“Looks like alcohol to me.”
“Adults can drink beer in my yard.”
The sergeant’s jaw tightened.
“You got identification?”
Calvin reached slowly toward his back pocket.
Briggs watched carefully.
Calvin removed his wallet, pulled out his license, and extended it.
Mercer snatched it.
“Calvin Brooks,” he read aloud. “Forty-four years old.”
He stared at the license longer than necessary.
Then he looked toward Calvin again.
“You ever been arrested?”
“No.”
“Military?”
Calvin paused.
“Former.”
Mercer’s eyes narrowed.
“What branch?”
“Navy.”
“Figures.”
Calvin did not ask what that meant.
Behind him, Miles had stopped playing basketball. Rochelle had one hand on her son’s arm, keeping him back. Ava stood beside an older neighbor, Mrs. Evelyn Carter, who had lived on the street for thirty-two years.
Mercer handed the license back.
“Turn the music off.”
Calvin looked toward the small speaker.
“It’s already low.”
“I didn’t ask whether it was low.”
Calvin held his gaze.
Then he turned toward Miles.
“Shut it off.”
Miles did.
The yard became silent except for the grill.
Calvin looked back at Mercer.
“Anything else?”
The question was calm.
Mercer heard disrespect anyway.
“You got a smart mouth.”
“I asked whether you needed anything else.”
Mercer stepped even closer.
“You think because you own a business and bought yourself a nice house you can talk however you want?”
Calvin felt something familiar moving through his body.
Not anger exactly.
Preparation.
His breathing slowed.
His shoulders loosened.
His awareness widened until he could see Mercer’s hands, Briggs’s stance, Rochelle behind him, Miles near the driveway, and three separate neighbors holding phones.
He hated that his mind still worked that way.
“I’m asking you to leave my property,” Calvin said.
Mercer smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The attitude.”
Calvin did not move.
“Sergeant, we’ve complied with everything you asked.”
“You’re giving me orders now?”
“No.”
“That sounded like an order.”
Calvin sighed.
“I’m requesting that you leave so my family can finish dinner.”
Mercer shoved him.
Hard.
Calvin stumbled backward one step.
Several people shouted at once.
Miles lunged forward.
“Dad!”
Calvin raised one arm without looking back.
“Stay there.”
The command stopped his son instantly.
Mercer’s hand settled near his holster.
“You want to do something?”
Calvin straightened.
“No.”