Huggy Knows What’s Best

Huggy takes care of his friends.

Huggy stood at the bar, drying glasses and watching one blond and one dark haired customer as they sat slumped in the corner booth. He’d seen the news reports and knew a little of the case that they’d been investigating. Even the scant details given to the Press had been horrific. He could only imagine what they’d seen and the emotional toll it would have taken.

Both of his friends were nursing a beer and sitting in silence, too exhausted to do much else. Huggy put the last glass back under the counter and walked through to the kitchen. He placed an order with the chef and then went to collect a bottle of whiskey that he saved for special occasions or emergencies. This fell somewhere in between the two. He collected three small tumblers and walked over to join his friends. After sliding silently into the booth, he took the cap off the bottle and poured three generous measures. He slid them across the table. Two pairs of blue eyes looked at him.

Huggy raised his glass and stared at it, trying to find the right words. After a moment he said, “Some days the battle is hard…But tomorrow is a new day and you’ll rise to face it.”

Both detectives took a deep breath in, nodded and then drank their shot.

A waitress appeared carrying a large tray. Huggy passed a plate with a burger, fries and all the trimmings to Starsky. To Hutch, he handed a small omelette and salad. Two bowls of cherry pie were ready for afterwards. Huggy knew Hutch tended to lose his appetite when he was stressed and that Starsky tended to want to eat more to replace his depleted energy.

Had he ordered correctly? He knew he had when small smiles appeared and both of them said, “Thank you,” as they reached for their cutlery.

Huggy nodded and then left the table, happy with the knowledge that he had helped his friends in some small way. When he looked back over, they were both eating and more importantly starting to talk. The healing hand of shared food and friendship had begun its work.