The Street Vendor
Judy walked up the steps to the Zootopia Police Department. She glanced at the large badge sculpture placed above the entrance and smiled. With energetic steps and an incorruptible optimism, she headed inside. Chatter from officers around the hall assaulted her ears. She blocked out the noise with her own thoughts and hurried to the front desk to sign in. After greeting Clawhauser at the desk, she made her way to the bullpen.
"Awesome. A packed house. Hey, Francine." Judy waved to the elephant in the center of the room. She sat between a giraffe and a zebra. Francine turned and nodded her head up in acknowledgment, waving with her trunk.
One of the great things to Judy was how diverse the department was. There were several mammals of nearly a dozen species enlisted. Judy walked by bears, some rhino's, several species of feline and canine. Some zebras, sheep, and elephants. What had once become an intimidating sight to her, seeing large predators and even larger powerful herbivores, had become exciting. She got caught up in all the differences between them. But the mannerisms between the species did not differ by much. The more she saw how different species came together in Zootopia and adapted to a similar style of etiquette, the more she grew to love the city.
The Chief entered just as Judy, the only current rabbit cop as far as she knew, settled into her seat.
"Good morning, Officers. Let's get right to it." Chief Bogo adjusted the small glasses on his muzzle and began listing off the different assignments for his officers. As promised, Chief Bogo instructed Judy to canvas the streets to dig up information from Finnick's friends. There were two people she was ordered to seek out: Julian, a dark gray skinned aardvark, and a green-eyed red fox named Nick Wilde.
"Let me remind you, Hopps. These mammals are only to be questioned. Do not get ahead of yourself. Be courteous and professional at all times." Judy nodded seriously,
"Yes, sir." She remembered his distress last night and hoped she could provide him with good news. Bogo looked at her with a curious scowl then said,
"Good luck." She ignored his doubtful expression and took the case file. It was an orange folder with an unmarked tab on its left corner. She gently pushed the cover open and pulled out one of the three pages inside while she walked back out of the station. She looked at the first page of Julian's profile.
"Hmm, petty thievery. One count of grand larceny too? Huh." She mumbled aloud as she read, walking to her car and barely paying attention to her direction. "One year in prison. Serves you right..." She glanced at the further notes and read that he was released early on good behavior for defending a guard from a violent inmate. He lived in the South Rainforest District. The expression in his mugshot convinced Judy that this was a pitiful and fearful mammal.
After taking a breath in an effort to withhold her harshest judgments, she read through Julian's file again as she stood in front of her car.
"Sounds like he just has more bad luck than anything else." Judy's ears drooped sympathetically. She reminded herself why she became an officer. It wasn't to bully others or shame them. It was to help others. Even if they were difficult. Proud of recalling one of her principles, she shuffled his paper to the back then read Nick Wilde's file as she walked round to the driver's seat of her car. Nick bore an expression of contempt in his mugshot. The flash from the camera lit up his green eyes. She skimmed through the list of offenses and read them aloud,
"One count of assault, six counts of fraud and three counts of theft. A rough one with a penchant for lying hmm?" Radio chatter from neighboring officers passing by snapped her to attention.
"Hey, Judy! Stop reading love letters and get to work. Haha!" Judy shook her head at the otter, Officer Oats. She playfully stuck out her tongue at him and finally entered her vehicle and sat behind the wheel. She resumed her study of Nick's profile. He too, like Julian, spent a year in jail and was released early on good behavior. His last night spent in jail was over two years ago.
"He doesn't look like a friendly one," she mumbled. After placing the file down in the passenger seat next to her, she turned on her car. As she pulled out of the lot, she wondered about who to see first. The lying thieving fox or the aardvark? Only a short moment later as she stopped at her first traffic light, she decided to hit the Rainforest District first.
travel to the Rainforest District was sluggish and ate up more time than she expected. Her trip quickly turned into a disappointment. Julian was not at his address. She spoke with neighbors hoping someone nearby was familiar with Julian. But all the mammals that she questioned could not assist her with any useful information. The sun began to dip in the sky, alerting Judy of the afternoon hours creeping up on her. Geometric shapes cut the light as it squeezed through the countless branches and leaves of the trees surrounding her.
"I can't believe I spent five hours here already!"
With impatient steps, she hurried back to her vehicle. If I can beat rush hour, I'll still have time to try to catch Nick.
"Shops, shops..." Judy walked west along a busy shopping district. A note she overlooked in Nick's profile said he operates a food truck in South Savanna. Straight ahead, as she threaded her way through the crowd of mammals walking back and forth, she caught sight of a long food truck sitting on the next corner across the street. The dipping sun coated the truck and the city in fiery orange light.
A soft energetic voice barked on the street corner from the truck,
"Fried fish. Still hot. Come and buy!" Judy watched as an arm waved in the air in an effort to attract customers. His fur was colored brown from his paws up to his elbows and gave him an appearance like wearing a permanent pair of long stylish gloves. The rest of his fur was orange-red. Encouraged by at least finding a red fox, Judy hurried up to the stall.
"Just two snappers for five dollars. Tundra Char for eight. My hottest seller, eel for seven!" She was cut off by a penguin couple approaching the truck ahead of her. Judy waited in line behind them, trying to catch pockets of fresh air and not choke on the offensive odors of frying fish. The hazards of being a herbivore. The vendor gave the couple a wide-eyed smile of familiarity and asked for their order.
"Four Tundra Char, Nick," the female penguin said. Yes! She said 'Nick'. Gotcha. Judy stealthily fist pumped by her side as she patiently waited and observed the fox.
"You got it, ma'am. thirty-two dollars, please." Nick scooped up the fish and wrapped them in foil before placing them into a white paper bag as he waited for her to pass the money. "Just in time too. Just finished these." She handed Nick thirty-five dollars and said,
"You can keep that, darling." Nick smirked and looked at the male penguin next to her,
"You better watch it hubby or I'll marry her myself." The male penguin chuckled,
"Fifty bucks and she's yours." He was rewarded with an elbow to the ribs.
"Roger!" Judy stood captivated by the playful exchange. The only disturbance being the smell of fish. She occasionally gulped for air.
"Fish is all packed. Here you go," Nick handed them their order and they exchanged goodbyes. Noticing Judy, he quickly reached under his counter. Judy walked up and waited for him to appear again as she listened to the frantic shuffling from inside. He stood back up with a license for viewing and tapped his counter nervously with his short claws.
"Hello, Officer. What would you like?" Nick forced a smile.
"Excuse me, sir," she began, "my name is Officer Hopps. Are you Nick Wilde?" Nick sighed,
"Yes. The last I checked, that was my name." Judy quickly glanced at his truck and looked at the foxes outfit. He did not wear gloves while handling his food. And she could not visibly see any choking hazard posters that were mandatory in all food establishments in Zootopia. Even for mobile trucks. Judy tried to think of a way to warm up the conversation and said,
"How has business been?" Nick looked at her with a stoic half smile. She couldn't tell if her attempts at charm were working or if he was going to shell up and be anti-social.
"Well, I have been raking in the green, I'm happy to say." Nick became more animated in his responses. Judy tried matching his energy, but could feel the awkwardness especially when she pointed a finger at him,
"I'm glad to see you're working hard. I would like to ask you some questions about someone you may have had contact with in the past." She gave him a big smile, nose twitching, ears alert. Nick placed his hands on his hips. His stare hardened.
"Okay, Carrots. What is it you want?" a hint of frustration in his soporific voice.
"Carrots?" She tilted her head surprised by his attitude. "I just wanted to ask you about the recent trial involving a fennec fox named Finnick." Nick wrinkled his muzzle at the name.
"I don't know much about that," Nick said and turned his gaze away from Judy.
"Isn't he a friend of yours?" Judy stuck her left hand into her pocket and pushed a button on a pen.
"Darling, I know everybody. I get picked on by officers all the time. Whatever magic connection you guys think I have to anyone and everyone that walks up to my little street shop doesn't exist. So buy something and leave me alone or just leave me alone. I'm minding my business. How about you do the same?" He grabbed a pair of tongs and pointed them at Judy then squeezed them twice like they were a pair of lobster claws. She scoffed and said,
"Look, Finnick has been involved in dirty business and he made a suspicious sale to some potentially dangerous mammals. All I'm asking for is a little info so that the ZPD can try to prevent something awful from happening" Remembering to maintain politeness, she held onto her patience and asked, "Who were Finnick's customers?" Nick stifled a chuckle,
"That info will cost more than what your salary can afford, sweetheart. I can't help you." All the while Judy conversed with Nick, she noticed him looking behind her at would-be customers that shied away as their conversation devolved into a mini-argument. Judy continued to try to probe for information in as polite a way as she could. Though his obnoxious responses were slowly wearing down her patience.
"Nick, if you have anything that I can use, I'd really appreciate it. Be a part of something positive. Maybe Finnick could be the one in danger." At that, Judy swore she saw him react when she mentioned the possibility of Finnick being in trouble. Had I more knowledge of these two, I could use that right now as leverage to get some info from him. Damn...
"I am doing something positive," Nick said. "I'm selling delicious food to happy customers who just love my company. Isn't that good enough? I'm only a street vendor. And a good one." A mouse walked by and waved saying,
"Hi, Nick!" Nick smiled at Judy after acknowledging the mouse by waving back.
"See? I know everybody." Judy frowned, not seeing a way to pull anything useful out of him. She acquiesced to her failure in the conversation and slowly blinked at the fox then softly said,
"I'll buy a tomato if you have one." She reached into her left pocket and clicked her pen again.
"Actually-" Nick bent down to open up a cooler. He moved some produce around until he found a cold red tomato "-I have one right here. Just take it. On me." Judy's ears perked up in surprise. She reflexively smiled.
"If you ever want to talk, I'll be available. I'd really appreciate anything on Finnick or his customers. I'm not here to give you a hard time, Nick." Judy slumped away and heard her watch beeping.
"Oh no, my shift is over!" She stuffed the tomato into a pouch she carried and ran back to her parked patrol car.
As Judy headed back to the station, she thought about her encounter with the secretive fox. He was certainly rough around the edges. But to hide behind all those fake smiles must have been emotionally exhausting. It left her curious. There was a warmth about him and she struggled to decide if it was genuine or part of his mask.
"Nobody could be that sociable and be that big of a jerk at the same time," she mumbled. His hard shell had cracks. "What did he mean by he knew everybody?" There were answers Judy wanted. But figuring out how to get those answers was proving to be difficult. She needed to find Finnick. If anything, Nick bragging about knowing people only kept him on her radar.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a carrot shaped pen. The pen was a family toy given to her when she was younger. It still worked due to lack of use. It had a hidden microphone to record audio. For a toy, it was quite useful and clearly recorded sounds from an impressive distance. She played the bits of the conversation she recorded to herself and listened to how his voice changed over the course of their conversation. After replaying the audio for the third time she audibly thought,
"There's definitely a heart in there somewhere. And I think it's broken." She put the pen back in her pocket and resolved to continue her investigation into Nick and Finnick. "I'm not letting any of this go."