Cola Goodness

Revised from what was originally submitted.  600 words:

She hunched her shoulders and closed her eyes.

35 years old, white, female - stabbed 15 times.

She sat up straight and sighed, opening her eyes.  She looked at the pictures, then reached for the red can and took a drink.

She closed her eyes again, reveling in the sweet, smooth cola taste rolling across her tongue and down her throat.  She loved the bite of carbonation that flowed with the sweet.  So nice.

She lifted the cup to her mouth and took another long drink.  Savored the swallow.

She hated when the victims were female, which alot of times, they were.  She hated even more when the victims died by the hand of a boyfriend.

Another drink and she put the can down next to the two cans sitting on her desk.  She reached over and pulled another file towards her.   She sighed and began the tedious task.

*

Two hours later, Sophie was laughing hysterically.  Her partner, Dennis Morales, just told the funniest joke.  She picked up her super-sized Coke and took a long sip.  She already had three cans that morning and she had promised herself she would be done after the third. But, it's lunch.  Very rarely did she and her partner have a sit-down lunch.  This fourth one was a bonus.

"I'm surprised you don't have holes in your stomach from where the acid is burning.  Or holes in your teeth."  He looked pointedly at her drink.

"What?"  She rolled her eyes.  "It's just coke.  Besides, this is it for me today."

"Okay." He gave her a doubtful look.

"It is!"

*

An hour later, Sophie and Morales walked away from the bloody body, underneath the yellow tape, and through a crowd of on-lookers.  Her face was scrunched.  Another female victim.  She shook her head.

"Poor girl," Morales said.  "We'll start with the first name on our list.  Already got an address."

"Sounds good," she said.  They walked past a bodega.

"We should head there now."

She stopped walking. "Yep.  First, I need to stop for something.  Wait here."  She pushed the glass door of the store open.  "You want something?"

"Get me a Kit Kat."

"Sure thing." She walked inside.

Two minutes later, she stepped out, drinking from a bottle of Cherry Coke.  The cool liquid soothed her throat and smoothed out a little bit of the tension her shoulders held.    She needed a little boost, after seeing the body.

 She handed her partner the Kit Kat.   "Let's go."

*

Two hours later, Sophie sat her desk at the precinct, massaging her neck.  Her partner sat across from her, talking a mile a minute about this latest case.

He paused.  "What do you think?"

"I can see where you are going with this.  Can we just go to the board?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

They both stood up, Sophie grabbed her super-sized cola and sipped.  It was empty.

Jeez! she thought.

"I'll meet you there, Dennis.  I'm just going to grab something."

"Yeah."  He turned and walked away.  Sophie walked in the opposite direction towards the vending machine in the back.  She smiled a little.  Her saving grace.  She stood in front of the soda machine, staring at the Coca-Cola button.  She took in the picture of the bottle of Coke - beads of water on its outer surface.  

Sophie stood in front of the vending machine.  It's okay - she thought to herself.   It was going to be a long night, after all.

She started digging in the pocket of her pants for change.


This is inspired by a writing prompt from The Red Dress Club which asks to write a piece based on gluttony - eating and drinking to excess.