Heading Down the Long Road 7
Greetings everyone. Here is chapter 7 of Heading Down The Long Road. Thank you for reading my works. Please feel free to email me anytime at playmaster0023@hotmail.com or leave comments on my blog http://jd4556.blogspot.com.
Please also consider making a donation to Nifty. No matter how large or how small, every little bit will help offset the cost of running this website.
Now, without further ado, please enjoy!
Jim
It was an incredible day for Greg. His dream of becoming a Detective had finally come true for today he received his certification of completion for his training as a Specialized Task Force Officer, training in every way identical to that which Detectives received. He didn't walk into the station house he was assigned to - he floated in. Walking into the LGBT Anti-Violence Task Force office the first thing he noticed was a huge banner hung from the ceiling that said 'Congratulations Detective Sergeant Gregory Peters'. It was only a matter of a few seconds before he was noticed and everyone in the office stood, applauded and cheered. Tears flowed down his face as he was hugged, squeezed, kissed on the cheek, slapped on the back -and on the ass- a couple of times and congratulated. The only thing that would have made the moment perfect was if Dave had been there. He spared a momentary thought for his former captain and ex-partner. You guys tried to hold me back. Look where I am now, dickheads.
"OKAY, EVERYONE! YOU ALL KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Gwen yelled. Confused, Greg raised his eyebrows. Suddenly two members of the task force grabbed his hands and forced them behind his back, bending him over a desk while Kevin handcuffed him.
"Sergeant Gregory Peters, you are not under arrest. However, you are required to come with us. You are required to remain silent. Nothing you say will be held against you. You do not have the right to an attorney, even if you can afford one. Do you understand the non-rights as I have read them to you?" Without giving him the chance to respond, they pulled him up and dragged him through the station house amid whistles and catcalls, everyone except poor Greg knowing what was about to happen.
They dragged him to the men's locker room, where it immediately became apparent to Greg what was about to happen to him. One of the guys holding onto him went into the locker room and came out a few seconds later. Everyone, including the women on the task force dragged him into the locker room where two of the guys stripped down to swimsuits before dragging poor fully-clothed Greg into the showers. After making sure he was thoroughly soaked the handcuffs were removed. Greg immediately lunged for Gwen. Chasing her through the locker room he finally caught her, and, after throwing her over his shoulder, threw her into the showers as well before going after Kevin, who had mysteriously disappeared, only to return a few minutes later with Dave bearing a change of clothes and a towel.
"Greg, didn't anyone ever tell you that when you take a shower you're supposed to take your clothes off?" Dave teased.
"You want to join me?" Greg growled playfully, slowly advancing on Dave.
"Oh, I'll be joining you in the shower at home tonight, but I guarantee we will be doing more than just showering!" Dave wiggled his eyebrows lasciviously.
"That's more information than any of us need to know." Came a new voice, startling everyone. Almost as one everyone turned to see Commissioner Burke standing in the entrance to the shower area. Normally the Commissioner didn't attend these celebrations, but Greg had become a special project of his since the incident at Greg's former precinct. He held out his hand to Greg who immediately shook it. "Congratulations, Greg. I've said it once before and I'm saying it again. I'm very proud to have you in my Department." He turned to Gwen. "Make sure you take very good care of him, Gwen." He then turned to Dave. "The same goes for you, Dave."
"I plan to, Commissioner." Dave responded.
"Yes, Sir, Commissioner." The soaking-wet Gwen replied. "Greg, take the rest of the day off. You've earned it." She told him as she headed for the women's locker room where she always kept a spare change of clothes, never knowing when it would come in handy.
~~~~~
"Greg, I can't tell you how so very proud of you I am. You've accomplished your dream."
"Please don't say anymore. You're going to make me start crying like a baby. That's the last thing I need to do in the middle of a crowded Wendy's."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you."
"You didn't upset me. I'm actually pretty proud of myself. The training course was way more demanding than the Police Academy and tougher than learning to walk again. There were times I didn't think I'd make it through, but there was no way I was going to give up. I wonder if I can hit the Commissioner up for a pay raise?" Greg snickered.
"You are so bad." Dave laughed. "The Commissioner might not give you a raise, but if you hurry up and finish eating, I'll give you one."
"You have the rest of the day off?"
"When I told Bridget what was going on today she insisted."
Greg started gathering up the trash. "I'm done now. My stomach is full and I need you to fill something else."
Pretending not to understand, Dave asked, "And what would that be?"
"My ass, doofus." Greg heard a growl coming from someone behind him.
"Fucking faggot. Why don't you step outside and I'll fill your mouth with my fist."
Greg turned and looked at the redneck behind him. "I really don't think you want to do that."
"Ah, but I think I do. What's to stop me from kicking your faggoty ass back into the closet?"
Greg reached slowly into his pocket and pulled out his ID. "I think this will do quite nicely." He said calmly, showing the belligerent man his badge. "How about I start by arresting you for harassing and threatening a police officer? I think you're done here. Leave now and don't come back or I will have you arrested." Even though Greg spoke calmly, there was no doubt in anyone's mind he would carry through with the arrest. The man went to gather up his trash when Greg stopped him. "You know what? I'm in such a good mood today I'll even take care of that for you. Have a nice day." The man quickly left.
The restaurant manager, having overheard the exchange approached Greg. "Thank you so much, Officers." She began, assuming that since Greg was a police officer that Dave was also. "That guy is constantly trying to cause problems here. We keep calling the police but by the time they arrive he's gone." Relief was very much in her voice.
"Not to worry ma'am. I'm Sergeant Greg Peters from the LGBT Anti-Violence Task Force." He handed her one of his cards. "I'll make sure that there is a report of this incident on file so that there is a record of it. If he so much as sets foot in the door again call me and I'll have him arrested for trespassing. Please put this card somewhere that's easily accessible to all of your supervisors and employees and let them know to call me if he ever shows up again. I doubt he will, but I'd rather not take the chance."
She took the card and asked Greg and Dave to stay where they were for a moment. She disappeared into the office and came back out bearing two manager coupons for a free meal each for up to fifteen dollars, which she handed to Greg and Dave.
"Ma'am, you don't have to do that. I was just doing my job." Greg stated.
"I'm not a police officer. I'm his boyfriend." Dave said.
"Believe me; if giving out a couple of free meals keeps my customers and my employees safe from the likes of him, it's well worth it. Please, take them with my thanks."
The two men acquiesced to the manager's generosity and left for home.
Shortly after arriving home the doorbell rang. Since Dave was out back fiddling with the grill Greg stopped chopping the vegetables for a salad and went and answered the door. He was a little peeved at the interruption. He hated it when people unexpectedly showed up on their doorstep at dinner time. Being used to having a doorman announce his visitors he didn't think to look through the door's peephole to see who was there. Instead he flung open the door to see Kyle, Jason, Tommy, Andy, Bridget, Orie, Gwen, Kevin and several others from the Center and the Task Force all, with the exception of Kyle, holding food items. Kyle was holding a large package wrapped in bright wrapping paper.
Greg just stood there, stunned and not knowing what to do or say when Dave came to his rescue. Gently moving Greg to one side Dave motioned for everyone to come inside and head out to the back yard. "Uh, Dave? What's going on? Why are there so many people here?"
"I invited everyone to a party celebrating you completing your training. Congratulations, Detective Greg." Dave pulled him into a big hug facing away from the crowd of people in their back yard just as Tommy opened the back gate to allow the Commissioner to enter. "Everyone is very happy for you and wanted to show you by throwing together this party. Actually it was Kyle's idea. He'll find any excuse possible to throw a party. I'm just wondering when Chippendales are going to arrive?"
Greg was shocked. "Please tell me he didn't hire male strippers."
Dave snorted. "You know, I wouldn't put it past him to have arranged for a male stripper or two."
"Please tell me he didn't." Greg repeated his plea.
"I'll go ask him. In the meantime go mingle with our guests." Dave gave him a reassuring hug before trotting off towards the last place they saw Kyle.
The evening progressed with lots of good food, good friends and good fun. Around 10 almost everyone had left except for Tommy, Andy, Kyle and Jayson. "Do either of you have to work tomorrow?" Kyle asked.
Dave had to but Greg was off. "What's up?" Greg asked.
"Well, I thought you might want to come over and spend the afternoon at the beach then maybe get together for a game of Killer Bunnies."
Greg looked at Dave who nodded. "Sure. That sounds like fun. We'd love to." Greg responded enthusiastically.
"Great. In the meantime, Jay and I have something for you."
"You didn't need to do anything. Just being here tonight means more to me than you could possibly imagine." Greg lost it then, sobbing hard, much to the confusion of Kyle and Jay.
Dave pulled Greg into his arms and let him cry, rubbing his back gently as he explained. "When Greg came out, all of his family and friends turned their backs on him. He's never had friends or anyone that cared about him. His last partner on the force was, as you know, a homophobic bastard as was his precinct commander. Nobody knew the full extent of the abuse Greg suffered at his former precinct until he got transferred out of there. Even I don't know all of the details. Only the Commissioner does. Kyle, you have no idea what a difference you made in Greg's life when you called me that day. The two of us will be forever grateful to you for that."
"I don't know what to say. All I did was call you about his problems at the precinct."
"And that's what started the ball rolling to get him where he is now."
Greg finally pulled himself together, separated from Dave and pulled Kyle into a bear hug. "I'll never be able to thank you enough for your help. I owe everything to you."
"You owe me nothing, Greg. All I did was make a simple phone call. Dave did the rest. Anyway, you need to open this." Jay handed Greg the brightly wrapped bag.
"What's this?"
"Open it and find out."
Greg opened the package and was astounded to find it full of Killer Bunnies booster sets, all 12 of them plus promo cards.
"I don't know what to say." Greg said with tears in his eyes.
Kyle looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ah, thank you comes to mind."
"Thank you." Greg said then stated giggling.
"You're welcome. We're going to head out and let you guys enjoy the rest of the evening. Come by anytime tomorrow. If I'm not there, I'll probably already be at the beach. Just follow the path from the back of the house and it will bring you right to the beach." Everyone exchanged hugs and left, leaving Greg and Dave to themselves.
"Wow. What a great evening. I'd like to do this more often. I've never really had any friends to hang out with. This was so much fun. Thank you, Baby."
"You're more than welcome, honey. I agree, we should do this more often. It was great."
Greg gave him a lascivious look. "The fun is just getting started." He grabbed Dave by the hand and pulled him into the bedroom.