This is the second chapter, chronologically in the life of Ericka McKann. The events here take place shortly after those in "New Year's Day Party". This touches on a number of themes, as the primary interaction is between an 18 year old white female and an older black male who is like family so mature, interracial or even incest/taboo themes are also present. There is a really long lead time.
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Patrick McKann Sr. officially started his new job, Assistant Police Chief in a small town near Cleveland on Monday after New Year's. And while his title was "Assistant" in truth he was the top cop. His boss, the Chief, was an appointed politician and he knew it. The Chief's job was to make the mayor, and the department, look good. Patrick's job was to head the police force and enable them to serve and protect the citizens. Erica was going to stay in Boston to finish out the school year before and join her father in Ohio in the summer. By then he needed to actually find a place she could call home.
For Ericka to finish the school year with her classmates she needed to find a place to stay in the district, they considered a number of possibilities, including her living on her own or with a stranger for a roommate but in the end they were really only two choices. One was that she could either live with an older cousin who was attending medical school. He already had two roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment. The other option was to let her stay with her "Uncle Steve" and "Aunt Sofia." In the end the idea that she would have her own room with them and not be sleeping on a living room couch sealed the deal. They moved into a 2 bedroom hoping to be able to fill the second room with a child of their own a couple of years ago but so far there was no luck.
Uncle Steve was actually 31 year old police sergeant Estivan Galvez. He and Patrick Sr had careers that kept intersecting. They were partners in a squad car for a couple of years and most recently Estivan was the swing shift duty sergeant in the precinct where Patrick was the lieutenant. There was a great deal of trust and respect between the men. Even so, Patrick was convinced that he married up with his wife Sofia. The child of a diplomat, Sophia served as an army officer. She spent most of her time in Natick where she and her staff were responsible for making sure soldiers overseas were getting the supplies they needed for back at base. Balancing budgets to make sure there were linens for the beds and cue sticks for the pool tables. She took her job seriously believing that a soldier who wasn't complaining about their bunk was more likely to be alert on the mission and more likely to get back to base and back home. Occasionally she would have to travel to a location to oversee a project, but mostly she commuted to a desk job like so many others, she just went to work in a uniform.
Since Estivan was working, it was Sophia who picked up Ericka at the airport. She had seen the girl grow up from when she was in braces and still saw that young girl before her, just taller. Sophia couldn't deny that Ericka was now a couple of inches taller than her, she wasn't that tall at the Fourth of July picnic. The two women spoke about the holidays and Ericka's classes and schedules. Sophia made some hot chocolate and they watched SportsCenter and waited up for Estivan to come home. At 11 Sophia had Ericka dress for bed while she prepared a light meal for Estivan. They watched the late news together as they waited for him. Once he arrived, Ericka gave him a gentle hug and went to bed. Sophia and Estivan talked while he ate. Ericka couldn't really hear what they were saying, but fell asleep to their voices.
In the morning Sophia was leaving for work just as Ericka was waking up. Uncle Steve was still asleep when she left for school and he left for work before she got home. After basketball practice, Ericka got home, ate a dinner Sophia made and then did her homework. By Wednesday it was almost routine, so she was surprised when Uncle Steve was there when she got home on Thursday and Sophia wasn't, but even cops get days off and Thursday-Friday was his weekend. Ericka sat at the kitchen table and started on her homework while Estivan was watching one of last week's Celtic's games that he recorded on the VCR. Sophia was kept late at the office. Uncle Steve ordered a pizza delivery for dinner. Sophia arrived home around 8pm, and heated up two of the 3 pizza slices left for her before she announced that she had orders. She was being considered for a promotion to major and needed to show ability with larger projects. She was heading to Augsburg, Germany for 12 of the next 13 weeks. She would be given 1 week leave to travel home. She needed to report 9pm a week from Saturday.