Necklace and Badge

Kat leaned against the old train’s window tiredly, gazing into the open fields zipping by. Her chair – that’s right, her chair – was occupied by a tall, well-dressed man with short hair. She had to settle for her second choice seat a couple rows over and occasionally shot a glare at the man through her long, black bangs. Sometimes the man would look up at her and quickly glance away when he saw Kat still glaring, a confused expression on his face.

The train came to a stop and the well-dressed man got up to leave. To Kat’s amusement, he avoided eye contact as he passed. She eyed his outfit disapprovingly as he left the train. Nice clothes brought danger. For her, they attracted men, and men were dangerous.

One stop later Kat exited the train into the Big City to go to the store. ABC Market the store was called. ABC because the stupid city was named “A Big City”. She preferred to call it the Big City, it didn’t sound so cheesy. She crossed the street to the market and passed an old, crusty cop car that never seemed to leave the parking lot.

A frown grew on her face as she noted the crowd of shoppers that was swiftly growing in front of the market, which hardly deserved the name “Market”, anyway. It was more of a convenience store, filled with mostly comfort food and the barest of essentials. She could have gone to the actual supermarket, but there were too many people there. So she settled for the junky “market” to get herself a new hair tie. In the days since her last one broke, her hair had become an even more knotty mess than usual. That didn’t bother her too much. She preferred to keep her hair untidy and to dress slightly slovenly. Usually, the untidy hair and clothes keep away men. Unfortunately, ‘usually’ isn’t the same as ‘always’. Men had lost her trust years ago, and Kat would do just about anything to keep them out of her life.

As Kat navigated through the small building to the hair ties, her breath caught as she passed a case of jewelry. That’s new, she thought, and stopped dead in her tracks to admire the glittering jewels. She desperately wanted one, but was short on cash ever since she ran away from home 7 years ago. She could picture how she’d look with one of those necklaces on a tidier version of herself. Initially, she was repulsed by that thought; if she became beautiful, she’d attract men, and men were dangerous. She knew logically that there had to be good men in the world, but couldn’t get her emotions to align with that reasoning.

Kat sighed, turning to continue to the hair ties, and as she did, a flash of something sitting on top of the case caught her eye. A necklace with a tiny gem and tiny chain links lay barely hidden by some papers, glinting in the sunlight from a nearby window. Her eyes widened and, on impulse, she swiped the necklace from the counter and pocketed it. With hair tie forgotten, she made for the door. Stealing wasn’t new for her, but it still made her uncomfortable. Head high, no glancing around, walk slowly, nothing to look suspicious.

As she was exiting the building, so close to being free, someone very large stepped out from just past the doors and directly in front of her. She let out a muffled “Oof” as she collided with the large man and tried to step around him. He moved in front of her again, and she looked up, trying to keep the fear out of her face.

“What?” she demanded. “You’re in my way.”

The man held his hand out, palm up, not saying anything, but clearly expecting something. Kat knew exactly what he wanted and fear wrenched at her gut. She’d been caught. But instead of handing over the necklace, she looked at his hand confusedly then slowly reached out to grab his hand in a handshake. The man didn’t react and still didn’t say anything.

“What?” Kat repeated.

The man sighed. “You’ve got a pretty slick hand, being able to get that necklace unnoticed in such a crowded place.”

Kat could feel panic creeping in. She tried to keep the shake out of her voice as she spoke, but instead said, “Iwasjustgoingtobuysomehairties.”

She cursed herself. So much for looking inconspicuous. Then she said, slightly more calmly, “The necklaces are, of course, beautiful, but all I came here for were hair ties. Unfortunately, they’re out.”

The man sighed again, long hair rolling around his ears. “I just watched you nip that necklace off the counter. That’s kind of my job around here.” He flashed a badge, identifying himself as a sheriff. “Shall we go look for the hair ties together? I have a hard time believing they’re actually out.”

Kat wilted in front of the store, her short form becoming even smaller, but she didn’t move. She wasn’t sure that she could make herself move for how scared she was.

“Give me the necklace, and I’ll forget this happened.” The officer held out his beefy hand again. “Do it again, and I won’t be so forgiving.”

Kat slowly pulled the necklace from her pocket, eyeing the sheriff sceptically. This had to be a trick. Surely he wouldn’t just let her go after he had caught her in the act. He waited patiently, and calmly closed his hand once Kat let go of the necklace.

“Thank you,” the man said, suddenly becoming more amiable, then he stepped around Kat and into the store.

Kat stood dumbfounded, watching him go. That’s it? she thought No yelling or hitting? He’s just going away.

She remained rooted to the spot, shoppers going in and out around her, trying to comprehend why this man would do such a thing. The door opened and she jumped back to the wall as the sheriff calmly stepped out and next to Kat.

Her thoughts raced, fear creeping into her voice. “I thought you were going to leave me alone if I gave it back.”

He looked down kindly. “That’s not what I said, actually. I said I’d ‘forget’ that this happened, but if I see or hear about you doing it again, there will be a punishment.” Then he opened his hand and something shiny dropped, hanging from a finger and he proffered it to Kat.

She gaped. “Wait, you’re just giving it to me?”

The man smiled, “Yes. I bought it while you were busy staring into space.”

She worked her mouth, trying to think of something to say. “Why?” she finally said, frowning.

The sheriff pulled Kat to the side to get out of the stream of people then bent down to look into Kat’s eyes. “Can’t you let someone be kind to you?” He still held out the necklace.

She looked at the necklace, confused. “Why would a man do that?”

The sheriff’s eyebrows creased ever so slightly. “So it’s about men, is it?”

Kat nodded. “I won’t trust them. Never again.”

“Well, you can trust me –”

“As long as I don’t do anything wrong,” Kat muttered, interrupting.

“That’s trusting my word, isn’t it?” he said, leaning against the building’s weathered wood.

“Sure. But how can I trust that you aren’t tricking me somehow? That you won’t hurt me?”

“I’m Hutch.”

Kat gave him a funny look.

“My name. Hutch. And yours?”

Kat really didn’t want to trust Hutch, but it was hard not to. “Kat,” she said slowly.

“Well,” Hutch said, smiling. “Kat. Did you pay for a train ticket to get here?”

Kat gave him a confused look again. “You make no sense. Can’t we just talk about one thing?”

Hutch chuckled and started strolling to his car. “I’m trying to. You just aren’t letting me. I’m trying to be kind. Do you have to pay to get home?”

“Yeah,” she said cautiously, still standing next to the doors of the market.

“Do you want a free ride home?”

“Uhh,” she said, looking at the ground. Not really from you, but also it would be nice to not pay for the train. More confused than ever, she said, “Sure.”

Hutch smiled broadly, gesturing for Kat to follow to his car. Reluctantly, she did.

As they walked to Hutch’s car, he said, “You still haven’t put on the necklace.”

“How observant.”

“So you’re snarky also.” Hutch chuckled as he plopped into his janky old cop car. Kat didn’t move to get in. “You coming?” Hutch called from inside.

Kat stayed next to the car door, an internal battle raging. Emotions versus logic. Hutch looked at her patiently through the passenger’s window. Finally, she entered the car, folding her arms in silence.

The engine sputtered then revved loudly as Hutch started the car. “Would you like to tell me where to drive?”

“Drive south.” Kat pouted. “I’ll let you know when we’re close.”

Hutch nodded and pulled out of the parking lot to go south as instructed. Thankfully, he didn’t make any more attempts at conversation. Kat put the necklace on, getting a hint of a smile from Hutch as she did. Then she leaned against the window, gazing out at the buildings zipping by. This man, Hutch, shattered all of her assumptions about how men should act. He was gentle, caring, generous, and smiled easily. None of the men she had known were like that. She wasn’t sure that she could fully trust men yet, but it was comforting to know there were some good ones in the world. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe.