Mike's Diner

[Blackburn 24]

Located in Ft. Shannon on the corner of Broad St and N. 1st Street

[E. Hawke]

*Feeling hungry after the last call I park 201 outside the diner and get out of the Ford.  Walking up to the entrance of the establishment I open the door and enter the diner to see an almost empty place; well it is late at night after all.  Still, knowing that I might get called away from here, I walk up and take a seat at the counter.*

'Welcome to Mike's, can I start you off with something drink?'

*The waitress asks as she sets down a menu in front of me.*

'I'll take a Sprite in a to go cup'

*She nods as I pick up the menu and take a look through it.  Hmmm.  A bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and BBQ sauce sounds good to me right now.*

[R. O'Reilly]

*After getting the perp booked in, I head up to Mike's Diner to catch a bite to eat. Spotting 201 outside as I pull in, I chuckle. Clearly I hadn't been the only one with the same idea. I park 209 next to 201 and head inside. I walk up to Evelyn, smiling.*

'Hey, this seat taken? Mind if I join?'

[E. Hawke]

*The waitress drops off my sprite and I'm still looking at the menu even though I feel like I already know my order now.

'Hey, this seat taken? Mind if I join?'

*Looking up from my menu I see O'Reilly standing there with a smile so I smile back.*

'No, go ahead.'

*Setting down the menu now I grab my glass of sprite and take a sip.  Feel like I should've ordered a coke now though.  Oh well.*

[R. O'Reilly]

'No, go ahead.'

*I nod, slipping into the seat next to her. I order a Coke and glance over the menu, debating on what I wanted. It felt like a good time for some solidly unhealthy, undeniably American diner fare.*

'Man, how about that hit and run guy though? He was all kinds of fucked up...'

*I was a brand new cop, and I knew getting into it that I'd see shit like that, but that was still different than experiencing it for the first time, you know? It's one thing to joke and josh about seeing someone dying from the direct action of another person, but it was a totally separate thing to actually see it. To see a guy who had been minding his business, going about his normal day, until another person came along and just ended whatever plans the man had. Maybe permanently.*

[E. Hawke]

*Taking a sip of Sprite and setting down the glass again.*

'Yeah, I didn't really get a good look, though I did see enough.'

 

[R. O'Reilly]

'Yeah...' *I say, a little numbly.*

'Wonder if he's gonna die? Maybe I'll hit up one of the medics and see.'

*I sip my Coke, glancing over at Evelyn.*

'I uh, I had a pretty easy time on FTO, I guess. We didn't run anything super gory where I got a look at it...so I guess this is pretty much my first one.'

*I take a deep breath.*

'Does it get easier? I mean, I'm not super disturbed by it, but like.....it's not exactly easy, either.'

[E. Hawke]

'Well, I'd advise you against doing that.'

*The waitress comes back over.*

'You know what you want?'

'Yeah, I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and BBQ sauce.  I think you call it your Arizona Burger'

'Yeah, sure thing, how would you like it cooked and for your sides?'

'Well done and season fries.'

*The waitress nods and takes my menu as she walks away.*

'Look it's a double edge sword.  Yeah, you might find closure if you find out whether the guy lived or not but it might just haunt you more.  Also, well, sure it gets easier but it also gets worse.  This job is a lovely roller coaster.'

[R. O'Reilly]

*I nod as Evelyn says that following up might be a bad idea.*

'You know what you want?'

*I let Evelyn order first, and then I go.*

'Yeah, let me get a Sicilian omelette plate. The home fries with it, please.'

*I hand the menu over to the waitress before she walks off.*

'Yeah, you're probably right. I just need to let it go. Too much else to worry about some hobo that got hit by a car. We got the guy, so that's what matters.'

[E. Hawke]

*Drinking more Sprite I nod.*

'Yeah, I almost guarantee you in week you'll be thinking about another call getting to you.  So no need to keep mulling about this one cause it's just going to keep adding up if you do.  Try and get lost in your hobbies during your free time or something.'

[R. O'Reilly]

*I nod, knowing she was right.*

'Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Nothing we can do about this one now that we've got the guy. No need to dwell on it.'

*I take a swig of Coke.*

'So, moving on to brighter and better topics. How long have you been with the department?'

[E. Hawke]

'With Shiloh County, 1 year, but I did 4 years with my previous department up in Maine.'

[R. O'Reilly]

'Maine, huh? What brought you down here?'

*I glance over to Evelyn. I hadn't been up to Maine, but it always seemed nice from what I heard.*

[E. Hawke]

'Less chance of seeing my firefighter of an ex.'

[R. O'Reilly]

'Oof, yeah, that's a good enough reason.'

*I nod, taking another sip of my drink.*

'I'm Fort Shannon born and bred, myself. Lived on the north side my whole life.'

[E. Hawke]

*Taking another swig of Sprite I end up emptying the glass.*

'Well, growing up here it sounds like you have an advantage of knowing the streets then.  What made you decide to do Law Enforcement?'

*As the waitress passes by us, she doesn't have our food yet but I want to order another drink and make another request.*

'Hey, can I get another glass.  A Diet Coke this time, no ice.  Also, could you turn up the volume to the music that's playing?'

*She simply nods and leaves.  What's playing is Dangerous by Shinedown who I consider to be my favorite band.*

[R. O'Reilly]

'Dad's a trooper. Granddad was a trooper. They're a little disappointed I went to the sheriff.'

*I chuckle, smiling.*

'I like running traffic, but I wanted variety. Not just traffic. So I came here instead of the troopers.'

*I smile as you ask the waitress to turn up the music.*

'You like Shinedown? Good band. One of my favorite rock groups.'

[E. Hawke]

'Oh yeah, from the moment I heard their Sound of Madness album I was hooked.  I think I was 15 when that one came out.'

[R. O'Reilly]

*I smile and nod in agreement.*

'Yeah, that's a good album. Threat to Survival was a good album, too. Might be better than Sound of Madness. I was sixteen when Threat to Survival came out and it was definitely my soundtrack for that year.'

[E. Hawke]

'Yeah, I still like Sound of Madness more but there are still some good songs on Threat to Survival.'

*The waitress comes back bringing us our food as well as my Diet Coke.  Wasting no time, I'm starving, I just dig in taking a massive bite of my burger.*

[R. O'Reilly]

*I nod in acquiescence and dig in to my breakfast platter. Fighting that guy had definitely worked up an appetite.*

'Eh, it's a good album. They're probably equal.'

[E. Hawke]

*Though wanting to respond my mouth is full of food and it takes a bit until I feel like I've chewed it down enough to swallow.  Washing the bite down with some Diet Coke it feels a bit awkward to respond now but even more awkward to stay quiet.  Not knowing what to say next is a bit troublesome too.  Well I'm sure I'll think of something after munching on some fries.  Picking out some fries I insert them into my mouth and start chewing.  Meanwhile I start looking around the fairly empty diner.  When my head turns towards the exit door I see a large rat scurry pass it on the outside.  Only wait, that's not right, it was yellow and looked like it had long legs.  Rats don't normally look like that, right?*

'Oh, well'

*Perhaps I was just seeing things so for the moment I shrug it off and eat more fries.  Though I do look back to glance outside the door every now and then to see if it scurry by it again.*

[R. O'Reilly]

*I eat in silence for a moment, not really sure what to say. Maybe I should have just agreed. Now it feels a little awkward.*

'So, uh, yeah. What got you into law enforcement?'

*Seeing Hawke glance towards the door, I look over as well.*

'You see something out there?'

[E. Hawke]

'Yeah, a funny looking yellow rat scurried past the outside of the door'

*Looking away from the door I take a bite of my burger and after swallowing I wash it down with more Diet Coke.*

'Well, what got me into law enforcement is just stuff that happened in college that just changed my perspective on things.'

[R. O'Reilly]

'A yellow rat?'

*I arch my eyebrow, surprised. A big yellow rat?*

'Like..a dog? Or a cat, maybe? I've never heard of a yellow rat.'

*I nod in reply to her answer. Loud and clear, don't want to talk about it. Completely understandable.*

'Blackburn mentioned a missing Chihuahua out this way...you think we should take a look?'