[Beep, Beep, Beep]
Two off days a week isn't cutting it anymore. What's even worse is that they aren't back to back, they are spaced out. Like this week; my off days are Monday and Sunday and it's incredibly taxing to work five straight days.
Madness!
[Beep, Beep, Beep]
I wish work started at 2 in the afternoon and ended at 6. But life isn't always fair. Briefing is at 7:30 and we hit the streets by 8:30. And by the way, there's no official ending time, we leave when the Madam dismisses us for the day.
[Beep, Beep, Beep]
Sometimes I feel like I have no time for myself. I have no social life, no dating life, my hobbies are neglected. My life is like this: I wake up, work, eat, work, sleep and it's back to work.
What the fuck even is that?
That's not living.
It's a miracle I even manage to drag myself out of my bed to show up.
But the job in and of itself is worth it. It's worth my depression, it's worth the loneliness I feel when I come home to an empty apartment, lie in an empty bed. It's worth the suffocating feeling I get when I see my childhood friends married with children and documenting their happy, vibrant lives on social media.
It's so worth it.
[Beep, Beep, Beep]
Gorblimey!
I shut off my alarm, stretch and start my day.
Is my job so worth it that I'm able to look past waking up at 4am most days?
Totally!
*****
I'm a part of a special unit of Social Workers within the Police Force.
You read that right. I am a Social Worker and a Police Officer at the same time. So what we do is when certain scenarios are a bit too complex for the detectives to handle, we step in and come up with decent solutions that can improve other people's lives.
This week, we're tasked to check in with people who had substance abuse issues in the past. What would happen is that we do house visits and conduct interviews centering on how they're coping with their new realities. Afterwards, we have to write comprehensive reports on each person and submit them to the Madam and in turn, she submits them to the court magistrate.
"Okaaaaaay--Smith today you work with Downie and Peterson."
Madam Bennett hands me the sheet with the names and addresses of people we have to look for today.
25 names.
Twenty five Got-Dam names.
[Sighs]
"The only vehicle available is the Volkswagen."
Twenty-five names and a vehicle with no AC during a heatwave...
"Please remember to be alert at all times. You might meet a situation where someone is still using and you have to arrest them and bring them in. Shit can go from 0-100 just like that" [Madam snaps her fingers]
"Please don't forget to take handcuffs with you." Madam eyes me when she says this and I blush. She's telepathically referencing last week when I used an extension cord to hogtie a violent meth head.
"Before you go, Mr Smith, when are you going to go back to the range?"
"I never get the time to go, Ma'am."
"Tomorrow, fall in at the range. Don't come here unless you pass."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Alright, Downie and Peterson, get firearms from the Sergeant on duty and get to it."
"Okay, shoo, shoo!" Madam says, while frantically waving her arms.
We file out of her office. I wait for Downie and Peterson to get firearms and we hit the road.
*****
Wearing a suit and tie in this heat is torture And I feel like this fucking car should be at the dump site. Miss Peterson sits in the front passenger seat while Miss Downie takes the backseat.
"I guess I'm driving today", I deadpan.
Miss Peterson is your classic hottie. She's tall with long brown hair styled into a high ponytail. She's wearing a tan skirt suit with mocha coloured stockings to show off her long legs and a red blouse. Her hazel eyes peep out from fake mink eyelashes and a thick layer of lip gloss is plastered on her mouth. She checks her facial appearance sixteen times during the drive from the station to the first address on the list.
Yes.
I counted.
You'd think she'll meet the man of her dreams at one of these visits.
Miss Downie is the complete opposite. Her face is bare and she's wearing slacks with a starched white shirt.
Now, I'm in no way saying Downie is unattractive. It's just that, when the two women are together, men automatically look at Peterson first because she's the one that jumps out. But when you stare long enough, you'd come to really appreciate just how beautiful Downie really is. If women were my thing, I'd be hung up on her.
We reach Williams Street and look for lot # 15. The home of Orlando Browne. Fifty-two years and a parolee as of two weeks ago.
It says on the file that he moved here from Jamaica ten years ago.
"There!"
Miss Downie points to a small green house.
"I'll circle back and park further down the street."
We hobble out of the volks-OVEN And chip down the street.
Three steps in and I can feel the sweat slipping down my back.
We reach Mr Browne's front porch and I ignore Peterson fanning her face with her hands.
"Fuck Smith! You could've parked a bit closer."