Timid Little Blonde

She heard the police siren behind her on the secluded patch to her home. She skipped a heartbeat as she slowed and stopped on the roadside. As the police officer walked closer, she felt pounding in her chest and sweat in the back of her neck. The dashboard clock blinked 2am.

The police officer, an intimidating man, threw the flash light in her face. She rolled down her window and greeted with the best smile she could muster. He glanced at her revealing dress, her exaggerated make up and her flashy handbag on the next seat.

“Madam, may I see your license, please”. As she looked for the documents, the unzipped bag revealed the disheveled mess of all random titbits- some receipt, a lipstick, an edge of a Ziploc. The license checked out and he asked her to take the alcohol test. She wanted to rebel. This was stereotyping she thought but decided to obey. The breathalyzer revealed no alcohol. Finally, the officer announced that her tail light is broken. “Please get it fixed. Goodnight”. And he was gone as abruptly as he had appeared.

Startled with this brush with law, she slowly turned the ignition; the dashboard lit up and the engine revved. She drove straight home, blood still pounding on her temples.

It was only when she reached home that she finally felt the adrenaline withdraw and nerves calming. In the kitchen, she pulled out the familiar small jar filled with formaldehyde and carefully dropped the contents of the Ziploc shutting the lid tight. She carried it to the bedroom, moved the bookshelf to reveal the secret cabinet with thirty-four exact jars lined up perfectly. She placed hers neatly and admired in the concealed lighting. The manicured little finger in glowing ivory skin with perfectly shaped bright glossy red nail floated, perfectly preserved next to the one with ebony skin in shocking pink nail paint.

She smiled at her treasure, pulled the bookshelf back and tucked herself into a restful sleep knowing that the owner of the finger was still in the club bathroom with a jab on the side of her neck.