come to me and lie down on the sofa beside me before I went to work. And every evening, I would join him in his bed until he fell asleep. No cuddling was my only condition, and surprisingly, he agreed to it. He didn’t even try to change my mind, which I somewhat regretted. Why? Because that cuddling thing wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
“How is your roomie, Bazooka?” Adam asked me, snapping me back to reality.
“You can ask him that when he comes here today,” I replied.
Adam cocked his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Yeah, he needs to look at the mugshots, so I sent someone to bring him over,” I said when my phone rang.
“Marcello, thanks for calling me back,” I said into the phone.
“Yeah, sorry it took me a while. I was working undercover.”
“No problem. Anyway, I need your help. My friend was attacked recently here in Smitsville, but we think the perps might be from your neck of the woods. I will email you thecomposite sketches. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and you’ll recognize them.”
“Yeah, man. No problem. Send it over. How’s your friend?”
“His wounds are healing. Emotionally, I’m not sure. He’s a bit… weird.”
“When you say friend, do you mean it literally? You’re not exactly a social person.”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know how else to call him, Marcello. I’ll send over those sketches now.”
“Okay. I’ll be in touch.”
I hung up and sent him an email just as Patricia walked up to my desk.
“Hey, Levi.”
“Hi, Patricia. How are you?”
“Wrestling with that arson case on Sycamore Street. You?”
“Fine, I guess. Mendoza is too quiet, and I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Yeah, it’s stressful,” she agreed. “Speaking of, are you in the mood for a drink after work? I think both of us could use a distraction.”
Both of us meant it would be just her and me, not the rest of the LD. I didn’t like it because I knew her interest in me went beyond platonic. She never tried to hide it, and this wasn’t the first time she’d asked me out, either. Before I could reply, someone else did it for me.
“He’s otherwise occupied. We’re going to the beach today.”
I turned only to see Luz standing behind me and scowling at Patricia. He wasn’t joking either. He was dressed in a T-shirt and swim shorts, and he had a large beach bag thrown over his shoulder.
“I don’t remember agreeing to this,” I said, giving him a once-over.
“That’s okay. I know you’re getting older, and your memory isn’t what it used to be.”
Jordan burst into laughter and disguised it by coughing when I glared at him.
“Hey,kochanie,” Luz said, kissing me on the cheek. “Miss me?”
“What did I say about that?” I reminded him. I told him a thousand times he couldn’t kiss me whenever he felt like it, and what did he do? He kept kissing me whenever he felt like it.
“Hey, Jordie,” Luz said, ignoring me. “Hello, asshole Adam. Officer Vile. Maddox.”
