All In a Day's Work

by Alyssa Quintieri

His nickname was Richard Rabbit but he wasn't soft looking. He came to us from jail and he had bruises on his face because someone tried to steal his bike. A few days after the original incident I watched through the window as someone sat on the seat of his bike and did a loop around the parking lot like a circus clown, causing Rabbit to go into a rage. I held a card with the number for the police department in my hand, watching for one to hit the other's face. I had dialed that number once before when a man was on the top level of the parking garage, hysterical on his cell phone, and I told them we were afraid he was going to hurt himself. A client once told me he and his wife named their daughter after me and while he was joking and I should have known, I have been waiting for someone to say thank you.

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Alyssa Quintieri holds an English degree from Rowan University and works in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in New Jersey.