Cruisin' South

Chapter 13

Sara decides she wants to spend the rest of the night to herself to process and reflect. She never imagined it to be as it resulted. To encounter Lupe again as a suspect she is to convict, is the hardest task she has ever endured in the field of work. So much stress has built on her back and it's weighing her down immensely. An aphorism enters her train of thoughts—Between a rock and a hard place. It's never been more accurate in her life. Where does her alliance lie?

Sitting on her favorite hilltop that looks over the city's skyline, Sara closes her eyes and listens to the seemingly peaceful night. The sound of chirping crickets and cars driving from a far relaxes her but in a strange way it also makes her feel lonely. She can almost picture a scene from a movie that she would like to see, but all is interrupted by a singing voice that hums to the song from her radio.

When she turns to see who it could possibly be, she sees a drunk Lupe approaching. He's carrying a bottle of beer in one hand and with the other he swings and snaps his fingers along to the song as he still sings.

"Hey, prima!" He laughs. "Fancy meeting you here, huh?"

"Lupe? How did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't. I just wanted to clear my mind and admire my home, ya know what I mean?" He hiccups as he laughs. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you. I like to come here and look at the view and feel peace, I guess."

Sara turns and sees Lupe draining the bottle down.

"Agh," he exclaims with satisfaction. "Want some?" He offers as he extends the bottle to her.

Sara shakes her head. "Lupe? How did you get here?"

"My car."

"I know damn well you didn't drive here."

"I did. My ride is back there, right next to yours."

They both turn and look behind. There's only one car in sight—her car. She turns back to face Lupe which causes him to chuckle as if he were a mischievous child. She sighs in relief.

"Right, you didn't even know what my car looked like before now. And how were you so sure that was my car?"

"I know everything. Nothing gets past me, huh?" He laughs.

"How about I drive you home?"

"Nah, I don't wanna leave yet." He pulls out a blunt from his pocket.

While in silence, Sara debates back and forth about releasing her anger towards him, another issue causing her stress. But blowing up and yelling at him is unnecessary. It'll just cause tension, which is something she wants to keep far from her string-tight relationship with him.

"Why haven't you gone to see us? My dad and I."

He chews his mouth, "...I don't think it's a good idea."

"Then why did you leave me hanging? Why didn't you say you wouldn't go?"

"Hey! I ain't doing so good, I mean look at me! I ain't worth shit! I don't even know what I'm doing with my life!"

"...You can always figure that out."

He scoffs and chuckles loudly. "You have always seen the good in everything. Hmm," he exhales.