Man Of Steel

Chapter 2

“I have to make a run later baby, you'll be okay here by yourself?" It was later that night and we'd both only been home a few hours from our respective jobs. When things are like they are now, I try to spend as much free time with her as possible, because even though I know she understands what's going on, I've learned from my mistakes and I never want her to feel abandoned or like I'm taking advantage. She knows she's not going anywhere regardless, but I'm not that much of a d**k that I would use the fact that I've got her on lockdown to misuse her.

She hated being alone in the big old house at night, not that I blame her; the world is full of sick s**t. But I've made sure our place is secure and I've been teaching her how to take care of herself. I don't mind that she feels safer with her man around, that's part of my job. But every once in a while I have to go out at night, or sometimes even be gone for days on end. Those times I usually do all I can to reassure her that she's safe and I never take her fears for granted. She was one of the strongest people I knew but when it came to this s**t there was no getting through to her.

One of her friends had been attacked a few years back and the girls never forgot or really got over it. She's full of piss and vinegar when it comes to me, but underneath all her bravado, my baby's a girly girl who likes having her man at her back to keep the dark at bay. It's f****d that I have to leave her to go protect someone else but it's what I do. Seems like it's what I've always done in one capacity or another.

I use to be a detective in the big city; that was before cops started becoming politicians. I had no stomach for the bureaucracy bullshit and the game playing so I took early retirement. Not long after leaving, I opened my first bar, which had I known then where it would lead, I would probably have bought a damn Mickey D's. Cops don't usually hang out in those.

Within weeks of my doors opening, it seemed like every disgruntled cop in a ten mile radius found his ass on one of my bar stools. I hadn't intended my place to be a cop hangout but pretty early on it was obvious that that's where s**t was heading. If that wasn't bad enough, I got caught up with a whole other element at just about the same time. The peace and tranquility I was after seemed out of reach by then. And life proved to be truly stranger than fiction. I'm not sure what I would've done different if anything, had I seen it coming.

There's nothing stranger for an ex cop than to have some of the degenerates he'd put away coming back into his life. Not set on destruction no, these freaks were looking for an alliance. Apparently, I was a standup guy in their book, the only trust worthy 'pig' they'd ever had the misfortune to get tangled up with. Lucky me. I was their chosen front man for an enterprise that, if not at the complete other end of the spectrum from my former profession, was pretty f*****g close.

I'd worked vice for a time, did a stint in narcotics, some time in violent crimes and for a time in my early years I'd tackled domestics, before ending up in homicide. I got tired of the revolving door, where the criminals were headed back out on the streets as fast as I put them away. I said f**k it and hung that s**t up, it was just the last in a long line of grievances I had against a career I'd looked forward to since my childhood that hadn't panned out. I guess I'd somehow glamorized the role after watching old films that were heavy on the serve and protect angle. There wasn't much of that left by the time I handed in my piece and my badge.

There were plenty who tried to talk me out of it but my mind was made up. I'd got into the business to save lives, to help the helpless, not to accept bribes and hide up s**t if the perp had the right bank account. I was done all the way, there wasn't much I could do about the illegal s**t that was going on in the force but I'd be damned if I was going to let myself be tainted any farther.

It was the only thing I had control over, my ability to walk away. And even with threats hanging over my head I'd walked. I was sure some thought I would spill the beans on their shady dealings but I knew better than to wade into that pool. The s**t went to the top so there was no way for me to bring them down in the courts, why bother trying? There were other ways to deal with them if I was so inclined. So I'd countered their threats with some hard evidence of my own that showed them pretty much that I could take care of myself and they'd got the hint and backed the f**k off.

All I wanted to do now was enjoy the benefits of having my own place and never again answering to anyone. No one except Ms. Holly that is, who was pretty sure she owned daddy's ass and wasn't shy about using that s**t. In those early days after the force she was my mainstay, I measured my every decision against what it would mean for her future.

So when a couple of the guys I'd put away in their misguided youth came seeking me out, I wasn't exactly what you would call thrilled. I'd just turned my whole life upside down literally. I'd divorced my wife of almost ten years, leaving behind the most precious thing in my life, my little girl. Even with the new bar I felt at loose ends but I was determined to stay focused on this new avenue that I'd opened up.

But no matter what I told myself, I couldn't get away from the cop in my blood. So when these guys came to me with a proposition, it didn't take long for them to talk me around and we ended up forming a sort of club I guess you could say.

These guys were some serious hard asses that I'd put away for everything from drugs to carrying concealed when they were in their teens. I can't say that I'd kept in touch with them much after I'd helped to send them up, though I had made an effort in the beginning before life got in the way. But for whatever reason they remembered me, and the way I'd handled them back then. I won't lie, there was a sense of pride knowing that I'd made that much of a difference in someone's life.

Somehow these fuckers heard that I'd left the force and were now rivaling the cops for my ear. When I wasn't listening to the same complaints I'd once had, the same things that had precipitated my leaving the force from my former colleagues. I was being bombarded by the ex cons turned bike crew vigilantes. They claimed that's not what they were but the jury was still out back then. These days there's no question as to what we are, but that too is reliant on who you ask.

When they'd first told me what it was that they were into I have to say I was proud as f**k of the three misfit delinquents who'd apparently turned their lives around. Instead of terrorizing the neighborhood as they'd once done, these days the boys were into protecting their streets and the people who lived on those streets. Hearing that I played a part in their turn around wasn't exactly hard on the ears either.

After I'd heard them out and got the gist of where they were going it wasn't long before I was onboard. And since it was such a great cause, something I believed in, I'd talked a few of my old buddies from the force into joining up. My new family hadn't been too fond of that turn of events but once I'd convinced them of the benefits of having more eyes and ears spread out across the county they'd caved grudgingly.