19centconstable | Case #47: Video

[Hoffman laughs-then stops himself abruptly.]

No. I'm pretty sure Angelina would have remembered that. Then again she might have tried to make friends. Since I didn't see any tea parties in my room..

Your sister was here?

[his voice is tight.]

Yes.

[pause] She left a stack of notes on my desk. I haven't looked at them yet.

Do you plan to?

[By way of response Hoffman turns on the camera function. There's his desk with notes. And there's a slow pan to reveal...the rest of his room has been trashed and there's a photo of he and angelina smashed against the wall.

And he looks...businesslike. Professional.]

....talk about your ghosts.

[a moment of intense, intense pain crosses his face.] I will in time. There's one for you here. You want me to bring it to you?

She did that?

I suppose that you ought to.

...From what I gather she's not happy that I'm here.

[Hoffman switches to audio.] Are you free now? Do you want some time to...rest?

[something is very wrong here. Very wrong. He's hoping no, he wants to talk to George but if he's not...he'll respect it and go away until he is.]

Why wouldn't she be happy about it?

I'm feeling rather over-rested, actually. I'm starting to fear I may have fallen into one of those comas.

...I should have done something to help you.

[he pauses, considering] and she's not happy because she thinks I should not have been here in the first place. A lot of phrases were thrown around in this...letter she sent me.

Edited 2012-04-04 04:48 (UTC)

You've just said you weren't here.

She thinks your crimes were excusable, or she doesn't believe you're worthy of redemption?

I could have left a note! I could have done..

[His lips tighten and George receives a wall of text.]

Mark. ...I don't know what to say to you. I know that I'm slipping away, going away, and I know that I won't see you again. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse. I want-I knew where you were coming from but I wanted to tell you in person, to see you, to smack you upside the head and hug you and never let you go. I want to hate you. I want nothing more then to hate you with every fiber of my soul and being because you did this in my name. You did this because of me and you were acting-no you still ARE acting like a blind and selfish moron. I made my mistakes, and it was a tragedy. The last thing I wanted however was for my mistake to destroy you. You were supposed to dance at my wedding big brother, I know that. You were supposed to do all of these things but without me your life seems to have stopped. Why? was I so important? What sort of person can bear that kind of responsibility? Be the only thing keeping someone alive? I feel...hurt. I feel hurt and betrayed and I don't know if it was me or something I'd done. If it is or was, I have to live with that now and you.. You drugged a recovering junkie. You drank yourself into a stupor and you curl up around selfish desires and emotions like a cat curling up around the corpse of it's latest kill. You killed people, beat them to death and that woman...that woman Simone... That's not you. That wasn't supposed to be you. What happened to the guy who was so happy to get his badge? What happened to my brother the cop, you were my hero. I'm not...I'm not Mary Jane or Catwoman or anybody else to keep a guy like that in line and you...What were you thinking? I can't help but feel like this is my fault. I spent months, months after our fight about Baxter convincing myself that you were a monster and then when you die...when you die everything is made clean and clear. You forgive in some places and in others... Fix, yourself. Please big brother. You shouldn't be here, this wasn't supposed to be you but maybe you can fix yourself, stop pussyfooting around and just do it so you don't go where you're headed. Grace isn't something that should be for sale I just... Oh god I wish I could see you and have you tell me it's all right and none of it is true but I can't trust that. my brother. My big brother. What happened to you? Where did you go wrong? Was it something I did? Damn you for leading me into doubt Mark. Angelina.

[He is surprisingly calm when he speaks again.] Do you want me to just send you yours? I'd like..

I want to know you're okay.

Would you prefer to bring it to me?

Really, I'm fine.

I'll bring it to you. I'll come now.

[George is waiting at the door when Hoffman arrives. He has taken the time to dress and wash up a bit, of course. Still Victorian.]

[Hoffman for his part looks, far more subdued then he's ever been. However his hair is combed and his appearance is neat. He's back in one of his NYPD suits-nothing rolled up, nothing relaxed.

His attempts at smiling for George fail. Instead he nods mutely.]

...Sorry about the coma.

[George nods and ushers him in.]

I'm sorry as well, but I suppose none of us are immune.

just wait until it lasts a month or something.

[He tries to laugh and fails. He really does look subdued] May I sit?

Of course.

[George joins him in partaking in a chair.]

You seem...a bit distant, Detective.

[Hoffman turned to look at him and then passed over a folded letter. In neat, orderly easy to read handwriting-Angelina Aacomb ne' Hoffman has written to the man who is taking care of her brother.]

Constable. (is that right? Or is it george? Crabtree? I want to say the right thing.)

I wish we'd gotten a chance to meet face to face but I couldn't seem to find you and I was...occupied.

I don't know if my brother will ever show you any of this but I figured I had to trust in the person who he was and the person you seem to be helping him become which is...something wholly different from who he was when I knew him.

I don't think that's bad. In fact it's preferrable. Mark swore up and down when we were kids he'd never drink and now I find out he's an alcoholic and acting like our father. He told me time and again how much he hated him. He refused to take me to see him in prison because of it. (Did he talk about that?)

I have faith in Mark. I just don't want to say it. He does best when there's somebody to challenge him and I don't want him here anymore. He was supposed to get married and have kids, we were supposed to have lives and live better then our parents did. I love him. He's done so many bad things and good things...

I'm all mixed up. I love him but I want to leave him here to rot forever except from what he's written about you I bet that you wouldn't do that. Don't tell him what I wrote about wanting him to rot. I can't think about what he did without thinking of Amanda and his friends, the people he swore to protect and how he murdered them for some...savior. God wouldn't want that.

I wish my brother would fight for a cause like that. He needs something to do with himself. He needs to serve, he's never been independent except regarding me and..

I wish I knew how you could help him more then just...he needs to either have something to serve or have friends and know that there's more to life then the law. He doesn't get a middle ground anymore.

You must have the patience of a saint to put up with him. I threw him out even after he swore he was trying to protect me.

...Please take care of him. And yourself. And hit him upside the head if he doesn't get his head out of his big fat butt and get out of here and go home.

...thank you. So much.

Angelina.

[He didn't say a word, just watching-waiting for a response.]

[George reads it over carefully, before telling Hoffman:]

She cares about you. Very much.

I know.

[He thrusts another letter at George. Everyone else got full pages. Notes thanking them for putting up with her brother's behavior in neat handwriting.

Hoffman got three lines.]

Leave your past behind and accept what you have done was wrong.

Come home, find someone, live the life I wanted. Love and be happy.

Apologize to Simone Betheson already.

[She didn't even sign her name. Hoffman buries his head in his hands.]

[George lets him be for a moment, then quietly asks:]

Detective?

...I won't ever escape it will I? The things I did. I have to apologize and accept it. I was a hero and I threw it away by being stupid.

[George blinks.]

Well...yes. Although I don't think you ought to call yourself stupid.

But that's what I was. I was stupid.

[he studies him] ...you really don't think I'm stupid. You're so...so nice. and a cop. Most of us are... [he speaks slowly, trying to decide how best to phrase it] Most of us are egotistical maniacs by my time. guys...obsessed with the badge and the gun and the prestige.

You made poor decisions. A clever man may still do that.

[George frowns.]

But I have met other police here, Detective, and I just can't believe that that is so. There have always been, and will always be bad apples in every bunch, but they don't spoil the other apples. And often, if you take the bruised or wormy bit off, the apple can be perfectly edible again.

...clever?

[Hoffman looks truly touched.]

...George if I go what happens to you? Did.. [he frowns] Did you ever decide on a deal?

I didn't. After you've graduated, I'll be assigned to help someone else. Perhaps I'll glance in on things at home.

[Hoffman breathes deep] ...Do you think I could be a warden?

I do think so, Detective. Don't you?

...I can try.

[his voice is firm. He stands.]

...I can try but I think there's something that I need to do first.

[and he flops back] Jesus Christ I don't know if I can.

The apology?

[He looks at him balefully.]

...What if she wants to kill me? I mean what if she leaves and loses her deal? I've watched her at dinner.

I did that George.

Yes. And you're attempting to talk yourself out of this.

It is something you can do. It won't be easy or pleasant, but it is right.

[Hoffman breathes deep and stands.]

....I want a drink.

That won't make it easier.

[he smirks.] I know. Doesn't mean I don't want one.

[he straightens] ...Thank you George.

You are welcome, Detective. And godspeed to you.

Case #47: Video

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