AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luke
The official charge was larceny and fraud. They held me overnight, in a room about the same size as the one I shared with Frankie and Rooster at Camp Leatherneck. A bench with vinyl tacked on for sleeping. A toilet sticking out of the wall. A hallway where officers passed, glancing in my direction under their crew cuts and dress blues on their way to somewhere else.
I fell into a deep sleep, deeper than I’d ever slept, losing track of whether it was morning or evening.
When I woke, I taught myself to tell time, as I’d done at Cassie’s. The rounder, balding officer who brought a circular yellow rubber thing that was supposed to be eggs meant it was around nine in the morning. The dark-skinned officer with glasses who brought me a bologna sandwich with stale corn chips meant it was around noon.
They must have forgotten dinner. No one passed but a jowl-faced officer who was playing on his phone and didn’t notice I was in the cell.
I made up rules for myself for after I got out, whenever that would be. Meetings twice a week. Bachelor’s degree, not associate’s. Finish a book every week. And the last one, the one that would be the hardest, that I would constantly reverse in my head for every selfish reason, but knew I couldn’t break: Leave Cassie alone.
Finally, shortly after the balding, rounder one brought the third yellow rubber thing, they told me that the court-appointed attorney would be arriving later that afternoon.
I was used to the way business was handled in a place like this: I had about three questions max before they lost their patience or felt I was challenging their authority, and after that I had to shut up and operate on their terms.
First, I asked about Cassie. Had they taken her in, too?
“No information is available at this time, Private.”
Second, I asked when the hearing would be.
“I will let you know.”
I knew what the third question should be, but I was hesitant, knowing it might be wasted. It was highly doubtful Dad would drive to Austin just to watch me fuck up again. But if the arraignment was soon, and if no one posted bail, I could be detained up until they moved me to prison. I didn’t know when I would have the chance to speak to him. I wanted to explain. I wanted him to be here.
