It's not you, it's me--//DISCONTINUED//

Identifying the Criminal

"So, basically, you woke up a quarter after midnight and saw a man with a handrun outside?"

"Yeah pretty much," I said, folding my arms and leaning back on my bed.

I got a phone call, my ring tome Niall's solo in "Fireproof".

That's pretty embarrassing....

I answer and it's the police station asking me to identify the man, they wouldn't let me see him when he was here, because his gun was duct-taped to his hand so no one could take it, and he could've shot me. He didn't threaten the police though... I bet he got a nice arm waxing when he took the tape off.

I told Niall, and he offered to drive, and off we went.

.

.

We showed up at the station, and the front desk calls for an officer, and he took us to the holding cells.

His name was Officer Malik, but pronounced muh-leek. I looked at Niall and knew he was thinking the same thing as me.

The police beckons to the cell by nudging his head towards it.

I almost had a heart attack.

I wanted to hug the person and kill him at the same time.

My brother. Josh. Who ran away 3 years ago, a year younger than me.

He got facial hair. What am i saying?

"Hey sis. Haven't moved, have ya? Haha, yep. So how's old pops? Gettin' older by the day, isn't he?"

"Uhm.. J-josh, dad is... dead," is all I can get out before tears fall.

"What? You're kidding. You're lying to me," he says, his face in an effort to laugh, hoping i was lying.

I shook my head and buried my face in my hands. Niall pulled me in for a hug and i shoved my face in his chest. He patted my back.

"Oh my gosh. You're not kidding, are you? I'm sorry."

I look over and saw tears streaming down his cheeks like rivers.

"I'm so sorry! Lord please help me, I know I have done wrong! I feel so... Lousy," he says, and it looks like he is starting to go mental. Who knows, maybe he is. You never know if he was in an asylum this whole time...

What happened was, him and my dad were fighting. My dad was telling him he was too soft. He needed to be a man. Josh yelled back at him, and my dad back-handed across his face, and right away his face swelled. Josh still has the scar..... Anyway, He ran straight up and packed about a weeks worth of clothes, took $50 out of my dads wallet, maybe a can or two of food, and ran off.

We had his picture in the paper. I guess people didn't know it was him, he got a haircut, maybe. The most noticable thing about him back then was his jaw-length manga-like hair.

I must say, he lost weight, and puberty hit him hard. Pimples, stubble, he's taller and smells like a mixture of boy and man:).

I look up and wipe my eyes. "Where were you?"

"Let's just say i found somewhere to live... with a friend... I met online.... in Maine," he said, staring at the floor.

"Maine? We live in Ohio! How the hell did you get to Maine?"

"I know people that know people," he said.

"SImple enough..." I say, checking the time on my phone.

"2:20.... How long is he here for, Officer Malik?" Oops, I said Mah-lick. Oh well.

"92 days, for gun threats, and attempted tresspass," he says.

"Ok, well I guess we will be going," I say. "We'll visit a lot. I'll come tommorow."

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Josh says, sticking his arm through the bars for a hand shake.

"Niall. Josh, right?" Niall says, taking Josh's hand in a firm grip and shaking it.

"Yeah. Hey, I'll be watching you. Treat my sister right, ok?" he says.

I cough on my water i was drinking that the police offered.

"We're not-" "I'm not her-" "Uhmm-"

We both struggle for words, until Niall finally gets out "We're not together".

"Oh, sorry it's just, you know, I remember you having pictures of him on your wall, I thought maybe, you know... Oh well, See you tommorow, sis."

My face turned red at the posters of fetus Niall in my room 3 years ago...

Officer asks me for his full name.

"Josh Turner," I say. We always thought it was funny, he's named after a country singer. We used to embarrass him in elementary by singing Josh Turner songs when he walked by.

I give him a hug, and leave with Niall.

Fun day, huh?