This episode of Vice Cop does not further the plot and is instead a bit of a departure and a break from the present-time action. While the action in the beginning that triggers the flashbacks is in the present, the majority of scenes are in the past- the early 1980's.
These are scenes of flashbacks/memories of Hudson's training days in the New York Police Academy and his first years as uniform cop. Think of it as a TV series' "clip show" -- a variety of scenes of incidents that have already occurred but were never written about before. Characters that have appeared earlier in the novel, Kyle Lennox, Sonya Romandini and Candy Spears, appear in this chapter. For those Literotica readers who enjoy the sex scenes, read SCENE SIX and SCENE ELEVEN. The next chapter, Chapter 8, will resume the action in the present.
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Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, 5pm, 1986
Hudson Banach wore his dark police sunglasses to shield his eyes from the glare of the sunset over Brooklyn.
He had relocated from his family home in Middle Village Queens, where his mother, younger brother and sister lived, to his own apartment within Brooklyn. He had not climbed up too far socially. It was a modest apartment, in bad need of a paint job, and had only two bedrooms, a small kitchen and a decent enough living room that was nonetheless quite small. The odd thing he found about this apartment was that, for being small, it had the illusion of being slightly bigger. There was a second floor, and it was an attic room, plain and simple. He knew he could make it into another room but it was all woods and had no windows and was directly beneath the sloping roof. He didn't think he'd need a third room so he decided at once that it would remain an attic.
He had been moving his furniture and worldly possessions -- which for him included chairs, tables, desks, lamps, valises, clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils, dishes and last but not least his cop uniforms, the old one and the new one, and his men's magazines, namely Playboy and Hustler not to mention his collection of video cassette pornography.
To keep his interest in adult films a secret from everyone, he always stripped the tapes of their covers -- which depicted nude females -- and labeled them as "documentaries".
He had been moving all these things himself with only the help of another fellow cop from the precinct. He was not friends with the officer but he had volunteered to help a fellow cop in need. By late afternoon, he had finished.
Hudson stood by the door of his apartment, taking a good look at his new pad, eyeing everything from ceiling to floor and wondering just how long it would take for him to arrange all the furniture pieces and carpeting. The Professor had always had good tastes in home décor, so he thought he'd consult him and bring him over to help him. The Professor favored dark woods, influenced by English country manors he had visited, and very little carpeting "except for the bedrooms or in some cases the parlor".
Hudson also considered trying to find a nook in which he could put up a mini-bar. That was the perfect topping in his bachelor's apartment. He prayed that it would not be long before he would find a girlfriend and they would be able to share drinks in his place. If not a girlfriend, then male friends. He wondered if finding both was ever going to happen.
He had not made a male friend since he met Kyle Lennox. And the poor guy ended up dead. Since his death, he had not been able to befriend a single cop in the precinct. They all considered him to be smug, defiant, a renegade. In the past, he had endangered the lives of other cops when he would take up his personalized brand of police justice, catching criminals in an action-film-hero type way, forgetting the real world was nothing like that. There had been wild car chases and equally wild motorcycle chases, stunts, leaps over bridges, fast-paced pursuits by foot into dangerous areas and the like. Some of the cops he had been paired with had ended up in Intensive Care at the hospital.
Hudson took out old photographs from a box. He placed them on the nightstand, and others above the small fireplace in his living room which he absolutely loved having, feeling a lot more at the Professor's level since he had a fireplace in his own apartment in Park Slope. The ones in the nightstand were black and white photos of Kyle Lennox and his ex girlfriend Sonya Romandini, his first love. The rest of the framed photographs on the fireplace were of his father, dashing and powerful in his Polish police uniform, and his Uncle Vitto in his own Italian cop uniform. There were also photos of his mother and brother Angelo and sister Alyssa.
Hudson found himself staring at photographs of his ex-sweetheart Sonya and his dead friend Kyle. In the photos, he was embracing Sonya tightly as they posed for a sepia photograph taken at Coney Island. He had bought her cotton candy. The photos of Kyle Lennox showed a happy-go-lucky blonde guy out of uniform wearing a Yankees baseball cap in front of Yankee Stadium.
At once, his mind was flooded by memories and he mentally relived them, remembering how it all began, walking back in time, returning to his own past....................
ONE
He was hard-bodied and yet swift. Everyone thought so. Whenever Hudson Banach was on his feet and running, it was almost like seeing an Olympic marathon runner. He passed the physical exams, operated firearms both big and small like a pro, and passed the exams which tested his endurance. He was able to successfully run with other cops and in mock pursuits on foot. He was equally skilled at climbing fences, high walls and leaping and jumping if called for. Each test was long and exhausting, and either made or broke a person.
At the dawn of the 1980's, the Academy did not discriminate against racial background or gender. All that mattered was that they were perfectly qualified and fit enough for active duty. For some reason, the Department that Hudson had been looking into -- the Manhattan Precinct -- didn't have any women who had registered for training.
This did not surprise many. The Manhattan girls were more interested in pursuing money, men and careers other than law enforcement. Hudson was a loner and even during training, he found that he was unable to properly socialize with anyone. The days turned to nights and the training was harder than he had expected it would be.
Each night, too tired to even sit down at dinner with the family, he would excuse himself and retire to bed, knowing another long, hard day of training awaited him in the morning. He was the eldest and his siblings were too small. He had turned eighteen not long before and had graduated from high school. He had no desire to join the army or go to University, since neither road was even mentioned by his deceased father.
Stefan Banak changed his name to the more English-sounding Banach (pronounced Ban-nec) after marrying an Italian-Sicilian woman and coming to New York. He had been a cop in Poland, and now a cop in New York for only a short while. He died when Hudson was still fifteen. Hudson knew that his father had meant for him to be a cop in the "new city". He was tired, he was being pushed too far at the Academy but he remained strong at the core in his effort to please his father and to become a good cop.
There was another motivation -- Sonya Romandini.
He recalled when he first met her in high school. She wore her hair like Marsha Brady, despite a glaring difference. The cute TV star was blonde and very Aryan whereas Sonya was distinctly Italian and a raven-haired beauty. Nevertheless, her well-groomed hair was long and cascaded down her back like a Barbie doll. Her breasts were small but lovely and her figure was like that of a slim supermodel. She was in almost every one of his classes. She was fond of him and they had become friends at first but their attraction grew stronger until it reached romantic proportions.
He could think of nothing but her.
Whenever he closed his eyes, it was her beautiful face that appeared on his mind. He was determined to make her his wife and he wanted to prove himself worthy by becoming a cop like no other and to raise a family who would adore him. He thought Sonya was the perfect missing piece in his life. For her, he was bent on making it first in his class at the Police Academy, no matter how hard it would be, no matter the cost. Day after day, test after test, he felt the intense competition among his peers, all of them hoping to attain prominent status in the Department.
The physical demands of being a cop did not seem altogether heavy. Hudson's body was sturdy but quite lean and as such was able to do a lot more than cops with a heavier build. He had begun to work out at a local gym. The "fitness craze" had hit America with the success of Jane Fonda work-out videos, the sudden "glamour" personal fitness trainers and health clubs frequented by young and old donning spandex and leg warmers. Because the gyms were unisex, it fast became a place for singles to meet one another other than bars. Hudson was already taken by Sonya, so he did not actively seek out a girl at the gym. He did find a friend.
