Le Plaque: Un Reve Revisité
Winter in Montreal can be so beautiful yet so annoying she thought as she made her way out of the warmth of the mall through the parking lot to her car.
The snow had already covered the tops of the cars in fluffy white hats and was still coming down slowly in large, lazy wet flakes in the gathering purple darkness of the late afternoon. But she smiled, feeling happy to have found the perfect gifts for her two young nieces and for a special little boy she had befriended at the children's hospital. She would go home, put on some nice smooth jazz and wrap the gifts in some festive Christmas wrapping paper she had found in one of the specialty shops. She would have a cup of piping hot English tea or perhaps a nice glass of chilled Pinot Grigio. She would see what she was in the mood for later.
"Tabernac!" she cursed, going completely ass-over-teakettle on a patch of slippery ice hidden underneath the fresh snow, her bags scattering all over the place. "And now I've cracked my jupe!" she muttered under her steaming breath. But then she laughed, as she got herself up and gathered up the bags, remembering how her English co-workers at the office teased her endlessly for her creative use of the English language—often mixing it in unique ways with her native French. "To hell with them, I know what I meaning!" she thought to herself laughing even more at her reflexive habit of using the English infinitive. She was in a very good mood, remembering her bi-lingual upbringing in this very French city and her delight in the magic of the Christmas season. Her heart was light today in spite of her fall and the ripped skirt.
She had just finished putting the packages and her now wet winter coat in the back seat of the car and was checking her skirt to see how badly it had ripped when the yellow beam of a flashlight washed over the side of the car and over her body. She almost jumped out of her skin in surprise and fear. The semi-dark parking lots were favored locations for the nefarious activities of criminals at night. Robberies, assaults and rapes were not unheard of. A young woman could not be too careful.
"Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, is this your car? " a deep voice in back of the flashlight called out. She turned and immediately recognized the uniform and stance of a police officer, quickly assessing the pertinent visual cues in microseconds: Older man, tall lean body, clean shaven, policeman's uniform and hat, leather belt, night stick, holster, handcuffs, badge. Neatly put together. It all checked out. She was safe.
Her heartbeat was still racing from the adrenaline surge, but she replied as calmly as she could, "Oui officer, I have just been shopping and I am going to drive home now. Is there a problem?"
The policeman snapped off the flashlight and approached closer.
"Why yes, there certainly is a problem, Miss Bernier" "How do you know my name?" she said in surprise "Your license plate, mademoiselle: Ms.Bernier
"Of course", she thought and made a mental note to change the plate to something less personal next time the registration came up for renewal. "Zut!" Just then she remembered that the registration renewal was up the previous month, it expired on her birthday and she had forgotten to renew it.
"You have a few problems, Miss Bernier. First, you were observed speeding while entering this parking lot. Second, your registration may have expired, and third—you are not properly parked in the space. Look at your rear wheel! It is clearly over the line!"
She quietly choked back the urge to laugh. The "line" was nowhere to be seen with all the snow, and furthermore—it seemed ridiculous that the police would even bother with something so minor as this when surely there were better and more important things for them to be doing—like catching real criminals! But-- better to be polite and play along and maybe get by with a warning, she thought.
" May I see your license and registration please?"
"Yes, Sir" she heard herself say as she reached into her handbag and quickly produced her license.
"The registration is in the glove compartment though" and she opened the passenger side door to get it out. She became vaguely aware that the policeman was eying her, in the way men do, when she bent over to dig the registration out. The realization sent a small shiver up her back, not unpleasant. Or was it a shiver because of the coldness of the evening air? She handed over the document.
"Come with me, please. You may wait in the cruiser where it is warm while we run our checks."
She realized how cold she had become without her winter coat and was grateful for the warmth inside the police cruiser as she slid into the large back seat. The police officer had politely helped her into the car, then closed the door and went around to the front and got in. She heard him radioing into headquarters, quickly giving the dispatcher her information and asking for a records check.
While she waited she looked around the inside of the warm, dark police car. She began to notice the accoutrements of power and authority there... a pair of leather gloves, restraints, handcuffs, a nightstick, straps-- the kinds of things the police carry with them to enforce the law.
She felt a small tingle. It didn't take much to set her mind to wandering to thoughts she had been having lately, secret thoughts about the blending of force and power with sex. She would often catch herself daydreaming about submitting herself to a rough, demanding stranger, or being forced to do things she would not normally do.
With her proper catholic upbringing, however, such thoughts were certainly not permissible and she would quickly and dutifully try to put them out of her mind, usually to no avail. The private world of her mind was rich with complex erotic fantasies, filled with ideas and images and feelings she could not even begin to express to her boyfriend.
She snapped out of this reverie when the officer came around to the back of the car again and got in with her and she noticed the brass, five-pointed star on the front of his jacket. It was engraved with the word, "Sheriff". There was something curious and almost mesmerizing about it, yet the appearance of this kind of badge was as out of place in Montreal as a policeman in a cowboy hat would have been, and she felt she must ask him about this.
"Why, Sir, do you wear such a badge?"
"Forgive me, Ms. Bernier. First things first, let me introduce myself." He took off his gloves. "I am officer Henri Leblanc of the Montreal police department. And this is my partner, officer Laurent Prudon."