“We’ll have someone call them when we get to the station. Put your hands behind your back like you’re praying.”
“I don’t wanna go to jail,” he argues, tensing up.
Truth is, I don’t wanna take him to jail, but I have no choice. There are times when what I have to do can be a fork in the road for their futures. I’m praying this one makes the right decision.
“Relax, otherwise you’re going to hurt in these cuffs. I’m sorry, but I have to do my job. I’m taking you in on the paraphernalia, and the smell of marijuana. The K-9 is on his way since you didn’t give me permission to search.”
Taking hold of his arm, I drag him over to the curb, helping him to sit down. He’s quiet as he looks at me with hate-filled eyes.
“Is this the first time you’ve been pulled over?” I ask, trying to make some sort of connection with him.
He sighs. “Yeah.”
“It’s too bad for you that you had a one-hitter and the car smells like weed. Look.” I kneel down to where I’m eye-level with him. “Everybody’s gonna experiment now and again. Maybe you need to blow off some steam. We all gotta do that too, but the fact of the matter is, weed is a drug. It’s illegal here in the state of Alabama, and as a cop, I have to uphold the law.”
“It’s a stupid law,” he mumbles.
While I agree, it’s better for me to keep my mouth shut. “It is what it is, kid. We’ve all been here before. You’re not the first, you won’t be the last.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No, it’s supposed to help you realize this is a turning point in your life. Where you decide to go from here makes a difference.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re not my dad.”
“Where is your dad?” I ask as I lean against my cruiser.
“Don’t know.” He shrugs. “Didn’t stick around, but it doesn’t matter.”
There’s something about this kid that makes me want to help him, makes me want to help him believe things can change, that not everyone who has a rough start in life has to settle.
“It does matter,” I argue. “Don’t you want to prove him wrong? Doing this shit isn’t going to do that.”
“How’s he going to know?”
“Him knowing doesn’t matter, it’s what you know.” I push off the car, lean down, and point to his heart. “It’s what you know in here that matters. You’ll know you’re better than him. The best version of you. Someone you can be proud of. Don’t do what you think he might suspect of you, do what you know is right.”
“It’s easy for you to say.”
“Don’t tell me what’s easy. My dad? He was the Chief of Police. Any little thing I did, he knew about. There were no free passes, there was no learning from your mistakes. They were moments in time that should have been learning experiences, but they weren’t. Instead, especially for me and my brother, they were chances for punishment, and the silent treatment.”
“At least he cared.”
“He did,” I admit. “But at the time, it felt a lot different. It took me getting older and seeing it from what I imagine his perspective was.”
“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”
“No, what I want you to realize is when you get older your perspective is going to change.” I have a seat next to him. “It’s your decision how it changes. Is this going to be the only mark on your record? Or is it going to be the first of more to come? It’s all up to you, my man,” I clap his shoulder as I see Ransom pulling up with Rambo. “Make your choice wisely.”
Ransom and I nod at one another when he gets out of his SUV, opening the back door for Rambo.
“Thanks for coming.” I get up and walk over to him.
“Been a slow night,” he sighs. “Kinda wish I was home with the wife and kid.”
“Whipped.”
He chuckles. “Fuck yeah I am. This the car?” He points to the car in front of us.
“Sure is. Let me know if you find anything.”
I stand back to let Rambo work. He’s one of the most loved members of our force, and I enjoy watching him whenever I can.
“What’s he going to do?” the kid asks.
“He’s gonna tell me if we need to search your car.”
“Man, this is fucked up.”
I ignore what he’s saying, watching Rambo to see if he alerts. When he does, Ransom and I look at one another. He puts Rambo up, telling him what a good boy he is. He slowly walks over to where we are, covering his hands with gloves.
“So,” - he stops in front of us, looking down at the handcuffed teenager - “my dog alerted, which gives me permission to search your car. Is there anything you want to tell us about before we start looking?”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
He’s defiant, and I wish he’d understand all we’re trying to do is help him.
“It’s your decision.” I shrug, motioning over to Ransom. “Go ahead and search it.”
“This could have gone so much easier, all you had to do was tell us what you have. Neither one of us enjoy having to search. I hope you know that.”
“Don’t lie.” He glares up at me. “You get off on this. All law enforcement does.”
“No, we don’t. Maybe some do, but we don’t.”
“Yeah, that’s what they all say.”
“Sullivan, come here for a sec.”
Shaking my head, I go over to where Ransom stands, the back door of the car open.
“Yeah?”
“He’s got four baggies of weed in here. Read him his rights, he’ll be going to jail tonight.”
“Those aren’t mine,” he screams as he hears what we’re saying.
Instead of rising to his irritation, I go over and start the process of arresting him.
No matter how much I don’t want to do it.
Chapter 19
Shelby
“Thanks for coming with me,” I yell at Karsyn over the sound of the live band playing at the only bar in town. She was the first person I thought of when I saw the ad on my social media. Lucky for me, Tucker is working tonight, so she’s my wing woman.
She takes a drink of her beer, a grin breaking out across her face. “No problem. I haven’t been out in a while, seemed fun. I hate sitting at home, waiting for Tucker to come home. My imagination runs wild at all the things that could wrong. Just wait until you and Sullivan get further into it. You’ll know the fear too.”
I almost tell her I already feel the fear. Sometimes I wait to see him pull into the parking lot at the end of a shift, just so I can make sure he’s okay.
We’re standing next to the pool tables when we hear someone speak. “Ladies, would you like to play?”
“Not me.” Karsyn shakes her head. “I’m not very good.”
“What about you, blondie?”
My eyes move over the body of the man speaking to us. He looks harmless, and I don’t get any weird feelings from him. As an attorney I’ve always trusted my gut. Tonight it says this guy just wants a little friendly competition.