Glory.

1

I followed Blu as he marched down the path that led to the stairwell, trying my best to keep up. Fuck, that man was walking with a purpose.

How far could a dead body go?

He stopped by his desk and picked up what seemed to be a 5x8 picture frame. The picture was of an older lady—maybe his mother. The way sadness wavered over his features as he stared at the smiling photo of the old woman, I'd say she meant a lot to him. Blu kissed the photo and stared for a few seconds, then he sighed. "C'mon, man, let's go."

Once outside, Blu cleared his throat. "We're using my ride, and we'll always use my ride, got that?" Who the fuck is he talking to?

"Yeah, whatever," I said as I hopped inside Blu's ironically blue Durango. He placed his key into the ignition—the Durango came to life and took off towards the crime scene.

"Look, man I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier," Blu sliced through the slick layer of silence that was blanketed over us. God, he's a talker. I didn't respond and instead, my eyes were glued to the people on the street—some loitering, children playing double Dutch, hopscotch or whatever they do these days.

"Hey, I said I was sorry." He spoke up once more.

"Yeah, whatever." I could see him glance at me out of the corner of my eye, then focus on his rear-view mirror.

He hit the brakes, causing my whole body to launch forward. "Look, if we gon' be partners, we have no choice but to be civil to one another, like it or not." Blu spoke calmly—as if he didn't almost kill us both.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?" I barked at him. Motorists honked their horns. He ignored my yells, his expression deadpanned as he was awaiting what he wanted to hear. "Okay, I fucking got it. Can we get moving now?"

"Yeah, now can we get moving?"

I stared at him like he'd lost his goddamn mind, which he clearly had.

"And if we gon' be partners, we gon' have to be straight with each other. We can't bullshit one another. You got my back and I got yours." Blu paused and averted his gaze towards me with a pleading look in his eyes. "Just don't lie to me, or do anything stupid to embarrass me and we'll be cool, got that?"

I nodded, still slightly in disbelief. "Yeah, I got that."

"Oh, and one more thing," I awaited for more input from this smug son of a bitch. "Fasten your goddamn seat belt."  Blu parked his truck behind a crime scene investigator's van.

I looked over at him. He's a decent looking man, I thought. I wasn't too prideful to admit when a man is attractive. Blu's hair was freshly cut. He was lean and stood at probably the same height as Lt. Wallace. I figured that he was about 200 pounds and that we were about the same age.

Blu had light facial hair which made him more attractive—no scruffy look to him unlike myself, a scraggly beard that's dying for a trim and maybe hair that was a bit too wild. He stood with pride and just by a quick glance, you could tell he was hot shit and he knew it—I hate to admit it, but the guy was probably desired by a lot of women.

He seemed to be in thought as he switched off the ignition and removed the key. "You ready? Earth to Oden."

I whipped my head in his direction. "Huh?"

"Get your head in the game," He said, obviously agitated with me. "It's detective time." As soon as Blu exited the car, he began to shout orders. "Hey, you!" He said, pointing to a male officer. "Make sure those people stay beyond the barrier." I followed closely behind him, watching my new partner as he checked every officer on his way towards the crime scene.