Hot and Humid (Laurmani)

Chapter 12

The next morning, I cashed the check my parents gave me and made it to a bail bondsman who cut me a check for $1,000. I was relieved that he took care of the bonding process because I was completely unfamiliar with it. He told me to wait for Lauren's call to pick her up, and that it could take a few hours to a day for her to be ready for release. Fortunately, Lauren called me that evening to take her home.

Our ride home was mostly quiet with us holding hands the whole way. The first thing Lauren did when she walked through the door of our apartment was greet her dog who was jumping all over her.

"How was my fur kid while I was gone?" she asked.

"I think he was depressed because he stopped humping on everything."

She was kneeled down rubbing her fingers through his fur. "Aw. I missed you too. I missed you more than anything."

"Um, excuse you," I retorted. "You missed your dog more than you missed me?"

"Dogs are the most loyal companions, Normani," she explained.  

"Remember you said that when you're sleeping alone tonight."

Lauren stood up and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. "You don't mean that. Let's go to your room. I couldn't wait to get home and fuck you."

"Ew, no," I cried. "You have prison germs all over you."

"You can't be serious. I showered this morning. I'm clean," she argued.

"Yes, you showered in a prison shower covered in prison germs."

Lauren pouted. "You're not going to make me take another shower, are you?"

"It's up to you. You aren't getting any until you do," I informed her.

"Grrr. Why did I have to fall in love with a germaphobe?" Lauren rushed to her room stripping off her clothes on the way. A couple of moments later, I heard the shower start up. After she was finished, we did what couples do and went to sleep.

Over the next couple of weeks, Lauren's attorney worked with the prosecution on coming up with a plea deal. Finally, they settled on five years on probation and a $5,000 fine. Her lawyer assured her that was the best deal they were going to get. We were both just relieved that she wouldn't spend any more time incarcerated. Lauren agreed to the deal and put in a guilty plea. We waited a week before a judge approved the plea bargain.

A few days later, I checked the mailbox and saw mail from Lauren's attorney. It was bill. Ugh. When I returned to our apartment, I pulled out Lauren's paperwork and brought it to the dining room table. Lauren was sitting on the couch watching something on Netflix. "Hey, babe. Can you come here?" I called to her. She stopped whatever she was watching, walked over to the table, and sat down."

"What's up?" she inquired.

"First thing's first. You got a bill from your lawyer for $10,000."

She gasped. "You opened my mail? Mani, that's a federal crime," she jested.

"What are you going to do about it?" I joked. "The bail bondsman is charging us a 7% fee on the $1,000 he put up. So, that means we owe him $1,070. You also have the $5,000 fine to pay. In total, you owe $16,070. Jesus, Lauren. Even with payment plans, how are you going to afford this?"

Lauren slowly exhaled. "Fuck. That IS a lot of money. I'm going to have to get a part-time job."

"Who is going to hire a felon except for McDonald's? It would take you forever to pay these bills making minimum wage working part-time."