My Hero continued.....

On Friday I was taking part in a writing exercise called 5 Minute Friday that is hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  The prompt for the day was "Hero".  I wrote for my allotted 5 minutes and then I stopped.  I am resuming the story here for those kind souls who stopped by and made the request.  I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.





When I had stopped my story we were on the way to my house to pick up my police radio I had forgotten when an alarm call went out on a building we were near.....

We started to the alarm and Frank explained that we would just check the doors and windows to make sure that no entry had been gained and then we would continue to my house for the radio and nobody would be the wiser.  Except, of course, we found an open door. 

Now normally, as I would learn later, Frank would never enter and conduct a building search by himself but he was already thinking of me first and putting himself second.  He knew that if he waited for others to respond that the fact that I had forgotten my radio on the first day would be discovered.  Let me tell you, it is hard enough being a rookie (let alone a female rookie in 1985) without giving the "old guys' reason to give you a hard time.  So Frank stationed me at the door we had discovered open, told me not to let anyone run past me, and went in to check the building.

Now remember, I have no radio.  I have no idea what is going on.  My partner could have been screaming for his life and I would have no way of knowing......I was a wreck......I felt as if Frank were gone forever.  At one point, he set off the motion detectors and the audible alarm started blaring.  I must have jumped a foot!!!  I began to wonder how long I should wait before I went in to check on him when he finally returned to advise me that someone must have not secured the door when they left as all inside was secure.  In reality, Frank was inside for probably only 4-5 minutes but it felt like an hour.

We then made it to my house for the radio.  While I was inside we got our second radio run of the night.  I don't remember any longer what the nature of the problem was but I do remember it was at a trailer park in the south end of our city.  While Frank was talking to the woman there I was busy gaping at a boy of about 10 who walked up swinging a dead squirrel by a rope.  As he approached us the woman interrupted her conversation with Frank to yell at the boy "I told you to throw that thing away"!!

The rest of the night is a blur of responding to radio runs, listening to Frank explain why he handled different situations the way he did, writing reports and learning (a thread) of the ropes.  At the end of the shift, as we were driving back to the station, Frank looked at me and said "you did okay kid".  I was very proud.  He was not yet my hero, but he had certainly gained my respect.

Stay tuned for further adventures....