Valiant Cop Regards Fear

Being brave should be our cup of tea…

But that cup should have a pinch of respect for fear too…”

Mr. Jim was the most courageous cop down the mean streets of the city. His record and stories of bravery were widespread around and he was often entitled as Mr. Canny or Mr. Skirmish. People had full faith in him and the crime rate was too under control. His uniform having the aroma of gunpowder and stains of gratification were common for his wife Nancy, to witness while doing laundry.

She was a perfect combination of patience and intellect. She was often complimented as the epitome of life partner for a cop by Mr. Canny.

Understanding Jr. Jim’s deviating future plans w“as more difficult than understanding the accused ones during interrogation for Mr. Jim.

Tim was 8 years old; But according to his parents, he had outgrown this age in terms of cleverness. Jr Jim was a very playful boy and loved to roleplay Mr. Skirmish by wearing his uniform and investigating the case of searching his toy car.

Mr. Jim followed a punctual schedule that commenced with a morning walk with his wife, followed by dropping Tim to school and grabbing a decaf from the drive-thru near the police station. Greeting John the guard constable of the station with a smile and briefing his efficient team about the day's proceedings as part of his schedule...

After lunchtime, he made it a point to remember to acknowledge Nancy (Mrs. Jim) via text message that “the food was amazing, Hope you had your meals too”. 

Jim always kept perfect balance between his social life, work-life, and life with his family. It was very hard for his colleagues or his neighbors to find any kind of flaws in him but Nancy always complained and poked him about his stereotype that there is nothing like fear and he is completely fearless of his demise while on duty. 

After a hectic day, Jim was going through headlines when he discovered that a group of teenagers accused of being most active drug dealers is on a search and lately they were spotted in a village situated on the outskirts of the city. 

He was flipping pages when his wife began talking about his stereotype and said in a very convincing tone that 

“ Being fearless is the pledge every cop takes when they begin their journey but respect for fear and life should exist.”

 On which Jim just nodded his head and interrupted by saying how pitiful he feels about the immature and misguided kids these days landing in the world of crime. 

They discussed this for a while and then Jim, as usual, dozed off.

Next morning Jim got notified by headquarters about those dealers and asked Jim to announce a high alert as that group was suspected of carrying pistols and weapons that can be dangerous for the people of the city; While leaving for police station Jim advised Tim to take a day off from school and asked Nancy to stay at home until it's necessary. He mandated his officers about orders from headquarters and made his undercover officers active. Moreover, he issued sketches of those drug dealers with a tag of “MOST WANTED”. Until evening everything went as per the schedule and no mischief was reported; though some cases of robberies and land disputes progressed nothing related to those dealers came up.

While driving back home, Jim turned on the radio and drove slowly in a very relaxed manner. On his way home he stopped by a vegetable grocer to pick up some vegetables. Meantime purchasing a car narrowly escaped his back and rushed away rashly. He quickly burst into his car and began to chase the car. The chase was going rough and the mischievous driver being chased was getting on the nerves of Jim; He was hammering behind him hard. After a few kilometers of the chase, Jim fired a shot on the rear wheel of the car and within no time the driver lost balance and spanked into a roadside tree.

Jim called for backup and cautiously approached the banged car in which he discovered had 4 riders and were looking similar to sketches of the drug dealers. He howled “You all are very young, I won’t harm you just surrender and I ensure you all will face least consequences”.

The immature panicky group began to fire aimlessly to scare Mr. Skirmish, In return he had no choice but to backfire, targeting their legs and within a few shots knocked all the four down on their knees. 

He reloaded his magazine and threatened them to move towards his jeep without showcasing any kind of stupic acts;

BOOM!!!

A bullet was fired and Jim was on the ground, his knee was bleeding. The fearless Jim missed counting the 5th hidden boy who fired from behind the car. The boy aimed his pistol on Jim and came near to him and fired another shot to disable the cop to hold his gun.

Jim was helpless, was bleeding and deep in the heart was accepting his demise.

The scared wounded boys yelled at the boy holding the gun to take another shot at the cop and help them to escape quickly. As Jim saw trembling fingers of the boy proceeding to press the trigger he closed his eyes to reminisce his pledge and his family picture. Besides this Jim also reminisced that incomplete conversation with Nancy over his stereotype on respect for fear;

 A burst of thoughts crossed him like who will drop Tim to school? Have I taught him enough about life? Will Tim ever roleplay me with this dusty cap lying adjacent to me? Will I be able to hold my breath to convey to him and Nancy that my stereotype was wrong and I too gained respect for fear and importance of life? Will Nancy readily accept these stains and wash them clean with uttermost responsibility? Will she showcase her perfect blend of patience and intellect seeing his wounded Mr. Canny? Will the new in-charge take care of offering the most adoring greetings to John (guard constable) and will….

BANGG!!!

A loud sound of gunshot…

But Jim didn’t feel lifeless; On the contrary, after a few seconds, he opened his eyes and saw the boy lying dead beside him. He leaned his head up and saw John took that shot; 

John along with other officers quickly came towards Jim, captured the wounding culprits, and rescued Jim.

Jim returned home the next morning, seeing the dressing on his leg, Nancy got frightened but was soon in her ground state and served him a glass of water.

After a while, Jim went to Tim’s room and sat with him for a while. Nancy overheard Jim telling the encounter he witnessed last night with some made-up characters as a bedtime story to Tim and concluded with a moral that “Being brave should be our cup of tea…

But that cup should have a pinch of respect for fear too…”