Random Shorts

Trouble Maker

Zachary angrily sighed as he sprayed the wall of the bridge underbelly with some paint. His girlfriend, Jade, dumped him since he kept getting into trouble with the police. Zach was a trouble maker and he didn't mesh well with the way the world worked. He evidently didn't mesh well with Jade either. The people in town were uptight and the "pigs", as Zach called them, were always on the case of people like him.

Zach's short black hair was plastered to his forehead from the soft rain as his piercing blue eyes caught the movement of a small shadow slowly growing on the wall of the bridge underbelly. His movements slowed into lazy brushes of the can as he watched the shadow carefully. The soft shadow turned into the shadow of someone approaching him. This made Zach go ridged. The pocket knife that was resting in his hoodie pocket poked the material as his grip tightened on the handle. The familiar wailing sound of sirens forced him to enter fight or flight mode as he kept his gaze fixed on the approaching shadow. He casually put his hand in his hoodie pocket and opened up his switch blade. He knew better than to go anywhere unarmed. He'd been in too many fights to make that mistake again. The shadow grew immensely and he panicked. With one swift movement, Zach turned and threw his knife in the direction of the figure that was casting the shadow. As soon as the blade left his hand, he realised that he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life. Standing before him, was his ten year old cousin, Natalie.

Zachary's eyes widened as he realised that he just sent his switch blade into the chest of his little cousin. Her big blue eyes widened and she stumbled back a few steps. He reached out to try and help, the spray paint can slipping from his hand, but she had already fallen. Nat locked eyes with him. Her beautiful blonde hair stuck to her round face, making her look even smaller than she already did. She smiled at Zachary as her eyes filled with tears.

Natalie was always smiling. It's what she was known for and she was going to die with her wide and beautiful smile stretched across her face. Not knowing what to do, Zach grabbed his spray paint can from the ground and almost went to turn away from Natalie. She opened her mouth to say something to Zachary - who went still.

"I forgive you." With her last words uttered, Natalie fell limp. Zach took a step towards the bridge wall, but the lights of the police sirens stopped him. Several police officers jumped out of their cars and swarmed the teen boy who had made the worst mistake of his life. They pinned him against the wall and cuffed his wrists behind him. They escorted him to one of the police cars and he didn't resist, keeping quiet the entire way. He knew he would get hell from his family for this.

~

Zachary pulled against the cool metal that was pressing tightly into his wrists. The hall he was walking down passed him in a blur while he focused on the handcuffs around his wrists. A large hand pushes his shoulder forcefully and he stumbles into a cell. He turns to face the owner of the hand to come face to face with the sheriff. The sheriff's gruff face seemingly glared into his soul. Zach knew that he messed up but the exuberant show of force was unnecessary. 

"You could've just asked me." Zach said roughly as he glared at the sheriff for the unnecessary show of force.

The sheriff ignored him and continued down the hall, passing similar empty cell's like Zach's. He grabbed the cool metal bars between his calloused hands and sighed. I'm never gonna get out. He rested his forehead against the bars while he thought of possible outcomes. He knew that the price of bail would be too high for his family to be able to pay. Even if his family could pay the bail for manslaughter, they wouldn't. Zach had long been cut from everything his family part took in since he started having run ins with the law. Besides the fact, his family wasn't rich and weren't good with money and they'd always prided themselves on living off of as little financially as they could. 

Zach swore to himself and smashed his palms against the bars of the cell. He didn't care when his bones barked in pain, he just smashed them against the bars again and turned away. He paced around for a few minutes, trying to fanatically think of how to get out of going to jail. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. He stopped pacing and sat down on the bench in his cell and pushed his hands into his lap. He glared to the handcuffs that the sheriff neglected to remove before shoving him in the cell. Filthy pig. 

He thought back to earlier that night and the awful accident that took place. The death of his youngest cousin wasn't done purposefully, but it still happened. He killed his sweet little cousin. Natalie was innocent and pure as fresh snow. Her big blue eyes would never open again. Her short and curly blond hair would never grow out like she wanted. Her petite figure would never again be seen dancing around carelessly like she always did when it got quiet. Zach shook his head and ran his cuffed hands through his hair again. Anxious of what may happen to him.

"Zachary," Zach raised his head to the sheriff standing at the gate of his cell. "The rest of your family is on their way." The plump man said sharply. As he was about to turn, Zach inched forward and fiddled with his cuffs.He called my family? He pondered in his head. The sheriff waved someone over and Zach jumped up when he saw the faces of his young twin siblings emerge from around the corner of the bars. The two small children both had round brown eyes with dark brown hair to compliment. Luna's hair was very long, whereas Leo's hair was almost buzzed. He was taller than Luna. He was much more outspoken than she was and that often lead to her stepping behind him. She grabbed Leo's shirt and stepped behind him a little as if on cue. The two of them were three the last time he  saw them. They must have been six or seven years old now. Zach chewed the inside of his lip and thought to himself. I had no idea that I'd been away from home that long . . . Leo glared at Zach and tried to look tough by puffing out his chest and crossing his arms. He was hardly intimidating to the seventeen year old boy standing in the cell. Zach walked over and knelled in front of the twins from behind the bars.

"I didn't mean to. It was an accident." Zach said quietly, he didn't want to freak them out by yelling. He knew they were already on edge and annoyed as it was and yelling at them for his own mistake wasn't going to help him in any way shape or form.

"But you still did it. She's still dead. Sorry doesn't bring her back Zach!" Leo yelled as the teen's shoulders sank. He wasn't a murderer. He may have done questionable things in the past, but he'd never intentionally kill someone. Not even a pig, the people he hated the most.

"Sorry doesn't bring back Naty." Luna spoke for the first time in months. Leo's eyes held the shock of his sister speaking, but his body didn't even flinch. Zach knew that he would get no remorse for his actions from his family. If Luna was speaking to him at all about it, he knew that the rest of his family wouldn't be understanding. He killed their only cousin and they would never forgive him. He stood up just as the rest of his family rounded the corner. The love and support usually in their eyes replaced by tears and hatred. He knew things would never be the same for him again.