Frame Me

6

The next morning, Jo awakened to a text message from Andrea that read; Call me ASAP.

Jo did as the message said and called Andrea as she went to brush her teeth.

Andrea answered, all hyped up, "Good morning Jo."

Jo, who wasn't a morning person groaned at Andrea's perkiness. How could someone be cheerful at such an ungodly hour, she thought, "You asked me to call you."

"That I did. Yesterday, after you told me about Ash being at the bust too, I looked him up in our records, and I must say he looks good both in pictures and in real life."

Jo put the phone on speaker and squirted some toothpaste on her toothbrush, "Is that what you called to tell me?" She feigned disinterest outwardly but she was actually eager to hear about Ash.

"No. Funny thing about Ash is that he's not from Ganghaven," Andrea said.

Jo, who had been brushing her teeth vigorously stopped as Andrea's words permeated her brain.

"What?! Are you for real?!"

"Yes, I am. He showed up at about ten years ago."

"Before that, where was he?" Jo asked.

"It's not in our records." Andrea said.

"The bastard! He left his place of birth and waltzed into Ganghaven to start up a dirty business!" Jo raged, annoyed at Ash's effrontery,

"People like him are the ones drawing us back from cleaning up the block."

"Umm, I don't think so," Andrea said, "In fact, from what the people have to say about him, he's doing good. He distributes palliatives and runs a soup kitchen among other things. From what I saw, he's just a male version of you!"

"Yeah, right." Jo said as she resumed brushing her teeth. No wonder Ash had asked her to prove herself the other day, Jo thought. He was actually doing good.

Then she scowled at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, that didn't give him the right to treat her like she was the dirt underneath his boots.

"Imagine if you two worked together, the kind of good that would come out of it," Andrea proposed.

Jo spat out the paste in her mouth, "No way, Andrea. The man is an arrogant bastard who thinks himself better than anyone else."

"So you're not going to partner with him?" Andrea asked, disappointed that Jo hadn't welcomed her plan.

Jo dropped her toothbrush before replying, "Absolutely not. We're doing well without him. In fact, I'm going out of my way to avoid him. The man's nothing but trouble."

Andrea made a surprised sound, "Wow! This is the first time since I've known you that you're running away from trouble instead of meeting it head on."

Jo didn't tell her she'd decided to avoid Ash because if she didn't, one of those days she might jump on him and kiss him, irrespective of where they were.

*    *    *

Later that day, hordes of police pandas descended on Ganghaven, shocking its residents who were not familiar with a large number of cops showing up at their doorsteps.

The officers went from household to household, asking questions. Those who didn't answer satisfactorily were put in the cars, to be taken to the precinct.

Many people were out on the streets, wailing and cursing the cops for taking their loved ones away.

"Don't worry," one of the cops said with a smirk, "They'll be back soon."