Free Duncan's Diary by Christopher C. Payne Page B

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    Matt was small for his age; smart but introverted like his father. He had recently had surgery on both of his ankles. He was so pigeon-toed that he had to wear special shoes and could only walk, not run, as he tripped over his own feet. The surgery had cut the tendons in both ankles, placed braces on his feet (not allowing them to push back up and pull in). This restraint would let the tendons heal by stretching back together and reconnecting. It meant wearing leg braces for more than a year, but he would run and play as a normal child once complete. He was just recently allowed to start walking without his braces, and it appeared the surgery was a great success.
    Tracey was very quiet, kept to herself, and was a straight-A student. She was helpful around the house and loved watching TV with her dad. She spent most of her spare time doing homework and playing with her doll Patricia, which was named after her grandmother’s cat.
    At the ripe age of 38, Sudhir was about 60 pounds overweight to the tune of 260 and about 5’11”. He had not seen hair on the top of his head in about 10 years. Along with drinking, he also smoked (the one thing his wife could not force him to quit) and dipped, now and then, a nice pinch of Skoal until about three years ago. That was when the cyst in his gums had appeared. Luckily it was not cancerous, but it still had to be removed and the process of doing so continued.
    To remove the cyst the doctors had to cut out a large part of his gums, the bone structure in his mouth, and three of his teeth. They then took a chunk of bone from his hip, and grafted it into his mouth so the jaw could keep its form. The bone had to heal for approximately one year before he would be able to put some sort of tooth structure back into place. Unfortunately, the first round did not take so he had been without the lower left part of his teeth and jaw for more than a year.
    This made lunch awkward, as not only was it difficult to chew, but every time he ate anything he had to rinse his gums thoroughly to avoid infection. None of this really bothered him much, as his goal was really to coast through life and get to death with as little turmoil as possible. The only issue he had with the process was after each surgery he had on his mouth, he had to take antibiotics for about 30 days to ensure no infections occurred. During that time period, he was not allowed to drink. When Sudhir was not allowed to drink, he went from being an ass to being somebody nobody could tolerate being around. The family and the department all preferred him to drink over the alternative.
    It was amazing that somebody of his nature ended up being on the police force. It was a fluke really. At one point when he was between jobs and had no idea what to do, he had read an article in the newspaper about an opening in the city of Palo Alto. It had stated how one could retire with a nice pension and spend most of his day outdoors. Seemed at the time the city was having difficulty recruiting, so they were actively trying to get bodies into the system. Sudhir went in and applied only to find out the job was really on the police force.
    He had managed to pass the test, made it through the academy, and decided to stick it out as it was better than anything he had previously done. He had never been in great shape, but at least back then he was able to pass the physical portion easier than some. If he had it to do now, it would be a completely different story. He had no ability or desire to run, lift weights, or exercise in any way. He was the complete opposite of the new level of officers in the system that seemed to thrive on being dominant, physically fit, and controlling of theirs and other peoples’ actions. It takes a rare person to be in the force these days.
    This made it odd for him to receive a call at 11:00 p.m. on a Friday night to look into a car exploding in an underground garage facility. He just didn’t get calls in the evening. He