Salted Wound

Chapter 67 Zamari- Apr 22, 2019

I'm woken from a still, jerky sleep by the rattling keys of a heavy set police officer as he unlocks the barred door to the cell I had been put in the night before. I look up bleary-eyed, images of my friends faces two nights before running on a loop in my head, and run a hand through my chaotic hair, straightening as he pulls the door open and nods toward the front of the station.

"You're sprung. Your old man paid bail, he's waiting for you in the lobby."

Great

I go to these lengths to avoid being in debt to him, to make money quick, and now here I am back need of his help. Karma really is a bitch sometimes.

I'm walking out to the lobby where Dad leans against the front desk, the natural worry lines edging his forehead deepened. My formal outfit from prom feels horribly out of place among the casual clothes and uniforms of the police station, and I cross my arms over my chest like that will keep people from seeing what feels like a giant sign over my head that reads I spent time in jail.

"Come on, let's get you home to your mom," Dad says, handling the paperwork on a clipboard back to the uninformed woman behind the desk with a polite thank you. The woman appears disinterested as she takes the papers and slips them into a slot, presumably to be forgotten soon.

We walk outside, and I grimace at the glaring sunlight. We both remain silent as we get in the car, and start the drive to my house. He doesn't scold or parent me, and I don't ask him why he would do me this favor when he barely sees us as it is.

We remain in stony silence the entire ride to the house, and it's not until we pull into the driveway that he finally says something.

"The charges are in question as of now, the guy you mentioned to the police, Luis Ruiz, is in custody now and the officer I talked to said there's a really good chance you'll get by with a restitution charge, maybe some community service, but no jail time and barely a mark on your permanent record for the whole ordeal. I told your mom already I will pay the charges, so the bills are being sent straight to my house."

I stay silent a moment, unsure of what to say to that. Do I thank him? Tell him off and that I'll pay it myself? How the hell would I pay it myself anyway?

Finally, I clear my throat, my eyes case down toward my folded hands.

"I don't really know what to say. Thank you. I mean for bailing me out and everything."

It's his turn to fall quiet.

"Is this what you want your life to be?" He asks quietly and I turn toward him sharply. "Is this what you feel is the only option left?"

I want to yell, to tell him, "Of course this isn't the course my life will take, that I made a mistake." But a small part of me whispers that maybe this is the way it'll go. Without college funds, who the hell knows where my life will go. I don't answer, and he shakes his head.

"This is not where your mother and I thought you would take your life. Especially after Ana came into the picture, she's good for you."

"Don't bring her into this." I snap back at him. "You have no right 'predicting' my actions when you're barely ever here, and you have absolutely no right to bring Ana into this."

But he pushes on, ignoring me.

"What does she think about all of this? Or doesn't she know yet."

A hollow feeling enters my stomach, and my anger deflates.

"She knows."

Her face, as I was led out of the ballroom, plagues me, carved into my mind. "Not that it matters, she's done with me now."