The line was only slightly shorter this morning, and the two detectives took their places at the back. The toothy little clerk, from the day before spotted Starsky and smiled congenially at him, then sneaked a little wave, after checking to make sure her boss wasn’t watching. Starsky smiled back magnanimously, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to have her in his corner. If he was lucky, she’d be the one available when his turn came. He wasn’t expecting any problems today, though. For once, he’d follow Hutch’s suggestion and abide by the rules. That should keep him out of trouble.
The line moved quickly, despite having only the clerk, and the officious supervisor from the day before on duty to service the customers. When his turn finally came, Starsky sauntered up to the counter and smiled at Debbie. “Good mornin’,” he greeted her. Debbie smiled shyly and giggled self-consciously.
“Good morning.”
“I’ll take you over here!” Supervisor Bernstein’s voice announced loud enough for anyone within a two block radius to hear. “Miss Whaley, you take my customer. I’ll deal with Officer Starky.”
Standing to one side, Hutch’s hand went to his brow, rubbing at the worry lines, as he averted his eyes to the floor. He knew the fur was about to fly, and was hoping not to get caught in the crossfire. Even so, he was prepared to intercede before Starsky got himself into real hot water.
Surprisingly, the dark-haired man remained calm, and stepped down to the next station, still wearing a friendly smile. “Let me see your application,” she barked.
Starsky nodded agreeably and passed the form he’d completed the day before across the counter to her. “This is all wrong. You put your zip code in the wrong space.” She picked up a large, black magic marker and wrote, “VOID” across the form. “Please step aside and fill out a new application.”
Starsky admirably struggled to keep his temper in check, but couldn’t refrain from asking, “Why’d ya do that? You coulda just let me fix it, couldn’t ya?” he challenged.
“I don’t accept messy applications on my watch,” she snapped, raising her chin belligerently.
Hutch watched the vein on Starsky’s neck pop out, signaling the volcano was about to blow. He could barely believe it was his partner who calmly spoke the next words.
“Okay… May I please have a new form?” Starsky looked back over his shoulder at Hutch, giving a little nod, as if asking for Hutch’s approval of his behavior. Hutch smiled encouragingly and nodded back.
“Forms are on the table in the back of the room. You’ll have to get one, fill it out, and bring it back to the counter.” Her mouth compressed into a hard, straight line at the conclusion of her little speech.
Hutch watched Starsky’s jaw clench tightly.
“I told you yesterday, Officer Starky, I do not show favoritism in my department. I don’t care if you’re some hotshot detective!”
“Yeah, you’ve made that perfectly clear…” Starsky’s voice was strained as he bit back an angry retort. With dignity, he left the counter and walked to the back of the room where a glass top table held stacks of the ‘red tape’ forms, generated by every imaginable bureaucratic arm of the State government. After a few moments searching, he located the correct application and commenced completing it, carefully printing the words out, with the precision of a diligent student trying to appease his penmanship instructor.
Hutch joined Starsky at the table, and laid a calming hand on his shoulder. “I’ve got to say, I’m proud of you, Starsk. You just showed a remarkable amount of control up there. Just keep it up. You’ll get out of here a lot faster.”
Starsky applied more pressure to the pen with each word he wrote. “Talk about a witch,” he mumbled, only loud enough for Hutch’s ears. “Don’t worry, I know what’s she’s up to.” He completed the form and passed it over to Hutch for approval. Scanning through the answers, he passed it back.
“Perfect.”
Starsky took the completed form and walked back up to the counter, Hutch only a couple of steps behind him. As he stepped up to the counter and laid his application down, Hutch took up residence against the wall nearest the counter and watched with interest, wondering what Supervisor Bernstein would say about the application now. When she failed to acknowledge him, Starsky cleared his throat. The stern looking woman looked over the top of her bifocals at him for only a second, before continuing her work. “Get back in line, and wait your turn,” she snapped.
Starsky’s mouth dropped open. At first speechless, his jaw seemed unhinged, gaping like the Grand Canyon. Finally, he recovered enough to find his voice. “But…but I already stood in line thirty minutes. Ya didn’t say anything about gettin’ back in line.”
“I’m not going to put up with your insolence, mister,” she chastised. “Now take your place in line and wait your turn.”
Starsky held up one finger, as though he wanted to make a point. His face turning a darker shade of red by the second, he called on his last reserve to keep from grabbing the old harpy by the collar and dragging her across the counter.
Hutch had played along up until this point, but now he was getting downright annoyed by this old battle ax. In his opinion, Starsky had received his comeuppance, ten fold over, and it was time to put a stop to the nonsense. Instead of throttling Bernstein, Starsky turned pleading eyes to Hutch, silently asking for support, guidance, anything! Supervisor Bernstein had resumed stamping the stack of applications on the counter before her, having, in her opinion, properly dismissed Starsky.
Before Starsky could think of a clever comeback—or any comeback, for that matter—Hutch strode up to the counter and was by his side.
“Excuse me,” he began politely. Supervisor Bernstein looked up, lips pursed, glasses perched on the end of her nose.
“Yes?” Her voice left no doubt she considered him a nuisance, one she would dispatch quickly.
“Look, I realize you are doing your job here, but don’t you think you’ve carried this far enough?” Hutch smiled pleasantly, attempting to soften the criticism just a tad.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she replied indignantly, “but Officer Starky must follow the rules, just like everyone else.” She resumed stamping the forms with renewed vigor.
Hutch looked at his partner, who appeared to have nothing more to offer in his own defense. Determined to intercede, Hutch tried again “I…uh…excuse me, I’m speaking to you.”
The perturbed woman looked up again, obviously resentful of another interruption.
Hutch forged on, patience wearing thinner by the moment. “My partner here has tried to comply with everything you asked him to do. In fact, I think he’s been pretty darn agreeable, despite your obvious attempts to humiliate him, and require him to jump through more hoops than anyone else who’s been trying to renew their license since we’ve been here.”
Hutch hoped he wouldn’t come across too accusatory, but the obstinate woman and her condescending attitude were rapidly eroding his resolve. “I believe you know, deep down inside, you aren’t exactly treating him fairly. So why not go ahead and take his application without making him stand in that ridiculous line again?”
Supervisor Bernstein held his stare for a full ten seconds, then looked out across the room. “NEXT!”
Feeling like a bull seeing the red flag wave before his face, it was all Hutch could do to resist leaping over the counter and shaking the silly woman until her dentures flew out! Instead, he leaned across the counter, pointing a finger in her close-minded, big face, and gritted out between clenched teeth, one last effort.
“Lady, I don’t know who you think you are, but I think we’ve all seen about enough of this foolishness. Now, will you accept my partner’s application, make his photo, and issue his license, or do we have to go to the State Office, and file a grievance with your boss? ‘Cause I’m ready to go that route if you want to play it that way.” Hutch’s voice was controlled and firm—lecturing, but not threatening. For a moment, she was too shocked to respond. Even STARSKY was too amazed to react.
Suddenly, all seventeen people in the room began applauding and cheering. Surprised by this turn of events, Henrietta Bernstein looked around the room, and realized that everyone present agreed with Hutch. Starsky turned to the roomful of allies and smiled.
Realizing she was outnumbered, and in all likelihood, would be reprimanded if this got back to her boss, the stubborn woman glared at the roomful of people unflinchingly. Still, it was pretty scary to discover that she didn’t see a single sympathetic face in the crowd. Not even Debbie offered an encouraging smile.
Starsky held his silence, his sapphire blue eyes dancing with amusement. Watching the Blintz in action when he was pissed was quite a spectacle!
Miss Bernstein’s eyes narrowed,
trying to think of a way to save face.
She’d really backed herself into a corner. Probably better to relent, she realized, than be ‘ordered’ by her
boss to give Detective Starsky special attention. Yes, she knew his name and
rank, but damned if she’d give him that satisfaction! Nor did she have to make it easy for him.
“I suppose he did stand in line already…” she hedged. One more look around the room confirmed she was on shaky ground. “Give me your application.”
Starsky laid the paper upon the counter and slid it toward her. The surly woman snatched it up and perused it quickly. “Hmmm…pretty messy handwriting,” she muttered, “but it seems complete.”
The breath whooshed from Starsky as he sighed with relief. Finally, they were getting somewhere! He looked at Hutch, gave him a grateful smile, then waited for further instructions from the supervisor.
“Step over here for your photograph,” she ordered. Starsky followed her to the far end of the counter. “Place your toes on the red line.”
Starsky looked down to find the line. FLASH! He looked up, “Wait, I was lookin’ down.”
“Pay attention,” she scolded.
Starsky looked up toward the
camera (running his fingers through his unruly locks). FLASH!
“I wasn’t read—” (hand up before his face) FLASH!
“Officer Starky, you’re not cooperating.”
“Okay…okay…I’m read—” (mouth wide open) FLASH!
“That’s it. Step aside and I’ll call you when your license is ready.” Starsky started to protest, but Hutch gave him a sharp look, warning him to quit while he was ahead.