Conversation · Acele

She looks down, pretending to be busy with the device.

Make her meet your eyes.

The kid isn't arrogant, she's just afraid to look you in the eye. You already put her in her place.

"I am the police. You would do well to avoid this kind of language with me."

"You're right, I shouldn't have sworn. I'm sorry." She looks up like a scolded school girl, her years concealed beneath thick make up.

Her hair is dyed blonde, with dark roots showing. Most men wouldn't exactly call her pretty -- there is a manliness to her. A coarseness.

"Now. I have some questions for you."

She gathers herself for a moment, then says, "Okay."

"Good, then my work here is done." [Leave.]

(Kick some snow into her face with your boot.) "You did NOT just speak like that to the police."

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry. I was trying to concentrate on this thing here and I'm sorry I said that. My dad swears, my boyfriend swears... my whole family does. I've caught the habit. I didn't mean to... and I'm sorry."

Pain radiates through your leg. It still hurts to use it -- even for kicking snow into someone's face.

She looks up with a pained expression, her face caked with a thick layer of make up. With her left hand she's wiping some of it off to get the snow out of her face.

Lots of feeling. Feel it up, way up.

"Oh my god! FUCK THE HAT?! Is that what you just said to me? I can't BELIEVE you told me to fuck the hat!"

You're saying it really loud, but it's not coming out right. Maybe add more indignation?

"So I should just... just... take this hat I'm wearing and FUCK it, right?!" (Point at your head, where the hat is located.) "Engage in sexual intercourse with a hat right here in front of you, because you told me so? On the SEA ICE?!"

More.

"RIGHT HERE ON THE SEA ICE?!"

MORE.

"GIVE YOU A LITTLE... ICE-COP-HAT-FUCK-SHOW?!"

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry..." The girl is visibly shaken.

The lieutenant is watching the scene unfold before his eyes, unsure how to react.

"IS THAT HOW YOU SEE ME?"

The girl looks down, slowly curling into a ball.

Three figures on the spring ice. One, a shortish man, is standing with his shoulders slightly hunched. Another, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the third, a middle-aged man with bloated cheeks, who's screaming at her with all his might...

Across the bay, two figures watch the scene unfold through coin-operated binoculars. "My god," one says in a concerned voice. "Let me see," says the other.

That's it, you've earned it -- start crying, life's hard.

Your shoulders have already tensed up with emotion. Let it all out.

Start crying.

The young woman has kept her eyes trained on her wires, waiting for the sorry spectacle to end, but it's gone awful quiet up there. Then, the sound of sobbing...

Looking up she sees a grown man -- on the wrong side of forty, his face bloated from alcohol and god knows what else -- not so quietly crying.

"This... isn't really about the hat, is it?"

"No..."

"You know, you're not the only one with issues." There's a motherly hint to her voice. "I self-medicate, shit... life's a horror, you know."

"Crying helps, though. Get it out of your system and then maybe we can talk, okay? I'll be here."

(Wipe away the tears.) "Anyway... I can't believe you would use obscenities like that in front of a... a police officer. And you should wear a hat, too."

"I swear to god, I will always wear a hat from now on."

"Good, then my work here is done." [Leave.]

"Wait..."

"Would it be alright... if I asked you some questions now?"

"It is! It so is!"

"Anyway... I can't believe you used obscenities like that in front of a police officer. And you should... you should..."

The words are stuck in your throat. All that comes out is tears, pouring down your face. The young woman has kept her eyes trained on her wires, waiting for the lecture to end, but now she hears sobbing...

Looking up she sees a grown man -- on the wrong side of forty, his face bloated from alcohol and god knows what else -- not so quietly crying.

"This... isn't really about the hat, is it?"

(Wipe away the tears.) "And you should wear a hat, that's it, that's what I wanted to say."

Three figures on the spring ice. One, a shortish man, is standing with his shoulders slightly hunched. Another, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the third, a middle-aged man with spectacular sideburns, who's screaming at her with all his might...

Two figures on the spring ice. One, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the other, a middle-aged man with bloated cheeks, who's screaming at her with all his might...

Two figures on the spring ice. One, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the other, a middle-aged man with spectacular sideburns, who's screaming at her with all his might...

(Puff your cheeks as if you can't even breathe from the sheer indignity of the affront!)

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry..." The girl is visibly shaken.

The lieutenant is watching the scene unfold before his eyes, unsure how to react.

(Start jumping up and down on the sea ice, gesturing toward it with both hands, as if to say, this is where it was supposed to take place!)

The girl looks down, slowly curling into a ball.

Three figures on the spring ice. One, a shortish man, is standing with his shoulders slightly hunched. Another, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the third, a middle-aged man with bloated cheeks, jumping up and down on the sea ice...

Three figures on the spring ice. One, a shortish man, is standing with his shoulders slightly hunched. Another, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the third, a middle-aged man with spectacular sideburns, jumping up and down on the sea ice...

Two figures on the spring ice. One, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the other, a middle-aged man with bloated cheeks, jumping up and down on the sea ice...

Two figures on the spring ice. One, a young woman, tries her best to ignore the other, a middle-aged man with spectacular sideburns, jumping up and down on the sea ice...

"So I should just... just... get a hat and FUCK it, right?!" (Point at your head, where the hat should be.) "Engage in sexual intercourse with a hat right here in front of you, because you told me so? On the SEA ICE?!"