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Ben narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“ICE is cracking down on California,” the cop replied. “They’re not happy about the ones that got away down in the Bay Area.”
She saw Ben’s features harden.
“And because I’m Asian, you assume I’m here illegally?”
“Just saying, you don’t look and sound like folks around here.”
“Even if I was illegal, California’s a sanctuary state. You’re not supposed to cooperate with ICE without just cause.”
The cop took a step toward Ben, his chest out. “You telling me how to do my job?”
Seeing that Ben wasn’t going to back down, Kimani jumped in. “Officer, it was so nice of you to stop and check that everything was okay with us.”
He turned his frown to her and looked her up and down. Ben seemed to notice him leering, and stiffened. She put her hand on Ben’s arm before he said anything. “We appreciate it, sir.”
The officer looked at Ben again. “Wait here. And don’t move.”
“Tosser,” Ben murmured as he glared at the cop’s back.
“It’s not worth it,” she said. “You went to Howard. You know that in his eyes, you’re guilty just because your skin’s the ‘wrong’ color.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t call him on his shit.”
“Yeah, but you think that’s going to stop him from being a racist? He’s just gonna find some reason to throw you in jail for a while. Just to mess with you. Because he can.”
“He can learn he shouldn’t. Jail doesn’t scare me. It wouldn’
t be the first time I’ve had to sit behind bars.”
“In America? Bad shit happens in our jails.”
He gave her a searching look. “You worried about me?”
“You haven’t done anything wrong, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to innocent people. Besides, I still need to pee.”
His shoulders relaxed and his expression softened.
“Look,” she said, “if you want to take him on, I’ve got your back. I’ll sit in jail with you. I’ve got as much beef as you, right?”
“More.”
“I just don’t want a jerk ruining our time.”
Ben said nothing as the cop walked back to them. “This isn’t a parking spot. I could give you a ticket—”
She could see Ben was ready to retort with something like, “Then why don’t you?”
“—but I’ll let you off with a warning,” the cop finished, handing Ben back his license.
Kimani breathed a sigh of relief when Ben took the license and said nothing. To the cop, she said, “Thank you, sir.”
Ben opened the car door for her, and she climbed in. She watched in the side-view mirror as Ben came up to the cop on his way around the car. Just get in the car, she pleaded silently. He stopped in front of the officer. Ben was almost a foot taller and in much better shape, but a cop was a cop. The officer puffed out his chest.
“Hey, bae, we gotta get back so I can make dinner,” she called to him.
Ben glanced in her direction, then back at the officer. Without a word, he continued around the car and got into the driver’s seat. The cop shook his head and strode back to his vehicle. Ben started the car and pulled back onto the highway. The officer followed until they turned off the highway onto the road that would take them to the cabin. Kimani didn’t relax until she saw the CHP’s car continue on the highway.
