City B - Still at the Beach

Same ride with a cop; different night.  It started out well enough; Officer X was friendly, very proud of something the station had just inaugurated - a little computer next to the driver for instant communication with Dispatch.  But as the evening wore on he paid more attention to flirting with said Dispatcher, than things around him such as - the car stopped at a red light right next to us.  I noted that he was apparently drinking a bottle of beer.  The other car driver.  The light changed and I pointed at that car, speeding modestly away from us; apparently Officer X was more interested in gossiping and merely nodded and said, "Eh, too late to chase him now" and off we went.

Earlier in the evening I had asked him if he ever had had any encounters with two of the denizens of that beach - Thumper and Cowboy.

I frequently saw the Cowboy in our library, reading Westerns.  He himself wore a rather battered cowboy hat and boots that had clearly covered a lot of territory..  Officer X said, "Aw, he's a nice guy - we know where he hangs out so if it's raining or bitter cold (at the beach seems unlikely but it happens) and bring him into the station for the night and offer him shelter and hot food; a harbor for the night."  

Thumper was the reverse of that coin.  Thumper was only ever seen wearing a red Speedo bathing suit and nothing else.  No one wanted to see that spectacle especially when he masturbated by rubbing his equipment on the sides of parked cars, thus "Thumper" for a name.  "Mommy, what's that funny man doing?"

 Another distinguishing note - both feet were missing the big toes which accounted for his rather lurching gait.  

Officer X said that when it gets too unbearable, they load him in a cop car and drive him to the far side of Torrance "And then we wait to see how long it takes for him to get back here. (musingly) "We ought to make book on it," sighed and went back to his protracted visit with Dispatch.  So ended that ride.  We parted cordially at the station.