by Mia Archer
“So how are you going to get it back?”
“Could we maybe focus on what’s going on right now? Like getting the fuck away from the cops before they have a chance to get both of us in trouble?”
“Yeah, guess that is a better idea,” she whispered.
I shook my head. Mari was gorgeous, but savvy and streetwise she was not. Not that I expected any less from her. She’d never needed to work on those skills. Hell, I barely needed them considering the mean streets I walked were practically Mayberry as long as you ignored the occasional meth bust.
“Over here,” I hissed. “The factory didn’t clear the woods on this side for whatever reason. Once we get in there we don’t have to worry about Smokey Bear chasing anyone down.”
“Who?”
I rolled my eyes. This girl really was too innocent for her own good. The world was going to chew her up and spit her out if I gave it a chance.
Like hell that was happening on my watch.
We sprinted over the dark pavement. This side of the building had been a parking lot once upon a time, but pretty much every side of the building had been a parking lot once upon a time. The place was big enough to support this town and a couple others in the county back when it was still going.
Now the parking lot was falling apart with weeds and grass and the occasional tree sticking up through it and making the path treacherous on a good day.
In the middle of the night when we were running from the cops? It became downright dangerous.
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Mari cursed and I felt her going down beside me. She cried out as she hit the pavement and I moved down and pulled my phone out. Ran it over her to see if there was anything obviously wrong.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Tripped on something,” she said, then let out a hiss. “Think I skinned my knee and maybe my hands. Hurts like a bitch.”
I moved my phone down and sure enough she’d ripped the skin off her knees. That was going to hurt here in a little while, but right now it seemed like adrenaline was keeping it from hurting her too much.
“Can you walk?”
“Are you crazy? I just…”
“I’m telling you I heard something back here!”
We both froze. I turned my phone off, and not a moment too soon as a group of cops rounded the back of the factory with their flashlights sweeping around the edge.
“You’re crazy,” a lady cop said.
“I’m telling you I heard someone shouting back here. I told you there was a back entrance here!”
That accompanied their lights flashing over the entrance we’d snuck out of. Damn. We would’ve gotten away with this if Mari hadn’t fallen over.
As it was I figured there was still a chance we might get away with this. I motioned to Mari and she stood, but not too high. I hunched over and picked my way across the ancient parking lot, careful to actually pick my way this time rather than going on a crazy sprint through the darkness with barely even enough moonlight to see by.
It was a gamble, but I figured it was safer to try and run than it was to stick around. There was a chance they wouldn’t swing those flashlights out into the parking lot and see us, but given the way my fucking luck was going tonight I didn’t want to take those chances.
“I think we’re going to make it,” Mari said.
“You need to keep quiet,” I hissed back. “If they heard you yell once they can…”
I shut up. Here I was telling her to keep her mouth shut and I wasn’t doing the same damn thing. It was slow going, but it was a big parking lot and the longer we went without grabbing their attention the more I thought we might actually get away with this.
Of course I should’ve known better than to get my hopes up. Right around when I got my hopes up was right around when the universe kicked me in the teeth.
“Sorry kid. We know your mom had been clean for a few months, but turns out it’s a lot easier to OD when someone relapses.”
Yeah, again, story of my fucking life.
“We need to get you the fuck out of here,” I said.
At this point I didn’t care if something happened to me. If something happened to me then shit happened. It happened to me a lot. That was life.
I wasn’t going to see Mari run through the wringer though. One hint of rumor about her getting busted at a party like this and her life would be over. The rumor mill would churn and chew her up and spit her out until there was nothing left.
That wasn’t happening. Not on my fucking watch. Not after everything she’d done for me.
Even if everything she’d done for me boiled down to her simply treating me like a person.
The flashlights moved out over the parking lot and moved past us. I held my breath and prayed that they didn’t see us, but no such luck. No sooner had they moved past us than they were back piercing the night around us.
On the bright side that meant we didn’t have to go stumbling around in the darkness anymore. I’d take that win thank you very much.
“I told you there was someone out here!” the guy shouted. “Get them around here!”
“We’ve got a couple of runners on the other side of the factory,” the woman shouted, no doubt into one of those little radio things they carried on their shoulders.
“Stop! Stop now!”
Mari actually started to slow down. My eyes bugged out at that. Was she fucking serious?
“You never stop when the cops are chasing you darling,” I said.
I grabbed her by the back of the neck, by her collar, and pulled her along. I had to drag her for a couple of steps before she got the point and started running again.
I’m sure it was difficult for her. She’d got the same speech everyone did back in elementary school about how the cops were your friend, but in her case that had actually been true.
Until now.
It was going to be close. I heard the cops running across the parking lot behind us, their heavy boots falling on the asphalt and sending chunks of it skittering off into the darkness behind us. They also had the advantage of being clearheaded, no pot for them tonight, and they had those damn flashlights which meant they could see where the hell they were going.
“Not good,” I grunted.
Then we were at the trees. I shoved Mari into the forest, not giving a fuck if she hurt herself on a branch or something. The more important thing was that she got away. She cried out in surprise and disappeared into some bushes.
I really hoped there wasn’t any poison ivy in there. I fucking hated poison ivy. I moved to dive in after her when the running behind me changed tempo. Something grabbed onto my arm and yanked me back.
Shit. The cops had caught up with us. With me. While Mari got away.
I turned around and my stomach did a flip. Not only had the cops caught us, but I recognized that smiling face. Jenkins. The last cop in the world I wanted to run into ever.
Story of my fucking life. At least I could take comfort knowing I got Mari away. Now I had to pray to a God I wasn’t sure even existed that goody-two-shoes wouldn’t turn herself in anyways after all the trouble I went to to keep her out of trouble.
14
Mari
I grunted as I hit the ground. The first thought I had was the strong hope that there wasn’t poison ivy or anything like that waiting for me in these bushes. Robin might have grown up in town, but she should know that stuff was out here.
I rolled and cursed. I was going to be covered in grime by the time this was over. It was going to be really fun trying to explain to my parents why I was covered in dirt and grime when I came home covered in… well. Dirt and grime.
Damn it.
I turned fully prepared to give Robin a piece of my mind. I’m not sure why she was making such a big deal out of this anyways.
It’s not like it was a big deal. The police were our friends. I still remembered all the fun we had when they came to visit our youth group to give a speech about
being good and keeping our noses clean.
I mean sure I wasn’t exactly keeping my nose clean tonight, but I still had trouble conceiving of a world where the police were the bad guys. They were there to help. Even my dad got along with most of them and it was his job to make their lives as difficult as possible.
Only as soon as I turned around any words I might’ve had died on my tongue. The cops had caught Robin, and it didn’t look like they were being all that helpful.
It was hard to see through the brush, but they pulled her back roughly and threw her to the ground. I gasped as one of them landed on top of her back and then they were breaking out the cuffs.
The jerks weren’t even reading her her rights! My eyes narrowed. I knew enough from TV and listening to my dad talk about cases where the police went too far that they were supposed to do that. I was also pretty sure they weren’t supposed to be getting so rough with her.
I don’t know if it was the rebellious streak that had been growing inside me all night or if it was the natural instinct of a lawyer’s daughter, but whatever it was I stepped forward and pulled my phone out.
I didn’t step forward far enough that they would actually be able to see me, but that didn’t seem to be much of a problem considering they were so preoccupied with Robin. So it was easy enough for me to hit the record button on my phone.
Sure it was dark out, but they were being nice enough to shine their flashlights around which gave my phone a nice view when it was coupled with the low light capabilities on the thing.
I’d have to thank daddy for getting me this new phone sometime. It was even helping me do his favorite thing, stick it to the local police.
Even if it was in a professional capacity and he did have a standing golf outing with the chief of police every other weekend.
“Well hello there Robin,” the woman said. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you. Up to your usual tricks?”
I said a quick prayer that she knew to stay quiet in a situation like this. Sure I was always a good girl, but my dad had also gone over what I was supposed to do if I ever found myself getting in trouble with the cops.
I’d be dead afterwards when he got through with me, but he told me what to do with the cops.
I sighed in relief when Robin didn’t say anything. The female cop lifted her up and held her up until she was on her tiptoes. Robin grunted and I wanted to cry out, but I didn’t do anything because I knew the moment I did it would give me away.
They seemed to have forgotten that they were chasing two people across the parking lot. For the moment. I didn’t want to remind them that I was hiding out here.
“Come on Robin,” the lady cop said. “We know you’re out here up to no good. I always hoped I might find you at one of these things, but I figured you were too smart.”
“Fuck you,” Robin said.
“You hear that?” the lady cop said. “She wants me to fuck myself. I hear you’re into that sort of thing. Not surprising, a little juvenile delinquent like you. Bet you learned that when you spent time at the county youth center, huh?”
I frowned. I didn’t like where this was going at all. Who the heck was this lady and why was she acting like that?
“Come on Jenkins,” the guy finally said. “Let’s get this over with. Read her her rights and we’ll get her back to the car with everyone else.”
“Oh no we don’t,” the woman, Jenkins, said. “I’ve wanted to find this one out making trouble for a long time and we’re not giving that away.”
She surprised me by kneeing Robin in the back. Sure I’d heard of cops doing that sort of thing, I’d heard my dad complain about bad eggs from time to time, but that was hardly ever something that happened around here.
This one seemed to take it personally that Robin was out here though. I kept right on filming.
“So are you going to tell us where your merchandise is hidden or what?” Jenkins asked.
“What are you talking about?” the guy asked.
“You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but this girl along with the big guy we picked up back at the party are a couple of the biggest conduits for pot we have in this county,” Jenkins said.
The guy, he looked younger and I almost felt like I should’ve recognized him, like we went to school together, rolled his eyes and let out a disgusted noise.
“You’re seriously giving her shit over a little pot? Come on. Let’s get her back to the car already. It’s not like she’s one of the meth heads blowing up a farmhouse or something.”
The girl, Jenkins, looked down at Robin again. Finally she let out a disgusted noise of her own and lifted Robin up. Robin cried out in pain and my heart leapt. I felt like a coward for hanging out back here while she was in real trouble.
She’d made sure I was the first one in the bushes. For some reason she’d sacrificed herself so I could get away completely free, and the guilt of it was eating at me.
“Come on you little punk,” Jenkins said. “We’re gonna get you back to the car, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Cut the crap Jenkins,” the guy said, but he didn’t say it with much conviction. I got the feeling he was definitely the junior officer on the scene. The lady looked to be a few years older than him at least.
They pulled her along and she let out a small grunt again. Damn. That looked like it was painful. And as they walked away, their flashlights still providing plenty of illumination, the lady cop reached out and tripped her.
Robin fell forward with a yell and this time when she came up I thought I could hear quiet sniffling. Not that I could blame her. That looked like it hurt and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it because her hands were cuffed behind her.
Tears came to my eyes. So much had changed tonight already. I’d dared to lie to my parents and go out to have a good time. I’d gone out with another woman. I’d done what we did up in that manager’s office and I’d even taken a hit off of a joint.
Yet nothing changed me more than that moment watching that old bitch of a cop treating Robin like that. It was like I was seeing the world for what it really was for the first time.
The church was supposed to be good. The police were supposed to be good. Yet the church told me things that felt really good, things that felt right, were evil. The police were doing this to Robin.
Alan, the sheriff’s son and the guy who went to church and youth group, tried to force himself on me. Robin, the bad girl who everyone said was a bad influence and a lesbian, said it like that was a bad thing for some reason, turned out to be one of the nicest most selfless people I’d ever met.
And I was pretty sure I was falling for her.
I felt like the whole life I’d been leading, the goody-two-shoes existence where every issue was written in black and white, was shattered in one night. I wondered how I could have ever been so naive.
I had to do something to help her. I wanted to do something to help her. I couldn’t let everything end in disaster like this. I wouldn’t let everything end in disaster like this, damn it.
But I knew the only thing I could do was watch and record this and hope I could do something with it later. The only problem with that is I knew that doing something about this later would mean talking to my dad about it, and that would mean letting them know that I’d lied about where I was going tonight.
That would also come awfully close to telling them the truth of why I was so interested in helping Robin. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to tell them that.
As though thinking about my parents was enough to draw their attention to me, the worst possible thing that could happen in that moment happened. That was about how this night seemed to be going though.
The camera stopped just as the cop roughly pushed Robin forward. I managed to catch her stumbling before the video image of the cop getting a little too rough was replaced with a screen helpfully informing me that I had an incoming call.
Not that I really needed the screen to tell me I h
ad an incoming call. Not when my ringer started blasting at full volume. It was one of my favorite pop songs from a boy band I should’ve stopped liking years ago, and it echoed out across the empty parking lot.
Which meant it also got the cop’s attention.
“Damn it, what are you thinking? Run!” Robin shouted.
That earned her an elbow from the cop. Damn it. I wish I could’ve caught that on camera, but I’d have to hope that what I had so far was enough. It had to be enough.
Besides, her advice was pretty good. The other cop, the younger guy that I almost recognized, turned and ran for the the trees.
Damn it. I ended the call with my parents which would piss them off, one of the conditions of me having a cell phone was that I was to answer their call immediately, and turned off the ringer so the inevitable followup call wouldn’t announce my position with the cops.
The followup call would be inevitable when I didn’t answer the first time. This night was falling apart in more ways than one, but first I needed to focus on not getting caught by the cops, damn it.
I turned and ran through the woods. I didn’t turn a light on because I didn’t want to give my position away, but it would’ve been helpful to have some light to see by. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though, and at least I hadn’t been caught yet.
Branches and twigs tore at my dress and my skin as I moved through the woods. Wet leaves slapped against me and I really hoped the leaves brushing against my feet weren’t poison ivy.
Meanwhile my phone buzzed in my hands. Oh yeah. That would be my parents calling trying to figure out where the hell I was and why the hell I wasn’t answering their call.
I wanted to think this night couldn’t get any worse, but at this point thinking things like that felt like inviting trouble and that was the last thing I wanted.
“I know you’re out there!” the cop shouted from somewhere behind me. “Come on. Just give up already. You’re just making this more difficult for both of us! I promise we’ll go easy on you if you just stop!”
