The Dehumanization of Ethan Brown

Ethan had more paperwork when he arrived at work. As a rookie, he was left with most of the paperwork. He knocked on his captain’s office after the morning break. “Brown,” the captain said.

“Sir, I would like teekeeekend off,” Ethan said. “My girl wants me to meet her relatives.”

“Are you the father of Sara Maria Lopez’s baby?” the captain asked. “The social worker told me about the father and he doesn’t sound like a man that would molest his child.”

“I’m the baby’s father. We’re getting married this summer. I want to meet some of her out of town relatives this weekend.”

“It isn’t my business but as a detective you should have known better than sleeping with an underage girl.”

“Yes, sir. Since the family is ivor vor of the relationship, only my morality is in question. If the baby isn’t born early, she’ll be eighteen before the child’s birth. What is the big difference between a seventeen year old and eighteen year old?”

“Brown, you should have told me that you were the baby’s father. I don’t like having social workers questioning me about my detectives’ morality.”

“She wanted to keep it a secret. Sorry, for the embarrassment. After the baby is born, I’ll bring her up and show off the baby for a few minutes.”

“Dismissed.”

“What did you tell the social worker about Juan Lopez?”

“That he was an openly affectionate man with seven children and child molester tended to be shy and secretive about their sexuality. He wasn’t a man hiding something.”

“Thank you. I’ll tell Juan that no one will put him in jail and take his children away.”

“Have a good weekend.”

At the end of the day, the captain asked Brown to step in his office for a moment. “You look rather upset.”

“I’m not looking forward to talking to another priest. The last one looked at me amazed that I understood Spanish. Just because my name is Ethan Brown doesn’t mean that I don’t speak Spanish fluently. I was raised in a bilingual home and spoke mostly Spanish until I was seven.” Ethan wouldn\'t tell the captain that he spent his first seven years in Lopez\'s house. There weren\'t the kennels there but otherwise it was the same. Estaveo Lopez worked in a factory until he died in the slaughter; the factory itself recently closed to take its business south of the border. It was easier to say they were Catholic than than explain their complicated history leaving out the part about the werewolves of course. Besides, saying she was a Hispanic girl would fit the captain\'s stereotypes and technically it wasn\'t wrong. The Lopez part of the pack had came from Spain by the way of Mexico. The captain knew that the girl lived in an old house on the edge of town with her extended family, which fit his stereotype of Hispanics.

“You didn’t inform me that you were fluent. A lot of people write bilingual on their applications and they have only taken a year in high school. What were you thinking when you got an underage Catholic girl to lift her skirt?”

“That her parents were in favor of us getting married and she had been hitting on me since she was twe Sev Seventeen is over the age of consent.”

“You lead an interesting life.”

“You don’t know half of it.”

“Have fun arguing with the priests.”

“Sir, I’m sorry for bringing my private affairs into the office.”

“Am I invited to the wedding?”

“The ceremony will be out of town and conducted in Spanish.” Ethan didn\'t know what language the ceremony would be conducted, but he knew that his captain wouldn\'t be interested in traveling out of town to go to his wedding.

“It doesn’t sound like my idea of a pleasant outing. Maybe I won’t bother.”

Brown went upstairs to Major Crimes to find Wae wae was getting ready to leave. “You haven’t visited us for some time.”

“I’m going out of town to plan my wedding. Does Leslie still hate me?”

“She has had problems since you left. I’m thinking about permanently assigning her to deskwork. Leslie is drinking during work hours and frankly I’m worried about her safety.”

“Wallace, the ball is in your court.”

“Since you\'re getting married and Leslie is living with a man from Vice, you wouldn’t be committing fraternization by working together.”

“I like working in Narcotics. Wallace, I’m sorry.”

“Good luck, Brown. If you ever get tired of Narcotics, I would be glad to take you back.”

“Thanks, Wallace.” Ethan put his coat on and headed out of the building and into the parking lot to discover that his Volvo had two tires slashed. He couldn’t believe that someone would slash tires of cars packed in a municipal parking. While waiting for a tow, Ethan noticed that three other cars hadir tir tires slashed. The vandal probably cut more but those cars’ owners had their cars towed away already. He would put in a complaint Monday, but unless the cameras in the parking lot caught the vandal on film there was nothing Brown could do.

Ethan dialed Juan’s business number as he waited for his tow. “My tires were fucking slashed. I’m y thy that we can’t leave for Buffalo in a few minutes.”

“Leave the fucking car at the repair shop. I’ll pick you up there. We can get it in a couple of days,” Juan said. “I hope the fucking asshole is caught on video tape.”

“The cameras at the municipal lot aren’t manned.” Ethan walked over to the parking lots office. “My tires were slashed.”

“The man had on a ski mask,” the attendant said.

“Thanks,” Ethan said.

“I wish I could be more help.” Tttenttendant gave Ethan a piece of paper. “Put in the cost of the tow and tires in the form. The city isn’t responsible for the cost of the repairs but who knows.”

“Assholes. I have to be somewhere this weekend.” Ethan returned to his car and had it towed to the closest tire store. Juan met him there.

“I have to meet my fiancée’s family,” Ethan said still wearing his police uniform. “Can we keep the car here this weekend?”

“Sir, I’ll have to charge you storage fees,” the cashier said.

“I don’t fucking care. What asshole would cut the tires of several cars in a municipal parking?” E?” Ethan complained.

“Someone angry at a city employee,” the cashier said. “Pick up your car in an hour.”

“I’ll try to be back for it,” Ethan grumbled. Ethan climbed into Juan’s truck. He didn’t like sitting in Juan’s smelly and dirty truck in his uniform. There were wrappers from junk food the children ate, dog hair, and the strong odor of urine. He would need to wash his uniform before going back to work Monday. He wasn’t issued that many uniforms; Ethan didn’t buy more because he was a detective and usually worked in plainclothes.

Juan drove Ethan to the house then Ethan changed into jeans and a tee shirt. Funny, the weather report said it was forty degrees outside but he felt comfortable dressed in no more than a jeans and a long sleeve shirt. He didn’t really need to wear his coat. Ethan packed his overnight bag for two nights. He found Ria in the kitchen making cookies with Marla and Robin. “I have to go with your father and Ryan to Buffalo. Don’t have the baby until I get the fuck back.”

“I’ll try not to.” Ria hugged him briefly and kissed him.

“Marla, Robin, we’ll build cages after I get home from work on Monday. Squeeze me into your busy calendar.” Ethan hugged the girls.

“Sure, Uncle Ethan. Tony is going to help. We found a lumberyard that will sell us scrap for close to nothing,” Robin said. “All we have to do is convince Jake to drive us.”

“You can consider building cages as two subjects for school,” Camilla said.

“Only two,” Marla complained.

“You’re getting off easy,” Camilla said. “You’re lucky that I consider cooking with me part of your school work.”

“Tony gets to help in the kennels,” Robin said.

“You can help me clean up dog shit anytime,” Tony said.

Ethan kissed Ria once more. “See you, Sunday night. Don’t kill your little brothers or sister.”

“I’ll try not to.” Ria touched his cheek. “I wish you didn’t have to shave everyday for your job.”

“I’ll grow a beard during my vacation.” Ethan licked Ria’s neck and cheek wishing he had time to lick her all over. “See you soon.”