It was a slack day and I was just cruising around looking for any stray nefarious felons. You know the type, the guy who doesn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign, or one who speeds that little bit over the limit. A lazy bunch today with none of them doing the wrong thing. How am I to keep amused with no motorists to book?
My idling along was interrupted by a call on a domestic. See the woman, the controller told me. I was fairly close to the required address and didn't even have to turn on the siren. I got out of the car and straightaway I could hear trouble in the back yard with a woman yelling.
Now domestic are funny things. Interfere and both parties could turn on the poor little officer, women being the worst. Men will only punch. Women will scratch and bite. I move into the front yard and the woman spots me instantly. She's over next to me in a flash.
"Have you got a gun?" she demanded. "If so, feel free to shoot them."
"I have a gun, Miss," I assured her. I looked at the two young men rolling around on the ground trying to beat each other up. "Which one do you want me to shoot?"
"Either or both. Both, preferably. You do have more than one bullet, don't you?"
"Ah, yes, Miss, but shooting can be so permanent. How about I just break it up for you?"
"That'll do," she sighed. "I can always kill them afterwards."
Not feeling inclined to weigh in between them I looked for an easier solution. Pepper spray might work but might also just make them madder. Looking around I spotted the garden hose attached to the tap.
"If you'll pardon me, Miss," I said.
I walked over to the hose and turned it on. Setting the nozzle to jet, I turned the hose on them. The fight came to an abrupt halt with a lot of swearing. From the sounds of the oaths the first thought the boys had was to blame Cathy. Then they spotted me and the pair of them shut up. Before I had a chance to say anything the girl, Cathy, I assume, went into action.
"You morons," she shrieked. "You incredible imbeciles. Look what you've done to the back door. Who's going to pay for that? I'll give you one guess and the answer is not going to be me. You, Michael, will arrange for the door to be repaired. Today! I expect a new door attached by the end of the day and the pair of you will have paid for it. Understand?"
Michael started to make excuses but she shut him down.
"I don't want to hear it. What do you think my parents will say if they come home and find the door broken? What do you think my father will do?"
The boys had no answer to this and they looked distinctly uncomfortable thinking about what her father would do. The second boy started to talk. I don't know what he was going to say because she shut him down just as fast.
"Save it, Paul. I'm not interested. I just want the pair of you out of here and out of here now. If I see you anytime during the next week it will be too soon, so make sure I don't."
The boys looked at each other, shuffling their feet nervously. Not the reaction she wanted.
"If you're still here by the time I count to five I'm going to have this nice officer charge you for disturbing the peace, wanton damage to my door, fighting, and anything else I can think of. He'll lock you up in a cell with a giant thug who'll call you Nancy and tell you to bend over. Now GO AWAY."
The boys departed post-haste, fading into the distance.
"Here I was all set to make an easy arrest and you've chased my criminals away," I lamented. "I could have spent a comfortable couple of hours at the station booking those lads. Now I have to go back on patrol."
"Oh," she said, blushing. "I suppose I should have let you handle it."
"Not really," I said with a grin. "You seemed to have it well in hand once they quietened down. Can you please give me the background story? I'll need to put in some sort a report."
"Can't you just let it go?"
"I'll recommend no action but I do have to report it. You did call us via the emergency number and so I'll be expected to report what happened."
"Oh. OK, I guess. Why don't you come inside and have a cup of coffee. I'll tell you all about it then."
I had no objection to having a cup of coffee and chatting to a pretty young thing. She led me into the kitchen and indicated I should sit at the table.
"So what should I call you?" she asked, looking at my nametag. "I don't really want to call you Officer Brian."
"Just call me Brian," I told her.
"I can't do that. It'd be rude. What's your first name?"
"Brian."
"Your name is Brian Brian?" she asked sceptically.
"No. My name is actually Brian Officer. We thought putting a name tag of Officer on me might be a little confusing, hence the Brian. I'd rather be called Officer Brian than Officer Officer."
"I'd get my name changed," she muttered.
"I did. I used to be Charles Officer."
She gave me an 'I am not amused' look, but that was all right. I was.
"From the way the boys were talking I assume that you're Cathy. So how about telling me what happened."
Cathy sat down opposite me and told me her story.
"It's my birthday today," she started. "I turned eighteen today. You know what that means."
"Happy birthday. Assume I'm ignorant and don't know what turning eighteen means to you."
"It means I'm now legal, sex-wise. Der," she said, as though addressing another imbecile.
"So?" I said in a go-on voice, not daring to comment on her age and new found legality.
"So Michael came around to wish me a happy birthday. He decided that as a birthday present he'd initiate me into the joys of adulthood. Personally, I think he was also too cheap to bother buying a present."
Looking at her and the way she filled out her clothes I knew just where Michael was coming from. The point is, he should also have bought a nice present to enhance his prospects.
"I don't want you to think that Michael is my boyfriend. He's not. He just wants to be. He thought that he'd be able to seduce me. Anyway, he was busy pitching his line when Paul came trotting in through the back door, yelling happy birthday. He also skipped the present. He suggested to Michael that Michael make himself scarce as he, Paul, had some serious business he wanted to discuss with me. You can guess what he wanted."
She sat and scowled for a moment, still peeved at the boys. (And possibly the lack of presents.)
"Paul, by the way, is not my boyfriend either. He's another wannabe. Anyway, Paul and Michael started arguing over which one of them was entitled to seduce me. They were arguing about it right there in front of me as if I had no say in the matter. They're both idiots. First they argued, then they swore, and then they started fighting. Paul was trying to toss Michael out and Michael was trying to toss Paul out. The only thing they agreed on was the word OUT. Effectively they threw each other through the flywire back door which is why it is now a shambolic wreck. I called the police and you rocked up."
I nodded sympathetically. Internally I was rolling around on the floor, laughing. It turned out that Cathy was a mind reader.
"It's all very well for you to laugh," she snapped, "but it was very embarrassing. Now I'll admit that there was a slim chance that one of them might have managed to seduce me. A very slim chance. They've got a fat chance now."
She paused and looked thoughtful.
"Why," she asked me, "does a fat chance mean you have no chance when a slim chance means you have a tiny one? You'd think a fat chance would mean a good chance."
"It's in the tone of voice," I told her. "Sarcasm is a wonderful thing."
"Let me be clear on one thing," I said, wanting more information. "This wasn't going to be a case of attempted rape or domestic violence where you personally were concerned?"
"Not in this lifetime," she assured me. "If they tried anything like that I'd castrate them with a pair of blunt scissors. If they hit me my father would bury them under the apple tree."
Remembering the back yard I couldn't remember seeing any trees.
"Ah, you don't actually have an apple tree," I pointed out.
"Dad would buy one," she said without batting an eye.
"So the whole thing is just a case of a couple of over-sexed young men getting into a scuffle. Did you lead them on at all? Either deliberately or inadvertently?"
"Ha. As if I'd have to do anything to lead them on. Those randy rams will chase down anything in a skirt. They knew it was my birthday and it was a case of they both wanted to get to me first, as though I was a bitch in heat."
"I was wondering. You did mention that there was a slim chance that one of them might have succeeded in his intentions."
"Only because I'm curious and know I'll have to learn all about it sometime. Both Michael and Paul can be very nice when they want to be."
"Uh-huh. Are there any other young men who are not boyfriends who might be beating a path to your door? Do we need to station a car here to break up future fights?"
"Well, I don't have an official boyfriend at this stage so all the boys I know will probably be chancing their arm. My current mood is that they can all get stuffed."