Zena Wynn: Tameka's Smile

Tameka Jones squinted in the bright sunlight that flooded her car when she came around the last curve. She hastily flipped down the visor, heaving a sigh of relief when the shade erased the glare from her eyes. County Road 17 was virtually empty.

The last car she’d seen passed in the opposite direction three miles back. Today was a scorcher, with the temperature in the high nineties. Only the desperately bored like herself and those whose jobs required it were out in this unexpected, mid-Spring heat wave.

As she came out of the next curve and into a long stretch of straight road, she automatically glanced into her rearview mirror.

The police cruiser behind her shocked her into checking her speedometer. She wasn’t speeding, thank goodness, but slowed anyway. It must have come from one of the side roads she’d passed, because this was her first time noticing it behind her.

When she glanced back again, the cruiser had its signal light on, preparing to pass. Good, let it . She hated driving with the police behind her. She slowed even more. The car moved out and picked up speed. As it drew even with her, Tameka’s gaze was curiously drawn to it. It was an annoying habit, the need to look at vehicles’ occupants as they passed her.

The male deputy looked hot and tired in his dark uniform, eyes shaded by mirrored sunglasses. Tameka gave him a blindingly bright, friendly smile when he glanced in her direction. It had to be rough, being required to work out here in this heat. That he was in an air-conditioned cruiser didn’t mean much. She had her AC on full blast and still felt sweat pooling between her breasts to soak into the elastic of her top.

She was puzzled when the cruiser seemed to hesitate for a moment, then dropped back into place behind her, but let it go.

She wasn’t speeding or doing anything illegal. With one more reassuring glance at her gauge, she cranked up the volume as one of her favorite songs came on. She sang along with the CD, her head keeping time with the rhythmic beat through that song and well into the next one, before the sound of a horn blowing behind her caused her to jump and look into her rearview mirror.

The deputy’s lights were flashing and he was gesturing with his hand, commanding her to pull over.

Her gaze went back to the speedometer. She was under the speed limit. Why was he messing with her? Maybe it was her out-of-state tag. She’d heard about small town cops giving outsiders a hard time. She searched the side of the road, looking for a good place to pull over. There wasn’t any. The road was heavily forested on both sides, and there was no emergency lane.

When the deputy gave a brief blast of the siren, she reluctantly turned on her signal and slowed down so that she could ease off the road onto the grassy embankment.

She pulled as far off the pavement as she could to be sure the officer had plenty of room. She’d seen televised videos of officers killed by passing vehicles and she didn’t want this man’s death on her conscience. She stopped the car, put it in park, and watched in her side-view mirror as the deputy approached. He was a big, intimidating-looking man with those broad shoulders and mirrored sunglasses that prevented her from seeing his eyes.

His gold-toned nametag read C. Wilson.

He tapped on the window, and she rushed to roll it down.

“Is there a problem, Officer?”

“Turn down the music.”

“Oh, right.” She jabbed the button, cutting it off.

“License, registration, and proof of insurance, ma’am.” Tameka retrieved her license from her purse and reached for the glove compartment to get the rest. She visibly hesitated when the deputy’s hand shifted to rest on the butt of his gun. “My registration and insurance card are here, in my glove compartment. I don’t have a weapon.”

“Just move real slow and keep your hands where I can see them.”

Nervous now, she did just as he instructed. “What did I do?”

He took the items from her and cautioned, “I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t move.”

She rolled up her window and watched in her side mirror as he walked back to the cruiser and got in. From the motions he made, he was running her license on the computer she’d seen earlier. Again she questioned why he’d pulled her over. She was a good, law-abiding citizen. No tickets of any kind or arrests on her record. She even returned her library books on time.

How long did it take to run a license, anyway? At least she was in the shade, which provided a small respite from the heat.

Ten minutes later, he returned. She rolled the window back down.

“Ma’am, turn off your vehicle and step out of the car.” As she turned off the motor, she asked, “Can you please tell me what this is about?”

He removed the sunglasses and tucked them into the front of his shirt. Tameka’s eyes widened. The man was handsome enough to make her drool, but his vibrant green eyes were those of a killer. Said eyes narrowed in warning, “Step out of the vehicle. Now!”

Thoroughly intimidated, Tameka got out of her car, leaving the keys in the ignition. Her tank top immediately clung to her curves as a light sheen a sweat coated her, caused either by the heat or her rattled nerves. She pulled at the thin material of her gathered skirt to keep it from sticking to her legs. The high grass tickled her ankles and calves, bared as they were by the flip-flops she wore.

Deputy Wilson lightly seized her arm and moved her from behind the open driver’s door, around the hood of the car, to the passenger side of her vehicle. “Spread your feet apart and place your hands on the hood of the vehicle.”

“What!” She must have heard wrong. Was she being arrested?

With his booted foot, he nudged her legs apart. “Spread your feet and place your hands on the hood, like this.” He took her hands and placed them on the hood, not allowing her to jerk free when the heated metal stung her hands. Their position forced his body into close contact with hers.

“I need to search for contraband. Do you have a husband or boyfriend who can come and get you if your vehicle is confiscated?”

“Confiscate my vehicle? Contraband? You mean … drugs ?

You think I’m a drug dealer ?” Her voice rose with each question.

“Just answer the question, ma’am.”

“What question!” she snapped, seriously getting pissed.

She’d heard about cops harassing innocent people, but she’d never expected it to happen to her. Drug dealer, my ass .

“Husband? Boyfriend? … Girlfriend ?”

“Girl…no! None of the above.”

“Good,” she thought she heard him murmur. She forced herself to calm down. Her temper would only get her into more trouble and play right into the pig’s hands.

He was still standing behind her, his hands on top of hers.

She could feel his breath on her neck. Slowly, and so lightly that only the hairs on her arms stirred, he drew his hands up her arms until they reached her shoulders. From there, they slid up the sides and back of her neck, under her hair until they were against her scalp, which he lightly massaged.

Tameka didn’t know a woman in the world who didn’t love a properly executed scalp massage. This man was an expert. The feel of his fingertips against her scalp caused goose bumps to break out all over her body and her nipples to harden.

When he’d thoroughly “searched” her scalp, his hands glided down her back to her waist. There they circled around to the front of her body and slowly drifted up. The law being what it was, Tameka figured he’d stop before he reached her breasts.