CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - Meet Bobby Reed
BOBBY - Allow me to introduce myself. Name's Reed - Bobby Reed. I work at a gym. I was the guy Mile Batz was referrin' to when he was tellin' someone like it is when it came to detective work. I've always been into it, always followin' detectives, just like Eddie. Now, Eddie and I didn't talk much, but for him askin' about this porno star him and Mike was lookin' for, named Dickie Biggs. Biggs used to come in and work out all the time. Part of his contract with us was that we never blabbed that this guy was here. I had my doubts about the so-called art form. Yeah, I think it's cheap, tawdry and lewd, but I gotta earn my keep. Good payin' customers don't come easy. It don't matter which brand of butter goes with your bread. So, anyway, Biggs disappears, Eddie comes in, pretendin' he's a friend of his, ain't seen 'im for a while, goin' on about "so what's he up to these days, ain't heard from 'im for a while." Nobody could tell 'im. Then Batz shows up, black leather shoes, stetson hat (at least it looks like one), trench coat that just cascades around his body. Yeah, I listened to what he was tellin' me, but I was gettin' off watchin' him talk. I kept picturin' him grabbin' me, plantin' one right on the kisser and snarlin' "Hello, My Lovely". Yeah, bein' a workin' stiff at a gym, in more ways than one - wow, ya talk about a job with french benefits.
So, Eddie's been in the shower for a while now. I tell Batz I gotta start closin' up now, maybe he could see what's takin' so long. Then he's gone for a while. Did they go out the back, I remember thinkin'. I went to look for 'em, too. Now, I'm 18 years old, outta school and all that, livin' the good life, but I look older. I'm 6'4", 220 pounds, keep a pretty trim buzz-cut, I take advantage of my discount with the gym, so I'm doin' pretty good. I sometimes think I've been around a bit. What I saw in the back over by the lockers floored me, man, I almost passed out. It was the Holy Shit heard round the world. I go in there and see Batz lyin'on the floor, all passed out with this thing stickin' outta his chest. I try everything I can think of to wake 'im up. If I gotta take this guy to the hospital, he's gotta be awake. Man, oh, man, he's just gotta wake up. I hope he ain't dead. It'd be a miracle if not. I sprinkle cold water on his face, try shakin' him, then I think I hear some moanin'. I prop him back up against the wall. Aside from shakin' 'im a little, I didn't move him, no way, not with that thing stickin' out like that. I knew this guy was in trouble. "Eddie - Eddie where are ya, pal? What they do to ya?" I bend down and try talkin' to 'im. "Hey, Detective, it's me, the guy at the counter. Ya lookin' for Eddie? Someone do somethin' to 'im?" "Wha? Oh, yeah, hey" He grimaces when he feels the arrow in his chest. "Come on, get this outta me, will ya?" "Naw, I want to, but it's not a good idea. I'm gonna call 911, they'll come out - they know how to pull stuff out like this without no more damage." I decided to just sit with 'im til they came. I rubbed along the chest area with that thing stickin' out. It really got to me, it looked really sore. Batz was too good a guy to have somethin' like this happen. He told me later it's 'cuz he is a good guy, that's why it happens. Like evil comes out, hates people doin' and bein' good, so they do everything they can to turn 'em around, make 'em bad people, just so the bad guys'll win. Naw, not with Batz on the beat, they won't. What's it I hear 'im sayin' sometimes - oh, yeah, ya can't keep a guy like him down 'cuz when he's up, he's always up, or somethin' like that. I lean into 'im some more. "Hey, did you see where Eddie went, like, who did this to 'im?" In between gasps for breath, he said, "yeah, they plugged 'im with one of these, too, knocked 'im out, carryin' 'im away, not a stitch of clothes on, neither, ya know?" Wow, Eddie naked. Aw, man, with a bod like that, that's gotta be somethin' to see. I bet they manhandled 'im, too. Wow, wish I could pick 'im up and take him somewheres. I mean, yeah, I got a thing for him and all that, but I respect the thing he's got goin' with Batz. Maybe one day I'll find a hero to play sidekick to someday. Maybe.
I did talk about Batz a little when Eddie was around, askin' 'bout 'im, that kind of thing. He said, "yeah, he's a really good guy. The best ever. There ain't nothin' I wouldn't do for 'im. Growin' up all these years, all I ever wanted to be was his sidekick. Glad I am, too. I mean, ya gotta throw a good punch and take one for your hero, too. Mike's my boss, my lover, my hero. Best thing ever is to be a sidekick. Someone you're loyal to, devoted to. When we meet up with the bad guys, and he's talkin' some stuff to 'em, and I'm standin' there, right at his side, ready to fight, and I'm always lookin' at 'im. Best part of my day. Holy moses, I really hit the jackpot when the two of us hooked up. I can't even think of my life without 'im." "What turns ya on about 'im?", I ask. "Aw, cripe, ev'rything, man. The way he walks, the clothes he wears, how hyped up he gets when he figures somethin' out. The way he clutches his fist and points when he's really gettin' somethin' out to ya."
The paramedics came in and pulled the arrow outta him. Sure it hurt and sure he didn't like it much, but they gave him one of them things you use to stop the bleedin'. Begins with "T" I know that much - just can't think of it now, though. As they wheel him outta there, I say to Batz, "anything I can do?" He just looks at me with pained resignation. "Good of ya to say that, but at this point, I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do. I'm down for the count and my boy is missin'. I gotta get outta this and go get 'im."
I felt real helpless. I didn't know what to do. All I could do was continue to lock up for the night. I saw the paramedics to the parking lot, thanked them for comin' out so fast, then they took off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a security camera. POW! That gave me an idea. I ran back inside. See, we keep videos of everything, like if someone tries to run out without payin' after a work-out, or tries to make off with somethin'. Now, I'd say Eddie disappeared within an hou, and I checked the most recent tape log. I was rewindin' back and forth and BAM! there it was. I got the guys on tape who took him. Got the car and everything. The license plate was a little blurry, I could make out a couple of digits, and that's about it but it was still in the picture. I wondered if the cops had some sort of video lab where they futz around with the images, to try to make them clearer. I see all kinds of stuff like that on the Discovery Channel, catchin' the bad guys with the security videos. Maybe this can happen for us. Maybe I can help rescue Eddie and get him back with Batz somehow. I could help reunite this dymanic duo. Man, the thought of it gave me the shivers, I was so hot about it. "Wow, I'm a sidekick. I'm really a sidekick!" I captured a still from the tape and printed out the image for myself. Maybe I could see their car later on just by drivin' around myself. Reed to the rescue. But then I held back - "no, I gotta get Batz involved in this. I'm not a hero - I'm a sidekick, I wanna do this with a hero. His sidekick's in trouble. I wanna bring 'em back together. To the hospital." And off I went.