by Milton Johanides

Created on: July 14, 2009   Last Updated: July 24, 2009

Guess I'm just a sad romantic at heart. She was the kind of girl mother would not have wanted to meet. Her hair was dishevelled, her make up original and her clothes stitched together from bargain buys at garage sales. She was tall, over six foot, but had all the right pieces in the right places. On her right shoulder was a tattoo of a cute puppy, which was meant to be ironic, because on the other shoulder was a shark, jaws open, heading for the puppy. I guess she was one of life's predators.

I had just made it into law enforcement having turned over a new leaf from my life of crime. They called me Chris Speed. It said so on my badge. The training had been a piece of cake since I always kept myself in shape. The mental agility examination was a little more taxing, but after I managed to bribe one of the assessors my score escalated to above acceptance level. I also got special dispensation for turning in a couple of my old cronies from the street, ruthless drug dealers I swore revenge on. I saw mom and dad for the first time in five years at the Academy Graduation dinner. The old man came over and took my hand, his eyes filled with tears.

"You really did it," was all he said.

I nodded and took him into a big man-to-man embrace. My mother went to pieces next to him and I had to give her my handkerchief. Being a cop was a whole new scene.

My first night as a cop I took my gun to bed with me. I was all alone in the first apartment that ever had my name on the contract. The lights of the city danced patterns on my ceiling all night and I didn't get a wink of sleep. Bed didn't seem to be the right place for me. I couldn't wait to get out into the streets. The tall girl was my first arrest. She was in the process of burying a beer glass into a guy's face. He had tried to put an arm around her waist which had not been invited. It was unfortunate for her I walked in when I did. My initial instinct was to lay into the guy and take the girl home. Then I remembered. I was a cop now. Law enforcement was all about who you catch doing the crime. And she was caught red-handed.

Taking her back to the station my stomach was doing a special kind of cabaret. I kept double taking in the rear view mirror. Behind the weird make up she was real cute. Her eyes were large and brown but full of a bright light, twinkling. Her nose had a little bridge in it giving her face a look of aquiline intelligence. Her lips were full and a dark, chocolate brown. She had a piercing in the side

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