Handcuffs Are So Juvenile

Chapter One

Chapter One

   I raced across the street, exhilaration pumping through me. I always loved this feeling, the thrill of being on another chase. Familiar blue and red lights flashed behind me, sirens wailed, and shouts of agitated police officers rang behind me. I turned down another street. Neon signs from restaurants all became a blur as I increased my speed. People were casually dining outside. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a nice, relaxing dinner under the stars on a peaceful Friday night in New Mexico?

   Not me, because it would no longer be a peaceful night. Then again, it was sort of my fault the night would take a turn for the worse. I swerved around some shoppers, whose hands were full of white bags.

   The tweets of the silver whistles pierced my ears. A lady let out a shriek of alarm. I rolled my eyes. I pulled up my hoodie and blended in with the crowd of people crossing the road. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see an officer, maybe in his late fifties, scanning the area for a sign of me. He suddenly yelled, pointing at an innocent person wearing a similar black hoodie. A small swarm of cops pursued the guy. They're in for a pleasantly annoying surprise.

   "Hey! There she is!" some guy yelled. I spun around and saw another, younger cop pointing his finger directly at me.

   Pushing through the crowd, I sprinted into a dark alley nearby. I knocked over some trashcans to help slow them down, even though it was pretty much worthless- I've got a great head start.

   A chain-link fence towered over me. Looking behind me, I saw two cops dodging the garbage. I stared back up at the fence. Easy enough. Slipping my black boots into the first diamond-shaped opening, I quickly climbed to the top in a few seconds. I'd had a lot of practice. The officers had caught up with me now. The fence swayed wildly as they attempted to scramble up to catch me. I winked down at them and waved daintily at their scowling faces. Then I dropped gracefully on the other side of the fence and strolled merrily along as they yelled from the other side of the fence.

   I pulled down my hood, exposing my dark brown, almost black, hair that had been tied up in a ponytail. Reaching a busy intersection, I glanced around and saw a police nearby. My smirk turned into a grin. I can't help myself. Reaching into my lucky bag, I pulled out a can of red spray paint.

   Stepping back, I marveled at my handiwork. 'BREAK THE LAW' was scrawled on both side of the police car in bright, bold red lettering. It was hard to miss. I'm sure the station will have a fun time cleaning it all off. Feeling satisfied, I put the can away. That's when I looked up at the tinted windows. Oh, crap.

   A young, handsome officer was staring straight at me. How long had he been watching me? Surely he would've stopped me if he'd been looking at me for a while. I flashed him a cocky, sarcastic smile. I saw his lift the radio to his mouth. Scoffing, I flipped my hair and continued on my way. I heard a car door open and I turned to see the cop pull a gun and aim it straight at me. Finally, some action!

   Loud bangs fired behind me, and I dodged the bullets with ease, breaking into a run. People screamed and dropped to the ground, trying to avoid getting shot. I was getting quite used to this. Eventually, the shooting stopped and I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me. Another pursuer.

   I could hear the footsteps becoming louder. Shit, this guy's faster than the others, but no one's ever outrun me before. Funny, I didn't recognize this one, he must be new to the force.

   Suddenly, I felt a huge weight barrel into me and pin me to the concrete sidewalk, knocking the wind out of me. I peered over my shoulder and saw the cop on top of me, staring at me curiously. I felt a bit of blood trickle from a scrape on my knee, causing me to hiss in pain.

   "Dammit," I cursed under my shallow breath.

   "Did you really think you could outrun me?" he whispered into my ear as he pulled out handcuffs. I mentally rolled my eyes.

   "I've never been caught by one of you slow-ass turtles," I retorted as he clicked the cuffs around my wrists behind my back.

   "Language," he scolded, and lead me to the vandalised cruiser. "You've been giving us a lot of trouble,"

   I shrugged. As if I didn't know that.

   "So miss, what is you name, age, and address?" he interrogated, looking at a small notebook.

   "I have the right to remain silent," I shot back. He raised an eyebrow.

   "You've done this before, right?"

   "Did you even have to ask? I know the guys back at the station by name. Even though I've only been down there about..." I thought for a moment, counting mentally, "three times,"

   The officer looked taken aback. He flipped through his notebook, as if searching for a page.

   "But it says here... you've robbed eighty-four banks, sixty-five stores, twenty-three other buildings, stolen sixteen purses, four iPods, equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars. You also vandalized ten buildings, twelve police cruisers, now thirteen," he read aloud, "brutally physically harmed thirty-eight people, hacked into forty offices' and two schools' computers, broken and entered over seventy buildings, trepassed on forbidden grounds numerous times, disobeyed direct police orders two hundred and fifty four times, and-"

   "Disturbed the peace numerous times," we finished together, my voice bored. He narrowed his brown eyes.

   "So how is it that you only got arrested three times, now four?" he inquired.

   "I always get away," I snapped, "You just got lucky, asshole,"

   "What did I say a few minutes ago?"

   Who does this guy think he is? My freaking mother? So what if I curse?

   "Does it look like I care? Now if you'll excuse me, I have an important errand to attend to," I said, turning to leave.

   "You're in handcuffs, stupid, you can't go anywhere when I've got on the other end... of the..." he trailed off and his mouth dropped when I held up the handcuffs with a triumphant grin. I dropped them and rubbed my slightly sore wrists that were recently freed from metal. Damn, they need to get more comfortable handcuffs or something. He took a step forward. I turned around and fled, disappearing into the darkness of night, after calling out to him one last time.

   "Handcuffs are so juvenile."