diamonds | river phoenix

fourteen

"River! Wait up!" I called after him. River turned around, raised his eyebrow and stopped. I caught up, catching my breath.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Why do you want to get Kate out of jail? She could have killed you!" I asked in between breaths.

"She's your friend!" He replied. It felt like my heart had been crushed into a million little pieces. He was so sweet like that, doing anything to make me happy.

"But she bet you up! She's dangerous." I told him. He paused, taking this into consideration.

"She thought I was dangerous. She was only protecting herself." He said.

"C'mon River, I think it's time you went home and got some rest." I told him, taking his hand and turning around. He didn't move.

"We're getting her out." He stated.

"Why?" I asked. Why did he have to he so difficult at times?

"Because I said so. Now stop complaining and accept it." He said sternly. He had a dead serious look on his face. I couldn't help but laugh. He cracked a grin, then flung me over his shoulders and began marching down the street. I don't think he even had any idea where he was going.

"Put me down!" I struggled.

"If I put you down, you'll make me go home!" He replied.

"If you put me down, I'll help you find the police station." I said. He released me almost instantly.

"The police station's that way." I said, pointing the opposite way down the road. My stomach hurt from the way I had been pressed up against his bony shoulder.

"Oh." He said, a little ashamed. He tilted his head down and began walking. I scurried to catch up with him, my noticeably smaller legs struggling to keep up.

We walked for a decent 20 minutes in the hot afternoon sun, our necks burning and our backs sweating like crazy. The entire journey was in silence, no one spoke.

River and I stopped at the station door.

"How exactly do you plan to get her out?" I asked him.

"I got us this far, can't you think of that?" He replied.

"You're the one who wanted to get her out in the first place!" I exclaimed. River sighed and pushed open the huge, heavy doors to the station.

"Good afternoon, kids. How can I help 'ya?" The overweight police officer at the front desk asked. He was sorting through a massive stack of paperwork. River elbowed me in the ribs. I winced, rubbing my side.

"We'd uh, like to visit someone." I said. The police office pulled over a laptop and took a massive bite out of a sandwich, crumbs getting stuck in this thick moustache. I cringed.

"What'd be the name?" He asked with a mouthful of food.

"Kate Forfield." I said, biting my tongue to avoid saying anything about his disgusting moustache.

"Kate Forfield." He muttered. His breath reeked of cigarettes and alcohol, it was disgusting, especially for someone who was supposed to be protecting our country.

The officer punched something into the laptop and clicked on the mouse a few times until he turned back to us.

"She's not here." He said, his stank breath choking me a little.

"What do you mean she's not here?" River blurted out. He looked kind of offended.

The police officer shook his head.

"She was bailed out this morning."

Riv and I exchanged confused glances.

"Who bailed her out?" I asked. I was beginning to get slightly annoyed.

"I'm afraid that's classified information, miss." He said. He took another huge bite out of his sandwich. Before I could react, River was leaning over the counter and holding onto the officer's collar.

"Listen here, buddy. You tell us who  bailed her out or I'll call the cops." He raged. The officer calmly removed River's hands from his collar, rolled his eyes and said,

"I'm going to have to ask you and your ditsy girlfriend to leave before I have to call backup."

I scoffed. Who was he calling ditsy? I got a 97 in my exams, thank you very much.

"Let's go, River." I said, squeezing his hand to stop him from retaliating. He shook his head at the officer and turned around. We walked out, slamming the door shut.