Don't Panic

(11) Smile for the camera [Edited]

Officer William's P.O.V

I pulled up to the town's pharmacy to drop my daughter Natalie off at work. 

"We caught a bunch of kids we think were playing Panic last night. You're too smart to get mixed up in that, Yeah?" I asked her while I pulled into the parking lot. Nat scoffed, "Come on, Dad." 

"I just want what's best for you, you know that right?" 

"Yeah, I know you always think you know what's best..." 

"Yeah, because I am your father" I interrupted her. "By the way, did you get a chance to look at those brochures from the community college? They have acting classes." 

"Dad, I just graduated" Nat argued. "Oh, I get it. You want to work at the Pharmacy forever. That's your business" I said nodding my head in the direction of the store in front of them. 

"Alright, alright, fine. I'll take a look" She spoke before getting out of the car. I laughed to myself and waited in the parking lot for Natalie to open the door of the Pharmacy to yell "I love you!" 

She stopped what she was doing and let go of the door, "I know that!" She yelled and walked inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pulled up to the police station and went inside, looking around curiously because the kids we picked up last night were not anywhere in sight. 

I walked down one of the many hallways but stopped when Sheriff Cortez called my name. "Yeah" I answered and walked into his office. 

Cortez was sitting lazily with his feet on his desk and was fiddling with a paper airplane. "Do me a favor. Will you pull the tapes from the speed trap south of the granary? I want to get a good look at the traffic from that night. That graffiti didn't graffiti itself," The Sheriff explained.

Just then Sargent Langley poked her head in the doorway and knocked twice before saying "Hey, Sarah Miller's still here. Sounds like she's ready to talk." 

"Who's Sarah Miller?" I asked the two. 

"Remember Caitlyn Miller, one of the girls who played panic last year? Well, Sarah's her little sister. She's the only one we were able to keep in custody, thanks to Langley. She nabbed Sarah with a beer in her hand and a dime of marijuana in her front pocket" The Sheriff told him. 

"I can start off with her if you want me to" Langley offered. "No, no, no. You put her in the interrogation room, I'll handle it" Cortez said. Langley nodded her head and left without another word. 

The Sheriff turned to face me again. "Hyenas, john, these kids protect each other like hyenas until you isolate one of them. Then, well... Then they just protect themselves." I hummed quietly, not in agreement, but not in disagreement either. 

I chose that time to walk away and start doing police work while Cortez got up out of his chair and headed for the interrogation room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheriff Cortez's p.o.v

After talking to Sarah, I got in my police cruiser and drove to my house to see my wife. As I walked up the pathway I took my police belt and hat off. 

I went inside only to see my wife sitting on the couch in her pajamas, smoking a cigarette, and watching old home movies of our son Jimmy who died last year playing Panic. 

"Melanie," I said disappointingly. "Honey, we talked about this" I spoke referencing the home movies. "I'm sorry," She said as I walked around the couch to the alcohol stand and opened a bottle of whiskey. 

"You gotta stop doing this to yourself"  She didn't respond.  "You gotta stop doing this to us, Melanie?" I tried again, She gave me an annoyed look and still didn't respond.

"Hey, you gotta stop. Have you eaten anything today?" She shook her head no. "Why don't you shower up and you get your hair all pretty and we'll go to the old house and I'll get you a double cheeseburger and those curly fries you love. Come on, I think it'll be good for you to get out of the house" I said. 

"Do you?" She questioned. I only sighed and she finally gave up and said fine as she got up and walked away.

I eyed the laptop she was watching and against my better judgment, I picked it up and opened it. The video was of me, Melanie, our son Jimmy and Jimmy's girlfriend Abby. We were in our backyard having a barbecue.

VIDEO- "My one thing is being good at barbecuing and another thing is being a flip master. It's all in the wrist, you want to flip it up and catch" I spoke to Jimmy who was holding the camera and hyping me up. 

"I want to say happy birthday to the most beautiful girl in Texas" Melanie started "The great state of Texas" Cortez interrupted "Who gets prettier and prettier every year" Melanie continued as the camera switched to Abby whole was holding a bowl of salad for their barbecue. 

"There's Abby!" Jimmy said behind the camera. "Your a little rascal aren't you?" Abby asked Jimmy as she took the camera from him and he got in the shot with his parents. "Smile for the camera," She said. - End of video

I  continued to watch the movie with tears in his eyes, hating myself for what I lost and hating this town for the game.

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