Serubi's Mystery Tape: The Adventures of a Streetwise Detective

I was already several blocks from my shop when I heard the explosion. It sounded like a bomb blast but much louder, like a car had gone off or something. My first instinct was to run in the other direction, but I turned around and went back.

"I told you, man," said one of my friends as I walked into the shop. "This is gonna be trouble."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, ignoring him and looking out the window at the storefront across the street. The windows were blown out and there were flames licking up the walls. A crowd had gathered, but no fire trucks were anywhere in sight.

"You know how they've been watching us for months now? It's just intimidation, man. They want our customers to think we're breaking some law or something."

"You're always saying that," I said. "What law would we be breaking?" I walked over to one of my shelves and grabbed a bag of weed from it. "You know this shit is legal here in California." I started rolling a joint, trying not to think about what had happened across the street from me.

"They just don't like that we're selling stuff that's supposed to be illegal," he said. He was on his cell phone now, yelling at someone about how they couldn't just raid an establishment because of something someone else did next door.

My friend came running into my store a minute later, waving his phone around while he paced back and forth trying to stay on his call without having to walk further than ten feet away from me. "Yeah, it's bullshit!" he shouted into the phone. "I'm telling you they can't do this!" He paused for a moment while he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line before shouting again: "But you told me not to sell anything illegal! And what the fuck is wrong with selling pot if it's legal here?" He listened again for a few seconds before shouting again: "Well who cares? You're not here and these assholes are busting down my door!" He ran out of my store and disappeared down the street, leaving me alone in my store with only silence for company except for some idiot calling in on his cell phone outside making sure everyone knows what happened and that he's going to get someone fired over it.

That's when I heard another loud explosion from across town followed by sirens blaring in all directions. One siren seemed louder than all of them though and it was getting closer by the second until finally it stopped right outside my store with two cop cars right behind it.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as two cops opened their doors and stepped out of their cars while they pointed their guns at my storefront window trying to see inside through all of this smoke still swirling around outside my store. After a few seconds one of them lowered his gun slightly and shook his head at me before pointing at his ear with his free hand as if to say 'you'll have to speak up'.