Serving Lola

Pearl almost dreaded returning to her apartment, but it was getting both dark and cold out, and she had no place else to go. Besides, she couldn’t shy away from her own place forever, and she wasn’t about to let Lola control her any further by scaring her away from home. She pulled her small compact car into her assigned parking stall, exited the vehicle, and surveyed her surroundings. The last thing she wanted to do was run into Lola when she was coming or going, because then she couldn’t ignore her. Relieved not to see the tall, dark, corrupt probation officer, she quickly scurried up to her apartment. She scaled the three flights of stairs as quickly as she could, and then she realized with last-minute dread that Lola could very well be waiting for her outside her door if she had arrived right before she did. But she wasn’t, and again Pearl felt a surge of relief run through her. Keys in hand, she quickly inserted the proper key in the lock, hands trembling. Slow down! she commanded herself. Going too fast was only going to end up taking longer. Finally, she was inside her apartment with the door closed and locked behind her. She turned on the lights and checked all the rooms, almost as if she were afraid that the probation officer might be hiding somewhere inside her little fortress. When she was satisfied that she was alone in the apartment, she decided to turn the lights off and move about as quietly as she could. What good would it do her to ignore the PO if she could look up and see lights on in the apartment or hear movement inside when she came to the door? All that night, she dreaded a knock on her door. She took her cell phone into the bedroom, which was furthest from the door, so no one behind it could hear it if anyone called. Later, she called and updated Marienna on her trip to the police department, keeping her voice down behind the closed bedroom door. Once she felt it was getting late enough to be unlikely for Lola to show up, she took a shower, still wary of the fact that one could see the light in the bathroom window from the parking lot below. As soon as she stepped out of the shower, she turned the light off once again. The night-light provided enough of a glow for her to brush her teeth and also brush and dry her hair. Then again, as late as it was getting, she’d just let it air-dry. The dryer was too loud. She tossed and turned in bed that night, nervous about her appointment with the highly disturbed probation officer the following day. She didn’t fall asleep until after 3 a.m. and finally pulled herself out of bed just after 8 a.m. Exhausted, she used the bathroom and made a strong pot of coffee. Too wound up to eat, she decided to just get the damn meeting over with so she could relax during the rest of the day and assume that at some point after their meeting, Lola would be questioned and thus no longer willing to take a chance by abusing her. Then she would hope for a call from what would be her new PO. Her heart thumped madly in her chest as she pulled open the heavy glass door to the probation department shortly afterward. Facing this bitch with a straight face was not going to be easy. It seemed she waited in the waiting room an eternity before the gorgeous nutjob called her in. Pearl almost thought she’d pass out as she followed her down the corridor and into her tiny office. But their meeting went as usual, and if Lola had any clue she’d gone to the police, she sure wasn’t showing it. Pearl exited the building, never more relieved, and headed home for what would be a relaxing day doing next to nothing. Or so she thought. Lola had never visited her on the same day as their office meetings. This gave her a false sense of security as she went about her day, deep-cleaning her apartment, rearranging some things, and relaxing with books and movies that she watched online. The fierce pounding on her door just after 4 p.m. sent her pulse through the roof. She really thought her heart would jump out of her chest. She quickly brought a shaky finger to pause the movie she’d been watching. “Sacramento Police! Open up!” shouted a gruff male voice. Pearl sighed in relief and then took a deep breath. Someone was here to let her know they’d arrested Lola—or at least brought charges against her—and that they’d assign her a new PO. But then why was he shouting with such determination? Pearl remained glued to her kitchen chair. “Open up, Miss Avondale. We know you’re in there, and we’re not going away.” Shit! This couldn’t be good. This wasn’t the way the police spoke to victims. But it sure was the way they spoke to criminals. Pearl never wished more that her door had a peephole, but it didn’t. She was torn between remaining quiet and opening the door with the chain on to make sure it really was the police. After all, anyone could knock on a door and claim to be the police, even if they sure sounded like they probably were, and even knew her name. Did they really know she was home? Maybe they were just bluffing. Again with the fierce pounding. “Open up now or we’re breaching!” That did it. Pearl would NOT have her door kicked in, leaving her place open and exposed to whomever. On shaky legs, Pearl made her way to the door. “OK, OK!” she shouted. “I was in the bathroom.” She pulled the door till it caught on its chain and peered through. No need to ask for IDs. The two men who were with Lola were in full uniform. Scared and confused, she closed the door, slid the chain off, and opened it. The threesome pushed past her, nearly toppling her over. “Whoa! Take it easy. What’s going on?” “Random search,” Lola said with a spiteful smirk. She knew, Pearl realized. She knew she’d gone to the police. “What for?” “Ma’am, please remain seated while we conduct our search,” said one of the male officers. Pearl took the few steps to her couch and sat down on it. “What’s going on, Lola?” Not answering, Lola waited until the officers were in other rooms before she pulled a small bag from her jacket pocket, placed it behind some books on a shelf, and then plucked it back out. “Well, well, looky here,” she said with an evil smile. “You just planted that there!” Pearl said, now terrified. “Guys, I found something in here,” Lola called out. The two burly officers eagerly reappeared. “She just planted that there right in front of me! She’s retaliating because I filed a police report on her just yesterday!” Pearl screamed. “It’s marijuana,” Lola said. Ignoring Pearl’s pleas of innocence, one of the officers picked his handcuffs off his utility belt. “No!!! You can’t do this! I just saw her pull the bag from her jacket pocket and place it on the shelf before picking it back up. She’s setting me up!” “You’ll have to take this matter up with the investigating officer,” the cop said as he clicked the handcuffs into place around her slender wrists. “For now, I’m just carrying out my orders.” “No, you’re not!” Pearl yelled. “You’re assisting a corrupt and sadistic law-enforcement official who needs to be stopped!” He tugged at her secured hands and shoved her toward the door. “Stop! Don’t do this. Don’t!” “Move it now, Miss Avondale.” “Do you really want to be a part of this? Do you really want it on your conscience that you assisted a—” “Move it now! You can tell your lawyer all about it and the person you supposedly complained to soon enough.” “Supposedly complained to?” a fearful Pearl asked as she was led down the stairs of the building. “What’s that supposed to mean? I talked to a Detective Davis. He said he’d look into it and get back to me.” “I’m sorry, ma’am. I have absolutely no knowledge of this. I’m just doing my job. If there’s more going on here, I’m not the one who can help you.” With that, Pearl was placed in the back of a cruiser. Lola waved and flashed her a smile of victory right before they pulled out of view. Pearl never wanted to kick the crap out of someone so badly as she did at that moment, for she was just as angry as she was scared. Things went from bad to worse because by the time she was fully booked into the county jail, getting a lawyer to start sorting things out wasn’t an option unless you had a lot of money. She would have to wait until the morning to talk to a court-appointed attorney. “When can I go?” she asked a mean-looking Hispanic guard who wore way too much makeup for such a job. Her black glossy hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she looked like she needed to lose a good eighty pounds or so. “You can’t.” “I can’t? What do you mean, I can’t?” The guard looked at her as if she were the dumbest person on earth. “The judge didn’t set bail in your case. Just wait until morning, and then if you can’t afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to you.” “But why can’t I go home for the night and come back in the morning?” “Because you can’t,” the guard mocked in a shrilly singsong voice. “Now get your beautiful blonde ass in there!” She swung open a steel door with a tiny square window. “Please!” Pearl pleaded. “If you just call Detective Davis, he can tell you an investigation is underway against my PO. She set me up tonight in retaliation for filing the complaint.” “A complaint for what?” she asked, as if the idea of filing a complaint against one’s PO was the most absurd thing she’d ever heard. “She forced me into sex during home visits.” The fat guard with the moon face snorted and said, “Yeah, right.” Then she slammed the door behind her with a deafening metallic clank that rang in Pearl’s ears for several seconds after the fact. She proceeded to take a step forward and then stopped short. She wasn’t alone. Half a dozen other women shared the twenty-by-ten-foot cell. Her eyes scanned the women. They were of all different ages, races, and sizes. Four of them were asleep on the cement floor while two sat chatting on a built-in cement bench. The chatting duo was a young black girl of around twenty and an older white woman in her fifties. “Well, come on, girl,” said the black one. “We don’t bite.” Pearl stepped forward and sat next to the white lady who was closest to her. “First time in, huh?” Pearl nodded. The woman had long, straight gray hair with bangs, light watery gray-blue eyes, and a calm, friendly demeanor. “You really get it from your PO?” asked Blackie. “Get it?” “You know—they really rape you or something?” “Oh,” Pearl said, feeling as naïve as she was inexperienced with jail. “She and I had intimate relations.” “If it was mutual, then that ain’t rape.” “It became rape when she started getting rough, and I said no.” “Yeah, then that’s rape. Good luck with that, though. You’re a criminal going against a person of the law.” Blackie laughed. “You be lucky if you even get her fired.” Pearl felt her irritation grow. “You always this negative?” “No, I’m always this factual.”