|
He profiled her from the look on her face and his
thoughts raced. This one may be a little harder. Look straight into her eyes
and let her know you mean business. At least she's pulling out her license
without a fuss. Yep, there's money in there. Just keep going.
Again came the charade of marching back to the
unmarked police car, checking the device, shaking his head, writing a fine and
walking back to the car. He handed it to her without a word. She looked at it
incredulously and shook her head.
"This much? Are you sure? This is my first
offence."
"Sorry, but we don't actually have rates as such
depending on how many times you've offended. There's just the set fine
unfortunately."
She inspected the paper more closely now.
"There's no due date on here. When do I have to pay it by?"
"It's an on the spot fine. It must be paid
immediately."
"That's ridiculous! I thought 'on the spot' meant
you just gave me the ticket here and now, not that I had to PAY it on the
spot."
He noted her mood becoming worse and decided to switch
to the defensive tact. People always felt sorry for the workers at the end of
the chain of command.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about that.
Apparently there have been some concerns over the past few years about fines not
being paid. I'm not sure. I don't really keep up with the administrative side of
traffic infringements. I'm just doing my job."
She looked down, somewhat ashamed at her aggression.
"Sorry, officer. Shouldn't take it out on you," she paused, "I
shouldn't be arguing with a policeman anyway, should I?" she laughed.
He laughed along with her, taking advantage of her
improving mood. "Not to worry, I can assure you I've had worse
arguments." He watched her hands dive into the purse on her lap. Confident
that she would deliver the goods he wanted, he lifted his eyes for a brief
moment to look down the road, keeping an eye out for future prospects.
He heard the engine, took a moment to register that
the sound was right at his feet before he looked down to see her putting her car
quickly into gear to move away. He yelled for her to stop, tried to grab her
through the open driver's side window. Failing that, he dove into his car,
speeding off after her up the road.
If she gets to the real cops with this, I've had
it. He thought to himself.
He kept his eyes planted on the road ahead, focused on
her rear bumper. He saw it slowly inching closer as he gained on her. He looked
quickly and sharply into his rear view mirror for any witnesses.
He changed lanes, riding alongside her. He motioned
for her to pull over, but she only shook her head and wound her window up
quickly. But he wasn't going to let her get away with what she knew.
He inched his car closer to her, coming close to her
left side. She flicked her eyes in alarm from him to the road in front of her,
and back again. He tapped the side of her car with his, just enough for her to
lose control and drop behind him slightly as she tried to avoid going off the
road. He bumped her again and again until, in tears, she pulled over onto the
side of the road and locked herself inside her dented car. Getting out of his
car, he approached hers - unperturbed by the vision of the crying and shaken
woman clutching the steering wheel with white knuckles. She could just hear him
through the glass, calling at her to get out. She shook her head and cried
harder, closing her eyes and dropping her head, hoping that losing him in her
sight would make him disappear altogether.
She heard the glass smash and screamed. The fear kept
her eyes clamped shut even as the fake cop dragged her out of the car by her
shirt and pulled her arms behind her back.
"You can't do this to me," she screamed,
"you're not a real cop!"
"Maybe not, but you're a real offender -
speeding, and then resisting arrest like that. Consider it a citizen's
arrest."
She tried to struggle as handcuffs snapped onto her
wrists. He threw her up against the car and held her there. She screamed again,
only to have his hand clamped over her face. She tried to bit his fingers but
they evaded her. He dragged her over to his car.
The thump of the boot closing over her head signified
the last of the light she would see for a while.
© Cynthia M. Piromalli 2002
©2002 StoriesByEmail.com
|
