Free Pierced: Pierced Trilogy Boxed Set by Lashell Collins Page A

past but they don’t care. And suddenly I know why their acceptance means so much to me. Before I get up to leave, I look at Parson and Marcos.
    “ You guys wondered what possessed me to become a cop,” I say quietly. I glance around the yard again and then back at them. “It’s a real simple answer,” I shrug. “You guys were my heroes back then. You still are.” Then I stand and leave.
    ~~~~~~~~
    I smile to myself at the memory now. The nickname, Guy, just sort of stuck. All the old timers took to calling me that around the station and before I knew it, everyone else had joined in. I don’t really care though. It’s just a name. As long as it’s only me and the old timers who know where it came from, it makes me no difference.
    And I’ve been coming to these things ever since. Whenever the old timers get together, I always get an invite. There are a handful of other younger guys who are invited now too, a few of the ones I hired on with, but not many. The old guys say it’s because most of the younger generation of cops don’t really adhere to the age-old belief that your fellow cops are your family and instead they just see it as a nine-to-five job. I guess I agree with them to a point. The days of everyone knowing each other’s spouse and the names of all your kids is quickly fading. Although some of us younger guys do get together every now and then. We go to a bar and have a couple of drinks, usually after a particularly bad or intense day. But it’s nothing like the choir practice of old.
    I’m finishing up a plate of ribs and potato salad when Parson brings his plate over and sits across from me. “You look deep in thought,” he says before digging into his ribs.
    I smile at him. “I was just thinking about the first time I came to one of these things.”
    He nods with a smile and takes a moment to swallow his mouthful. “I think about that night often,” he says.
    “You do?” I look at him with a puzzled expression.
    He nods slowly and then looks me in the eye. “It’s not every day you find out that you been some kid’s hero all his life,” he says quietly, a hint of pride in his voice. I’m taken aback by his words and I say nothing as he takes another bite of his ribs. I smile slightly and drink my beer.
    “You know,” he says, chewing his barbeque, “there’s a Sergeant’s exam coming up soon, kid. You should really think about taking it.”
    I frown at him. “What the hell for?”
    He gives me his serious, fatherly expression, looking me in the eye. “Because you’d make a great supervisor, son. And you’d be a damn fine example and mentor to all of these young snots coming up that don’t know their own asses from a hole in the wall. That’s ‘what the hell for.’ Not to mention the fact that it’s a slightly higher pay grade. Don’t dismiss the idea without thinking about it.”
    I blink at his words, still frowning slightly. Sergeant Pierce? Yeah, right, I’ll think about it. Not!
    “So,” he says, changing the subject, “when are you gonna find a nice girl and settle down, Guy?”
    Jeez, what am I wearing a fucking neon sign today that says “Hassle me about women”? First Conner and now Parson. “Uh … that would be never,” I reply wiping the sauce from my hands with a paper towel.
    “Never,” he responds with a surprised look on his face. “Well, I know you don’t play for the other team. Your ability to pick up the best looking girl in any bar in under a minute is all but legendary,” he says with a chuckle. “So what’s with the reluctance?”
    “Did Conner put you up to this?” I say with an annoyed scowl.
    “Put me up to what?” he answers. And now he’s looking at me suspiciously.
    I roll my eyes and give him a look that says I don’t want to have this conversation but, I know that I can’t shake him. Detective Lee Parson has been like a mentor to me my entire career, the closest thing I’ve had to a father figure since…
    I halt that