Hazel prided herself on being able to keep a hold on her temper, unlike most of her cousins.
She prided herself on the fact that she was able to keep a cool head.
But this mortal was testing her.
She and Annabeth had gone to the park near their houses with their daughters, Leela and Aza, respectively, and had met Frank and Percy who were on their morning run. Aza had to go to a party in the afternoon, and Hazel had to be getting back home anyway, but Leela didn't want to go yet, so she took Aza's hand, said goodbye to her friends, and walked towards the neighborhood while listening to Aza tell her stories that were far too dramatic for kindergarten.
The kid was in the middle of a rant about the Devil Incarnate called Johnny who tipped her paintbox over in Art Class and practically started World War IV (Hazel didn't bother correcting her) when some mortal cop had pulled over and started questioning them.
And he asked stupid questions too.
"Ma'am, is this your child?"
"She's my friend's daughter."
Then he got down from his car, and knelt down so he was eye-level with Aza.
"Is she hurting you? Do you know her? Where are your parents?"
"No, officer. This is my auntie Hazel, she's my mommy's best friend, and they are at the park." Aza responded, looking at the officer with a slightly raised eyebrow like her mother would whenever someone said something stupid.
The cop stood up and made eye contact with Hazel.
"I'm gonna have to call her parents. This is a risk zone, and it isn't safe. He glanced over at Ahmed Marshal's (a lovely guy who lived a few blocks away and who made the best rhurbarb pie in America) boys who were attempting to play basketball about twenty five feet away.
Hazel had been so annoyed before that it hadn't occurred to her that this cop was being racist. He was being what Leo called a Kayla- wait no- a Keeran, which was the male version of a Katherine. Wait wrong. A Karen. Yep, that was it. This cop was being a Keeran, and she hated it.
He didn't believe that a white kid could be safe around a black woman or around a group of Islamic and Arab boys.
And it took all her willpower to not strangle the bastard with a gold bar.
She just put up with it, and called Annabeth with her phone on speaker.
"Hey, are you guys home yet? Also don't let Aza wear the purple dress. It's chilly out."
"Okay. Some policeman stopped us on our way there and told me to call you because apparently I could be kidnapping your kid." She made sure to say it so Annabeth would understand the situation.
"Oh. OH. Okay, I'm coming. Don't do anything. Just keep your cool."
Hazel understood why she said that. They'd both heard horror stories about people dying at the hands of racist policemen.
"Great. And bring Frank too."
"Will do. Be safe"
They hung up, and the bastard policeman just stood there.
Then after what seemed like forever, her three favorite people in the world came jogging up.
Percy looked mad, Annabeth looked worried and Frank looked downright furious.
Aza broke the silence by running up to her parents and telling them about 'the idiot policeman'.
Hazel loved that kid.
She took the opportunity to calm herself down. She must have tuned them out because when she started listening again, the idiot was apologizing to her and her friends for the trouble and that he was 'just doing his job'.
The urge to strangle him with a gold bar resurfaced briefly.
Then he was gone, finally. Frank's glare subsided and he wrapped her in his arms, asking if she was okay.
Percy holding Leela, who held her chubby arms out to her mother. Hazel accepted her, sending Percy a silent thank-you.
They all started walking back.
"You know what ticked me off the most?" Frank broke the angry silence.
"If it were Annabeth or Percy taking Leela back home, the jerk wouldn't have done anything.
Hazel couldn't help but agree.
They stopped briefly to say hi to Ahmed's two sons, who had ditched basketball and were now trying their hand at relay with a few of their cousins.
She got angry at the policeman all over again.
Frank seemed to guess what she was thinking.
"It's okay. The guy was just uneducated. No good in thinking about it now."
She pecked his cheek, and just put the whole thing out of her mind.
It could be worse.