"Stop! Kneel down and put your hands on the car!" shouted the female African-American police officer.
"Like this?" asked Jack as he knelt down, put his hands behind his head and touched his forehead to the passenger side window.
"Yes, like that," said the policewoman. Jack looked at Montano, Petunia, and Gunther standing around the hood of the car. The fading light of evening cast long shadows over the parking lot, revealing people milling about, getting ready for some event. Jack stood up.
"You all drank, what, 36, 37k?" asked the police officer.
"Yeah..." replied Jack. "We're not driving, we're just standing around the car."
The policewoman handed Gunther a breathalyzer. He began to fiddle with it.
"What should we have done?" asked Jack. Somehow he wasn't concerned. The policewoman gave a sidelong glance to two men that had walked up to watch the scene. They smiled with contempt at Jack's ignorance.
"You could've gone to the Nueu," she said, pointing off into the distance. "They open around 9!" she proclaimed with exasperation. The two men chuckled. Jack didn't see how that was a solution. Gunther, having finished with the breathalyzer, handed it to Petunia. Jack leaned up against the side of the car to wait for his turn. The policewoman joined him.
"Did you see, they're having a festival here?" she asked, trying to make small talk. People in the lot had begun to move around to engage in festival activities.
"Yeah, we saw the pile of fireworks on our way in," replied Jack. He noticed one of the festival dancers carrying a red cello case on his back. He didn't think it was safe to have a cello so close to fireworks.
"Hey look, a cello," he said to the policewoman. "We could've played a duet!" She smiled politely. They sat silently for a time. She looked tired, like it had been a long night.
"You don't seem too intoxicated," she commented.
"Yeah, I don't feel intoxicated either," he replied. In fact, he felt completely sober. "Though, I guess I can never tell. Heh, that's probably not good, huh?" he said, chuckling lightly. She gave him a severe look before taking a deep breath and sighing.
"You don't like it this way, huh?" Jack asked.
"No," she said.
"You prefer the snappy, speed trap method?"
Their conversation was interrupted by Montano, who handed Jack the breathalyzer. Finally it was his turn. He held it up to his face, unsure of how to proceed.
"Do I breath into this part?" he asked the policewoman. She nodded yes. He took a deep breath and exhaled, registering a .100 on the display. He continued to inhale and exhale, bumping up the reading to .200, .300, .400, .500 with each breath.
