Red White and Black

Chapter Twenty - Part B

Sammy

"Hello? Gary Police at the door," a voice called out.

The next hour passed in a whorl of activity, leaving Sammy exhausted and ready to collapse. At some point he had learned his mother had a severe concussion and should regain consciousness at any time from within five minutes to several weeks. This verdict rendered and delivered by a careworn emergency room doctor with an amazing lack of specificity. He vaguely recalled a series of irritating questions from a Detective, and all Sammy could do was to repeat the same story over and over.

"The kid next door broke into the house, assaulted my mother, and kidnapped my daughter."

"Mr. Morris, how can you be positive your daughter didn't willingly leave with Mr. Williams of her own accord?"

For some reason, it occurred to Sammy the officer's question was redundant, irritating him almost as much as the incessant questioning itself. He shook his head, realizing he was getting sucked into a vortex of useless thoughts, all leading nowhere.

"I'll tell you what officer..."

"Detective."

"What?"

"I'm a Detective."

Sammy ground his teeth in silent fury. "Fine. Why don't you leave this room and go hit the streets? Maybe you can detect where my daughter is more effectively from out there. Then once you find her, you can ask her yourself whether she willingly left with Mr. Williams."

The face of the Detective darkened. "Look, Mr. Morris. We're doing everything we can and it would really help if you would..."

"What would really help, Detective, is for you to quit looking for my daughter in the one place we both know she isn't. She's out there!" said Sammy pointing wildly out the window of the hospital room. He placed his mother's hand gently on the bed beside her and rose to his feet. "Why are you wasting time? That nigger could have already raped her and dumped the body while you're in here screwing around."

"Ahh," exclaimed the Detective, as if struck with an epiphany.

"And I'll tell you what, "continued Sammy, "that kid had better be praying you get to him before I do."

The detective cleared his throat. "Listen Mr. Morris. There is no one in this city who would like to catch this guy more than me. I have a twelve year old son who was beaten half to death by some colored gang a couple of years ago, so believe me when I tell you that I'm ready for payback. But here's the thing... we have a mayor who is watching every move we make right now. If we don't follow the proper procedure right to the letter, he'll be all over us and have any case we have thrown out. So let me reassure you when I say that I understand what you're going through."

"No, I don't think you do understand. This animal has nearly killed my mother and hauled off my little girl. Don't you get it? He's nothing better than a wild, rabid dog. Something that needs to be put down before it strikes again." Sammy paused and leaned against the railing of his mother's bed. "Yeah. I am certain you don't understand. 'Cause if you did, you wouldn't be wasting time, you'd be frantic with despair out looking for her. You'd have every cop in the city cruising the streets, shaking down every person they saw trying to find out where he took her. You don't understand, and you never will."

"Okay. Even though you say I don't understand, you'll have to trust me. But again, threatening Mr. Williams will only exacerbate your problems, I can assure you."