Previously

“Dear god in heaven, how do I deal with this?” Jo Bianchi was determined to help her sister’s only child. The child who served bravely a lifetime ago and a world away. She had followed her aunt’s footsteps at least during her time of service; in the medical corps. And while she had chosen only a few years ago to be a cop, she still was all about serving people.

And then, of course she took after her favorite aunt in a big way. HMC-3 Aldo Farnetti performed with distinction; but it was Officer Darla Farnetti, two years past her ‘first’ birthday who lay in the hospital bed. Jo held her hand as she passed finally into a restful half-sleep. She kissed her niece on the forehead and walked out of the room.

114th Precinct, Astoria, Queens, New York…a few weeks later…

Darla threw her purse on the desk; the contents threatened to spill out as it tipped over and fell onto the chair beneath. She looked around; her well-wishers seemed to have retreated into some cavernous hole of anxious dread. Thankfully a handful of folks stayed in touch while she recuperated from her injuries. Her partner made sure that she knew she was at least supported by some at the precinct.

Picking up the purse, she walked into the locker room and sat down on the bench in between the lockers; breathing out a sigh.

“Hey, Farnetti. Here...Catch!” She turned to see an object tumbling in the air as it made aim toward her head. She grabbed it and laughed. A bottle of Excedrin Migraine; owing almost as much to the headache of her place in the precinct as the wound that put her out of commission. She looked over and noticed her ‘assailant’ was echoing her laugh; a rich, merry soprano.

“Welcome back, sweets.” Lisa Kovic smiled and playfully blew a kiss. No secrets between the two of them or anybody else at the precinct for that matter. Lisa was quite comfortable in her skin; all idiocy and ignorance aside, she didn’t mind at all that anyone knew her preferences. ‘Scratch that,’ Darla thought. It wasn’t a preference to either of them other than with whom of any of the women they knew they might choose. But it wasn’t a choice that they 'preferred' women at all.

“You and I oughta get together sometime, Darla,” Lisa teased. She was in a very comfortable, long-term relationship with a dentist in Queen; her words were more to nettle the few remaining stalwart Neanderthals that frequented the locker room. Most of their fellow officers were either of the ‘live and let live’ variety or outright found that working with lesbians was akin to working with someone who was left-handed or with brown eyes instead of green. It still disappointed both women that few of them would speak openly about that acceptance, but thankfully there were a few who didn’t really care what their brothers in blue felt either.

“Welcome home, kid,” a voice spoke from around the corner. A second later a tall African-American man emerged into the narrow space and sat down next to Darla.

“Eunice and I’ve been praying for you.” He leaned closer and hugged Darla. Apart from her partner and Lisa and the man beside her, no one other than Human Resources knew anything of her past. Her secret was safe; wrapped up in a blanket of pre-conceived notions that assumed she was ‘only’ a lesbian. And truth be told, none of the three would ever label her anyway.

“Thanks, Jerico. I’m glad to be back and I think I almost felt the prayers.” She smiled at the tall man.

“You know we’re still praying about that other thing, Darla.” It was important to Jerico and his wife that they supported every bit of their friend’s hopes and dreams. And that included someone that might be a part of Darla’s life outside of work.

“Oh don’t I know it. I can’t believe you do that.” She sighed a bit; frustrated at the reminder but happy at the thought of how much her friends cared.

“If it’s important to you, child.” Jerico was only a few years older than Darla, but was the Papa Bear in the squad room to the younger officers. Darla came to the party late, having gone through the academy at nearly twenty-six after a literal lifetime in another place. She sighed and her face grew red.

“It’s okay, Darla. You remember there’s nothing wrong with you ‘cause god don’t make no mistakes.’” Jerico had grown up in a place where he had been made to feel he was a mistake, and knew exactly…mostly how Darla felt. He patted her on the back and stood up.

“You’re invited to Vanessa’s birthday party. Sunday at four if you don’t pull the weekend. Okay?” He opened his locker; pulling out a hand-written invitation.

“She’s turning six, and you know how much she likes you….loves you…” He breathed out a content sigh. Darla looked up at Jerico and smiled. It was good to hear that someone loved her, even if it was a soon-to-be six-year-old girl.

“Hey…look who’s back…. Hey, Farnetti…forget to duck?” One of the knuckle-draggers said casually as he walked past the row of lockers. A moment later he emitted a muffled 'oof' which was followed by a hasty apology.

“Geez… I was only making fun.”

“You’re an idiot. She nearly gets killed saving my life and the lives of the family in that store and you make a fucking joke? Get out of my face!” The words were followed by another thud as the man was shoved rudely into the end locker.

“I’m sorry,” Alex Petrovic said as he stood at the end of the row of lockers. He was protective of Darla; a big brother of sorts as well as her partner. They had known each other before Darla began the newest chapter in her life; classmates at QCC before they both chose to serve their country albeit in different places a world away. Alex came back nearly as intact as his best friend since both continued to deal with what and whom they left behind. And the 'whom' Darla had left behind was sorely missed at first until Alex realized that his best friend was still the same person if changed quite a bit. Aldo still lived; just not in a way that Alex immediately understood.

Over a short time they renewed their friendship and ended up quite coincidentally as partners out on the streets as they say. A brief foray into a ‘deeper’ relationship ended amicably enough when Darla realized that she never stopped loving girls and Alex realized the best relationship for them both was as de facto brother and sister.

“You, sir, are a blessing,” Lisa said as she closed her locker; ready for her shift.

“If I ever decide to date boys, you are the first one on my list,” she laughed and walked out of the locker room.

“I got some news that’s a bit crazy.” He nodded and sat down next to Darla. She tilted her head, expecting the worst. He shook his head.

“No…not that crazy…just…. Those mutts we busted at the store? You know how skeevy it felt….robbing a mom-and-pop and wearing vests?” Darla nodded but her eyes widened a bit in confusion.

“They made bail that night….what the fuck? The bastard practically kills a cop and he’s out and his buddy too?” The look on Alex’s face told Darla there was more, and likely even more skeevy.

“A couple of nights ago patrol over at the 105th found the mutts in an alley behind a pizza joint in Ozone Park….double tapped. I mean….what the…” Alex left off the colorful metaphor and shook his head again.

“Are you serious?” Darla looked straight ahead and then back at Alex.

“No shit…. I can almost see mutts like them getting offed over a bad deal, but double-tapped is a pro hit… Skeevy.” Darla nodded reflexively.

“Anyway, they aren’t going to be robbing anybody else in this lifetime…..” He laughed at the irony before continuing.

“I guess Mahmood can breathe a sigh of relief. For the moment….” Anybody trading in nearly any place in the five boroughs stood to risk life and limb and fortune of sorts. The lucky ones only got robbed once or not at all, but it wasn’t a surprise to find the neighborhood bodega being the target of multiple robberies. Darla nodded again.

“Anyway, just so you know? Mahmood says he’s upping the reward. Two Diet Pepsis a week and he’ll even throw in a free Post.” Alex laughed.

“Well, old buddy…up and attem!” Alex stood up and walked around the corner to his locker In a few minutes they were at Roll Call and a half hour later they were in the black and white heading out for the day.

Al-Salaam Grocery, Astoria…a short while later…

“I wanted to thank you and you,” the young woman said; her gaze and smile divided equally between Darla and Alex.

“My father owes his life to you both.” She put her hand on Alex’s wrist before drawing it back.

“Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to be so forward.” She lowered her gaze a bit before turning around. Mahmood smiled at her. What his daughter did in the store and at home was their business and theirs alone. She nodded; feeling a little less embarrassed, but a bit relieved as well. She turned to Darla.

“I am so sorry you were hurt, Officer….” She paused and her eyes fell upon Darla’s name tag.

“Farnetti. Ah..Italian. My mother’s mother came from Siracusa… Her father was an Imam. So we are related, si?” The woman smiled, almost playfully. Darla turned away for a moment in thought; her heart drawn swiftly across miles and time as she recalled another smile…..

Al Shu’ala, Baghdad

When will you be back?” Aldo leaned on the fender of the Hummer and shrugged at the woman. She nodded her head.

“Hey you two, let’s roll,’ Danielson said as he hopped into the driver’s seat. Exactly twenty-seven minutes later, Aldo Farnetti beheld Amani Fayzi’s smile for the last time as their Hummer somersaulted twice from the shock of the explosion of an IED. And exactly twenty-eight minutes later, Aldo Farnetti got on with the rest of his life by dying in a way on a dusty road on the outskirts of Baghdad…

“Officer Farnetti? Is there something wrong?” Darla looked up from her absent-minded view of the scuffed floor tile to find the young woman smiling at her again. She took a deep breath and smiled back nervously before saying,

“Oh…I’m okay. I just remembered a call I have to make…. Follow-up visit to the doctor’s? If you’ll excuse me? “ She didn’t wait for an answer but hurried out of the store. A few minutes later she was joined by her partner; his face displaying a bit of confusion and just a smaller bit of anger.

“What the fuck was that about?” He said, climbing into the squad car. She looked at him but turned her face toward the window.

“I…”

“They wanted to thank us…. I mean Mahmood and his daughter ….you were ….what the hell, partner? What’s going on?” His expression softened and he placed his hand on her arm. She went to pull away, but he kept contact without grabbing as he leaned closer.

“Listen…we go back a long way, and you know you can tell me anything, right?” He wiped his brow with his arm and leaned against the headrest.

“I…I know, Al….I just….Not right now….okay?” She turned around and smiled weakly. He nodded.

“Okay…whenever you’re ready.” He smiled at her; the brotherly smile she had always known and come to love even more as her own part in the relationship changed after her transition. Where there once was a brothers-in-arms equation, the whole thing had evolved into a big brother-little sis situation, which was fine with both of them. Fits and starts that hung on even after several years as Alex walked side by side with Darla as she negotiated the minefield her new life had become. But it was and would always be side by side. He reached over and touched her cheek; feeling the moist track of tears. He didn’t know what to do at that point other than to brush away the wetness gently with his hand as he spoke softly.

“Don’t worry about talking, okay? I think I know….” His eyes sparkled warmly as he turned his gaze to face back at the store. Baseema Abdel-Salaam stood at the doorway; her face an expression of concern over the abrupt departure of the woman in the squad car. Alex turned around and nodded silently. A moment later Darla had started the car and seconds later they were driving away.

“I don’t want to talk about it now, Al but I promise you I will..with you, okay?” Darla said without taking her eyes off the road. Alex nodded and said okay. As the store disappeared from the rearview of the windshield mirror, Alex Petrovic grinned to himself; a confident grin over recalling what he knew about Arabic from his time in Kuwait.

“Baseema Abdel Salaam,” mouthed silently and out of Darla’s vision.

“Please forgive me,” Mahmood had said….”I am sorry that I forgot to introduce my daughter Baseema.”

Alex looked in the mirror once again, realizing the irony of the moment as he recalled the meaning of the young woman’s name.

“Baseema…smile….” His expression mirrored the meaning. And her family name?

“Abdel Salaam…servant of peace.”

Alex wasn’t into prognostication; especially when it came to his best friend. But he looked over at Darla and squinted a bit. That smile of the young woman struck a nerve in Darla. He could only hope that the woman’s last name would finally provide some peace for her as well.

Nothing like the way it's been
An open door I've never seen
And I can't help but wonder what's inside
Someone tell me something good
Something I can really use

Here I go, say goodbye to everything I know
Here I go, I love you till the end of time
And I have to do this on my own
So here, here I go

Next: Grey

Go
Words and music by the performer
Sarah Bettens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6XR7VzibSY