The old detective stared up and down the street looking at the people walking by. He was checking them all out like he always did. Profiling them. This time though he chuckled at himself, not just because it really wasn't necessary anymore but also because he realized he would do it again next time.  It had been so many years since it was actually necessary. He was old now and by now all of his enemies were dead, still in prison, or just as old as he. If anybody had wanted to get him they could have done so a long time ago. He realized though that his years as a police detective and then as a private investigator had ingrained an instinct in him. He fought it but didn't always win.  But things were different now, even though his way of doing things had not caught up with real life. 

He was wearing a thick jacket today because as a visitor he never could get used to the cold New York air. It wasn't just his age talking either. He was from South Texas and it never gets cold there. He hated that fact about South Texas but now he wished for that warmth. After checking the parking lot he walked in to the coffee shop and played out his routine again. He found the 2 exit signs on either side of the back of the building and quickly noticed that the tables and chairs were made of metal. That made the first suitable for cover and the latter a weapon. Only 3 employees in place and about 10 customers who all wore somewhat fitted clothing that could not hide weapons and no one looked suspicious. Again he chuckled at himself. He realized that with his thick jacket in this weather he was the suspicious one walking in looking around checking out the employees, customers, and back exits. Every one else had t-shirts on. Someday his brain will stop he thought.  But not today. He sat himself at the back table with this back to the wall as always, making sure he had a good view of the entry doors.  A young pretty employee 1/4 his nearly 80 years came up to him and asked him what he wanted to drink.

"Regular coffee please."

"What kind of coffee would you like sir?"  He sighed at the question. 

"Any coffee that doesn't say mocha or latte after it. And before you ask yes I want it hot. If it's cold it isn't coffee."

"How about an Expresso Americano?"

"Is that real coffee?"

"I can make a pot of regular coffee if you want." 

"Yes I want."

"Oh okay sir is that all sir?"

"Yes thank you. Oh and can you put in a real coffee cup please not a paper one or foam one?"

"They don't make foam cups anymore sir but yes I will put it in a real cup for you."

"Thank you". 

It used to be so easy to order coffee he thought. When the coffee arrived he added one cream and 2 Sweet N' Lows. He took a sip and sat back in his chair. He was waiting for an old friend and wondered if she would make it this time. The last time they tried to get together was 3 years ago and she had to cancel. He was hoping to see her this time. He had flown to New York to visit his oldest son and his grandchildren so he took this time to try again. They had only seen each other a few times in their strange friendship but used to write to each other a lot years back when Facebook was popular and then on Book-Space (for writers) when it came along. Now they just emailed each other every once in awhile but still they felt a connection. He wondered why that connection was so strong when two New York Police officers walked in the coffee shop. They looked like rookies. Brand new cops. Seeing them he realized what that connection was.

He thought back to 2011 to when a movement called Occupy Wall Street began. It started out like any other movement with dissatisfaction with the status quo and a few people getting together and putting together a march or protest. People were getting tired of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and they felt that the government was responsible for letting this happen. The movement gained momentum and by late 2011 there were protests everywhere. Streets in many cities in the nation and around the world were getting crowded with protesters. The protesters claimed to be the 99% of those that bore the burden of government cost and taxation while the other 1% just got richer and richer and paid fewer and fewer taxes. Before you knew it other causes joined the protests and they became larger and lasted longer. Occupy Oakland in 2011 started a new police trend in dealing with these protesters. The police changed their tactics. They went from "keeping the peace and maintaining order" to pushing everyone out forcibly. Tactics often reserved for looters and barricaded subjects were used on ordinary folks carrying signs. Many people were injured that day. But the tide turned against the crowd. For the next 3 years protests were nonstop and police violence escalated. And then on March 1, 2015 Occupy Toronto happened. That had been the second major Occupy Toronto protest that year but this was different. Two thousand people gathered in Toronto for the protest but this time the police were not in a good mood. Before the first speaker ever got on the platform to speak they fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. The crowd was ready this time and many of the hardcore protesters had bought gas masks. Seeing this, officers switched to rubber bullets, believing that if the crowd had masks then maybe they brought weapons too. People started getting hit hard when one of the tear gas canisters landed near some tents and make shift platforms in the center of the crowd. Tear gas cans produce a lot of heat and one of the cans landed near the tents where one of the protesters had a can of kerosene he used to refill some old kerosene lamps he used at night. One of tent caught on fire.  Amid the tear gas, smoke from the fire, and rubber bullets, someone fired a real shot. Then many shots were fired. By the end of the night 19 protesters were killed by police bullets and one 7 year old child who got separated from her mother during the protest also died. The 7-year-old girl sought refuge in one of the tents when the tear gas landed and died of complications from smoke inhalation  after 3 days in the hospital.

The riots started soon after that.  Dallas, New York, Toronto, Houston, and Chicago saw the worst of it with each city needing help from the government to help quash the rioters. The police were not safe. Random police officers were attacked on the street and there were even some cases where officers were attacked in their homes. Anti-government, and in particular anti-police sentiments, were at the highest they had ever been. No one trusted the police. By the time the President and Congress reacted 127 rioters had been killed and 24 policemen were dead. Congressional hearings were held and several people went to jail.

Economic reforms took shape quickly and by 2021 Wall Street was all but gone. Things changed fast in other areas also. In 2023 the Lindsey Police Justice Act (named after the 7 year-old that was killed by police in the Toronto massacre) passed limiting police powers and an entirely new concept of policing was formed. This was followed by other sweeping changes in the justice system and an end to the death penalty and life without parole in every state. The detective remembered the exact date of the last execution in the United States. It was held on November 14, 2023 in Texas. 

"Those were strange times".

The old detective looked up at the voice. It was his friend Sidney. He had not seen her walk in much less hear what she said.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"I said those were strange times". 

He had not even realized he had said the execution date out loud. He was so embarrassed.

"Hey Sidney how are you?"

"Just fine detective and you?"

"Fine. Just getting senile obviously sitting here talking to myself!  You want me to order you some coffee?"

"No. No coffee but this place serves wine."

"Great which one do you want?"

"Get the most expensive one. You don't invite that often." She laughed.

The server came over and Sidney ordered some wine. He hesitated but he had to say it. He had already sent his condolences in a letter but he felt he had to say it in person. It was the right thing to do.

"Hey I was real sorry to hear about Victor."

"I know thank you. It was a real nice letter you wrote."

"Everything going okay for you now?"

"Yes yes I'm fine. Don't worry about me. How about you?  You look a little thinner than the last time I saw you. You feeling okay?"

She didn't want to talk about it and he wasn't going to push it. Sidney and Victor had been together forever and he knew it couldn't be easy. They lived and wrote music together. The detective knew that the more you share with someone the more you lose when they are gone.  And she had lost so much.

He hesitated answering that last question for a moment. He hadn't told Sidney about the quadruple by-pass he had the year before. Never mentioned it in his correspondence to her. He was too embarrassed. Since they first met Sidney had made fun of his eating habits. The old detective ate just like a cop. He never was concerned about what he ate. He used to say, "You know what goes good with bacon?  More bacon!"  The old detective thought about how stupid he was back then acting that way. He thought he was so funny back then. Two heart attacks, a diabetes diagnosis, and one heart by-pass later things weren't funny anymore. But he wasn't about to admit to Sidney that she was right. 

"I'm doing fine. In fact I feel real good. I have been taking more walks and I'm doing great. My doctor says I'm good. And you? You've kept yourself busy I see." He always kept up with her writing.

"Yes still writing. Working on a new novel. Hope to finish it before I go senile like you."

Sidney loved to write. She had a couple of popular novels under her belt but she was best known for her short stories. In particular her short stories which paralleled many important social issues. Her short stories surrounding events about the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 were popular but she gained her notoriety writing about the Occupy Toronto massacre of 2015. She wrote about the riots afterward and got real unpopular with the police. She continued to write through the dark times. She lost many good friends in the massacre and the riots that followed and received many death threats from police along the way. But that was a long time ago. She wrote about different things now. Her writings talked about the prospect of a better future now. Things had changed. They had changed a lot.

"Senility is the least of your problems Sid, you have other issues."

"Like what detective?"

"Like drinking wine at 10 a.m.?"

"Well it's legal so let it go."

"Okay Sid okay, no alcoholic jokes. Did you see those rookies over there?"

"Yes I saw them. What difference a few decades make."

"I guess everything does change."

"Everything but you detective".

He knew she was only half kidding but he thought things were so different now. As a former cop he saw differences more than anyone else he thought. Police were much less visible now. They had left the failed "Community Policing" concept of 30 years ago when the tide turned against them in the riots. When many military personnel refused to intervene in the riots after ordered to do so the police had nowhere to turn to for protection. They had to change. They were made to realize that they could not survive in society if they continued to trample on it. You rarely saw cops now unless you called one. They still were hard on crime but this time they left everyone else alone. They finally figured out that leaving everyone else alone gave them all the time in the world to pursue and capture real criminals. Criminals didn't stand a chance now. Ordinary people weren't harassed for doing nothing anymore. Witnesses weren't coerced into testifying. Warrants weren't issued at the drop of the hat. Everything the old detective experienced in his police work was gone now. Who would have thought that crime would decrease if you simply put less cops on the street? Who would have guessed that it would take the deaths of many innocent people and police officers to put an end to executing criminals?  Not the detective. Not anyone he thought. But that's what happened. Crime had gone down dramatically and people felt safer. They felt stronger. 

"Take a walk with me detective"

"It's freezing outside Sid."

"It's 65 degrees detective."

"Yes I know it's freezing."

"Oh come on old man lets go."

Sidney finished her wine and got up to go not caring that the detective had not finished his coffee. But he knew better than to complain and followed her outside. He also began to realize that it was because times had changed so much they did not have much to talk about anymore. It was those times that defined their relationship. It was what they went through back then that brought them together now.

And all of that was okay with the old detective. Old times, even bad ones, are still old times.  Things had gotten better and that was what mattered. It was okay.  He knew a walk with Sidney would be nice despite the cold.  They turned left on the sidewalk outside of the coffee shop and a cold burst of air caught the detective in the face. He shuddered. He was about to look back to see if the cops had followed them out of the shop but he stopped himself.  Times, he thought, are still changing.