The ride to the station was very quiet. Rodolfo seemed to have no interest in chatting with me and Alejandro was still after the person. There was one other person in the SUV who made no move to introduce herself and just sat quietly staring out the window. I followed suit for the most part and once caught Rodolfo checking his rearview mirror. We caught each other's eyes but looked away. Most awkward car ride I've had.

I shove my hands into my hoodie and lean my head back. Closing my eyes, I made a mental note to call my work and tell them my situation. There was probably no way I was going to work today (because it was technically the next day). Everything had happened in the span of an hour and somehow not any more than that. I snuck my phone out of my back pocket and unlocked it using Face ID. I pulled up my text messages and sent a text to my best friend, Julianna.

Julie, guess what just happened...

I literally just got picked up by police because of a fugitive in the area

I didn't get a response, but I would've been concerned if she did. I always had to text her everything, in spite of the fact that she lived almost a whole 3 states away. Julie has been my friend ever since we were in 5th grade, but I decided to leave my hometown and move. I ended up doing college online (which was the worst 2 years of my life) for accounting, but it hasn't gotten any farther than that. Instead, I was stuck working a job at a café, but to be fair I did enjoy my job to a certain degree.

When we arrived at the police station, my anxiety relaxed at the fact that I wasn't being kidnapped. It does happen more often than you think, and they use uniforms to get you to get in their cars. The three of us got out and made our way inside. The lady took a seat at a desk somewhere in the office and Rodolfo led me towards an interrogation room. Do you know how they look in the movies? Well, these looked nothing like that. I know that some of them have bare walls and hard chairs, but this particular room had a couch and pillow facing a desk that had a few pictures hanging above it.

I took a seat on the couch and snatched the pillow, holding it to my chest. "I'll be right back," he says, and leaves, closing the door behind him. I sigh and relax my muscles. What a way to start my day. First off, why are there people crouching outside the window at 3 in the morning? Ridiculous. Rodolfo seemed like a reasonable person and made me feel safe. Alejandro, his partner, I only saw for a few moments, but it seemed like the two of them were super close. So, for sure, I could trust him. I've never been to the police station, which should be a good thing.

It doesn't take too long and Rodolfo returns with a man who is introduced as Martin, the Chief of Police. Rodolfo takes a seat on the opposite end of the couch and Martin snags the chair that was stationed by the desk. "I'm just here to take your statement and try to get as much about what you saw as possible. We're not worried about you as a suspect, just as a witness," Martin says. I nod for him to continue. "State your full name for the record," he says.

"Lucille Loraine Kennedy."

"What do you prefer I call you?"

"Luci is fine."

"Can you describe everything that happened starting with your morning yesterday?"

"I woke up around 8 a.m. and did some reading for a couple hours before I did some laundry and dishes. Just random chores around the house I guess. I then read my book again and had lunch. Then I went to work around 1 p.m. and was there until 9 p.m."

"Where do you work?"

"Blossom."

"Okay got it. Sorry, continue."

"I went home and read a book before falling asleep. I woke up today around 3 a.m. cause I couldn't fall asleep and had some cookies and milk. Then I heard a noise behind me so I peeked through the curtains and I saw someone crouching in the bushes."

"What did they look like?"

"I think it was a girl. She had blonde curly hair, but other than that it was hard to tell."

"What nationality was she?"

I shrugged. "I'd guess Hispanic. But I can't really confirm that in any way." He nodded at me to go on. "Then I called the cops, and that's when Rodolfo and his partner knocked down my door."

Martin nods again. "Just to clarify, that was the only person you saw?" I shake my head. "No there was a man that also ran by who had a gun." "What kind of gun was it?" he asks. "I believe just a standard pistol. I don't know." I rub my temples, suddenly feeling very tired from this whole situation. Martin smiles softly and pats my knee lightly. "Alright, thank you for this. I'm gonna check in with our detective and see if he needs anything else. I'll let you know if we do. Do you need anything though? The bathroom? Coffee?" "I'll take a coffee please. Black." "Alright, I'll be back in a moment." I thank him and he leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.

I glance over to Rodolfo and he seems to be lost in thought. "You're sure you only saw two people?" he questions. I nod. "Yeah, I'm pretty positive about that. It was very dark though, and I left the window the moment I saw the gun. There was no way I was about to have to deal with that situation. You never know in this neighborhood. We are very close to the border." I grin slightly and he chuckles. He sits there for a minute contemplating. "Alright, I'm gonna go grab that coffee for you," he finally says. Rodolfo takes his leave as well, leaving me to sit alone in the silence.

It's not completely quiet though, as I can kind of hear the sounds of the office and people moving around. I also catch the sound of a telephone ringing before someone picks it up. I pulled out my phone to text my boss.

Hey something came up because of a situation this morning. 

Is there any way you could work for me this evening?

I sigh and browse Instagram before, finally, Rodolfo returns with a hot steaming cup of coffee. "Thanks," I smile at him, taking the cup. He nods and takes a seat on the couch again. The room is suffocatingly quiet for a while. I take very light sips of the very hot coffee, glancing at my feet. After what feels like forever, Martin returns to the room. "Alright, you are all set to go for the most part. Your statement will be a big help, so I appreciate you coming in. I'll take you to one of my officers who can take your personal information and then you'll be all set to leave. Do you need a ride back?"

"Yes please," I said. "I can give her a ride," Rodolfo says quickly. "Awesome. Alright if you'll just follow me, we'll finally get you out of here. Hopefully, you can get some rest and not run into any more fugitives," Martin laughs. I laugh too and we all leave the room together. I down the rest of the coffee, and it burnt my tongue. I threw away the cup and followed them to a desk.

It doesn't take long for Officer Penny to take down my personal information and I'm back in the black SUV with Rodolfo. The ride to my apartment is quiet again, but I'm finally getting used to it. How does one even converse in this situation?

Suddenly I remembered my door. "What about my door?" I asked and turned to look at him. He glances at me slightly before turning back towards the road. "We sent someone already to grab one, it should only take a couple of hours." He hesitates. "Are you alright with that or would you prefer to wait somewhere else for it to be done." I shrug, even though he can't see me. "I don't know that I feel particularly safe not being able to close a door and lock it." "Of course, I can understand that senorita." He ponders this for a minute. "You could be with me back at the police station, but that's the best I can offer." "I'll take you up on that then!" I exclaim.

He turns the car around and we make our way back to the station. The secretary grins when she sees us. "Back so soon?" I laugh, "My door is hanging off of its hinges." She nods and laughs. "Just stuck on a new pot of coffee. Do you want a tour of the office?" "Sure!" I say bye to Rodolfo and he says "adios". I follow the receptionist named Janice and she shows me all the rooms in the office. When you first walk into the building, there's the receptionist's desk. You have to walk through a doorway to get to a room that has quite a few cubicles with some desks. Then there are some interrogation rooms off down a hallway with a couple of bathrooms, one for men and one for women. Then there's Martin's office because of course he gets his own room.

They also have a small 911 operator room, and Janice informs me that there is a bigger one at the courthouse. The one at this police station is only used every once in a while when they are training someone. After a 15 minute tour, we end up back at Janice's desk. Rodolfo is talking to Officer Penny and the lady I had previously seen. Janice shows me the breakroom before she heads back to her desk.

I go back to the breakroom and steal another cup of coffee, and seat myself at the table. I pull out my phone again and try to find a book. Once I find one, I fall deep into the plot line. My coffee is finished pretty quickly, but I didn't even notice as I was too engrossed in my book. When I finish the last chapter, I check the time and see that it's finally 6 a.m.

I glance up just as Rodolfo walks into the breakroom. "Que tal," I greet him. "Bien. Y tu?" "Asi asi," I sighed. "Yo soy muy cansado," I continue. He chuckles lightly, "Yo tambien. Do you know a lot of Spanish?" "No," I say, shaking my head. "Only un poco." He nodded and pulls out a chair, taking a seat. "I took two years of Spanish when I was in high school," I say, trying to make conversation. "Ah I see. Were you the person I saw at the coffee shop yesterday?" he asked. I slightly lean back into the chair and play with the strings on my hoodie. "Yeah, that was me." I shouldn't be surprised that he remembered me, but still, a part of me felt slightly self-conscious. Compared to yesterday when I was wearing a graphic tee and dark denim jeans, I was now in pajamas and a hoodie. I felt like crawling under the table in embarrassment.

"The coffee you made was good. What do you guys call it? Americano?" he questioned. I nod slightly to answer his question. Honestly, americanos weren't too bad of a drink. Personally, I would've gone for a drip coffee, but I also liked sweet lattes. It always makes me slightly laugh that foreigners would usually get matcha lattes or americanos. America was definitely different compared to South Korea, Italy, and Mexico.

Rodolfo smiles lightly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not every day we go knocking on people's doors. We actually had no intention of crossing the border, but sometimes things happen," he says. "Ah I see. So I'm just a special coincidence," I say with a grin. He nods before pulling his ringing phone out of his hoodie's pocket. He answers it in fluent Spanish and gives me an apologetic hand wave. He leaves the room quickly, still chatting on the phone. This guy was clearly busy, I can't imagine what it's like to be in the Special Forces.

I mean, a fugitive on the loose and I'm sure it's the least crazy thing they've ever done. I stand up and throw my cup away in the trash. I snag a biscotti off of the breakroom's countertop and chomp on that for a few minutes. I finish it quickly and decide that it's the perfect breakfast food ever. Making my way through the cubicles (which were starting to fill up with more people) I reach the front desk and take a seat next to Janice.

"So what exactly do you do?" She asks once I'm seated. "Oh! I work at Blossom. I'm the closing shift manager there," I replied. Janice signs off on a paper on the desk. "Did you go to school?" I nod to her question. "Yes I took online courses for accounting and got my Associate's Degree. Although," I shrug, "I've not been able to find an office job for my skills that I received." I laughed. "College was kind of crazy though. I would never want to re-do it." Janice smiles and nods in agreement. "I went to a Technical College and they had required classes that had nothing to do with what I wanted to do." "What were you in?" I asked. "Software engineering!" We smile together and bond over our college years.

"So are you still looking for a job in the accounting field?" She asks. "Not really lately. No one has wanted to hire me in forever so I gave up. I've been working at Blossom for a few years now. The benefits are kind of meh, but it pays my bills." I grimace. "But it's been a bit tougher lately so I might have to consider getting a second job." "Have you ever thought of going into the police field before?" Janice questions, raising an eyebrow. I shake my head. "Not really? I used to think that I could go to the military but I decided not to do that. Are you guys looking for help?" She smiles. "Yes we actually are. I think you're a pretty cool person and you know a lot more about the police force then other people. But that's probably due to the fact that your sister's brother-in-law is in the Academy."

"Anyway, you're probably bored of me. And I think the Chief is flagging me down. But for real, if you want to, just drop off a resume here some time." Janice gives me a big smile, pats my shoulder, and heads through the doorway towards the cubicles where Chief Martin was indeed waving from. I sigh and rub my temples for a few moments. It seemed like this morning was going to take a lot longer to get through. I look up just as Rodolfo walks through the front door. "Hey," I greeted, "I didn't realize you had left." He smiles lightly and holds up some papers in a file folder. "I've got your compensation here. There's some information on what happened as well as a copy of your interview. The door is completely fixed and there's a new security system installed." He hands the stack of papers over to me. I take them and kind of flip through them, just glancing at the most important headlines.

"Thank you Rudolfo," I said. He nods his head before turning his wrist to glance at his watch. "I can take you back to your apartment now if you'd like to?" he offers. "Yeah that would be cool. Thank you," I respond gratefully.

The drive back to my apartment felt a lot less awkward and we had very light small talk and conversation that felt like flowed freely. He gave me his number before leaving me with a new apartment key. Once he had pulled away, I stuck the key in the lock and entered. The door looked absolutely silly next to all of the other doors by my apartment, but it made me feel much better about living where I was. I locked the door behind me, which had two deadbolts. I also took note of the security pad next to the door. Wow. They really did want to compensate me.

I grin and place my keys on the hook by the door. I sigh and take a seat at the counter just as my phone dings.

Translations:

"Que tal?" - How are you?

"Bien. Y tu?" - Good. And you?

"Asi asi." - So so.

"Yo soy muy cansado." - I'm very tired.

"Yo tambien." - Me too.

"-un poco." - A little.

*I'm not fluent in Spanish. I only remember a little bit of what I learned in High School.*