'Till Death Do We Part

Another Run-In

My eyes shoot open to the sound of a fist pounding on the wood outside of the fort. Frantically, I jump up and swivel my head to see that there are four bodies fast asleep on the ground. I firmly grasp Jade's shoulder and shake her until she slowly blinks and sits up, a confused expression plastered on her face. "Jade, someone just knocked on the fort!" I whisper harshly.
The pounding sounds again as I rush around to wake up the others. Jade's eyes widen and her skin seems to become paler than usual. "Shit, shit, shit," Shoving her belongings into her black backpack and throwing it over her shoulder in a few seconds, Jade creeps towards the make shift door and attempts to peek out.

"We know you're in there," A man's gravely voice calls in a serious but annoyed tone.
Zack, Colby, and Ron, now wide awake, exchange concerned glances with each other, and without saying a word, we all share the same thought; we need to get the fuck out of here, and quick.
We hear another man say, "Come out or we're coming in." This one is all too familiar; and our anxiety heightens when we realize there's more than one of them. No one says a word, or even breathes for a few seconds until Ron breaks the silence. "We're going out there and playing it cool. After we talk to them for a few minutes, we'll bolt out of here before they can lay a hand on us, ok?" We all nod in agreement, and Ron is the first to slip out from under the sheet, followed by the rest of us.
A short brown skinned, middle aged man stands with his arms crossed and looks us over with a disapproving frown. Next to him, a tall white man with the same expression and body language.
"Good morning Mr.Smithers," Ron greets the first man with a polite smile. I know he isn't  sober, but in the presence of authority, he suddenly acquires a charming persona, and any proof of alcohol consumption is immediately erased; other than the foul stench on his breath, so of course he makes sure to keep his distance. Mr.Smithers grinned sarcastically, his jet black mustache slightly curving upward. His tone matches his expression as he says, "Good morning to you too, Ron," He pauses, giving each of us an intimidating glance before continuing, "Colby, Zack, Jade...Emily." The hatred in his voice combined with his piercing, prolonged gaze makes me both quiver with fright and boil in anger. I have no idea why, but out of everyone in the school, Mr.Smithers likes me the least. That's putting it lightly; in fact, he despises me. Ever since I came to this dreadful place called West Lake High, this principle had seemed to randomly decide to detest one of the more innocent of the "bad kids". Maybe it was my financial state, my grades, my past, but honestly I think it has everything to do with the person my father was. It's absolutely obscure to me as to why he would hold something against me that I have no control over, but I can't really do anything about it.

I glare right back into Mr.Smithers' deep brown eyes, and after a few seconds, he breaks his intense stare, much to my relief. He turns his attention back to Ron. "I told ya'll to stop coming out here and skipping class. At this rate, you're dangerously close to expulsion." The other man, whom I just noticed wore a police officer uniform, nods his head and finally speaks.
"Now, hand over your-"
Before he can finish his sentence, Ron grabs my hand and starts running. Luckily, when I glance back, the two of them were far behind us; our young bodies gave us an advantage for once. I start to turn back around to continue running, when I'm forcefully pulled down on the ground, landing hard on my back. Confused, I blink my eyes open to see another police officer pinning Ron to the ground. My hand is ripped from his, and all 5 of us are swiftly cuffed.
"What the hell, man!" Colby shouts and squirms under the cops grip. Ron shoots him a menacing look, thus shutting Colby up instantly. Ron says nothing, but maintains his composure just like the rest of us as we're led into different police cars; Jade and I in one, Colby and Zack in another, and Ron in the last one. Jade sits in the seat to the right of me, staring straight ahead with zero display of emotion. I do the same, knowing that keeping calm and not freaking out is our best bet of being let off with a warning, like we've done many times before.

The first time I've ever had a run in with the cops is when Jade attempted to shop lift a chocolate bar from our local convenient store. We were only 10 and too young, too dumb to realize that security cameras in stores were a thing. A police officer greeted us outside, and talked to us in a slightly high pitched tone and explained in simple terms to us that shoplifting is a crime and we could go to jail, and all that. I remember I was genuinely scared, because the officer placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and told me it would be alright as long as we promise to never steal again. Jade had a smug smile during this whole ordeal, but she swore in a sweet voice that she wouldn't. The chocolate bar was returned, and we went on our merry way. It wasn't until we rounded the corner by my apartment building that Jade pulled out from her boots not only a chocolate bar, but also two packs of gum and a bag of sour patch kids. I stared at her, my mouth wide open in disbelief that she had really pulled off such a stunt. She smiled again, this time looking proud, and we sat on the sidewalk and shared candy while we laughed about how "good" we were.
Jade has always been the one to influence me, it was never the other way around. She's had more run ins with authority than she can count on both hands, and even went to juvenile detention for a few months. Because of this, my mom has never liked Jade. She's the one who got me into drinking and weed, and the occasional petty crime. I'm not proud for breaking the law with my friends instead of getting an education, but quite frankly, I stopped caring a long time ago.
I'm thinking all of this as I sit still in the back of a police car. For once, I'm so glad Sasha either has a bad memory and forgot to bring the weed, or decided against it. Whatever the reason, it was going to do us a lot of good to not have drugs in our possession.
The cops discuss things outside for a few minutes, and then retreat back to their cars, and we start heading towards the station. With only the sound of the motor running, the silence that hangs in the air is awkward and thick. I don't mind; I don't exactly enjoy having to hold a casual conversation with a cop while riding in the back of his car. Much to my dismay, the officer clears his throat and says, "So where are ya'll's parents?I would've thought they'd be more aware of your whereabouts."
I'm tempted to roll my eyes and sigh heavily, but I refrain. Instead, I respond in the most polite but informative way I possibly can.
"Honestly sir, my mother doesn't know that I skip school. She works 3 jobs, so she's busy the majority of the time. I presume she will find out soon, however."
The officer nods. "And your father? What about him?"
My throat tightens and my eyes sting when I hear his question, but I quickly shake the familiar feeling off. I swallow, before answering; "Well sir, he's not around anymore. He hasn't been for quite some time now."
"I see...my name is Officer Jenkins, by the way. Jade, how bout your parents?"
Jade looks clearly distraught, but only for a split second before she puts on a dull face once again. "They know of my behavior," she says, "That's why I was kicked out of the house, and I now live with my grandmother."
Officer Jenkins nods again, and then explains that we'll have to call our parents to pick us up, and there was no use lying to them because the cops were going to explain everything.
Maybe I should have looked at my mother when she asked me why I lied to her, but I couldn't bring myself to observe the hurt in her delicate eyes. Maybe I should have comforted my little sister, Rose, when she cried at the thought of her sister going away, maybe I should have defended myself against various accusations thrown at me, and maybe I should have begged and pleaded to not be isolated from my friends; but there was nothing I could do. After telling my mom that I've been cutting class to get drunk and high with my group of friends she despises, the cops decide to give me one more chance as a result of my mother's pleas. I was to go to school everyday for the rest of the year and pass all my classes, or I could be expelled and sent to a high security school states away for "bad kids". So, I said my final words to my best friends, shared one last embrace with Ron, and got a ride back to our tiny apartment courtesy of Officer Jenkins. I didn't say a word or even show any trace of emotion the whole time, until I got to my bedroom. After shutting the door behind me calmly and throwing my shoes across the floor, I laid face down on my blanket and let the tears I had been holding back flow down my face like a waterfall. My bawls are muffled by the pillow I clutch tightly, which was progressively becoming damp as the hours passed. I don't stop sobbing, even when my mother knocks on the door, begging me to come out and talk to her over dinner; not even when she returns in the middle of the night to point out that I hadn't eaten today, but I don't care. I can starve, I do it all the time.