Excuse me, Mr. Officer

The whole day Thursday, I was anxious.  I felt a knot in my stomach, and couldn't eat.  All I could think about was my impending visit with Detective Stratton.  I cut out of my last class of the day early so I would have time to make it to the police station before practice.  When I asked for Detective Stratton, they told me they would call him to see if he was available.

"And who are you?  So I can let him know," the desk Sergeant curtly asked.

"Aleah.  Aleah Lange."  I realized in that moment, how timid and meek I sounded.  I spoke louder and more confidently then, "Please inform Detective Stratton that Dean Lange's daughter is here."  I hoped I sounded like a big deal.

I stepped to the side, and looked around.  It was very bland and sterile looking.  Hard plastic chairs and a couple of presumably fake plants.  "Aleah?"  I jumped.

"Yes?"  I raised an eyebrow, as if I was bored.

"You may have a seat;  he'll be down shortly."

I walked over and sat on the very edge of one of the hard plastic seats, feeling the cold of the chair penetrating my thin tennis skirt.  I had dressed for practice before I came, in case I was running late.  I played with the Ziploc baggie in my purse with one hand, tightly gripping the straps with my other.  I heard a loud click, and looked towards a door with a metal detector around it to see Detective Stratton opening it.

I smiled meekly at him as he gave me an inviting beam, and extended one hand to shake mine.  When I was younger, I had a school girl's crush on Detective Stratton.  Because he and my father had been so close throughout the years, I usually called him Brad, but I felt since I was in his place of employment, I should refer to him in his professional title.  He was a tall, muscular man.  He was built athletically, and kept himself in top shape.  Through the years I had come to realize that Brad loved women just as much as they loved to look at him.  Although it was never explicitly stated, I assumed he had fidelity issues, because his girlfriends never seemed to stick around very long.  I also heard him tell my mom once, who wanted to set him up with a divorcee friend of hers, that there are so many fish in the sea, he wanted to try all the flavors.  It took me a few years to realize exactly what he meant by that.

I grabbed his hand back and shook it firmly.  Then he pulled me into a hug and told me to follow him through the metal detectors.  It beeped when I went through.  He turned and looked at me suspiciously, "You aren't trying to blow the place up, are you?"

"Uh, no."

He laughed and kept walking.  "So what do I owe the pleasure of your presence today, Miss Aleah?"

As we walked through the halls, he made comments in passing, or said his hello's to his fellow officers.

"Oh, I just had something I wanted to talk to you about."  I tried to sound nonchalant, hoping he wouldn't press the issue until we were in his office.

He walked through a door into a room, which is when I realized he didn't have an office.  He shared an oversized room with 4 or 5 other detectives, and they had desks and partitions scattered throughout.  "EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!"  He announced.

I stopped in my tracks, unsure of what was happening.  Two other detectives popped their heads up above their partitions.  "This here is Aleah!  She is not a criminal yet, that I know of, and I intend on keeping it that way.  If you ever see her in a bad part of town or situation, immediately send her to me!"

I turned red and stammered, "I don't do bad things."

The two other detectives snickered and sat back down.  Brad slapped me on the back in a friendly way.  "I'm just messin' with ya."  He led me to his desk and had me sit down, and he took a seat on the other side across from me.  Just then one of the other detectives came over.  He appeared to be a few years older than me.  Dark hair, slender, cute.

He side-glanced at me and then said to Brad, "This your daughter?"

Brad leaned back and put his hands behind his head.  "Oh hell naw.  You know I don't have kids."

Detective Unknown then fully turned his attention to me, interrogating me with his eyes.  "How old are you?"

Brad quickly sat forward and snapped, "Get back to your desk, junior.  She's too young and too good for you!"

Another detective quipped, "Thought she wasn't your daughter?"

"She's not.  But she might as well be."  He half-smiled at me.  "So what can I do ya for?"

"Please don't tell my dad I was here."  Brad raised an eyebrow at me.  "It's not bad... I mean, I didn't do anything wrong... I just... Please just keep this between us for now?"  I asked, but my tone was begging.

He nodded once, so I continued.  "I... I think I may have been drugged."  I pulled the baggie out of my purse and placed it on his desk gingerly, pushing it towards him.  He placed his hand on his chin, leaning back in his chair.  He glanced down at the baggie and then up at me and waited for me to continue.  So then I told him everything.  Well, everything pertinent.  I definitely left out anything that I wouldn't want my parents finding out about eventually (like Thor).

When I finished talking, Brad sat there for a moment, just staring at me.  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, praying he wouldn't dad-lecture me.  He leaned forward, linking his fingers on his desk in front of him.  "You need to file a police report, for starters."  He was being direct, but I had always appreciated that about him.

"I'm not really comfortable with that right now.  I don't even know if those pills are anything.  Plus, I don't want to cause problems for them, yet.  I just really want to know what those pills are, and then I want to make a decision on what to do.  I don't want to risk their futures.  They have scholarships and stuff."

He squinted his eyes at me, slightly.  "You know I'm a homicide Detective, right?"

I blushed, realizing that I didn't know that, and also that probably meant he wouldn't necessarily be able to tell me what those pills are.  "No."

He smiled then.  "Well, it's your lucky day!  One of my buddies who was in the academy with me is in the Narc Unit."

"Narc?"

"Narcotics."

"Right.  So you think he might help out?"

"Me?  Nah.  But if I tell him there's a damsel in distress?  I'm sure."  His face then became serious and he leaned forward and his voice got low.  "Aleah, am I gonna have to come beat some guy's ass?  Please be careful and don't go out with those guys again until I can get back to you.  I'm serious.  I'll keep this between us right now, but you're going to have to tell your parents about this eventually."

"Yes, sir."

"It shouldn't be too long, but my buddy is working thirds predominantly right now, so I'll try to catch him and get these to him tomorrow morning at shift change."

"Thank you so much, Detective Stratton."  We stood up and started walking out.

Detective Unknown hopped up and started following us out the door of the room.  "I can walk her out, Brad."

Brad didn't even turn around as he said, "Go sit yo' ass down, boy."  Then he mumbled under his breath, "You'd think he'd never seen an attractive female before."

"How old is he?" I inquired.

"28."

"Isn't that young for a Detective?"

"Yep.  He was a great road officer.  He's moving up quickly."

I thanked him for his time again, and left, heading to practice quickly.  I knew I wouldn't be seeing Luke until the next night, at my match.  My parents were coming to these last two matches, so I knew they'd be meeting Luke.  I was feeling anxious, because I didn't know how I felt about Luke, and I didn't really want him meeting my parents, but I couldn't prevent that from happening at this point.

As I lay in bed, feeling anxious about the next day, I mindlessly spun my ring from Zach around my finger.  When I realized what I was doing, I held it up in the light of the moon peeking through the blinds.  I stared blankly at the stone;  it was catching the moonlight perfectly and twinkling.  I blinked rapidly, as a tear rolled down my cheek.