Waist Deep

5

The next morning, I woke early after a fitful night’s sleep. The throb in my shoulder and arm and the needles in my knee kept me always on the edge of wakefulness.I took two extra strength pain relievers from my giant jar of three thousand, which I’d bought in bulk when I still had a membership to Costco.

The hot water from the shower helped work out the stiffness in my shoulder, but my knee wasn’t going to cooperate.Not yet.I flexed it slowly under the steaming water, wincing.The jagged exit wound in the center of the knee was in marked contrast to the straight, surgical lines all around it.I had matching exit wounds on my left arm and left collarbone, courtesy of a gangmember who took a personal dislike to me one night in late August almost eleven years ago.

Looking at my knee made me start to remember and remembering everything from that time in my life made me want to drink. Drinking was a bad idea, so I finished washing up before the hot water in my little apartment gave out.

After my shower, I slipped on some jeans and a t-shirt.I found my running shoes and put them on.Walking, even the seven blocks to the Rocket Bakery, required preparation.The running shoes were the only expensive thing I owned.

As I tied the laces, sitting in the only chair in my tiny living room, I looked around at the place.For the first few years, I’d been disgusted and embarrassed that I lived here.I’d been a cop, making good money and living in a nice, new apartment on the north side of town.Only losers and college kids lived in Browne’s Addition then.Now, it was losers, college kids and me.

I put on my leather jacket and slipped out of the apartment.I hadn’t bothered to look at the time, but the sun wasn’t up over the downtown buildings yet, so I figured it was around eight.The air was crisp, but not deadly cold and the streets and sidewalks were bare of snow, except for a few small salt-and-pepper patches that used to be large piles.

In its early days, Browne’s Addition was a wealthy part of River City.Built on a large spur at the edge of downtown, its large homes were near the downtown core. Perfect for the socialites of the time.They could live in an exclusive neighborhood, do their shopping tothe east and drop down the hill to the west and be at the Looking Glass River, all in less than a mile.It must have seemed like paradise to them.But time marched on. The wealthy moved into newer houses on the south hill or the north side of town. Slowly, the large houses in Browne’s Additionwere sub-divided into apartments. True apartment houses sprung up on any spare lots. Over time, the entire neighborhood became Renter Land.The rich abandoned Browne’s Addition to the peasants.

The Rocket Bakery sat on the southeast corner of 1^st and Cedar.I started coming to the coffee shop while I was still on the job.I’d been assigned to work light duty in the detective’s division while I recovered from my shooting injuries.A group of detectives went daily to the Rocket Bakery for coffee.Or tea.Or to ogle the young baristas.They always frequented the new trendy places, so their loyalty to the Rocket Bakery was short-lived.But I liked it and stayed.

The smells of fresh baked goods and hot coffee met me at the door.Light jazz played over the speakers.The place wasn’t as intentional as a Starbucks about atmosphere, but in the end, they were the same.For all their pretensions and being eclectic and hovering almost off the grid, they were both businesses that had numerous branches in River City and both were there to make money.

I put some of mine down on the counter.The barista behind the counter had her back to me, wiping down the espresso machine.Her dark hair was in a loose, single braid and hung between her shoulder blades.Her short-sleeved shirt was white and fit loosely.I’d seen her wear it before and knew that when she turned around, it would have buttons on it that only went to mid-chest and that you’d wonder if she was wearing a bra.

Cassie turned and noticed me.She flashed me a mysterious smile, the same one she’d been giving me for years now.I’ve watched her sometimes to see if she gave that smile to everyone, and to a certain degree she did.It was the kind of smile that hinted at what you both might know or were about to discover.

Her face was almost square and one of her upper teeth at the edge of her smile was crooked.I noticed that I was right about the buttons and maybe about the bra.The shirt hung loosely off of her.Cassie had the look of a thirty year old, but I couldn’t be sure.That was some of what I found mysterious about her.Several of the other baristas were little vixens in their own right, nineteen or twenty year old spinners with their tattoos and defiance of gravity.They commanded the attention of most of the patrons.

Cassie commanded mine.

“Your usual, Stef?” she asked me.Her voice was soft, but it carried through the store.

“Yeah.But a double shot this morning.”

She nodded, casting that slight whisper of a smile at me and making my Americano.It was the closest thing to regular coffee that they had and it was in my price range.Her braid shifted and jumped as she worked the machine, making it hiss and spit out my coffee.The place was almost empty, but that was temporary.The traffic flow came in fits and starts, then continued in spurts.It made the baristas job look easy, but in reality, they were never still.

Cassie slid my coffee across the counter and pulled a cranberry bagel from the display case.She took my money and tried to give me change, just like every morning.

“It’s yours,” I told her.

“Thanks.”

“It’s only a quarter,” I said, a little embarrassed.

She shrugged, that enigmatic smile playing on her lips.“Every little bit helps.”

The ease of her words and her Mona Lisa smile were supposed to make me feel comfortable about giving her a small tip, but mostly I felt poor.

I moved over to the table in the corner and commandeered one of the chess boards.I set up the pieces, thinking about Matt Sinderling.I wondered if he’d show up or not and if I even wanted him to.I wondered what the hell he wanted and how I was going to tell him no.