“Sean,” I growl. That motherfucker never took care of whatever he needed to take care of. Officer Valentine places me into the back of his police car with my heart racing and my blood boiling in my veins. I’m going to kill him. I’m going to put my hands around his neck and choke the life right out of him. I kick the back door in uncontrolled anger.
“Hey! Cool it back there,” the officer gripes.
“Sorry,” I grit out. I feel murderous right now.
As we drive to the police station, the only sound in the car is the police scanner and the crackling of my rage.
Once there, Officer Valentine starts to in-process me. He takes all my possessions, fingerprints me, then sits me down at his desk and records all my info while I’m handcuffed to the chair. I feel like a disobedient dog.
“Can you tell me what the warrant is for?” I finally ask. I’ve been an angry mute for the last twenty minutes.
“Possession, kid. Heroin. And plenty of it. You must have been pretty loopy not to remember that arrest.”
I grind my teeth and pull at the handcuffs.
“How much?” I swallow a lump in my throat.
“Half an ounce.”
My stomach rolls.
“Can I get my phone call?”
“In just one sec.” He finishes typing something on the computer. The police station isn’t very busy. It’s all white walls and wood furniture. Nothing I haven’t seen before. Or anything I ever wanted to see again.
He slides the phone over to me, then continues with his paperwork. I just stare at the black and silver receiver. I debate calling one of three people. I pick up the phone and dial. It rings repeatedly as I say a silent prayer for her to pick up. Then on the fourth ring I hear her voice.
“Hello?” She’s groggy, no surprise. It’s seven a.m.
“Ma.”
“Ryan?”
“Yeah. Where’s Sean?” I am not fucking around.
I hear her shuffle on the other end. Then the clicking of a cigarette lighter. “Not sure. Where are you, and why are you calling so early?”
“I’m chained to a fucking chair at the Sea Bright police department because of him.” Officer Valentine gives me a funny look.Yeah. You heard me right.
There’s silence on the other end.
“Mom,” I snap. “Fucking find Sean. Get his ass down here and make him fix this.Now.”
“All right,” I hear her concede just before I slam the phone down. I may just die from a fury overdose today.
Once he’s finished with whatever he was doing on the computer, Officer Valentine takes me into holding with a look on his face that says either I’m full of shit or I’m in deep shit. I can’t quite decipher.
Holding is a tiny six by six cell, with gray walls, a bench, and nothing more. The confined space is maddening.
I pace incessantly, practically pulling out every strand of hair on my head. I’m lucky I have a lot. Sean has to fix this. He has to fix it and fix it now. I’m going to kill him. Literally, decapitate him. Misdemeanor my ass. I should have opened that stupid letter.Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.Now I’m paying for it.Big time.
A half ounce of heroin.
What. The. Fuck.
I have no idea how long I’ve been in here. There are no windows, and it’s stuffy. I’m confident either one of two things is going to happen. My mother is going to come through and show up with Sean, or I am going to be transferred to county. It’s only a matter of time until I find out which. I know the drill. I’ve traveled down this road before. When I was eighteen, I got popped for possession. A small amount of X. It earned me community service and probation.Hey, I never professed to being perfect.A few months later, I found Sean in withdrawal for the first time. You could say that chunk of my life changed my whole perspective on drugs. Both use and abuse.
I grab hold of the bars and drop my head against the steel. That’s when I realize I forgot about one very important person.Oh shit.I’ve been so busy counting all the ways I want to kill my brother I completely forgot I left Alana sleeping, alone, without so much as a note or a text saying I’d be right back. I’m sure she’s probably counting all the ways she wants to killmeright now.