Free Heroine: California Dreamin' by Elia Mirca

lowered his head satisfied. With sirens blasting loud we raced for several minutes and behind us I heard the howling from a police car’s siren.
    Then they pushed me into the emergency room of some hospital. The female officer stood beside me and looked at me encouragingly. A physician noted down my data and then they examined me thoroughly. Some time in the early afternoon I found myself sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room. They couldn’t determine anything, I was healthy. Without any further attempts to explain anything else to me I let them push me onto the backseat of the police cruiser. The female officer who had accompanied me the whole time grinned at me with a friendly face over her shoulder, probably so I wouldn’t dare to escape.
    “Everything will be OK. It’s not that bad. Within half an hour we’ll have the whole procedure behind us.” Did they shoot delinquents now right after the arrest or do they string you up right away?
    I still asked myself why I wasn’t handcuffed but then we drove into a courtyard and went up the stairs into the police precinct. It was quiet and a few officers sat or stood around and talked to one another in a relaxed way. Perhaps I should have chosen that profession instead of studying psychology. After all, my mother had warned me.
    In a small room I had to sit down on a chair. Another uniformed woman sat down opposite of me with a sincere expression on her face.
    “Ma’am, you are accused to have violated the laws of the State of California. You are accused of having had sexual activities with a man in public. In addition we have to check whether you have received money for it in this context. Since it had happened in a public place we must file charges against you. You have the right to make a phone call now. Of course you have also the right …” and so on. Like in the movies. I interrupted her.
    “Can you please repeat that once more? I didn’t understand you.” I sat there with my mouth open.
    “Oh sure, you are a foreigner. I explain it to you once more and slowly”, she responded calmly.
    “Now, sex. You understand that?” I nodded. “On the street. With a man. Do you understand?” I confirmed. “Forbidden.” “Sex for money. Also forbidden.” Again I agreed.
    “Is that you in the photographs?” She pushed a few photocopies towards me where Pete and I were depicted in an unambiguous position. For a short moment I was happy to see him once more, although he was only somewhat visible. Then I confessed by lowering my head that it was me who violated the laws in those pictures. The noisy images had probably been taken with a telephoto lens from great distance. A ‘remote peeping tom’, so to speak.
    I looked up at the ceiling and searched for something that would give me a clue why I had been dancing on a razor blade above an abyss and why I still haven’t fallen. Maximum punishment for my violation was deportation, not capital punishment.
    “Are you feeling sick?” I heard the concerned voice of the woman before me.
    “I am fine. I just feel a bit weak, you know.” Now she confirmed.
    “May I make my phone call now?” She nodded. When she didn’t react any further I picked up my pink new cell phone from the purse and the piece of paper which I had received from Pete and then dialed his number. The phone had now lost its virginity. From now on Pete belonged to the immediate family. Pete answered the phone after a few rings and he was totally beside himself when he heard my voice.
    “Great, is the year over already? That was pure madness with you just before. When do I see you again? Right now?” The female officer got up and left the room. They were not only friendly here but also polite. Again I was impressed.
    “Pete, please listen to me. I’ve been arrested. Somebody has watched you and me this morning and given my license plate to the cops. We have violated some laws. I probably must go to jail. Can you stop by and explain to them