Frank Zafiro: Waist Deep

The Rocket Bakery sat on the southeast corner of 1 stand Cedar.I started coming to the coffee shop while I was still on the job.I’d been assigned to work light duty in the detective’s division while I recovered from my shooting injuries.A group of detectives went daily to the Rocket Bakery for coffee.Or tea.Or to ogle the young baristas.They always frequented the new trendy places, so their loyalty to the Rocket Bakery was short-lived.But I liked it and stayed.

The smells of fresh baked goods and hot coffee met me at the door.Light jazz played over the speakers.The place wasn’t as intentional as a Starbucks about atmosphere, but in the end, they were the same.For all their pretensions and being eclectic and hovering almost off the grid, they were both businesses that had numerous branches in River City and both were there to make money.

I put some of mine down on the counter.The barista behind the counter had her back to me, wiping down the espresso machine.Her dark hair was in a loose, single braid and hung between her shoulder blades.Her short-sleeved shirt was white and fit loosely.I’d seen her wear it before and knew that when she turned around, it would have buttons on it that only went to mid-chest and that you’d wonder if she was wearing a bra.

Cassie turned and noticed me.She flashed me a mysterious smile, the same one she’d been giving me for years now.I’ve watched her sometimes to see if she gave that smile to everyone, and to a certain degree she did.It was the kind of smile that hinted at what you both might know or were about to discover.

Her face was almost square and one of her upper teeth at the edge of her smile was crooked.I noticed that I was right about the buttons and maybe about the bra.The shirt hung loosely off of her.Cassie had the look of a thirty year old, but I couldn’t be sure.That was some of what I found mysterious about her.Several of the other baristas were little vixens in their own right, nineteen or twenty year old spinners with their tattoos and defiance of gravity.They commanded the attention of most of the patrons.

Cassie commanded mine.

“Your usual, Stef?” she asked me.Her voice was soft, but it carried through the store.

“Yeah.But a double shot this morning.”

She nodded, casting that slight whisper of a smile at me and making my Americano.It was the closest thing to regular coffee that they had and it was in my price range.Her braid shifted and jumped as she worked the machine, making it hiss and spit out my coffee.The place was almost empty, but that was temporary.The traffic flow came in fits and starts, then continued in spurts.It made the baristas job look easy, but in reality, they were never still.

Cassie slid my coffee across the counter and pulled a cranberry bagel from the display case.She took my money and tried to give me change, just like every morning.

“It’s yours,” I told her.

“Thanks.”

“It’s only a quarter,” I said, a little embarrassed.

She shrugged, that enigmatic smile playing on her lips.“Every little bit helps.”

The ease of her words and her Mona Lisa smile were supposed to make me feel comfortable about giving her a small tip, but mostly I felt poor.

I moved over to the table in the corner and commandeered one of the chess boards.I set up the pieces, thinking about Matt Sinderling.I wondered if he’d show up or not and if I even wanted him to.I wondered what the hell he wanted and how I was going to tell him no.

Adam arrived fifteen minutes later.He hustled in, gave Cassie a wave and a nod when she asked if he wanted the usual.I watched for her smile and she gave him a business-friendly one, but he didn’t notice.

“You been here long?”

I motioned toward the chess board with all the pieces set up and then to my half-empty cup of coffee.

“Damn,” Adam said.“My guess is twenty minutes.”

“You should’ve stayed a cop,” I told him.

He grinned and sat down.Adam came on the job about a year after I did and worked the street for about five years. When a civilian job in Special Services came open for a technician, he turned in his badge and took the position. Now he handles all the video evidence, surveillance gadgets, phone traces, and anything technical. He was one of the few people from my old life that I still had contact with.Or maybe I should say he was one of the few who had contact with me.

“Anything new?”

I shook my head and moved a pawn.I was terrible at chess and Adam was good without trying.“You?”

“Nada.”He moved his own pawn.

“How about the job?”

I formed an attack on his rook, hoping to whittle away his support pieces.He moved effortlessly to defend it.

“Just what you see in the news.”

“I try not to watch the news.Or read the fucking paper. Not anymore.”

“Ah, that’s right,” said Adam and took my bishop with his knight. “They did a bit of a number on you back then.”

“Yep.”

I focused on a little revenge and chased his knight around the board for a few moves before he protected it with his queen.

“So?”

“So what?”

“What did I miss by not reading the fair journal of our fine city?”

Adam shrugged, studying the board.“Nothing much.It’s been remarkably scandal free around the P.D.”

“That won’t last.”

“Spoken like a true optimist.”

I smiled slightly. “Hey, if something doesn’t happen naturally, the newspaper will just make something up.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Adam looked up from the board.“You know, I always wondered about that.”

“About what?”

“You.”

“Me? What about me?” I moved my knight into position to take his queen.

Cassie set a steaming cup of coffee in front of Adam.He nodded his thanks to her. He took a sipped and studied the board.Then he moved a pawn.

“Never mind,” he said.

“No,”I said as I continued to stalk his queen. “What about me?”

Adam didn’t say anything. After a moment, he reached out and moved his queen free of danger.

I suppressed a sigh and stared at the board.My attack was all over the place and I realized that Adam was going to start picking me apart now that my play for his queen had failed.

I shifted a pawn forward.

A slow grin spread across Adam’s face.He slid his bishop nearly the length of the board and took my rook.Worse yet, he had my king in his sights.

“Check,” he said, and sipped his coffee.

I leaned back in my seat and stared at the board, then up at Adam.

He grinned back.“Two moves,” he said.

“Prove it,” I shot back.

Adam pointed to his queen.“Guarding the bishop,” he said.Then he pointed to his rooks.“Two moves and you’re in a crossfire.”He traced the lines of attack, but I studied them for a moment before admitting the truth.

I tipped over my king and offered him my hand.

“Asshole,” I muttered.

“Sore loser,” he said with a hard squeeze.

“You probably play Chessmaster all fucking day long at work.How can I compete with that?”

Adam sipped his drink and shrugged.“You can’t.”

My Americano was cold, but I sipped it anyway. Then I asked him again, “What about me?”

He looked a little uncomfortable. “I just wondered why you stayed, is all.”

“Huh?”

“After everything that happened. A lot of people would’ve left town, you know? Gone somewhere else. Started over.But you stayed in River City.”

I stared at him.In ten years, he’d never asked me this question. He’d asked how I was doing, but never this.

He stared back, then shrugged it off. “Sorry. You don’t have to answer.”

I shook my head.“No, it’s all right.” I thought about it for a moment. A thousand things ran through my head.Maybe I wanted to somehow fix what couldn’t be fixed. Maybe my grandmother didn’t raise a quitter. Finally, I said, “I guess I’m just too fucking stubborn, is all.”