"Officer, you gotta hear me out! My friend was pressured into taking part in the street race, which he knows full well is illegal. He shouldn't have to be punished like the rest of the goons."
As a police officer placed cuffs on a kneeling Eddie while his partner aimed his weapon at him, Rollie tried to persuade the law enforcement officers to spare his friend any jail time, but they were not having it. The green-eyed teen locked eyes with his mate as he was yanked up roughly by the cop and nudged toward the sidewalk, chipped where Johnny's car struck the curb, where the other participants in the dangerous game, including Karrington's gang, were seated. Hostile eyes fixed upon Eddie, Rollie, and the cop as Edward was placed beside Karl. Karl, his brow bleeding from a gash on his forehead, spat at Christine's driver and gave him a look of pure contempt as about four officers surrounded the detained guys.
"Officer, are you listening to me? You can't lump my friend with those delinquents? He was never a part o-"
"Excuse me, son!" The cop who had nabbed Ed, his badge revealed his name to be Beltran, turned to address Rollie. "Your pal was involved in an illegal street racing competition which could have resulted in serious injury, damage, or death and he needs to face the consequences of his actions, regardless of his standings. Besides, he rammed into a police cruiser, nearly giving my colleague a whiplash. That is one extra charge for him."
Before Rollie could open his mouth to respond, Alex and Cassie grabbed his arms and pulled him back.
"No, don't make this worse for him," Alex instructed Ed's concerned pal. "We can testify on his behalf should we have to go to court, but butting heads with unreasonable cops doesn't help. The last thing we need is for you to end up on the slammer with the mate you want to bust out of there. "
"Exactly!" Cassidy added. "Who knows what Karrington and his punks can do to you in prison. I heard horror stories of what goes down in prisons from my cousin. He is a guard at San Quentin f-"
"Yeah, I got it, guys!" Rollie interjected, pulling himself out of the duo's grip. "I will let our corrupt justice system clear his name. We all know how law enforcement views young black men-"
"May I speak to the organizer of this unlawful event?" Officer Beltran called out.
"That would be him."
The speaker, Dali, pointed at Nevin, who stepped forward.
"Yo, coppers! I'm Nevin Rivers. I did indeed organize the event you just literally crashed tonight. What can I do for you?"
As the officers spoke with the teen, Rollie spotted a tow truck arrive to collect the damaged cars used in the street race. The moment the driver and his assistant started to load the damaged Christine, it's bumper hanging loosely to the right and a couple of its front lights shattered, onto its bed, a lingering thought came to the forefront of his thoughts. What had Eddie told him about Christine's ability?
Did you know that she can take quite a beating? I discovered that earlier when I took her for a spin in the desert.
No, that can't be possible. A piece of heavy metal cannot mend itself without any sort of outside assistance, can't it?
"Are we going to accompany him to the jail?" Alex whispered in the chap's ear. "We can't let him have Karrington and his demented sheep as his only company in the squad car. Aren't you guys best buddies since middle school?"
Rollie watched the officers guide a handcuffed Eddie alongside Johnny toward one of the squad cars, lights flashing, before putting them in the back to ferry to the station. The smoldering look on his old friend's face as he was led inside the cop car was cause enough for him to not leave his longtime companion in the dust. The ROTC student then turned to the younger lad.
"Of course we will go after him. He's my friend and with a look like that, it is best for them to separate Eddie and Karrington if they value the punk's life. Or we can cajole the authorities to release him as prior to this incident, Eddie had a clean record. Wouldn't it be feasible that he only made a rash decision during a moment of passion? We can easily pin this on the greaser punk and his little vultures. Now go fetch Cass and ask her if she wants to come with us down to Bakersfield PD. "
---
"This is so not fair. It's complete BS!"
Alone in his dark jail cell, which smelled of piss and other unmentionable things, Eddie glanced out from the bars of his cell to see if the officer who was responsible for placing him behind these bars was still within earshot. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, but it was hard to tell in the dim lighting that barely gave the room enough light for a mouse. What remained clear in his mind was the conviction that he shouldn't be imprisoned in this godforsaken dump called a detention center
"Hello! Anyone there?"
"Shut your goddamned mouth, boy! " Johnny glared at him from the cell across the hall.
"Yeah!" Billy, Johnny's partner in crime, chimed in. "No one is going to bail your candyass out now, pretty boy."
"Some of us are trying to get some shut eye here, ya know!" Duke, another one of Johnny's pet goons, shouted from a cell out of the teen's view.
Sighing, Eddie turned and paced around his cell once more. He was here for what he assumed was a couple hours, he had lost count , and desperately needed to use the restroom. No way was the young black racer going to use the disgusting thing that substituted as the toilet in his cell. After what seemed like an eternity of agitated pacing and self-rumination, an officer appeared unlocked his cell before motioning for him to follow. Confused but relieved at being able to leave the confined space, Eddie complied with the officer's directions.
"So where are you taking me now?" He asked as they walked by the cells, some occupied by curious juveniles who stared after them as they walked toward the lobby of the jail.
The female cop didn't bother to reply to him as they made their way past the door that led to a hallway that had dim lights, but was bright compared to the detention room he had to endure for hours.
"Not going to answer my question, huh?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth that the he felt his chest go numb. Standing on the other side of the wall to the lobby were his parents and the look on their faces would be enough to send a puma cowering away. Seated to the corner of the room were three people he was glad to see. Rollie nodded at him while Alex played on his PSP and Cassie texted away on her phone. Before the honor roll student could speak with his best friend, his parents turned on him the moment they entered the lobby.
"Edward Michael Knight, you are in deep trouble, young man!" His mom scolded him, moving her index finger as she spoke.
"That's right." His father crossed his arms, looking disappointed. Judging by his tie and his collared shirt, he had just gotten off work to come to the jail to collect him. "Your ma and I have agreed that you will spend the remainder of your school year studying for your AP exams and prepping for college. There will be no more parties."
Eddie glanced over to his friend. "Did you call my parents?"
Rollie narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, they needed to come get you out of here."
"Why would you do that? Now I can't do jack until June."
The white boy frowned. "Would you have rather stayed in the cell with Johnny and his monkeys?"
Goddamned snitch. What kind of a friend does that?
"Come on," His mother gripped him by his left arm. "We are going to pick up your car and then we will go home afterwards."
---
"Vehicle number 666 is set to be released after impoundment. Detainee 0120983 has been released after posting bail. "
Glancing over to his colleague at the police garage, Dale the bored-looking admin officer noticed Diego sip from his Mountain Dew he had purchased at 7-11.
"Oh, the Plymouth with the dent grille and the mashed up front bumper I can't say I see many cars like that on the streets nowadays, say for the vintage car shows they host at the Kern County Speedway. If the boy that drove the vehicle had an inkling of sense, he'd race that ancient relic he calls a car at the Speedway. "
You would know things like that, wouldn't you now, Diego?
"Yeah, it is being released and the boy you are bad-mouthing is coming down with his folks to reclaim it. I suggest you prepare it for them."
"If I were him, I'd spend my money on a hotter ride like a BMW M2 or Jaguar, but if he wants his heap of scrap metal back , I'll oblige him."
"That's what we are paid to do," Dale grumbled, rubbing his orange circle beard. "Besides, not only is he charged for reckless driving, endangerment of lives, and partaking in an illegal street racing event, but he will have to pay the fee to release his ancient relic which I believe he should sell to a museum. I am sure an auto museum in Oxnard would pay a lot of money for it. It would cover about half of his legal costs, which if you ask me, is better than nothin and the vehicle will be in a much better place."
"I think you should just go and release the car," Diego replied, draining his drink. "The punk will be here with his parents soon. It will take a large chunk of daddy's savings to have it back, but who are we to judge? More money for the underpaid staff of the City of Bakersfield. It's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it. The boy has his ride back and we get paid. How about that?"
Dale shook his head. "Oh Diego, not one to do the heavy lifting, but no matter. Open the storage door while I prepare the Plymouth for return. You will also process the payment, you hear me?"
"Wow, you are such a bother." His coworker chuckled as he prepared to open the lot where the red and white Plymouth Fury lay among the detained cars, a bumblebee-striped Camaro to its left and a grey-black Tacoma to its right. Once Dale approached the classic car, he took a quick once over and frowned.
I swear this thing had a fender loose when it was brought in. Perhaps they repaired it before leaving. Diego might know something or was it Jason who took are of it? I will ask them later.
As he came within a five feet of the vehicle, the headlights switched on as if on cue. The bright eerie yellow light of the Fury was so blinding that it resulted in the administrative cop covering his eyes.
"Doggone it! Diego, why didn't you inform me that this Fury has motion sensor lights? Last I recall, classic cars don't come with these?"
The chunky Latino officer hurried in the garage after his coworker. "Well, I know it ain't no Tesla, but I guess the owner had them installed manually. This kid is getting more inexplicable every minute so let's hope he gets here sooner and takes this eyesore away from here. "
Diego reached over to open the passenger side door of the Plymouth Fury, but it wouldn't budge. Frowning, he glanced over at his pal and motioned him to join in.
"Try the driver side. If that doesn't work, we will bust the window and open the door ourselves. The rest of the costs are on the boy."
Dale nodded and tried to pry the door to his side open, but to no avail. "I guess we will have to use a pin or a credit card."
"Screw that! I am not going to scratch my card or go back to the desk for this heap of junk. "As Diego prepared to smash in the window, the doors to the vehicle shot open. Both men exchanged bewildered glances before leaning inside the vehicle to get it started. An awful smell wafted into their noses, sending the men reeling.
"Ugh! Did a skunk sneak into the car as they brought it in?"
Diego groaned as he glanced at his coworker. "Just when I think this car can't hold anymore surprises in store for us, I keep getting proven wrong. Let's start the damn vehicle and bring it out-Ahhh!"
Dale watched in horror as the door shut on his fellow admin officer's fingers, keeping them trapped. Hurrying over, he yanked the door off the overweight City employee's mangled fingers and grimaced upon seeing them, quickly drawing his phone to dial emergency services.
This ain't no car. It's a demon! I don't care if the lad pays for it or not. I want this malevolent entity gone from this place pronto! It should be crushed into atoms at a demolition yard, not released into the public like an imprisoned leopard.
76Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODQ2QrYeaE
