Ba Du - 1. Chapter 1

There was a knock on the door.

Sam peered out the bedroom window, his shoulders drooped. It’s not like he was shocked she was here, but it was still a disappointment.

‘She’s there?’ Johnson peered his head round the door. He took a bite out of a burnt toast he was having.

The door thundered a few more angry blows.

Sam opened his mouth before shutting it and shrugging.

Johnson shrugged whilst walking down the stairs, ‘I’ll sort it.’

The door was still being hammered when Johnson opened it. The woman who had been banging on the door glared at him as he casually finished eating his toast.

She went to push her way through, to get inside the house. Johnson slammed his hand on the side to block her.

Stepping back, the woman clenched her fist. Johnson narrowed his eyes on her. He ran his other hand through his locks of black bobbed hair. He was medium build and had a very relaxed demeanour about him.

‘Go on then,’ he simply said.

She hissed at him, ‘Fuck you.’

‘You really don’t like following court orders do you? Or simple maths? Keep so many feet away, that kind of thing?’

‘I am going inside to see him.’

‘Yeah, and I’ll be calling you probation officer.’

She clenched her fists again.

Johnson grinned and licked his lips, ‘Come on, I have all morning, Sarah. Go for it.’

‘I need to talk sense into him. He’s living with you freaks. You’re not even a real man.’

‘You need to put that on a Christmas card for me. I’ll even frame it for you,’ Johnson smirked at her, standing his ground.

She screamed out in frustration and stamped off.

Turning around, she screeched, ‘You know people like you in other countries are stoned.’

‘Yup. You’re right on there on,’ Johnson shrugged, not moving his hand from the side of the door.

Storming right back to him, she got right into his face.

‘Just because you’re different doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you,’ she hissed.

Johnson didn’t flinch, ‘Sarah, I could be half alien, half owl, with three penises and two vaginas and I could still beat your ass. Are you done with your show now? Any longer and I will have to call your probation officer. Again.’

She glared at him, raising her raised fist. She shook her head and backed off. Johnson smirked at her. One hit and she’ll be in jail. She knew that. Stupid bitch.

‘Okay, bye, bye now!’ he called merrily as he shut the door.

Johnson walked past the kitchen, calling up the stairs, ‘She’s gone, Sam!’

He walked past Noah, who sat on the kitchen table with his bowl of porridge in front of him. Noah had his hands clasped tight and murmuring his under his breath. He bowed his head low and then after began eating.

Noah had blonde fair hair that was trimmed short, tuffs of small beard coming through with a square face. He always smelt fresh of soap and always looked more sharp and tidier than Johnson and Sam.

Johnson put in another bread in the toaster and wiped his face with the back of his forearm. Whilst eating, Noah pulled out a folder with crime screen photos and his recent investigation paperwork notes onto the kitchen table.

‘Doing God’s work today?’ Johnson asked, as he leaned against the counter.

‘Always,’ Noah merely replied. He held the papers in his hand while taking a spoonful of the porridge.

‘Hey,’ Sam made it down the stairs.

Sam ran a hand through his mad mess of red locks, his freckled face was etched with tiredness and worrying. Noah kicked out a chair for him to sit down while Johnson grabbed the toast that came out and buttered it.

Johnson passed it over Sam and sat down on the other of the table.

‘I’m sorry…’ Sam began.

‘We told you not to say that word,’ Johnson said. ‘Noah already did a prayer this morning for her. So, there’s no more talk of it now.’

Sam looked over to Noah.

Without looking up from his papers, Noah agreed, ‘I say a prayer for her every day. She needs help.’

Sam gave a small smile and began eating his toast.

Later on, they were already in their dark police uniforms.

They all got into the family sized car that Johnson was driving.

Sam noticed the new scratch marks clawed on the doors and immediately his face flushed at Sarah’s behaviour.

But Johnson merely opened the car and shrugged, ‘Bless her. She’s got nothing else better to do, does she? Come on Noah, time to get into the death mobile.’

‘The devil machine,’ Noah muttered as he hopped into the back.

Sam sat at the front with Johnson.

‘Got your seatbelt on?’ he asked Noah, looking over shoulder.

‘I wish I had all three seatbelts on,’ Noah said as he leaned back, closing his eyes.

As Johnson grinned and pulled out of the drive, he said to Sam, ‘Bet he was racing his carts and horses back when he was with his parents.’

Sam laughed for the first time that morning, a loud toothy laugh that he couldn’t control, ‘Ha, oh yeah, Noah is definitely a hell rider.’

‘Hey!’ Noah called out the back.

‘Just jesting, man!’ Johnson laughed as he adjusted his mirrors.

Sam skipped through the music sections as Johnson drove.

He grinned when he found one and turned it up. Johnson instantly recognised the first few beats and tapped his fingers on the wheel.

Sam started singing under his breath, ‘So hold on the ones who care, in the end they’ll be the only ones there.’

Johnson laughed and sang back in a booming bad voice, ‘and when you get old and start losing hair.’

‘Will you tell me who will still care?’ they sang together. ‘Who will still care?’

‘Mm’bop!’ Noah was even joining in from the back of the car.

At the red traffic lights all three were bopping their heads while shouting ‘Mm’bop!’

The old man in the car next to them stared at them confused before driving off.

All three guys burst laughing in the car.

Johnson turned the music down, ‘Don’t ever tell anyone I was singing to that.’

‘Why?’ Noah called out from the backseat.

‘He’s just embarrassed because it’s not Nivarana,’ Sam explained over his shoulder.

‘Rock and or roll,’ Johnson said as he drove round the bends.

‘Oh, the devil music?’ laughed Noah.

‘Nah, the devil wishes he played music that good,’ Johnson laughed and Sam shook his head.

As they entered the police head building, Johnson rushed to the bathroom.

Two male officers stopped in front of him. He stared back at them.

‘Can you move?’ Johnson asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘I don’t feel comfortable with you using...’ one of officers said.

‘It’s a just damn bathroom,’ barked a voice from behind.

Both officers jumped and turned around to scowling Noah.

Johnson pushed past them and went into the bathroom.

The officers stood back and glared at Noah, who gave them a cold look before walking past. He went towards the hot drinks machine to grab his fresh cup of tea.

Noah was so annoyed that they made him swear. He would have to say another prayer later on.

Meanwhile, Sam was at his locker and saw the two annoyed officers walking his way.

He bowed his head down, as he put his bag into the locker and overheard them talking.

‘I literally don’t get it. Didn’t Noah used to Amish? And he lives with that fag Johnson?’

‘No, man, that doesn’t mean trans, that just means gay.’

‘Whatever, it’s weird.’

‘They have another guy living with them now. That guy whose wife hits him?’

‘So, a trans, an Amish and a punchbag are all living together?’

‘It sounds like a fucking joke.’

Before they could talk more, Sam slammed his locker door shut startling them both. He stared hard at them before walking off.

Sam wished he could turn around and say something strong, witty, clever like Johnson would. Or stand his ground and not apologises for his personality like Noah would.

But Sam wasn’t like that. He bowed his head and walked away.

Everyone thought it was strange how these three officers became close. Everyone definitely agreed it was weird. Not that it bothered Noah, Sam and Johnson. The only thing they had in common was the fact they were all twenty-nine years old.

It was only a year ago that they all met for the first time and it was a completely mad year.