Demetrius watched the flashing red and blue through his rearview mirror as the tall, white cop walked out and made his way over. He couldn’t risk moving his hands from the wheel, but the smell from inside would’ve been too strong to ignore.
Damn it. Third time this week he was getting pulled over. His long dreadlocks and dark pigment didn’t favor him too much in this scenario.
The cop stopped a few feet away from the trunk of his black sedan and, much to his surprise, turned back to his cruiser.
Demetrius quickly sprayed some lemon-scented Febreze just in time for the cop to turn back and reach the driver’s side. A few light taps struck his window.
“Good evening, sir,” the cop said in a thick, Texas drawl straight out an old western movie.
“Hi.”
“Do you know why I’m pulling you over?”
“I have no idea.”
A short silence followed. “License and registration, please.”
Demetrius slowly reached into the glove box and pulled out some papers. “Here you go, Officer…”
“Riley. Says so in the name tag.”
Demetrius nodded. “Um… Officer Riley, just so you know, I contacted my insurance company about my payment. They said the system was undergoing maintenance, so I should call them tomorrow. I can even show you the email.” Officer Riley nodded. Demetrius tapped the envelope icon on his phone and handed it over.
“Very well,” Officer Riley replied handing it back. He took the papers and perused through them, glancing now and then at Demetrius. Demetrius watched his eyes bounce from his apron to the cup in the cup holder and back to the papers. “So… how long have you been working at Tony’s Hot Wings?”
“A couple of months now.”
“And what’s in the cup?”
Demetrius swallowed hard. “Vanilla milkshake with a splash of caramel. Employees get two free meals and a drink every day.”
“Okay,” Officer Riley replied, sniffling loudly which made his thick, brown mustache dance. He sniffled again, this time staring hard at Demetrius.
Demetrius’ heart leaped to his throat. “Ev-everything okay, Officer?”
“Sir, I’m gonna ask you to step out the car.”
Demetrius’ arms trembled as he unbuckled and slowly got out. Fuck me.
“Hands on the hood!” Officer Riley demanded.
Demetrius said a silent prayer hoping he wouldn’t notice the little bulge in his pocket as he complied. Officer Riley patted him down and pulled out the black ring case with a red ribbon on it.
Demetrius heard metal click behind him. “Do you know what day today is, boy?” Officer Riley asked.
“I’m-I’m not sure. Friday, April something.”
“Turn around, boy.”
Demetrius held his breath as he turned around.
“Don’t let me catch you again,” Officer Riley said, puffing out a cloud of smoke. “Happy 4/20.”
END
This was a short piece I wrote for a contest with guidelines you had to follow. The guidelines were: the story must begin on the side of the road, your story must include the words APRON, PIGMENT, RIBBON, ICON, and LEMON (plurals allowed), and your story must include a splash.
An added stipulation was you had roughly two days to come up with a story of 500 words or less, and the winner was picked by a panel of judges.
I didn’t win nor was my story shortlisted, so I thought I’d add it here for anyone who might want to read it 🙂
Ciao.
Height Above Sea Level 