Reports & Repertoire

4 Work and Leisure (NSFW)

It'd been hours of holding their breath every time a cop car would come into their line of vision. They were hunkered down in an alleyway covered by a line of thick bushes and boxes that ran the length of a brick-walled building that made up one side of the camp. Candace had her camcorder tight in her hand, strapped to her wrist. She stands at the corner of the wall under the cover of night and a broken street light on top of a crate to give her a vantage point. When a cop car rolls by and slows on the street that ran the width of the camp, she reaches back and smacks at Eddie to get his attention. He peels around the corner, both looking much like a scooby doo sketch with their heads right under the other, her torso over his head and shoulders as they press themselves against the wall.

"This might be it." she whispers, looking down to meet Eddie's face before she takes out the camcorder to engage it. He only gives a nod in response.

The scenario plays out as it should. The cops with their nightsticks strut around the camp, knocking things over nonchalantly and in general being total dicks. Candace keeps her breathing steady, holding the camera up to catch it all. They find two men to isolate, neither of which they knew, but Eddie feels that pang of guilt again as they get shoved together by the two policemen. They antagonize them, one getting hit about the face first, then shoved at each other again, the uniformed men barking illegal orders to figure out which one gets taken in for public intoxication and indecency, neither of which were true.

"I'm gonna get closer." Candace whispers, moving slowly along the wall behind the brush and various garbage. Eddie slinks behind her, not willing to let her out of reach.

The perfect shot is just out of reach it seemed, no matter how much she crept, she lines up the angles in thirds, the cops lit with an overhead light, the men fought reluctantly in front of them as they laughed and egged them on.

"Candy." Eddie whispers, holding her elbow as she kept creeping closer and he was starting to get nervous.

"I got it," she says, confident as always. "I have to get their faces." she informs, the zoom making the shot too shaky and blurred, she had to get to this final piece and it needed to be perfect.

She crept up the edge of the wall and brush, Eddie behind a pile of boxes, her hunched and shooting through a large, dead bush, the cover of night and the black hoodies they wore pulled over their heads their main ally at this point. One man hits the ground and doesn't get up. The scene was hard to watch, Eddie had turned his head away already, the sounds were bad enough. He kept his eye on Candy instead, one hand out and ready to grab her if she stumbled. She had the shot, it even looked good, not merely capturing the events but looking almost cinematic. Her heart was already pounding in her ears, she could taste the end of this endeavor being near.

One cop drags the man to the car, cuffing and opening the door to roughly shove him in. The other takes a last look out at the perimeter, and just as she's about to look down at the screen again, the dead battery light flashes, a beeping noise of warning comes from the camera and she curses. The cops flashlight beams directly on her, eyes caught in the light with a hood up and camera pointed directly at them.

"Shit." Eddie says yanking her back immediately.

"HEY!" they hear from the cop as Eddie picks her up and shoves her in front of him, making their way back to the alley. "HEY COME BACK HERE!" they hear him louder and closer. As soon as their feet start hitting and running across the wet pavement of the alley again, they hear him break through the brush, seeing the spotlight of the flashlight moving haphazardly over the grimy walls, garbage cans, and broken fire escapes. She stumbles, hitting her knees and hips as she runs as fast as she can down the small space, Eddie just a breath behind her. They move towards the more populated areas, the cop still shouting behind them.