10 Canned Coffee

Morning arrived sooner than I thought, my research got me to a few conclusions. The Force based its excursion on an anonymous hint used to support shallow information about the possible location of the Mask. There was no actual evidence that the man allegedly leading the rebellion lived in the slums, besides most of its followers living there. It was no secret that the slums were the rebellion's headquarters, most of its residents were essential workers. The whole operation was a shot in the dark with two hands tied to their backs. How incompetent they were.

- You really didn't sleep? - a groggy voice brought me back from my rant against the police.

- To be honest, I'm a vampire. There! You caught me, officer. - I spinned in my chair to look towards my bed and the woman laying on it.

- Are you always like this? - she sat on the bed rubbing her eyes.

Officer Sun looked like a harmless 18-year-old with messy hair, sweat clothes and an I-just-woke-up face. Last night's events sure felt like a distant time, the thought of what might have happened made my stomach flip.

- I don't know… yes?

She was definitely not a morning person, didn't bother to reply, just walked to the bathroom and closed the door.

Before getting up to make some coffee, I closed all my screens, shutting down my system just to prevent officer Sun from having any ideas. Luckily she would decide to leave soon and after taking her to the station I would be able to sleep peacefully.

- Thank you for the clothes… and the bed. - after coming out of the bathroom she was back in her tight black uniform, with her hair tied up in a ponytail and a much serious expression. It was different to talk to her when she was back to being a cop, instead of just a chick that was sleeping in my bed.

- Coffee?

- Please!

Never in my life I would've guessed one day I'd have a cop drinking coffee in my kitchen. She looked like one but she didn't feel like it. Her posture was stiff but not oppressive, her way of speaking went back and forth from formal to outgoing, it was just beyond weird to have her in my house.

As the old coffeemaker began to growl while heating up the water, officer Sun flinched like a cat with the sudden loud noise. By the window I could see her trying to pretend nothing happened while making the bed. When she was done stretching the covers, she turned to the kitchen, where I was waiting for the machine to be done.

- You have a coffee maker! - her surprise when realizing what was the noise reminded me of a child getting a Christmas present. - I haven't seen one ever since my mom had to give hers away.

- Took me a while to find it. I hate canned coffee.

- I got used to it, but my mother used to say it tasted like piss.

- She is right though.

I couldn't stand the taste of canned coffee, it wasn't really coffee. It was essence and lots of chemicals that imitated the flavour. Growing coffee beans was expensive, since they weren't considered essential; only private farms cultivated it to sell it at food boutiques for exorbitant prices. On the black market you could find a cheaper version, it was mostly leftovers from the producing process, but still they were better than the canned piss.

With its final growls the machine let us know the job was done. I poured some of the dark hot liquid into two mugs. With mine in hand I raised it to salute my visitor then inhaled deeply, to fill my lungs with the heavy smell of morning, before taking my first generous sip.

- I like it strong, so be warned.

Quiet, I watched the policewoman cautiously bring the mug to her lips then closing her eyes while turning the mug for her first sip. The moment she tasted it she gave a large satisfied smile that I couldn't resist not to grin behind my steamy mug.

- So? - I asked, curious to know what she had to say after such a pleasurable expression.

- This definitely couldn't fit in a can.

- Worth every coin. - Coffee in hand, I went to check the mood outside. I pulled the window shades, letting the hot orange sun penetrate my dark dungeon, making me blink at the brightness.

Everything looked normal, people were outside and the stores were opened again. In the alley below the window the Trinity boys were gathering up probably to make sure the police wouldn't try any more stupid surprise operations.

- I'm on your debt again. Canned coffee will never be the same for me.

- I know we can figure something out, officer. - I winked at her and she squeezed her eyes warning me to be careful.

- I'll be on my way now. Have to report back ASAP. - She began to walk towards the door to pick up her police armour, that she left there last night.

- Good luck, walking target. You won't make it past the main entrance dressed like that. - I turned my back at her and began to gather my stuff to head out.

- What do you suggest?

On the bed she left the clothes carefully folded. I've never made my bed or even organized my clothes in my entire life. Seeing my sheets perfectly stretched like in a hotel just made me grin and shake my head at the whole thing.

- Put on your armour, but keep it offline and put this back on. - I threw her the hoodie she used as a pajama. - I'll take you to the station.

In her face it was clear her desire to refuse the help and head out on her own as a proud, capable police officer. Instead, she swallowed her pride and did as I said. She knew that going out alone in the Force uniform was a suicidal move. Her good judgment and level head just kept surprising me as I kept testing it.

With my mainscreen in hand, I grabbed a hat and handed her some sunglasses. While I waited for her to get dressed again, I took a final sip of coffee.

Before heading to the door I got hit by a massive yawn that made my whole body shake as an electric discharge had just struck me. After the involuntary biological response, I laid eyes on officer Sun who was watching me. The woman was wearing the same washed light blue hoodie and my sunglasses but it was like a completely different person. She mastered the arts of disguise. Looking at her I'd never say she was a cop.

- So vampires do get sleepy. - as she noticed I took too long staring at her, I recomposed myself and took the lead.

- Let's go, stealthy master.

Over populated as always, the slum was again packed with people and noise. Going down the stairs residents had their doors opened to let the air circulate, some were outside talking, smoking or selling all kinds of shit, from food to drugs on the stairways. A few of the guys on my floor gave me a shout out when we passed them, I signalled a greeting without stopping while officer Sun kept her head down. Walking to the station with that woman was gonna be like a parade, everyone I knew was going to say something dumb about us. I can't blame them because it looked exactly like what they were imaging.

- St, you beast! - a few cases down a Trinity boy I used to make deliveries with shouted.

With a shy wave I passed by, hoping the officer wouldn't pick up on any of it. On times like these I hated knowing that many people. I wasn't friends with all of them, we just knew each other from the block or once upon a time we worked together. It's hard to stay isolated in this place.

- St? - for the first time since we left the apartment, she said something. I almost didn't hear it if it wasn't from how close we had to be given the small size of the staircases and how there were constantly people going up and down.

- Short for Sato.

- Why? It's already a short name.

- It's not really a name.

Downstairs there were Trinity members everywhere. They were separated in small groups of three or four in every building and alley. It was particularly easy to point them out since every member had to tattoo their unit's symbol somewhere visible. If you knew what to look for, it was simple to spot them.

As we crossed the building door, there was another group I was familiar with. Some nodded at me and I returned the gesture.

- Stay close. - I told her when we entered our first crowded alley. There were people all over the place making visibility very hard.

A few meters into the alley, I looked back to check if officer Sun was behind me and as expected, she wasn't. I stood on my toes trying to find her from above and luckily she was just a few bodies behind. Probably didn't push hard enough to pass through the sea of people. As soon as she caught up, looking breathless and very lost, I grabbed tight to her hand and began to pull her as I moved forward.

Hand in hand we went all the way over to the main street, where there was more space and she wouldn't get lost anymore, I let go of her soft sweaty hand.

- Thank you. - she let out after we crossed the street, right under the train tracks.

- I'm sorry for that, I didn't want you to fall behind. - it was hot, my forehead was sweating and I was trying to dry some of the sweat off and fix my hair under the hat.

- I won't forget all you did… - she looked up to me with small eyes, fighting the bright sunlight. - I'll pay you back for the coffee though.

- Yeah… just don't die a stupid death in a stupid operation. - I had no idea how to respond to such honest gratitude. All I did was try to put my hair back while I regretted not tying it up before leaving the apartment.

- I'll do my best. Goodbye.

And like that she turned around and left. I watched her a little before starting to make my way back. It was all so strange. We started things the wrong way, she knew what I was going to do on that balcony and now she was thanking me repeatedly. Something about her was off. The way she switched tones when talking about something random like coffee or how she looked harmless in sweat clothes. That image was something to remember, definitely. A cop in the slums, that must've been the first time in decades.