Free Tracking Time by Leslie Glass

Is that what this is?
Ay Dios!
That fucking Frank again. What are you, crazy?" He screamed some more.
    Shouting erupted from the lieutenant's office. He turned to her. "Get rid of this. I'll give you an hour."
    "Thank you, sir."
    A few minutes later, April had John James sitting in a room downstairs, tapping his foot and waiting impatiently for a feed.
    "Pee Wee, how would you like a nice shower and some clean clothes?" she asked sweetly.
    "I'm fine. I can take care of myself," he said, glancing sullenly at Woody.
    "Doesn't look to me like you're doing too good a job of it."
    "I have new clothes on order," he quipped.
    "A comedian," Woody responded.
    "Detective Baum is right. We don't have time for a comedy routine. What's going on with you?"
    "Like I told you. About a year ago, I got recruited by those Doe people." Pee Wee licked his lips.
    "Recruited?" April gave him a surprised look.
    "They come around looking for people, you know how it is-"
    "That's not the way I hear it. I hear you have to get cleaned up and apply, isn't that what you did?"
    "Nah, some lady recruited me. I know what I'm talking about," he insisted.
    "Maybe you got in some kind of trouble back then. You want to tell me about that?"
    "I didn't do nothing. You know I don't get in no trouble anymore. I'm an old man."
    "I can check it out, Pee Wee."
    He shifted uncomfortably. "I was part of a
program.
I didn't like it, that's all. Now I have other people take care of me."
    "Doesn't look like that to me. Who are these people?"
    "I'm down good," he insisted.
    April shook her head. "Okay, says you. We'll get back to that. Tell me about last night. Did you make that 911 call?"
    "Yeah, right." Woody interjected.
    April gave him a warm smile. "Never underestimate, Detective. John James here used to be one of our best people. Always knew what was happening in the area. If there was trouble, he'd be the one to make a call, isn't that right, Pee Wee?"
    "Used to be a lotta trouble. Those gay boys and the wildings-they were bad. Once those monsters from uptown set a friend of mine on fire. Behind the museum…" Pee Wee's dirty hands trembled. "You got a cigarette for Pee Wee?"
    April shook her head. "You'll have to wait. Detective Baum here has asthma."
    Woody blew air out of his nose.
Yeah, right.
    "So what happened last night? You make that call or what?"
    "No. There were two faggots out there. One of them must have made the call. Had to be a cell phone, didn't it? The nearest call box is practically in the Bronx," he muttered.
    Not true. There was one close by, on a tree. "Come on, Pee Wee, I haven't got time for this. What happened?" April demanded.
    "I don't know. Two faggots were doing each other in the bushes beside the lake. I fucking hate that. I told them to get away from my place, but they were too into it, didn't give a damn. Live and let live, I say. So I took off for a while. When I came back one of them was laying there. Looked dead to me." Pee Wee rattled his foot. The soles of his old sneakers flapped. He had no socks, and his feet were black. April didn't believe a word he was saying.
    "How did you know he was dead?" she asked.
    "I seen a lotta dead people in my time."
    "You see a girl in a pink sweater?" Woody asked.
    Pee Wee shook his head. "A girl? I didn't see no girl. Just the two faggots. Then the body. I turned away for two seconds and then there warn't no body."
    "This is a hell of a story. You're drunk, Pee Wee." April glanced at Woody.
    Woody got the idea. "Maybe he rolled the guy himself. What do you think, boss?"
    "Sounds very plausible to me. You have a little accident and mug somebody, Pee Wee?"
    "No way," he protested. "I don't do that. I'm an old man."
    "Okay, what do you say I give you a nice reward then? You tell me what really happened out there-where our missing p is-and I'll get you new clothes, food-"
    "And lodging for the rest of my life. I know where this is going, but I ain't taking no fall." Pee Wee lost his cool. "I