“You idiot!” I yelled into the phone.
“But I’m your idiot.” A warm, happy voice sang from through the speaker.
I sighed, how is he always so bubbly? I thought. “Yeah yeah, how much is it this time?”
He paused a minute before answering, that was never a good sign. “1,000?”
“That should have been a statement and fine, I’ll bail you out but this is absolutely the LAST time.” I said with finality.
“Thank you thank you thank you! I love you, Theo!” He yelled enthusiastically, the spazz.
“I know you do. I’ll be there soon.” I hung up after that, not wanting to deal with him any longer.
I quickly grabbed my keys and wallet then slipped on my shoes before hopping in my car and driving over to the police station for the third time in two months. I parked in the same spot I always do and turned off my car, sighing heavily before going to bail my best friend out of jail… again. It was a cold night and I regretted not wearing a jacket for the few seconds it took me to walk from my car to the door of the police station. I wrapped my arms around myself and swore quietly, moving forward as quickly as my frozen legs would allow me.
After what seemed like an eternity, I finally got to the door. I covered my hand with my sweater so I wouldn’t have to feel the inevitable cold sting from the metal handle. A gust of warm air hit me as I swung open the heavy door, I let out a sigh of relief as I walked in, thankful to be out of the cold.
I smiled and waved at the guy at the front desk. “Hey, Johnny.”
He smiled back at me. “Hey kiddo, here for Quinn again?”
I deadpanned my voice and expression as I responded. “No actually, I’m here to turn myself in. You see, I’ve been doing some hardcore drugs lately and I want to get myself straightened out.”
He paused for a second as if considering my story before he busted out laughing. “Yeah, sure you are. Thanks for the laugh kid, you know the drill, to the right and down the hall. Adrian should be down there.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I walked over to the door I’d been through what seemed like millions of times, here we go again. I thought unenthusiastically.
“Adrian, you here? I’ve gotta bail Quinn out.”
“Sure thing, Theo, got the money on you?” A voice sounded from down the hallway. Adrian was a good man and a good cop but when he was in the station he was way too lazy to be standing the entire time. He could most often be found either chatting with the inmates, another officer, or Johnny at the front desk. Johnny wasn’t technically a cop but he was a fantastic secretary and we lived in a very small town so everyone just let it slide. Besides, he was a pretty fun guy to have around.
“Course I do, end of the hall?” I shouted down the hallway.
“Down the hall.” He answered.
I walked over, casually humming my favorite tune as I went. Just as I suspected Adrian was at the end of the hall chatting with Quinn.
“Then I said, ‘there’s no way you can fit that entire thing in your mouth!’ But of course, he did anyway. Oh my god, it was glorious. Although, he puked for the next 10 minutes afterward... that was slightly less glorious.” He finally looked up at me after he finished wiping the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. “Oh, Theo, I didn’t even see you there. You here for Quinn?”
“Unfortunately yes.” I moved over so I could look into Quinn’s cell. He was smirking, as usual, his happy sky blue eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Hiya, Theo, thanks for coming. I was starting to get worried you wouldn’t show.” He said this casually as if we were discussing dinner plans rather than my appearance at the jail.
“Yeah, of course I came. This is the last time though, I meant what I said.” I walked over to the chair near Adrian and sat down. “$1,000 right?” I asked.
Adrian sat up straight, back to business once again. “Yup, a whole $1,000.”
I sighed as I sat back, opposing Adrian’s posture. “Damn, what’d you do?” I asked Quinn while facing Adrian just to throw him off. Despite my naturally serious demeanor, I actually loved to mess with people, tease them subtly so only I knew I was making a fool of them.
“Uhm…” Adrian said confusedly as he looked back and forth between us, his bald head shimmered in the fluorescent lighting of the police station. He looked back at Quinn after a moment, finally realizing that I was in fact not talking to him.
“Tried to find my birth parents.” He said simply, still grinning like a Cheshire cat,
“He snooped around the police station, digging through our private records, breaking and entering, attempted assault of a police officer… I think that’s it.” Adrian confirmed.
I just shook my head at this, there was nothing I could do to convince Quinn not to do illegal things. For some reason, he just had this unquenchable thirst for getting in trouble. I had tried hundreds of times to convince him not to do this stuff anymore but he wouldn’t change his mind. Crime was a drug for him, a way to distract himself from the low of his life.
“And why did you do this Quinn?” I leaned forward to look at him better, he hated when people didn’t look at him while he talked.
“I wanted to find my birth parents and this is the only place I knew of that would have the records.”
I nodded, understanding where he was coming from. His stepfather was a terrible man who treated him worse than garbage. He hit him, yelled at him, and put him down whenever he could. His stepfather was an alcoholic and the abuse would only get worse when he was drunk. “I see, and did you find what you were looking for?”
He looked down at his black Converse Allstars and sighed. “They caught me before I could find anything worthwhile.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head again. “You i-”
“I know, I know, I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have snooped around in the police department.” Adrian cleared his throat and Quinn rolled his eyes at him. “And I shouldn’t have broken the window in the back.” He finished.
Adrian sat back, satisfied. “The door was actually unlocked, I don’t think he even tried to open it.”
“You idiot.” I just shook my head again and handed Adrian the money to bail Quinn out plus some more for the damage. My parents were not poor by any means so it was a painfully easy action for me to hand over a few thousand dollars. “Can we go now?” I asked.
Adrian looked up from counting the money. “Yup, you’re free to leave. Just keep a better eye on him please, that’s twice this month.”
I gave him a mock salute while dragging my best friend out of his cell. “Yes, sir. Come on Quinn, let’s go home.”
Comments (0)
See all