Jenga

Chapter Twenty-Six- His Day Off ~Arthur~ Part 2

"Arthur, you've gotten us into a real mess, haven't you?! Are you proud?!" Charlie exclaims, and lifts Arthur up by his jacket collar.

And, like always, I'm the one who stops him.

"Hey, Max. How did you track Dale down?" I ask him.

He answers pridefully, "It's Mackenzie, not Max. I ran home to get my laptop and search her up. I remember her name from one of those stripper bars or something. Then I found where she lived and used my GPS to do the rest."

"You're a pervert! Man, they come young. Moreover, did you break up with her yet?" I say.

From the corner of my eye I see Cyan scowl at him. He replies, "Yeah, I did. Yesterday. But a few minutes ago, she texted me saying she's coming to get me. So, her and Cassandra are on their way here."

"How do they know you're here?"

"I told them."

"You're a moron and a perv! Why would you do that?!" I'm starting to lose my paitence with Max. Really. I love him, but he's difficult.

"They would've found where I was, anyway. Phoebe seemed pretty serious. But don't worry; I'll take her on. I'm not ashamed to fight a girl."

"You should be," I hear Wisty mumble. She's right; he should be.

"Wisteria, I need your backup for Cassandra. Can you fight?" he says to Wisty.

She jolts at his demand and punches the wall, making a dent. "Not really, but I can try my best." What part of that is "not really"? I miscalculated. Wisty is pretty strong. "Call me Wisty. Everyone does," she says to him.

We stand there, anticipating the moment that's supposed to come. I glance at Julia and see she's on her phone. "How are you on your cell at a time like this?" I ask her rhetorically.

She looks up at me confidently and says, "You'll thank me later. I don't want to get my hands dirty."

Does she expect me to understand what she means?

<> <> <>

As soon as Dale barges in with Jesse and Macey by her side, I hear sirens from about a mile away. She scoffs. Julia steps in front of her. "You forgot something important, didn't you? You killed your sister, and you can't get away with it. I called the police. Did you really think you'd get away? You're setting a bad example for your kids."

"I'm not a kid," Jesse mumbles. So that's who Julia was calling. The cops.

"Shut up!" Dale's fist flies at Julia's face, almost bringing her to the floor.

"Julia!" Cyan furiously charges toward Dale.

Holding a finger up at Cyan, Julia grins. Is she crazy? "That won't change the fact that you're getting arrested, will it?"

The cops bust inside, handcuffing Dale, who starts cussing at the world. I look closely at one of the cops, and this time I recognize him immediately. "Reynie! Why are you a police officer? You're only eighteen," I say.

Reynie looks up at me and grins. He doesn't say anything, but tips his hat down, like those things cowboys do when they greet someone.

"That was taken care of easily," Arthur says.

Macey grabs my hands all of a sudden. "Thank you."

"You're thanking us for arresting your mother?" I retort. I mean, that's a little weird.

"I knew she was a bad woman. So now, Jesse and I can move back into Jen's house."

Jesse grabs his sister's arm and heads out, saying, "See you later."

I heave a sigh. Wisty says, "That's settled, but the ex-girlfriends are still coming back."

I shiver at the word "ex-girlfriend", and I don't know why, but I give Charlie an uppercut. He shrieks in pain. "What was that for?!"

"This is why you shouldn't create ex-girlfriends! You shouldn't even date psychos first and foremost because then, they'll come after you! I hope you learned your lesson," I scold.

Charlie rolls his eyes and is about to argue with me, but he looks up and shuts his mouth. He stands up and walks in front of me.

"Phoebe and Casanova! You came!" I shout. The way Cyan looks at me makes me feel retarded, though.

Casanova throws her fist in the air angrily. "It's Cassandra! Is that really how you talk to your older cousin?!"

I grimace. "Will you not remind me of that horror? I'd like to be free of such trivial relations, please. I don't even consider you as family. Especially because you dated my boyfriend. So, I suggest you leave now. Unless, you want Jen and Phoebe's mother to come and knock you out themselves. They're on their way, now. I texted Jen."

Charlie looks at me in surprise. I smile at him. "See? I can take care of myself--sometimes."

<> <> <>

Jen and Nora (I think that's her name) drag the unconcious Phoebe and Casanova away. Nora mumbles, "She causes trouble when I'm away. Now I know I'm going to have to take her with me--everywhere."

"As for Cass, I'd say get Neil to watch over her," Jen says.

Minutes later, the seven of us are alone in the house again. "What a day," Wisty says.

"I'm exhausted, and it's getting late," Julia adds.

"Don't you dare think you can go home," Arthur says darkly.

"Why not?" I ask.

"We didn't eat yet! We're going back to the diner and getting dinner! Because I put you guys through all this, it's on me."

"That's better," Cyan says.

"Field trip!" Max exclaims. I elbow him in his neck. Hard. "Ow ow ow!"

"Sorry, but you need it," I say, resorting to force Max out of his idiotic ways.

Cyan holds a finger up in Arthur's face as soon as we get outside. "You didn't answer my question."

Arthur laughs as if it's funny. But it's not. He's so damn lucky he's my ELA teacher; if he weren't he'd be dead. "Oh, that? Well, I wanted something climatic to do with my free time. Then I remembered this unsolved crime."

"But how did Rina predict all of this?" Julia asks.

"She didn't predict it," Arthur answers, "It's just what she thought would happen. And it did. Cool, huh?"

We all shake our heads in pure disagreement. Climatic. Arthur, please.

I look up at the night sky and loosen my face. I see the moon; it's full. I don't see many stars, but they are visible enough. Suddenly Charlie takes my hand and, without looking at him, I smile my largest smile.

I'm saying this reluctantly, but this is one of the best days off ever. Just one out of all the others.