They were about to commence beating him when a younger detective, new guy in the squad, had an idea. The older guys didn’t have much use for him since he’d transferred over from the commish’s office, but they said yeah, g’ahead.
“Horatio,” the younger detective said, “How is it we caught you this time? Why didn’t you run?”
Horatio said, “I saw something.”
The older guys all blinked. First words he’d said in hours.
“What did you see, Horatio?” the younger detective said.
Horatio took a deep breath and let it out. He looked the younger detective in the face. “I saw myself in the future. Not long from now, but definitely the future. There had been a war or a plague or something, and I was the last man on Earth.”
“Mm-hm,” the younger detective said.
Horatio said, “I was on a mesa or something. One of those plateaus or whatever, out in the desert, like in an old cowboy movie. And I looked down and there was this dust cloud, this enormous dust cloud. It was like a sandstorm, but there was no wind. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stood there. The cloud got closer and closer, and then I could see it was—it was broads.”
“Broads,” the younger detective said.
Horatio said, “Every broad on Earth. And I was the last man. And they were coming for me. Grandmas, schoolteachers, nurses, secretaries.” He swallowed. “They were all coming for me.”
One of the older guys burst out with, “They were gonna tear you apart for being a fuckin’ scumbag rapist.”
Horatio shook his head but kept his eyes on the younger detective’s face. “No,” he said, “No, they wanted—wanted to—”
The younger detective watched Horatio’s eyes fill with tears. He said, “What did they want, Horatio?”
Horatio said, “They wanted me to fuck them. They all wanted me to fuck them. Cheerleaders, meter maids, actresses, housekeepers, even the—even the little kindergarten girls pushing their dollies to market.” He did not sob, but the tears poured freely down his cheeks now. “I confess,” Horatio said, “I’ll sign whatever you need me to sign, I’ll do whatever. But you gotta keep them away from me.”
“Okay,” the younger detective said.
Horatio said, “Keep them away from me.”
The younger detective looked down at his hand on the table, drummed his fingers once, twice. Then he said to no one in particular, “Get him out of here.”
The older guys did so, without pause or comment.
BIO: Jimmy Callaway lives and works in San Diego, CA. Please visit attentionchildren.blogspot.com for more.
