the_investigation Special K I dreamed he and I were NYPD detectives in Manhattan. He was my partner, and I suppose we'd been there for a few years. It wasn't the kind of thing one talked about at the precinct, but he and I had an underlying affectionate familiarity with one another that made us an effective team. Yeah, he was prone to bullsh!tting the lieutenant, but I believed he was always straight with me. Right or wrong, I believed he would always watch my back. He'd never had the chance to prove that, but it was the kind of suspension of disbelief one needed to keep working in a job so dangerous. It was a shock to me when the IAB began investigating him for murder. I'm not sure what happened or why he was a suspect, but when the squad found out, they turned on him. They wanted to know what I knew, whether I thought it was in his character. Sure, he could have done it, he definitely had the personality, but I didn't say a word. He was my partner and I defended him. "What's with his jaw," one of the detectives asked me, "the way it's indented like that on the sides of his face?" "You noticed that?" I had never thought it was so obvious. "He had surgery," I told the detective, "there are bolts in his jaw on either side." "It's weird," he said dismissively, "looks weird." The IAB were breathing down my neck at the precinct. I had to get out of town, for the sake of my partner. I had heard a contest on the radio, if you could name a song about California you could get a reduced airfare to California. Well, it was a long shot but I went to the travel agent (an old woman with a conspicuous hairdo,) and told her I had heard a song about Alaska and I'd like to get the reduced airfare to Alaska. "That's not the contest," she said. "Yes, it is," I replied, "just check and see." She tapped a few entries on her computer keyboard and said, surprised, "Huh, I'll be. I can give you a round trip for $161.65." "I'll take it," I snapped, slapping my VISA card on the counter. I knew I had to get it fast before the rates went up. I got my tickets and was set to leave town, not sure it was the right thing to do. But my partner was the kind of guy who could take care of himself. He never felt the need to confide in me, and now that he was in trouble I didn't even know enough about him to clear his name. But he'd get along, I knew. Always had, always would, with or without me. I don't believe in soulmates. And, given how I feel about him, that's a good thing. I have to believe there will be another chance to bathe so deeply in contentment, and never leave the sea. 010824 ... nemo i like specail k, however, its a bad thing to do just like most things that seem fun 010824 what's it to you? who go blather from