The Bitter Truth

Chapter 4 ~ Reflection

As Ronny slowly walked out, Mr Choles behind him was anything but at his pace. With Saija by her ear in one hand and using his cane as support in the other, he stormed past.

In that split second, the siblings made eye contact. Time itself seemed to stretch out as she walked past him. It was as if magnetic strings were reaching out, trying to pull them together, only to be shredded away.

The last thing Ronny saw as he stepped out of the station was her being roughly tossed Into the back seat of a car before Mr Choles got in. He watched the car sped off, snapping the last string.

 Pulling himself together, Ronny began the walk back to his side of town when he heard Mildez call his name. He spun around as she sprinted after him. Upon reaching him, she took a second, leaning forward, her palms on her knees, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.

"I wasn't going to make you walk back. I brought you all the way out here," she explained, standing upright. Her hair was disheveled slightly, sticking out on top of her head.

Ronny shook his head firmly, expressing, "It don't bother me none, Officer. I need to clear my head anyway."

"Please," Mildez urged, her voice filled with concern. "I mean, it just doesn't feel right."

Not feeling up for a fuss and with concerns for Arliss looming over him, Ronny conceded, and they began the walk back to Mildez's patrol car.

Settling into the passenger seat and securing his seatbelt, Ronny asked, "No Mike this time?"

Mildez shook her head as she adjusted the driver's seat, pulling it forward to reach the pedals and fine-tuning the mirror positions to suit her.

When she stole a glance at Ronny, she noticed the fatigue and pain in his eyes as he stared out of the window.

"I'm truly sorry about this, Ronald," she empathized.

"Ain't your fault, Officer. And please, just call me Ronny. My old man was Ronald," he responded wearily.

"I go by Jaime too," she offered with a warm smile.

"In that case, Jaime it is... As long as Arliss ain't around," Ronny quipped, mustering a faint grin.

She laughed, remembering their first encounter ten years ago. Arliss was sure sore to be retrieving him from the station.

As she steered the car onto the bustling street, she asked, "How did you two meet?"

He shifted in his seat and replied, "Arliss took me under his wing when I was just a youngin' after I tried to rob him."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, "You tried to rob him?!"

"Emphasis on 'tried,'" he said with a smirk that quickly faded into a more solemn expression. He looked down at his scuffed boots next to her neatly polished uniform ones.

"Why did you try to rob him?" she asked, craning her neck to look through the windshield because of her shorter stature.

"I was...starvin'... You know you can put the seat up, right?"

"Huh?" she responded, confused.

Ronny clarified, "The seat. There ought to be a second handle."

Jaime's brow furrowed as she reached back, fumbling around for the handles on the side of her seat. When her hand finally found one, she pulled it, expecting a simple adjustment. But to her surprise, the seat rapidly reclined backward, causing her to hit the brakes with a sudden squeal.