Eden rolls her eyes, but she still doesn’t look at ease. “What? Because she’s an attorney?”
“Because she’s done it before,” I admit, sitting back up. There are always benefits to having a mom who is a lawyer. A civil attorney, sure, but she still knows her way around criminal law too. She hates it when I get myself into trouble like this, so she will always do anything she can to get me off lightly. She has been on a break from work for the past five years while we have dealt with the mess that we found our lives in, but she has never lost her skill. “She always gets me out of it.”
“Before,” Eden repeats. She looks at me, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. “How many times have you been arrested?”
“Once. Twice.” I shrug as my lips curve into a playful smirk. “Maybe a couple more than that.”
“What for?”
“Um. Stupid stuff,” I admit. I have to think about it for a moment though. It’s been a while since I last got arrested, and itwasalways stupid stuff. I stand up and pace in a small circle in front of Eden, cracking my knuckles. “Fighting, vandalism, disrupting the peace,” I say, letting the words roll nonchalantly off my tongue. It’s not like I’ve ever robbed a convenience store or anything, so I’m not tooashamed to tell her. I throw her a look, unable to stifle my laugh. “And trespassing.”
“At least you haven’t killed anybody,” she says, and shealmostsmiles.
“Not yet,” I say. I can picture Dad’s face so clearly…“I’ve got someone in mind.” My tone must be too solemn, probably because Iammostly being serious, and Eden’s entire expression contorts with horror. She really believes me. “Eden,” I say, cracking up into laughter, and I shake my head at her.
“I haven’t figured out your sense of humor yet,” she states as she crosses her arms over her chest, defensively pouting. Then, teasingly, she adds, “I didn’t even know that you had one.”
I smile at her, nodding in surrender. I like it when we’re like this. I never act like this around anyone except my brothers. I feel like Icanbe playful around her. “Good one.”
“Bruce. Munro.” A voice suddenly calls out, catching us off guard, and I spin around to find Officer Greene scrutinizing us from the other side of the bars of the holding cell. He isn’t the officer that arrested us, but he has been the one dealing with us while we’ve been here at the station. He’s notasmuch of an asshole as the first guy. “Your parents are here,” he states.
“We’re going to die,” Eden is spluttering under her breath as she gets to her feet. “Oh my God. We’re actually going to die.”
“Shut up,” I tell her. I fire her a warning glance. She needs to relax. “Let me do the talking.”
“Follow me,” Officer Greene says as he unlocks the door of the holding cell.
Eden is close behind me as we follow Officer Greene through the station, and I can hear her deep breathing. Sure, Mom and Dave aren’t going to be impressed, but we haven’tactuallyhad any charges pressed against us. At least not yet. I guess that’s what we’re about to find out.Officer Greene leads us into a smaller, private office where our parents are waiting for us.
I look at Mom first. She knows I’m having a bad day, but right now, she can’t afford to show her sympathy. She has her professional mask on—the taut expression she used to wear whenever she had important cases to work on. Her features are hard, her lips pressed tightly together, and she narrows her eyes straight at me. Every time I do something like this, I don’t anger her as much as I sadden her. It reminds her that I’m not okay, that I’m off the rails, that I’m losing this war. Dave has enough fury for the both of them though. With his hands on his hips and his body rigid, he glares at Eden and me. His chest is puffed out and his cheeks are flushed red.
“What the hell are you two playing at?” he snaps at us, but Mom quickly steps in front of him. She’ll handle this better than he can.
“Officer…” she says, looking at Officer Greene. She dramatically squints to read his badge, even though I know her eyesight is perfect.
“Greene,” he says.
“Officer Greene,” Mom begins, clearing her throat. She is about to get serious with him now, and she shakes his hand. “Can you explain to me why they have been arrested for trespassing? By the way, I’m an attorney.” There is a small, innocent smile playing on her lips as she raises her eyebrow at him. She knows what she’s doing, and I love it when I get to see this side of her. So in control, so strong. These days, I don’t often get to see that.
“Trespassing under Penal Code 602 within Culver City High School,” Officer Greene informs her, but his discomfort is evident. He is shifting his footing. “Only specified areas of the campus were open to the public for this evening’s celebrations, and they were found in a hallway in a closed block.”
Mom nearly rolls her eyes. It seems she was expecting something more arrest-worthy. “Really? They stumble into the wrong hallway and you arrest them?”
“Ma’am, I was not the arresting officer,” Officer Greene tells her, holding up his hand. “Officer Sullivan doesn’t have much patience, and your son here was showing a bit of attitude when asked to leave.” He glances over at me. “They were given several chances to do so.”
I almost laugh out loud. Officer Sullivan not havingmuchpatience is the understatement of the year. The guy couldn’t even give us five minutes to leave. Mom flashes me a threatening glance, so I bite back my laughter and look down at the ground.
“I was in that school tonight and I do recall seeing ‘NO ENTRY’ signs,” Mom says, her voice strong and firm. She is narrowing her eyes challengingly at Officer Greene. “But ‘NO ENTRY’ signs are not the same as signs warning that trespassing is an infraction and, therefore, neither of them were properly informed that they were committing an offense. They cannot be arrested on the grounds of your colleague’s short temper.”
I am still trying not to laugh. I lift my head to look at Eden, but her expression is still so dominated by fear and anxiety that I can’t help but laugh even harder. I’m trying to hold it in, so I press my hand to my mouth in an effort to stifle it.
“How about,” Officer Greene says as he extends his hand to Mom again, “we save both of us the paperwork and I let this one slide?” He gives her a tight, knowing smile.
“Respectable decision, Officer,” Mom says, and she shakes his hand. She shoots Dave a look that I can’t quite register, and he nods. She needs to stay behind to deal with this.
“Alright,” Dave says, clapping his hands together. I can hear theseething anger in his tone as he orders, “You two, out to the car. Right now.” Then, he pushes his way through Eden and me.
“Someone’s mad as hell,” I mutter. Dave will probably have his say once we get outside. He will tell me I’m grounded for another ten years, and then he’ll probably give Eden a hug and tell her it’s all okay.
