Keep me busy

Gazing up at the Veidt statue as he passed, Neil Cherville, known to his sneering colleagues on the force and more recently the press as Neechee, swaggered through the town square. Eyes darting about suspiciously, tagging and mentally noting any youths and bums he saw in the late afternoon light, the trenchcoated figure made his way over to a phonebooth.

Standing outside it and regarding it, he waited.

Four potato, three potato, two potato...

Inside, the set suddenly started to ring.

Smiling wryly, Neechee swung open the door and scooped up the handset.

"Here. Keep me busy."

Henry Barkly, AKA Hellwrath... Was sitting on one of the benches around Veidt statue. It was a good day, one of the few that wasn't filled with sex,guns, and rock and roll.

He took out a lighter, lighting a cigarette he kept with him, it was natural and supposedly 100% not un-healthy. Well, whatever it took. As long as he got his nicotine. He took a drag and stood up. A man caught his eye.

He was pretty tall, he sorta looked like a 1930's detective. With the broad-rimmed hat and overcoat.

Henry decided to go ahead and listen to him, he heard him say a few simple words...

"Keep me busy..."

Hmmmmm, not a bad offer. He decided he would go ahead and keep him busy.

He grabbed another cig out and offered it to the man, he said"Here, you look ragged...".

Neechee looked up from the phone. Mumbling something inaudible into the reciever, he put it down with a thunk.

Looking upto the proffered cigarette, he took it, with a nod to its owner.

"Thanks. It's been a long week. Got a light?"

Neechee didn't always smoke, but while he was waiting here, he thought why not?

"What's keeping you here, citizen?"

Neechee always referred to non-police as citizens. He liked dishing out labels to people he thought belonged in a category. It earned him more sneers from other police. Neechee didn't care.

Looking around the square again, keeping an eye out for trouble, he clamped the cigarette between his teeth.