Читать книгу The Policeman's Other Woman - Shala Rachel - Страница 4

Mom and dad finally showed up. Mom took Reece and me to the nearest police station while dad and Dylan waited with my brother for the wrecker to take my car back home. When I walked into the South Oropouche police station, I was met with a familiar face. The officer on duty used to be a good friend of mine. We went to the same temple together for a few years when we were teenagers. He was the biggest fan of my Indian dancing back then. I don’t remember why our friendship went sour, but it did. I do remember though, that the last dance I did, he didn’t show up to support me. In a sea of faces, I searched for him, but I couldn’t find him. A few days after my last dance, his friends described my dance as “whorish”, adding that I seduced the pundit. At 15 years old, I wrote a hate letter to all of them and I never showed my face in that temple again.

Nonetheless, he smiled when he saw me, and I hugged him. He returned an even tighter one. I explained to him what had happened concerning the robbery. He indicated that I’d have to report it to the San-Fernando police station rather than to the Oropouche one. Nevertheless, he still ran a search on the number plate that I recounted but nothing came up. He offered to call the San-Fernando police station on my behalf and then offered me a seat in his office until those officers came. I waited somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour for them to get there. In the meantime, my temple friend and I talked about a lot of things that we missed out on from each other’s lives while we were absent. He lightened my mood and reminded me of how blessed I was that the gunman did not rape me, nor hit me, kidnap my son, or take the car. I really was indeed, truly blessed.

Before I knew it, I heard loud chatter in the main office of the police station. He listened for a quick minute and told me it was “time.” The San-Fernando CID had arrived to get me “and take me away in handcuffs”, he joked, while wiggling his eyebrows at me; I laughed hysterically walking out of his office doorway.

As I looked up, my eyes met with a 6 ft something, Tall, Dark, Handsome guy. He was wearing a black long sleeve hoodie and a pair of faded blue jeans. I assumed he came in to make a report about something - until the officer at the front desk told me that they would now be handing me over to “this officer”. I looked around for another face in a police uniform, but there was no one there. It was then that I realized that “this officer” was the 6ft something Tall, Dark, Handsome guy. Suddenly, I felt embarrassed. Not because I didn’t believe he was an officer, but because I felt as though people were seeing the word “victim” written on my forehead and I didn’t want anyone to feel pity for me. When I saw him, reality hit me for a quick second. I remembered that I was just robbed at gunpoint. He said to me, “Come with us ma’am, we’ll take you to the scene”. His voice was deep and mesmerizing. He sounded way more mature than he looked. I hated being addressed as “ma’am”. I felt old. I jumped in the back seat of the police van. Then I got flashbacks of the day I lost my virginity.

I lied and said I had Spanish Orals test that day. I was in Form 4. I went for a drive with my then-boyfriend who was 6 years older than I was. He took me to his friend’s house so that we could have a long-ass make-out session. One thing led to another, and his giant dick tried to penetrate me, but it wasn’t happening. He tried and tried, it was almost as if there was a steel-door gate once my panties were removed, and he didn’t have the right key. Nevertheless, he broke my hymen which meant that I lost my virginity, according to the police. Apparently, what really happened was that the neighbor saw me walk into the house with my school uniform and they called the police. They took me away in the back seat of a police van, just like the van I was now sitting in. Those flashing blue lights; an eternal horror.

Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome sat in the front passenger seat, his colleague seemed to be the designated driver. Mom followed behind in her SUV. On the drive there, which was only 2 minutes away from the robbery scene, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome asked me if I was a student at Fraser University. I wondered how he knew. I wrecked my brain to figure out if I studied my BA with him, but nothing came up in my memory, so I replied “No, I’m a lecturer there”. The vehicle went silent for a solid 15 seconds before I asked him how he knew, and then he took another solid 15 seconds before admitting that he noticed the logo on my T-shirt. That was very observant. He glanced at me for literally less than 5 seconds in the office and noticed the very tiny logo on my tee? Impressive. Or perhaps he was watching my oversized boobs as all men do.

When we got to the robbery scene, the wrecker was there waiting to load my green buggy onto the tray. Mr. TDH got out of the vehicle and went about his duties. But my eyes followed his every footstep. I knew that he was watching me too. I blanked out for the next few minutes. I don’t remember what happened until he came back to speak with me. Again, he sat on the passenger seat of the police vehicle, this time, with the door open, and I stood right beside him. He asked me questions about my phone number and mentioned something about there being a way to track it. He picked up the CB from the police vehicle and spoke police language which sounded all foreign to me. I looked at him, biting my bottom lips, knowing that he was trying to impress me. He commented on the irritating mosquitoes and then out of nowhere, ordered me to go to the San-Fernando police station with him. I was happy to. I forgot about my period, I forgot about Reece, I forgot about Dylan, I forgot about the entire world. All I knew was that I was ready to follow this man anywhere. It was as if my brain fell out of my head and rolled into the ocean. My teenage hormones kicked in.

When I got there, I filled out a Lost/Stolen document form, he said it was necessary for me to re-apply for my ID card and Driver’s Permit, both of which I was more than happy to recount the details of – my lame attempt to impress him. He raised his eyebrows and gave me a look like, ‘ok ok, good good’. I laughed a little. By this time, it was about 9 pm. I asked him to use the washroom. I told him that my periods were coming down and I needed to go home. He advised that I come back early in the morning to give him a detailed report of what transpired and I promised I would, except I didn’t.

The following morning was hectic; trying to organize Reece for school, now having to share my mother’s car because I didn’t have a key to start mine. I didn’t do home-work with Reece on the night of the robbery, so we did it the morning before going to school. I knew I would not be able to make it to the police station on time to see him. I called my temple policeman friend from South Oropouche station and asked him if he could reach that specific officer so that I could reschedule when I could give the statement. I was told to return in 2 days, at 6 pm.

When I got there, Dylan sat with me on the waiting chairs. I was lost in silly conversation and laughter with my closest friend when my eyes drifted to the end of the hallway, noticing Mr. TDH looking at me. He immediately looked away after our eyes connected. I suddenly felt guilty for laughing with Dylan. After about 10 minutes of waiting, Mr. TDH sent instructions for me to meet him in his green cubicle. Like a programmed robot, I walked towards my designated area. I didn’t even look back at Dylan or tell him I’d be back soon. That would have been a lie anyway.

This gorgeous, tall, dark-skinned man that sat in front of me was hard to resist. He had a torso that stretched for miles, one that I wanted to wrap myself around. His attractiveness was a bit unnerving. My statement took 3 hours. He and I talked and laughed about a lot of things while also being very detailed and professional with the statement of course. He casually, but skilfully asked a lot of personal questions while gathering his data for the statement. I answered honestly. I remember him asking me how tall the gunman was and I said I didn’t know. He slowly put his pen down, his eyes pierced into mine as he slowly and steadily stood up. I glanced downwards towards his waist, and then further down. My god wasn’t this man a heavenly sight. In-between the statement, he would go outside to take a smoking break. I suspect he would have seen Dylan outside smoking as well. When he came back from his second smoke break, he asked me who was the guy that I was sitting with. I told him that Dylan was my kinda-boyfriend. Silence. He didn’t comment, he didn’t have any expression or any reaction, he continued as though he didn’t ask the question and that I didn’t give an answer but we continued to talk and laugh. He ended up writing a 3-page statement by the end of our 3-hour session.

Evidently, I laughed so loudly that Dylan heard me from outside the cubicle. He argued with me on the way home about it. He said that I had him waiting outside the police station like an ass for 3 hours while I was laughing and flirting with “a dutty, thirsty” policeman. I laughed when he said that. His voice faded into the background while he continued to yell at me. I was just happy. I imagined that if I smoked grass, this was what it would feel like. I really didn’t care about anything else at that point. By the end of the night, I still didn’t know Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome first-name but I was delighted to see we had the same last name when he signed the statement. I walked out of the station not knowing whether I would see him again, not even thinking about it, all I knew was that he felt like home, and that was all that mattered.