The red lights flashed in a rhythm. Earlier this evening, she would have been dancing to similar red lights, but now there was a large man in grey standing next to her, and he wasn’t asking her to dance.
“Ma’am!” He said impatiently. “I’m not going to ask you again. I need to see your license, registration, and proof of insurance. Now!”
She continued to search franticly. The contents of the middle console already littered the floor, as objects flew out of the glove compartment.
“Where does he keep his registration?” She muttered to herself, half whimpering. When she ‘borrowed’ his car, she didn’t plan on getting pulled over.
‘As if anyone ever plans on getting pulled over.’ She thought, almost chuckling.
Then ‘it’ hit the floor.
She stopped searching for a moment to stare at ‘it’. The shiny golden hue reflected back a distorted image of her once beautiful face. She felt the eyes of the officer burning into the back of her head as she resumed her search. The new discovery made her that much more frantic.
‘Stupid’, ‘Idiot’, and ‘Moron’ were the first words through her mind. Although those words would never escape her mouth in his presence. She brushed ‘it’ aside quickly, hoping for it to roll under the seat. Instead, it rolled in a playful circle, ending up right beside her hand. Beginning to sweat, she realized that ‘it’ meant only one thing. Somewhere, hidden in this car, was a gun. She closed her heavy eyelids.
‘That’ll be strike three.’ She thought. ‘Speeding in a car I don’t own, with a concealed handgun somewhere inside it. This time, I’m going away for a long time.’
She had absently continued to search when her hand slid across the handle of the gun. She paused, not sure what to do. Just then, the officer got a call on the radio, and turned to answer it. She pulled the gun out and quickly hid it between her leg and the middle console. She knew now that she would have to commit a crime to avoid going back to prison. He finished his radio call, and his patience had run out. She looked up into his stern face.
“I’m sorry, I can’t seem to find the registration.”
“Step out of the car please ma’am.” He said.
She reached over and pressed the seat belt release, while grabbing the gun and pulling back the hammer. He opened the door, and she started to swing the gun toward him, when…
“Shots fired! Shots fired! All available units to the corner of Pleasant and Main!” Squawked his radio.
He paused, then shut her door.
“You just got lucky!” He said, then sprinted to his squad car, and drove away, sirens blaring.
She slowly exhaled, uncocked the gun, and quietly said to the rapidly disappearing police car…
“So did you.”
