Recollection Of Questionable Events

Curiosity Killed The Cat.

(12) Curiosity Killed The Cat:

Araceli Torre

Cesar slouched in his seat, his head cocked in an odd angle. The table vibrated in tune with his snoring, probably loud enough to be heard throughout the entire precinct.

I honestly didn’t understand how someone could sleep through a situation like this…especially in such an awkward position. My own exhaustion prevented me from taking a nap (even though I’d mimicked his position multiple times).

Of course being unable to rest didn’t mean that I had to sit there twiddling my thumbs. With my free hand, I grabbed some blanks pieces of paper that Riggs had left for me, and ripped them into long strips.

Choosing the longest strip, I inched my way towards Cesar and stared intently onto his face. Drool dripped down his chin…not my cousin’s finest moment.   

“Psss,” I whispered.

Nothing happened.

To assure myself that he wasn’t faking it, I extended my arm and poked him repeatedly in the face with the paper. He didn’t wake up, but somehow his snoring got even louder.

Slightly annoyed, I decided to place the strip in his mouth, hoping that it would muffle some of the noise. But it just dangled off his lips, fluttering in rhythm to his snoring.

The noise level didn’t change, so I added a couple more strips just to make sure.

A dozen (or so) strips hung off my cousin’s mouth, moving up and down with his breathing.  The thin strips didn’t muffle the sound, but they did absorb a lot of his drool, which was the only benefit I could see.

The fun was short lived though, and I decided that it wasn’t really fair that the ‘star’ lawyer was able to sleep ‘on the job’.

“Cesar….WAKE UP.”

 Immediately his snoring was disrupted, and he jumped up in his chair.

“What the he-“Cesar sputtered, as he pulled strip after strip out of his mouth. I couldn’t help but giggle; I’d forgotten how fun it was to mess with him.

“You were making awful noises…and I got worried,” I said sweetly.

“Yeah right.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“…you seem to be a fan of far-fetched stories today,” he answered.

“Family doesn’t lie to you…didn’t your mom teach you that?”

Mr. Lawyer put his index finger to his lips to shush me (how rude) and settled back into his seat. Apparently it was time for another nap.  

“How did you even pass law school, you bum?” I asked, throwing some of the paper back at him.

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” Riggs asked. He sauntered into the room a new man, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Something had obviously changed in his demeanor and it scared me.

It seemed to frightened Cesar as well because he quickly let his feet drop from the table. Sitting up, he desperately tried to look serious. A little late, considering he had wet strips of paper clinging to his clothes.

“Nothing, did you find the car?” I asked.

“We did,” he answered.

“And?”

“And…we also found a police report that was filed last night from a neighbor of yours.”

“Oh?”