“The Christmas Police”
When he came around the corner of the food
court, Officer Katz saw a cluster of excited people. As he jogged to them, he keyed his radio and
said, “Control this is Forty-Six. Some
kind of disturbance in the food court.”
The people parted as he neared, allowing
him to see an older woman lying on the floor.
A younger woman – possibly her daughter – was comforting her. Katz knelt beside the woman and asked,
“What’s the problem.”
The older woman pointed out into the main
mall and said, “It was a young man, dark hair, and a sweater. He-” Tears came to her eyes as she forced
herself to say, “He wished me ‘Happy Holidays.’”
Katz placed a comforting hand on her
shoulder and said, “I’ll get him.” He then asked the younger woman, “Will you
stay with her?”
The younger woman nodded. She then added, “She’s my mom.”
Katz nodded and stood. As he started jogging in the indicated
direction, he keyed his radio and said, “Control this is Forty-Six. Two-fifty in the food court, in pursuit of
the suspect.”
The mall was crowded, but Katz soon saw a
figure matching the description walking away.
Katz jogged up behind him and when he was close enough he grabbed the
man’s shoulder. The man turned and tried
to shrug off Katz, but Katz’s grip was too strong. The man put his hand on Katz’s chest and gave
a shove.
Katz drew his baton – decorated as a large
peppermint stick – and cracked it against the man’s skull. The man fell limp to the floor with Katz on
top of him. Using more force then was
probably needed, Katz got the man’s hands behind his back and slipped on a pair
of handcuffs. “You’re under arrest,” he
stated, “for suspicion of using a malicious greeting.”
Katz looked up to see a small crowd had
gathered around him: some were filming him on their phones while others were
clapping. He tried to not smile too much
while he walked the man back to the victim for identification.
***
This was my most recent “War on Christmas”
story. I wrote it a few years ago
because it seemed every year it was becoming more and more ridiculous. So I wrote a story that just took things a bit
further.
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