Schools And The Second Ch 01

This story is part of an ongoing series.

The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and

constructive

criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 1 - Prologue

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Thursday, May 2d, from the KXTC Anchor Desk. "Channel Two News has learned that former Town & County Assemblyman and Mayoral candidate Eldrick X. Weaver is pursuing legal recourses to remove Daniel Allgood as Mayor of our Town & County!"

Bettina began: "Mr. Weaver, who many believe was cheated out of his rightful win in the Mayoral race last November, is exploring methods of removing Allgood from the Mayoral post, citing Allgood's heavy-handed tactics in suppressing black voices at Council meetings. In one Council Executive Session, Council Member Reginald B.F. Lewis was arrested by Police Commander Donald Troy and removed from the meeting. And while there were no incidents in last Tuesday's meeting, sources with knowledge of the matter said that the private meeting could be described as 'very tense', with Mayor Allgood 'ruling with an iron fist'."

Bettina: "Mr. Weaver is considering a lawsuit against the Mayor, but legal

experts

say that the Court case, while valid and with merit, would not be sufficient to remove Allgood from office. There is also no clear cut method of removing an elected Town & County official from within, though the Governor can take action against a local official who commits a crime, as was done to former Councilman Thomas P. Cook, who subsequently disappeared and is officially listed as 'Missing'. Mr. Weaver said that with the Charter Commission working on a new Charter, now might be the time to visit those issues."

More Bettina: "And in other local news, the Citizens for Police Accountability were joined by the NEA, the powerful Teachers Union, in issuing a condemnation of Police Commander Donald Troy for giving four children Nerf-material crowbars at yesterday's Promotions and Medals Ceremonies. The four children were honored by the Police for helping Commander Troy defeat a wanted criminal that was trying to murder one of the children. CFPA spokespersons Ken Eidex and Jay Swenson say that Commander Troy's actions promote violence and hostility, and embolden children to act recklessly and violently towards other children and against Society in general. Commander Troy has not responded to repeated requests for comment by Channel Two News."

Bettina was not done: "And as the State House prepares to hold hearings to show

deeply unpopular

Governor Jared's guilt in several criminal issues, many

experts

believe that Jared will follow the lead of former President Nixon, and will resign before subjecting the State and the Republican Party to the humiliation that would result from his removal from office..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"That will be the day." Sheriff Griswold growled as we drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room. "Val is going to fight those bastards to the very last ditch. He's done nothing wrong."

"I get it that the CFPA is coming out with that crap about Don and the kids." said Cindy. "After all, Don is going to clean their clocks in the upcoming lawsuits. But why is the NEA joining their bullshit statement?"

"Political pressure." I said. "They think that things like this will draw the Public to their side and against me, and they think they can use that as leverage when they make demands about the School Board to the Charter Commission."

"That makes no sense." said Tanya Perlman. "I mean, you're making sense explaining it, but their actions don't make sense."

"Not to rational people like us." I said. "Here's an example: did you read the history of the 1968 Democrat National Convention, and the protests there and then? Logical people would think that the protesters would not attack their allies, the politicians most likely to side with them and implement their goals... but that's exactly what they did. To this day I don't understand it."

"And now it's worse." growled the Sheriff. "They are trying to use a tool of Government and law, impeachment, which was meant as a last resort to remove a public official that was breaking the law or committing treason, to remove a politician just because they don't like his political positions. Never mind that he was fairly and honestly elected; they did not like the results, and they're trying to overcome the will of the People by lies and deceit."

"True, sir," said Tanya, "but why is the Teachers Union condemning Commander Troy and those brave children? It really is the children they are attacking."

"Because," said Teresa Croyle, "they don't want children that think for themselves or act bravely. They want a nation of cowards that will submit to Government authority without question. They tell kids not to keep score in playground games. And when a kid does something good, like Carole did in that Four Square game, they act against that child; how

dare

she think for herself, and then stand up to the bully?"

"Thank God her daddy doesn't fool with their shit." growled Griswold.

"Nor her mother." I said. "I was the least of their problems."

"Jack was telling me that his daughter's class was doing a school play." said Tanya. "This is the class of the smartest kids, which is why they get to do the play for the entire school. The teacher put one of the boys in the class in the role of the housekeeper... a female role, and told him it was because he acted 'too male'. And in this role, he would be required to wear a dress."

"You're kidding." muttered the Chief.

"I wish I were." said Tanya. "And it got worse: the parents complained, and the principal threatened them and their child, threatened to fail him for the year and put him in the classes with the underachieving kids, which could literally destroy his whole future."

"The mother tape-recorded the threat, and the parents are suing." Tanya continued. "The NEA came in on the School's side, and hired private investigators to dig into the parents's past, and had the State Tax Authority and IRS audit the parents. Jack stepped in with the IRS, who dropped their audit, but the State Tax Authority is pursuing an investigation as hard as they can go."

"Why didn't the parents come to the Police?" I asked. "Or why don't they come to me now? I'd love the excuse to go in there and make some arrests over those threats."

"As would I." said Tanya. "But this school is in the County High 'food chain', and their Town & County Council representative is Kelly Carnes. The parents contacted her, and she turned around and told them that if they went to the Police, she would intervene and stop any Police investigation. They apparently believed her, and thought she really could do that."

"Oh God, I wish she'd try." I said. "Tanya, you've got to put me in contact with these parents."

"Moot point now." Tanya said. "They took their kid out of school and moved to Nextdoor County. The principal sent his records as being failing in his most recent classes, but someone sent the parents the undoctored records, and the Nextdoor County people accepted those. The NEA protested, and the Nextdoor County School System told the NEA to pound sand."

"I'm sure the NEA won't let that insult go unanswered." I said. "They'll do something to them, as soon as they can figure out what to do."

"Reed Hudson, the conservative radio show host," said Teresa, "says that

sending our children to Government Schools is child abuse

. I'm beginning to believe that. Todd and I have discussed sending the boys to private school. There's also some talk at BOW Enterprises to turn the nursery care Todd provides as a benefit into something more... essentially homeschooling for the kids. And yes, Commander, your children would qualify, being Todd's relatives."

"Laura and I had several talks about all this already." I said. "Laura wants to support the Public School system, but we did make sure Carole and Jim will be in the Town High system instead of the County High system."

"The County High system has more money, doesn't it?" asked the Chief.

"Yes sir." I said. "But a lot of the rich parents have political ideas more suited for California than our Town & County. The Town High system has parents that don't fool around with that crap; they're common-sense, no-nonsense people that don't see our military and our schools as places for social experimentation."

"Sounds like

you

could be Reed Hudson's guest host, Don." Cindy quipped, though I realized there was a serious component to it. Though a political atheist, Cindy's political leanings were not necessarily in sync with mine.

"We have work to do, folks." said Chief Moynahan. "We'll solve all the world's problems at our next coffee gatherinnnnngggg. For now, we have a very dangerous assignment ahead, from what I hearrrrrrr..."

Part 2 - The Most Dangerous Assignment

*

Whirrrrrrrr

*

9:00am, Thursday, May 2nd. Captain Tanya Perlman drove down the back hallway of Police Headquarters between the rows of Police Officers lined against the walls. She was carrying a long, large cardboard tube with metal caps on the ends. Every Officer there wanted to know what the information in that tube was, but it would've been fatal to attempt to wrest that tube from her possession.

And that was partly because one of the two Officers following her was carrying a red crowbar. Yes, that would be me, Your Iron Crowbar. Captain Damien Thompson was the other Officer. He opened the gymnasium doors for Tanya, who drove in, then made sure the doors were secure once he and I were through and into the gym. Vice Detectives Statler and Waldorf were guarding the doors. To my surprise, Sheriff Griswold was in the gym already, waiting for us.

It is called 'the most dangerous assignment in the TCPD'. Inside the tube was the large printed chart of the brackets for the Town & County Police Boxing Matches (Freestyle Division). The matches would start on Saturday, Star Wars Day (May The Fourth be with you).

Tanya opened the tube and with my help removed the rolled up paper document. Captain Thompson and I pinned the chart to the back of the plexiglass-enclosed wall cabinet, then secured the door shut. Of course I peeked to see where I was, and I was second seed of the 128 Police Officers that had bravely signed up to participate.

"Nice." I said as I looked over all of it. "You really did set those brackets up just right." Tanya grinned and her eyes sparkled merrily. "Okay, let's get the hell out of the way." I said.

"You got that right!" exclaimed the Sheriff. "Not even a Crowbar can withstand what we're about to see." We all laughed and retreated to the middle of the gym. Tanya blew her Police whistle, Statler and Waldorf pushed open the doors and got out of the way, and the stampede was on!

Not really. In front of the line was TCPD Deputy Chief Cindy Ross, and anyone who passed her truly risked being demoted or fired, not to mention beaten down silly by the green crowbar she was brandishing. She walked briskly across the gym floor to the wall (which is the wall to the left as one comes in the gym doors from the hallway) and examined the chart. She found her own name in the third seed position. Her ice blue eyes flashed happy fire... if all went as seeded, she'd be taking me on in the semi-finals.

There was a lot of chatter and some pushing and shoving as Officers attempted to find their names, which Tanya had printed rather small on purpose. And then you know what happened next.

"Ahem!"

Yes, the Defending Police Boxing Matches (Freestyle Division) Champion, Captain Teresa Croyle, had strolled in as if she didn't have a care in the world, and now was pulling rank and 'suggesting' everyone move out of her way. Officers parted like the Blue Sea... er, Red Sea, and let her through. She found her name in the slot of the First Seed, as expected. She came out of the Sea of Police Humanity and over to us, a gleam in her own eyes, and high-fived Tanya.

"Outstanding job." Teresa said. "You set those brackets up

just

right."

"I can't wait for Chief Moynahan to see his seeding." Cindy said. And as if on cue, the Police Chief came into the gym. He didn't do what Teresa did, but the large crowd was starting to thin out, and he was able to come around to one side and see. He would find himself the 16th seed in the second quartering, 62d overall... and if he won his first match, he'd be facing me if I won my first match.

"I think you put up the wrong bracket sheet, Mizzz Perlllllmannnn." drawled the Chief.

"Looked pretty accurate to me, Cav!" said the Sheriff, his mustaches twitching merrily.

"Wellllll," said the Chief, "at least I won't face the Iron Crowbar in the very first round."

"And I was hoping I'd make it to the Final Four, so I could beat up on some rowdy Angels around here." I replied, pretending sadness.

"We are not foooooled by your amusing display of modesty, Commanderrrr." said the Chief. "We are not foooolllllddd." By now my Angels were all but rolling on the floor with laughter.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"You've got the toughest path of all, Commander." said Cindy as my Angels and I sat in my office. "If all goes without upsets, you'll have Irwin before I blow you out of the ring."

Fourth seed was Lieutenant(B) Jerome Davis. Detective Joanne Warner was 'not amused' with not being on the chart at all. She'd tried to enter, and Your Iron Crowbar had personally nixed having a pregnant participant in the Boxing Matches. It is possible there was a one-way conversation about that, also.

Rudistan, Hewitt, Irwin, and Julia Rodriguez rounded out the top 8. Julia had scored some upsets the previous year, but would not be sneaking up on anyone now.

"Yes, yes I do." I said. "I'm just glad I'm not in the Wheelchair Division. I'd get run over."

"Yes, yes you would." Tanya replied brightly.

"Seriously, you did a great job with the brackets, Tanya." I said. "And having done them the last two years, I know how hard it is to do it at all, much less do it right. In fact..." I picked up my telephone handset and buzzed my assistant Helena. "Helena, would you bring Tanya's gift in, please."

A moment later, Helena brought in a beautiful bouquet of roses and carnations for Tanya. "This is for all your hard work doing the brackets." I said.

"Aw, I thought those were Helena's when I saw them on her desk." Tanya said.

"No, Helena got her own bouquet. I got them for her for collecting and collating the entries and getting the chart printed out." I said.

"Awwwwww." said Cindy and Teresa in unison.

"Aww, that's sweet of you Commander." said Tanya. "But you could've given them to me before we printed the chart and I'd have put you in the No. 1 slot. Bribery works well, dontcha know." We all laughed. It was all fun, right now...

Part 3 - Continuances

"Mmmmm, delicious!" said a very happy Jack Muscone. "We should do this more often." I grinned at that. We were at the Cop Bar, and Jack Muscone had just taken his first bite out of a 'Jack's Double Cheeseburger'.

"Yes, we should." I said, playing along. The humor of it was that we

did

have lunch here very often. And I was having a 'Double Breakfast Burger', a double cheeseburger with bacon and a fried egg on top.

"Anything new on Trent and Quint, and Barsbane and Shimono?" Jack asked me as we ate.

"I was going to ask you the same question." I said. "We really have nothing on Barsbane at all. He may be out of State, working with Dick Granger somewhere. Shimono, we have nothing since she was identified as the Mole inside MegaTech Industries... if she really was a mole. I still wonder if she was working

with

them, as opposed to being a spy within them."

"That thought has crossed some minds in Washington, as well." Jack said. "And you can add to it that no one really seems to be working on where she might have gone."

"What, the vaunted Rovers BAU team isn't on the case?" I asked acidly.

"All kidding aside," said Jack, "they may be... but won't tell us a damn thing if they can help it. Our friend the retired DepDirector thinks they're completely untrustworthy, that they're almost a Jody Corrigan/Mr. C level rogue cell working on behalf of the Swamp."

"In that case," I quipped, "they're not 'rogue', but 'the norm'. We Guardians of Justice are the rogues, in the Establishment's eyes."

"Yeah." said Muscone. "Anyway, we also have nothing on Trent and Quint. A bunch of Operational Psychologists from various branches have been studying them... another FBI BAU unit, to which Arthur Wilshire was transferred; a CIA unit that your wife may know more about than we do; and Navy CIS... since Trent and Quint were Navy SEALs, and since LCDR Waring was murdered. You remember how the Rovers BAU said that Jerry Barsbane was mercurial and might go off the reservation, so to speak?"

"Yes." I said. (

Author's note: 'The Nuclear Option', Ch. 01.

)

"The NCIS Operational Psychologist I've talked to said that he believes that analysis applied more to to Quint Starr than to Barsbane." said Muscone. "And that is what started some discussion that Rovers's BAU might be a Swamp unit, and deliberately deceiving us. Anyway, Trent Ridge is very cool, very professional. As long as Quint is under his thumb, he'll stay quiet. But if they split up, like they may have in that SPS truck murder case (

Author's note: 'Shipping And Handling'.

), then Quint might start to get 'cabin fever' and start getting 'mercurial' and acting irrationally."

"It'd be great if he'd get in a bar fight, and then we could take him down." I said. "So Wilshire transferred? He and Conrad were with Rovers's BAU during the EMPTY QUIVER crisis."

"Conrad really wasn't a part of that BAU; he just worked with them a time or two." said Muscone, telling me something I secretly already knew. "And Wilshire transferred out. It's not clear who initiated that. I think Wilshire is a good guy, and Rovers and his Swamp Frogs pushed Wilshire out. Wilshire was sought after, and found another unit very quickly."

I nodded. "Where is the Rovers BAU, by the way?"

"They were pulled out of the City." said Muscone. "Or so we were told. Both Melina and I tried to find out where they were, through backchannels, but to no avail. No one knows what's going on with them. So they could be lurking somewhere in this Region. And that leads me to another question: where is Peter Blassingame, and will he be staying there?"

I smiled a mirthless smile. "He's at County Jail, in isolation." I said. "He and Susan Dougherty both. We're monitoring the area around County Jail with drones and patrols, we have sensors around the storm drain that leads under the jail," (

Author's note: 'A Tiny Slip', Ch. 01.

) "and we're keeping the SWAT Team at the Jail. I've also let it be known through the 'wrong' ears that if there is an armed attack to free Peter Blassingame, my Officers will kill him rather than allow him to be taken alive. If that won't stop his father from trying to get him out, I don't know what will."

"Heh." said Muscone. "That's smart. We've been monitoring Edward Blassingame, by the way, and really have been since the SPS murder. He's been pretty quiet lately. He also hasn't been making public appearances as BigAgraFoods CEO like he used to. Of course he has ways to communicate that will get around us, but we're watching."