The Rainbow Coalition

Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez, Edwin "Duke" Baylor and Tyriq Pile and I converged on the police dispatch center looking for Officer Benjamin Weiss...

"He's not in today, Detectives...He called out sick today." Said Lieutenant Jack Haskins...An officer I had worked with in the past and had a good working relationship with..

"Sorry you and your guys had to come out here for nothing Keith...but I can give you his home address if it's really urgent...Hey he aint in trouble is he?........Then again..If he's getting a visit from the Assistant District Attorney and three detectives...I guess he is." he said.

"No, he's not in any trouble Jack...We just want to ask him some questions is all.. I'm serious." I said.

Jack looked at me kind of skeptical and said- "Okay.....He's a good guy...real good worker, everybody likes him.."

"I'm sure he is...We just want to talk to him Jack!" I said.

''Okay...This is his home address...He lives with his mother." he said.

"Thanks Jack...Come on guys, let's go." I said.

II-

Officer Weiss and his mother lived in a townhouse in South Philly, near South Street...I was surprised... Not what I suspected when they said that he lived with his mother...They had a very nice modern and new row Home..

Carlotta rang the doorbell!  A well dressed and stylish elderly woman answered the door...Again, not what I suspected...Upon seeing us and seeing the badges.. She just sighed..

"Benny...There are people here to see you...." she said...She shook her head and sat down..."I knew you guys would be at my door eventually..." she said.

Officer Weiss didn't look at all like what I expected.. A handsome, well dressed young guy not much older than Carlotta and Jimmy...Could have been in the academy with them..

He looked relieved to see us... He sighed...

"Can I make you guys some coffee?" he asked.

"I'm good...How bout you guys?" I asked..

Carlotta and Duke declined, but Tyriq said...

"Yeah man, I'll have some coffee...You look like we are going to be here for awhile." he said.

When Detective Jimmy Barlow wasn't around for comic relief, We could always count on Tyriq Pile....I smiled...Carlotta, upon seeing me smiling, smiled too...But Duke was as stone faced as I've ever seen him. I wanted to tell him to lighten up...but I didn't..

We took our seats, Officer Weiss made coffee and presented tumblers to Carlotta, Duke and myself and sat down...

''Where do you want me to begin?" he asked.

"From the beginning.." I said.

"I met Clint in the academy...He seemed like a lonely guy...I used to play cards with him, laugh at his jokes...partner up with him...He was always a little on edge...but as I got to know him, I gradually began to see that he really had issues.. serious issues..
He was married....even then...but he and his wife used to have the most loudest, horrible arguments in front of everybody...It was almost as if they hated each other...

"I'd come over his house and she'd have a black eye or a bruise and she'd tell me that she tripped or something...but I knew better...Clint had a violent temper and he could be abusive, both verbally and physically, especially after he'd been drinking.."

That's when I began turning my head to Clint, Looking the other way..I was his partner when we were rollers.. Riding around in the patrol car...We were in North Philly...He hated Black people...He criticized the folks that lived in those communities constantly and in front of other Black patrolmen, which didn't make him too popular with them....I have Black friends , who are not cops and he was so offensive that some of them stopped associating with me!"

"He made inappropriate remarks all the times...I can't tell you how many times I had to come in between him and some Black or Puerto Rican officer who wanted to beat the crap out of him because of his remarks...He was equally offensive around women too!
Nobody wanted to partner with him Black or White or Latino...The Detectives didn't like him either..They would grab any uniformed officer but him, when they needed back up...I was his only friend!"

"Then his wife got caught in that hotel with a Black officer...That's when he really went bad...The beatings got worse...The hatred of Blacks and Latinos got worse..He would stop a Black or Latino motorist for the least little thing and write em up...but then in October, He beat this Latino guy senseless for nothing...I think the guy mouthed off....and he was getting ready to arrest this  black kid just because he was driving a nice car...I think the car belonged to the kids cousin....That was when I ended our partnership and transferred to dispatch.....I took that call when he said he was going to arrest that Hispanic kid....When the kid didn't show up in lock up and was never seen again...I knew it was him..I knew it!!! But I didn't say nothing...It was me that took the call when the black kid vanished too...I knew it was him...I went out drinkin with him....He got drunk and he bragged about shootin both of them and burying them out off the highway...Like it wasn't nothing....I couldn't believe it...I couldn't let that stand..He was so wasted, I think he forgot that he confessed that to me...This was about " he said.

"So you had your mom call in that anonymous tip?" said Duke.

"Yeah....and I'll testify....He should of gotten help a long time ago...and I should've stopped turning my head..I don't care if I lose my job...just as long as the killing stops." said Officer Weis.

"Officer Weiss..if you testify, you don't have to worry about any charges being brought against you and you are not going to lose your job..." I said.

"He knows that it was me what made that call....When he thinks about it.He'll be coming for me soon...Can you arrange for protection for me and my Mom?" he asked.

"Yes...Pack a few things....We'll put you and your mom in a hotel until he's off the street..We have people looking for him now." I said.

''Thank you ADA Wallace." he said.

III-

When Carlotta, Tyriq, Duke and I returned to C.I.D..  What we saw shocked us...Officer Pratt had a bandage on his head... Another Officer was holding an ice pack on his groin area and Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow had a bandage on his left temple... Carlotta was shocked...

"Jimmy!!! What happened to you?" she said.

''It looks worse than it is Carlotta...I'm okay." he said.

"What the hell happened?" asked Tyriq.

"Long story Rico." said Jimmy...

''Did you get him?" asked Duke..

"Oh yeah...He's in the fishbowl." said Jimmy...

Officer Clint Warwick was in the fishbowl...He had a black eye and a bruise on his right cheek and a torn uniform shirt...

"I  take it he didn't come easy?" I said.

"HAH? He smashed Billy Pratt in the head with a vase and he kicked Paulie Como in the groin...He sucker punched me, but I put him on his ass with a quickness.. Look at his eye." said Jimmy.

"I see...And Boss Lady thought if one of us had gone to pick him up we would inflame the situation..." laughed Carlotta.

Not lost on all of us was that Jimmy and both of the uniform officers he took with him were white...Guess it didn't matter, Warwick was a ticking time bomb.

"Where is Sissy? I asked..

Jimmy pointed to Sissy who was walking down the hall briskly with Detective Angie Belton behind her...

"You guys just hang back...Boss Lady is not in a good mood right now.." he said.

Sissy walked by Carlotta, Duke, Tyriq, Jimmy and me without speaking and right into the fishbowl...Angie motioned for us to lay back and not follow Sissy.

Upon seeing Sissy, Officer Warwick stood up at fake attention and sneered-

"Well..Well...Well...if it aint the Affirmative Action Queen and head soul sister of the Rainbow coalition....I read about you guys in the papers...I finally get to meet you..I am so honored. Let's see, you got your soul brothers, your soul sister...a chicita and sellout Jimmy to round out the group.." he laughed...

As we would see, this was not the time for humor and Sissy was NOT in a humorous mood.

Sissy grabbed him in his collar and slung him into his chair...He was astonished...As were we all!!!!

"First off...While you still are on this police force and that won't be much longer..you will address me as Lieutenant and you will speak when you are asked a question...otherwise..SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" she screamed..

Duke, Jimmy, Tyriq, Carlotta ,Angie and I were stunned...We had never seen Sissy this angry...Not EVER!!! Our mouths dropped...I had known Sissy longer than any of them and had rarely ever heard her raise her voice...

''Duke, Jimmy, Tyriq...One of you better go in there." I said.

"Yeah, Boss lady might cut him." said Carlotta...

Duke, Jimmy, Tyriq  and Angie smiled....and none of them budged.

"You ..You...You rotten piece of human excretement...You injure one of my detectives and two of my patrolmen....who were  just doing their duty and then you insult detectives..people who are one hundred percent better human beings as well as cops than you'll ever be and you have the nerve to mock and disrespect me?" she said..

"I-I-I was just joking around Lieutenant.." he stuttered..

"SHUT UP..I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO SPEAK!" screamed Sissy..."You're done......I want your badge and your gun.!!!!..You're under arrest for the murders of Larry Washington and Angel Ortega...and yes ...We have a witness and enough evidence to make it stick. Anything you say can and will be used against you...If you don't have a lawyer, one will be provided you...DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE RIGHTS AS I HAVE STATED!" she said.

"You got nothing.." he sneered...

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"YEAH..I UNDERSTAND..." he sneered defiantly...

Sissy got in his face...

''What I've got is a witness who will testify that you confessed to him that you did the deed and told him where you buried them..What I've got is conflicting reports and statements by you and the dispatch office...What I've got is several people who will swear that you were the last person seen with both dead men and finally.. Detective Belton...come in here please..." she said.

 He looked at Angie with white hot hatred and sneered...

''You!! You're that Internal Affairs Detective......You've had it in for me since day one...I shoulda known you was behind this."

Angie walked in and dropped the gun on the table....

"You should have tossed this gun partner....Detective Barlow found this in your house after you were in custody and yes, we had a warrant!! We just ran it through decks and it checked out in ballistics as the murder weapon....This is what you guys call a throw down weapon..Well cowboy...this weapon just made our case...Game ,set, match..You're through."she said.

He pounded his hands on the table...He stomped his foot...

"DAMN IT!!!!  Sell out Jimmy, Sell out Benny...Damn it...What did you do sleep with these guys and get em to turn on their own kind?"" he yelled.

''You're not my kind...and it has nothing to do with race...You're not any cop I'd want to associate with...You make me sick to my stomach and for your information...I am sleeping with Jimmy...He's my boyfriend." she said.

"Yeah? That figures..." he sneered.

"Duke...Tyriq...Take this dreck out of my sight!" said Sissy...

"With pleasure Lou and I hope he does try to flex on me." said Duke.

He looked at Detective Jimmy Barlow and sneered...

''We started out together...Ridin in the patrol car....And this is how you do me...Huh?  You're a big shot detective now!....Workin with these spades and Bonita Applebaum over there...Your partner ...Ha!  I was your partner once too Jimmy!!...You're white like me!!" he sneered looking at Carlotta, who gave him the middle finger.

"You're nobody to me Clint...and Carlotta?? She was a better partner, better cop than you ever could be...and these so called Spades you talk about...They're more family to me than someone like you could ever dream of.Goodbye Clint." said Jimmy.

"Come on laughin boy...You gonna see a lot of spades in the joint....I'm bettin they can't wait to get acquainted with you." said Detective Tyriq Pile as he and Duke handcuffed and escorted Clint outside to the vehicle that was going to transport him to the house of Detention.

Carlotta looked at Angie and said... ''Remind me never to get Boss Lady pissed."

Angie and I both laughed....

Sissy heard that remark and she walked over to us.....She put her arms around Angie and Carlotta...

"Guys...I'm sorry...We've had murderers, kidnappers, rapists, serial killers, drug lords..all kinds of criminals in that tank and I've never lost my temper like I did today when I saw Jimmy and those two officers injured...In fact, Detective Barlow, Officer Pratt, Officer Como....You guys did a great job.. You've got two days off with pay." she said.

"Thanks Lieutenant." said Officer Pratt..

''Thanks Lieutenant." said Officer Como...

"Lou, you're the best, but if it's all the same.. I'd rather come to work tomorrow." said Jimmy.

"Take the days detective and take my girl Angie somewhere nice...She's got two days off too with pay." said Sissy..

Angie smiled.... "Aww thank you Sissy." she said.

I walked over to her....

"Detective Belton...You did a great job...You made this case....You said you wanted to come back to Homicide...I think I can get your transfer approved." I said.

"Thank you ADA Wallace...but no thanks...Sissy, Carlotta, Keith, you know I love you , Jimmy, Tyriq and Duke and you know I'm always gonna stop by here and hang out with you guys...You're my family...but this case made me realize that what I do at IA is important too...Protecting the public from bad cops....You guys speak for the dead...I speak for the living public that can't defend itself from people like Warwick...So no thanks...I'm not transferring." said Angie..Then she smiled slyly...."At least not yet!"

We all laughed!

Sissy hugged her..So did Carlotta...

"Awww girl...You know that you always have a home here." said Sissy.

"I know that girl...Thank you...And thank you guys....I knew that you and Carlotta,Jimmy,Duke and Tyriq  would make this case...I knew you guys would crack it." she said.

 

EPILOUGE-

Clinton Warwick was convicted of  the First degree murder of Angel Ortega and the First degree murder of Lawrence Robinson and sentenced to die by lethal injection...

Officer Benjamin Weiss, who testified against Warwick eventually took the Detective's exam and passed with flying colors....He's now Detective Benjamin Weiss in ...Internal Affairs...working with Detective Angie Belton ,who is mentoring him.

Carlotta and I were out walking a few nights later and holding hands....

"Keith?" she asked me...

"Yeah?" I said.

''You ever date a Latina before me?" she asked.

"Actually no...you are my first...Most of the women in my life have been African-American, with the exception of Emma Strand, who was white and you.." I said.

"Oh really?" she said.

"Yeah really." I said.

"We are getting ready to get married soon you know." she said.

"Yeah and?...." I said.

"Well, didn't you ever worry about marrying outside of your race?" she asked.

"No...I just wanted to marry somebody I loved and who loves me...I don't look at you as a Latina...You're just Carlotta to me...Sexy Carlotta...with the good  good, with the best..." I said..

"Okay...Okayyy...I get it...I get it.." she said...and then laughed...

"Was I the first Black guy you dated?" I asked.

"No...the third......All of the other guys I dated were Puerto Rican....." she said.

"So does  the fact that you're marrying outside your race bother you?" I asked.

"No...because I love you." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her for a long time...

"That's all that should ever matter." I said in between kisses...

"Okay, but take your hands from under my dress...We are outside and there are still people mulling about." she said and then smiled....

I just shook my head...

"Future Mrs. Wallace...what am I going to do with you?" I laughed..

"We'll figure something out." laughed Carlotta.