My Rainbow of Confusion

Chappie 22

Chapter 22: This Isn't My First Rodeo

Amber

What happens next is something that I still can't understand.
Abe walks up to me smirking and giggling evilly.
He presses his silver gun to my forehead and I grip mine.
"Oh don't bother, my love," he reaches down and takes my gun from my right hand.
He throws it across the room.
I close my eyes. Shit.
"I'm not going to shoot you." He finishes.
"Oh?" I say with my eyes still closed.
"If I kill the love of my life, then who will I have?" Abe pouts.
"Poppe doesn't seem to want to leave your side." I say, opening my eyes.
"Oh Jesus, don't get me sent to jail so soon." He laughs.
I stifle a laugh but forget to hide my smile.
Abe smiles, "Its okay to laugh love."
"If you could take the gun from my head, then maybe this situation would be a lot funnier." I say.
"Oh right-"
The door flies open.
The roof comes in.
The walls blow apart.
Men in black and white take Abe to the ground.
A woman in blue and white steps in front of my line vision so all I can see is her.
"Sweetheart?! Sweetheart, what is your name?" She asks me, speaking over the commotion.
"Um, Amber." I say.
"Well Amber my name is detective Stuart can you come with me, it'll be alright." She says and starts ushering me out of the room.
I look over my shoulder at Abe who is being pinned to the ground.
He doesn't seem to be upset in any way. If anything, he is laughing. And his weapon is across the room. He isn't fighting or yelling so honestly I don't know why he is being held down.
"What about-"
"Don't worry about him sweetheart, he is going to go away for a long time." Detective Stuart says to me, still pushing me out through the wall.
As I get into Stuart's car I look back again at Abe.
They have finally picked him up from the ground and are carrying him to another police car.
I am about to roll up my window when his face, suddenly appears.
He is smiling and Stuart is screaming at him to get away.
He laughs, "don't look so worried baby, this isn't my first rodeo. I'll be out in a month, you'll see."
Cops then grab him and yank him back to the car.
They throw him in the back and slam the door.
Detective Stuart and I drive away.
***
Police stations are cold. And they are as intimidating as they appear in television.
Even though I have been told 12 times that I am not in trouble and that I am not going to jail, I can still picture myself in an orange jumpsuit.
I shudder.
"Are you cold still sweetheart? You don't want another blanket do you?" Detective Stuart asks.
I am currently wrapped in three, white, fluffy, blankets. And quite frankly I don't think they have anymore.
"No. I'm fine." I respond and flash a fake smile.
"Great. So I need you to answer a couple of questions for me. Can you do that?" She asks.
I nod.
"Great! So how did you meet Mr Dip?" She begins.
"School."
"Tell me about it."
"He was brand new. And he asked me to be his partner for an assignment in physics." I say.
"Did you and Mr Dip have any encounters after school hours?" She writes on a notepad.
"One. He asked me to hang out and we went to the bowling alley."
She stops writing, "the same-"
"Yes. The same one you just, rescued, me from." I say.
I have yet to tell this lady that I was never the one in any real danger.
I think about Sam and my heart twists with guilt. I think about Crate and my heart just breaks.
I really put one of the two greatest people in my life, in the most ultimate danger. What kind of person am I?
"Tell me about the bowling alley day." Stuart speaks.
"Nothing really happened. We played three rounds and had a lot of pizza. We played in the arcade and won a bunch of tickets." I tell her.
"Did he produce any moments of intimacy with you?" She asks not looking at me.
"He um," I look at my hands. This is a little awkward, don't you think?
I'm about to tell this lady who I have known for an hour about my love life.
I don't know how people do this.
"At the end of the night, Abe did tell me he likes me." I finally say.
Stuart nods, she was waiting for me to say that.
"Did he touch you in any way?"
"No."
"Throughout the entire night, did he make any physical contact?" She clarifies.
I think about it for a moment trying to remember.
"He did at one point put his arm around my neck when I scored that strike. But it was for 3 seconds because then he had to use the bathroom." I inform her.
She writes on the notepad.
After a moment she asks, "How do you know Samantha George?"
My heart stops.
"I um, she is um, I, we, like her.." I can't breathe!
Stuart nods, "how does she know Mr Dip?"
"They went to the same school and moved from the same state to here."
Detective Stuart puts down her pen and looks at me. Her icy blue eyes look straight into mine.
"Let me take a guess. Samantha George and Abraham Dip both like you. You chose Samantha and Abraham did not like that, so he kidnapped you, held your friends hostage and threatened to most likely kill Samantha, if you don't pick him. Judging by how both Samantha and Denise Winters were completely out of harm's way when police arrived, you picked Abraham in trade for your life and the lives of your friends. In doing so you crushed the heart of Samantha and now you feel like shit."
Stuart looks down at her notepad and picks up her pen. She waits for my answer.
My jaw is hanging at least a good 10 feet from my face.
"How did you-"
"Lucky guess. Now listen you need to tell me something very important." She says.
I nod.
"Do you want to send Abraham Dip away, to prison, for at the most, 2 years?" She asks me.
I ponder her words for a moment then ask if I have any more options.
"We could keep him in custody for about 2 weeks then place him on house arrest for 2 years. Also you parents are here."

***