Page 6 of Money Shot

“Kid inside told me what happened. He saw it all. You want to press charges for assault?” the officer asked.

Still standing between the man and my car, Vince crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head. “Simple misunderstanding, Officer.”

“Kid inside said he pulled a knife on you,” the officer said as he tilted his head toward the drunk.

“Nope. He took a swing at me and missed. Didn’t see a knife,” Vince said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“A swing and a miss, huh? Anyone here had too much to drink?” the officer asked as he glanced at each of us.

It had only been thirty minutes since I finished the bottle of wine, and although I wasn’t shit-faced drunk, I was definitely not as drunk as I was going to get. With each passing minute, I felt a little more incapable of standing without teetering over. A sobriety test would land me in jail for sure.

“Can’t speak for him,” Vince said as he tossed his head toward the drunken man. “But, she’s had some wine. Good thing I’m driving.”

The officer cocked an eyebrow. “You’re driving?”

“That’s what I said,” Vince responded.

The officer pointed his finger at me. “Kid inside said she drove up…”

He turned and pointed his finger at Vince’s chest. “You got gas…”

He swiveled to the side and pointed at the drunk. “And he attacked you with a knife when you walked up to the car.”

“Believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear,” Vince said.

Wow. He just quoted Edgar Allen Poe.

The officer turned to face me, pressed his hands on his hips, and sighed. “So what reallyhappened?”

Raised by a father who was wrongly accused and subsequently wrongly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, I had very little respect for police officers, especially our city’s finest. Based on my desire to spend more time with Vince and less time standing and talking to a cop, I shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

“Exactly what he said happened,” I responded.

The officer raised his hand and pressed his thumb against the bill of his hat, raising it slightly. “And how much wine did you drink tonight?”

“Not so much that I’m blind or stupid, but too damned much to drive,” I responded.

He nodded his head in confirmation, apparently disappointed he wasn’t able to make a few arrests.

“How’d you get here?” the officer asked as he turned toward the drunken man.

Obviously not an intelligent man, the drunk tossed his head toward a truck parked a few stalls away from where we were standing.

“Have a nice night,” the officer said with a nod as he grabbed the man by his upper arm and pulled him onto the sidewalk.

After carefully placing the can of gas in the floorboard between my feet, we got into the car and turned to face each other.

“Keys?” Vince asked as he held his hand out.

I reluctantly dropped the keys into his hand. Other than my father and me, he would be the only other one to ever drive the car.

He reached into his front pocket, fumbled around for a moment, and then reached toward my lap.

“Here,” he said as he dropped a small tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush in my lap.

I glanced down and smiled. As ridiculous as it seemed to actually think of the toothpaste and toothbrush as a gift, I immediately felt warmth developing in my heart as I gazed at the items. Short of my father, it was the only gift a man had ever given me.

“Any secrets to starting it?” he asked as he pushed the key into the ignition.