The Bed You Make
Chapter 27
~ Wasn't it Obvious?? ~
When changing shifts, Port Charles Police officers tended to gravitate to one of two places to relax: the Waffle Shack in the mornings or a local bar named Galaghers at night. This morning was no different. The Waffle Shack was already filled with cops.
Service at the Waffle Shack was a kind of 'first come, first served' thing. And that was fine if you were going off-shift. But if you were pressed for time like rookie beat cop Winston Montgomery, then that particular policy became a bit stressful.
Montgomery threw a ten-dollar bill down on the counter and snatched up the two hot coffees he'd been waiting for. He had about four minutes to make it to the station on time; Commissioner Scorpio frowned on officers being tardy.
Ignoring the reminder that he had change coming, Montgomery rushed out of the Waffle Shack – and charged head-on into a homeless man whose body odor made the young beat cop's stomach lurch. "Man, look what you've done!" Montgomery cried. The two plastic containers of coffee lay on the sidewalk, rapidly draining their contents onto the concrete. "Now I've got to go stand in line for more!" Montgomery's veteran partner expected a steaming container of coffee each morning. Montgomery was expected to drink a cup as well. It was a part of the normal hazing that traditionally happened to young officers.
"Shorry," the derelict slurred. He lurched forward and grabbed Montgomery for support. "Lemme," he held up three fingers, "get you two mo-" The remainder of the drunk's unsteady offer rushed from his lips in the form of a noxious belch that made Montgomery jerk his head away in self-preservation.
"Oh, man! Your breath reeks!" Montgomery none-too-gently removed the arms that were wrapped tightly around him. He roughly pushed the drunken man to the ground and towered over him. "You better hope," the young cop threatened, "that I don't have a bad day because of you."
Montgomery cast a final glance at the line of customers waiting inside the Waffle Shack. He stalked to his expensive European sports car, a gift from hardworking parents on his seventeenth birthday. The angry young cop hurled several profane comments to no one in particular before peeling out of the lot and sending gravel spraying everywhere.