“Yep.”
𓂓
Dewey arrived at the jail around lunchtime and went straight in to see John. When he learned from Dewey that ABCs would be bailing him out shortly after his bond hearing, John came out of his mental funk. He felt emboldened again. After all, the drug lord valued him so much as to arrange his release. Once Dewey left, a detective he’d never met came and got him from his holding cell. Officer Hines accompanied the detective but did not say anything. John kept his head down and his mouth shut as they walked to the interrogation room.
The detective led John into a windowless room with only a small table and two chairs. Wearing a distant but ominous look, Officer Hines remained outside and closed the door behind them. After dropping a thin file on the table, the detective motioned for John to take a seat, which faced a one-way mirror. While the detective cuffed him to a ring bolted to the table, John couldn’t help but squint in an effort to see who might be on the other side of the one-way glass.
The detective, a rough-looking medium build man bulging in the middle, noticed John’s ignorance. He twisted his head to the side, and chuckled. He had the scrabbly face of a disinterested cop who cared just enough to shave every few days. Dressed in a dark brown two-piece suit with a taupe shirt, his black cap-toe shoes scuffed the floor as he ambled over to the opposite chair and sat down with a huff.
The detective took a sip of coffee from a foam cup that had been sitting on the table when he arrived. There was no welcoming warm steam rising from it. After a taste, he curled his lip a little and set the cup down a little farther away. He opened the thin file, arranged some papers on the table, then began the session. “John, I’m Detective Mullens. What can you tell me about the bag of drugs we got from your truck?”
Unintimidated, John the driver curled his lip up and raised his chin, “Nothin’.”
Sneering at any question the detective had for him, John played the part of non-cooperative prisoner with some sense of satisfaction. He had enjoyed the prestige of being a drug mule for several months now and was not about to put that at risk by talking. As he sat through the questioning, his thoughts drifted to a mafia movie. In it, a young guy got arrested and didn’t talk. When the guy got out of jail, they treated him like a hero. They even threw him a party! He faded in and out of this daydream as the questioning came to a close.
Detective Mullens and John the driver flinched when a solid knock rattled the door. Mullens stood up and walked over to open the door. A lawyer burst in. “What’s going on here? Are you questioning my client without legal representation?”
Mullens sat back, eyes narrowed. “At the time we began questioning, he did not have representation. Besides, he agreed to the interview.”
“I did not!” John exclaimed.
“You did when you sat down and started talking,” Mullens replied calmly. He enjoyed sowing the seeds of dissent between the lawyer and suspect.
John started to speak but the lawyer cut in. “Don’t say another word,” the lawyer barked. “This interrogation is over.”
Hines emerged from a side door used to access the mirror room. He pushed past the lawyer and gave the detective a regretful look as he uncuffed John from the table. Hines simply walked him back to his cell, neither man saying a word.
Once he settled back in the holding cell, John continued to daydream of the reward he would get for his silence. “I showed them,” he whispered to himself, drifting deeper into self-reverie.
Not long after that, another guard appeared. “John Williams. Time for your bond hearing.”
John stood up and sauntered over to the gate of his cell wondering if The Alphabet King himself would be there to greet him.
𓂓
Little Armando had spent a peaceful morning with momma doing laundry. Several weeks had passed since the men were there, and things had returned to normal. They stood side by side, sorting the clothes and chatting. Armando became agitated when she pulled a pair of his underwear from the basket. “You see, my sweet child, I have sewn in your initials so that we know whose is whose.” They shared a laugh. “But remember, the wealthy people have their own initials sewn into their clothes. So, it is also a treat for you.”
“Will I be wealthy, Momma?”
“All your dreams can come true, my love, but it is up to you. That is all we can ask of God and the world.”
She embraced him with a very long hug. He grabbed her around the waist, never wanting to let go of that moment. It didn’t last long.
They heard commotion outside. Then the men with the tattoos kicked in the door.
She tried to push Armando away, but he wouldn’t let go. “You must leave, now,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry, Momma.” Little Armando tightened his arms around her. “I won’t let go.”
Two men walked directly to them—no words, while a third stood in the doorway.
The first man grabbed Little Armando by the back of the head and arm and pulled him away, bending his neck back painfully.
“No! Let go of him!” his momma yelled. The second man slapped her hard, knocking her to the floor.
The first man threw Armando to the ground. The two men lifted his mother up, her head drooping between her shoulders. They carried her one under each arm, feet dragging. Armando got up and ran toward them. “Stop! Stop!” he cried. The third man came forward and lifted him up by his shirt, throwing him across the room to the floor, then walked over and kicked the boy in the stomach. “You can forget about your mother. You will never see her again,” he growled. “Shut up and do as you’re told. Stay put.”
Armando lay balled up on the floor, sobbing, watching as they dragged his mother out. He heard one of the men comment, “You will be working off your husband’s debts from now on. Someone has to pay.”
“Someone always pays,” one of the other men said.
𓂓
Sean stepped back to soak in Jackie’s dark blue Audi A6. “Love your car, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Jackie replied.
Once in the car with Sally in front, Elena behind her in the car seat, and Sean behind Jackie, she pressed the keyless start switch. Without warning, the stereo blared Alanis Morissette Underneath, automatically linked from her cell phone. Jackie fumbled with the phone before simply using the steering wheel controls to turn the music down. Sally looked sideways at her. “Leave it on. Who doesn’t like Alanis?”
Sean started to raise his hand but thought better of it and turned his attention to Elena’s car seat.
Jackie looked into the rearview and saw Sean double-checking Elena’s buckles. She smiled then asked, “Ready?”
Elena and Sean said in unison, “Ready!” Then turned to each other and laughed.
Jackie gave them another warm smile from the rearview as she backed out. Once they were settled into the drive and Elena and Sean were staring into their devices, Jackie asked a question. “Sally?”
“Yes?”
