Post #21

Everyone in the town of Blackstone knows Mr. X. The extent to which Mr. X is a threat to Blackstone is up for debate, though. Even the cops in Blackstone aren't unanimous in their feeling. On the one hand, he's a fairly prominent businessman. He does well in the community, and a lot of folks seem to like him or have at least a favorable opinion of him. On the other hand, there's very strong evidence that he's a drug dealer. He's also willing to do or say just about anything to keep himself out of trouble, which makes things very difficult in the Blackstone police department. Not all of Blackstone's police officers possess the strong moral fiber required of their station, and so they frequently find themselves seduced by Mr. X and his lifestyle. He slides them bribes when he needs to, or pays them protection money. Sometimes, if one of the cops has a relative who's down on their luck, Mr. X will toss them a low-level job until they're back on their feet. "He's a knockaround guy," say some of the cops in Blackstone. "If he traffics a little on the side, well, we can always look the other way, can't we?" In the town of Blackstone, these kinds of police officers came to be known as X-cops.

But for the other cops in Blackstone, the non-X-cops, looking the other way isn't so easy. The obviousness of his drug dealing is pretty plain, and what was once a fairly small enterprise limited to mostly the New York/New Jersey area has now found its way to Blackstone, through all levels of the town. Younger children are infected by this drug trade. The town elders, especially those over the age of 60, are hooked on Mr. X's dope at alarming rates. Say what they will about Mr. X, he proves himself a fantastic and slick salesman at every turn. It's incredible how often he continues to get people, especially those over the age of 60, to buy in so consistently to products that are of low quality and that fail often.  It also concerns these officers how many of their coworkers are complicit in allowing Mr. X's criminal enterprises to flourish. So they decide that something must be done, and that actions must be taken. The problem is that they've got to work unilaterally with the X-cops. If the precinct takes action, it is as one or not at all.

As the Blackstone police and the X-cops are struggling with a solution to their Mr. X problem, into the police station walks a junkie. This junkie, Mikey C, is well-known in Blackstone as a chronic ne'er-do-well. This is a man who has been a fuck-up from birth, and were it not for the graciousness of Mr. X, Mikey C would have found his way out of polite society sooner rather than later and of this, there is no question. The X-cops and cops look up to see Mikey C shambling toward them, looking more contrite than usual. He has that desperate and free air about him of a man with nothing to lose, and all of his life to pay for what sins he's committed. With hat in hand, Mikey C approaches the officer at the desk.

"Hey, uh....I know I'm going to jail for a long time. I get it. But if you guys are looking for a solution to your Mr. X problem and his drug dealing, I might have some information."

The officer at the desk is not an X-cop. She's a young Hispanic officer, a very bright recruit with a lot of potential. She's incredibly popular in Blackstone. The X-cops despise her.

"Is that right? Well, have a seat, Mikey. Lemme go get the chief."

From the back o the police station, a senior X-cop comes forward waving his arms and yelling loudly.

"No no no no no no!! Nope. Not doing this. Forget it. Mikey, take your shit and get out of here and go wait until we haul your ass to jail. We are not entertaining this ridiculousness today. Nope, sorry. I don't give a shit what you have to say about Mr. X - you're a liar and a criminal and a junkie. Get the fuck out of here."

"Hold on there, officer." The Captain is standing in the doorway of his office. "Sergeant, I respect your passion and your commitment to upholding the name of a local businessman. But whether we hear Mikey's information today is frankly above your pay grade. The people of Blackstone have voted me, not the X-cops, to be in charge now. If Mikey has something to say, I intend to hear him out."

Spinning on his heel, the Sergeant rushes back to his office. The Captain turns to address Mikey and the new recruit seated at her desk. "Mikey, we're sorry about that. Officer AOC tells me that there may be some things you'd like to tell us. Now, you understand that this won't reduce your prison sentence, correct? We're already sending you away for a long time."

Mikey C runs the brim of his hat through his hands and doesn't look up from his feet. "Yeah, I know that. But sometimes, the bad stuff you've done....it's...I don't think people know how heavy it is to carry. And I am sorry. I really am. I did a lot of bad, bad things, and I'm going to jail to pay for them. But I feel like I should try to help. I feel like I owe it to people."

The Sergeant, shirt untucked, breathless, bursts suddenly back into the bullpen, holding a framed photograph. "Ok, smart ass, then answer me this, you're so fucking smart. What is THIS?" He shoves the framed photo at Mikey C.

Examining the picture, Mikey C reports what he sees: "This looks like a picture of Mr. X at a D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony, or something like that? Like for a fourth or fifth grade class?"

The Sergeant snatches back the photo. "That's EXACTLY what it is, smart ass. This is Mr. X at a D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony for Miss Hannah Baker's fourth grade class. Now you tell me, since you're so fucking smart, you lying criminal liar - if Mr. X is a drug dealer, AS YOU CLAIM, then what's he doing in this photo with a bunch of kids who have just completed a drug awareness class? Hmm? HMMM?? Any answers for that, smart ass??"

Mikey C, Officer AOC, and the Captain all exchange looks and roll their eyes.

"I think I've proven my point, Captain. We don't need to listen to this LYING SCUMBAG (the Sergeant's practically frothing now) for one second longer."

"Uh, yes, thank you Sergeant. That'll be all."

"You're gonna hear him out, aren't you?" The Sergeant whirls incredulously from Officer AOC, then to Mikey C, then to the other officers who have gathered to watch the growing commotion. To no one in particular, the Sergeant repeats himself. "I can't believe this - you're going to hear this lying piece of shit out. Oh my fucking God. Well, I'd say that this ruins the dignity of not only my uniform..." The Sergeant rips off his badge and throws it hard into the floor, "...but the dignity of this entire PRECINCT, this entire TOWN, Captain. I'm not gonna stand here and listen to this LIAR..."

"You are excused, Sergeant. That's enough. Sergeant, one quick question before you depart, if you don't mind?"

The Sergeant stops and turns to face the Captain. "If Mikey C is such a lying piece of trash, as you say he is, then why did you ask him to supervise the Blackstone Police Department's financial transactions for a solid year?"

Wild-eyed, the Sergeant closes his mouth. He can see that his protestations here will no longer do any good. The other X-cops in the precinct, men and women the Sergeant had thought of as friendly, are trying their hardest to be surreptitious, but they are shaking their heads vigorously and raising fingers to their pursed lips, imploring the Sergeant to be quiet. Defeated, the Sergeant slumps back across the bullpen to his office. The Captain extends a glass of water to Mikey C.

"You're aware that the people of Blackstone may not believe you. As the Sergeant so colorfully pointed out, you are a convicted liar. Why should we trust the word of a man like you?"

"Because junkies get their fix however they can, and it can get to be an expensive habit. I helped Mr. X for quite a while, and in exchange for that help, he gave me my fix. It was a great deal for a while. But then I got in trouble and Mr. X acted like he didn't even know me...like I wasn't even real...like I hadn't stuck my neck out for him so many times..." Mikey C composed himself. "I'm sorry. Look, I know I'm a piece of shit. I know what people think. But I'm not wrong. And I think back on those things I did, those awful things, and all those people I hurt... I just want to help, Captain. Please."

Outside, the townsfolk of Blackstone are working themselves into a frenzy. The Sergeant and the other X-cops are out in the streets. "Can you believe," they say to their friends and neighbors, "that our police captain is going to listen to this piece of shit, over his own fellow police officers? Man, I tell you, this town...something changed. This isn't how things used to be. Time was, we used to take the sides of people who WEREN'T convicted liars, that's all I know."

And so the townsfolk divide themselves in two. Those who side with the X-cops, and those who want to hear what Mikey C has to say. Those in the latter group are hopeful that if the police learn anything of value, they'll investigate accordingly but they know, given how infected the system is with X-cops, that even a serious investigation could be railroaded into fruitlessness.

As for Mr. X, this will be all news to him upon his return to Blackstone. He'd been away on business, failing at yet another business deal.