Forenote:
This is Part 2 to BBC Patrol - Officer Sweeney, my previous work. It is also an unofficial entry in my Cyberpunk Black series. However, it is a standalone work.
Characters:
Brittany (Based on Brittany Perille of Instagram)
Dre (based on Dredd)
This is entirely a work of fiction and is in no way based on real people or things they have done.
Please enjoy!
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It was Saturday night and a gentle rain was falling as Brittany pulled into the local corner store. It was a bad neighborhood but her head was swimming after too many drinks at the club, and she decided to call it a night and head home. A group of black men were congregating outside the store smoking, one of which Brit recognized. He and her were both regulars, and their schedules seemed to coincide often when she would stop for a coffee break when on the beat. His name was Dre, a shipyard worker at Vigor Industrial. Per their last conversation, he was laid off several weeks ago, and was having difficulty finding another job. Seemed nice enough. Well spoken, handsome, and a good conversationalist.
She had a plan, and was smart enough to know it would work.
Brit disembarked from the car, adjusting and pulling down on the hem of her dress as she stood up. It was a tight sleeveless black dress with a low square neck cut; an ideal cut for her large prominent breasts. The inseam was halfway up her toned thighs and displayed her muscular, developed ass. Then she fixed her hair, putting it up into a long ponytail using a hairband. She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat, shouldered it, closed and locked the door. When walking past the men, she made eye contact with each of them but held her gaze slightly longer on Dre. Her heels made a sharp click-clack as she walked across the asphalt into the store. The men's eyes were locked fiercely onto her as she entered. Surprise painted their faces. Seeing an attractive white woman in a black neighborhood at that hour had them flummoxed by the audacity of such a thing. One of them dropped his cigarette while staring, and quickly stooped down to pick it up while the rest of his friends laughed at him.
She walked through the convenience store with intention. Two bottles of champagne occupied both hands on her way to the counter. The older black man behind the counter seemed just as bemused as the men outside, his mouth gaping slightly. Brit took immediate note of this; she knew what she was doing.
"Yes. Oh--no, actually. Can I get a pack of Black & Mild's?" said Brit, quickly correcting herself.
After a small pause, he reached under the counter to retrieve the pack of B&Ms, and handed her a lighter from atop the counter. After paying, he double-bagged her bottles of champagne. She put the smokes in her purse.
"Thank you again," she said with a bright smile. "You probably don't recognize me. I'm here almost every day in the afternoon getting coffee during work. I'm a cop." The last line was delivered with subtle shame in her voice.
The man blanched almost unperceptively at hearing this; most would have missed it. "I guess I just not have not had the pleasure of meeting you, miss. They almost always got me working the graveyard shift."
"I know how that is," Brit said with an eyeroll. "Sucks, but we get through it. Thanks again!" she said as she grabbed the bags. He nodded in return. His gaze followed her as she walked out the door.
The men were still standing outside and it looked to her that two more had joined them since she walked inside. They were laughing, cajoling one another with deals and bets. Talk of a cousin conning one of them in a car sale. Someone was out of weed, asking around if anyone had a joint. The chatter almost ceased completely when she walked by, their attention quickly fixated to her. Then the catcalling began. A symphony of whistling, misogynistic comments, and jeering.
"Snow bunny. White girl. Hot-ass white bitch."
"Pig."
"Cop."
She reached her car and placed one of the bottles in the front passenger seat, taking the other with her. She closed and locked the door. The men stared with rapt attention, now mostly silent. She joined them under the awning to get out of the gentle rain. Without saying a word, she placed the champagne on the ground and rummaged through her purse for her smokes. She grabbed a black and mild and took it out of its wrapper.
"Any of you gentlemen have a lighter? I seem to have forgotten mine."
The men stared amongst themselves dumbfounded. Dre, however, without saying a word, reached into his pocket and offered his lighter. The small flame dancing as she leaned forward to reach it with her cigar. Her eyes met his as she puffed softly. He looked devilishly handsome in that moment. Dreads pulled back into a bun, collared shirt and khakis, tall, and dark. Peppered grey in his black stubbled beard. He towered over her.
And he was the one man in the group that was silent just minutes ago.
"Well, it certainly sounds like you all know who I am," Brittany said mockingly. "But just in case---my name is Brittany. She looked each man in the eye. "Why are you all so quiet now?"
One of the men broke the silence. "We're just not sure why a pig like you is here tonight. Don't think that's very smart of you, either."
She looked at him. "And who might you be?"
"I'm not telling you shit."
The men started laughing. Again Dre was silent as he smoked his cigarette.
"Ohhh, I see." She took a long drag of her cigar. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Jabari."
The men lost their minds in an uproar of laughing. Jabari looks visibly upset and was the only one not laughing. Finally, another man spoke.
"Is this a sting? I think you should be on your way before you get hurt though, for real. We all know you're a city pig. And pigs never come around here. They shouldn't."
"Is that how you feel, Jamal?" she said lasciviously.
"How the fuck..." he trailed off.
She took another drag. "Amazing what you can pick up on in just a couple minutes by walking by. But don't worry; I'm not interested in you, Jamal." She shifted her eyes from him to Dre. "I'm interested in your friend."
Dre may have blushed but it was hard to read. "I do think we've met before," he said with a chuckle.
"Several times," she replied with a wink.
The men began to playfully shove his shoulder and laugh. An unnamed man said "Dre, I always knew you had a thing for them snow bunnies, goddamn!" Dre said nothing but laughed. "And damn you picked a good one this time!" the man continued.
"She's a fucking cop!" yelled Jabari, clearly intoxicated on several substances.
Brittany guffawed at this. "No one---and I do mean no one---will be getting arrested tonight. I'm off-duty and kind of tipsy myself." She paused for a few moments. "What I am going to do, however, is take your boy Dre with me. I have some plans for him." She stooped down to pick up the bottle and started towards her car, throwing her B&M onto the ground. "Dre?" she called out to him.
The men all looked at Dre to see what he would do. Dre stood there steadfast as he continued to work on his cigarette. Finally, he spoke.