PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

10. The Crook

Minnie Mouse is shaking her booties in front of me. I've a headache coming. It's hot in here.

Gosh, I hate amusement parks. They are crowded, loud and exhausting.

But today is my cousin little Nico's birthday. I had no choice but to come.

Thankfully though my parents free me from this obligation around noon so I could still keep my sanity.

I head to the parking lot when my phone beeps. A message from Raylan - "I've somewhere to be. Drop by to feed them."

I was planning to head to Tess' house and hangout with my friends. I need some much needed teen time after all day running away from the kids.

I'll just take the kittens with me to see my friends. They would love to see them.

After I reach Raylan's house, I go straight to his room. When I open it Raylan is in there drying his wet hair with a towel.

"I thought you were going to be somewhere," I say.

"I will leave in a moment."

Why didn't he just feed them by now then? Even though I'm blackmailing him, he's making me run errands instead.

I start grabbing the scattered kittens on the floor and put them into the box.

"What are you doing?" He says.

"I'm going to take them to Tess' place for a while. I'll drop them off later," I say.

When I reach his room's exit with the box, I see a familiar face block my way.

"Peter?!" I say, grinning.

Peter is the eldest of Victor and Raylan. Also the most brightest and nicest. He's a lawyer at the Dewmont DA's office. He's busier than even my nurse sister. We only see him at special occasions.

"What are you doing here?" I say.

"Have a case in the city."

"How long you'll be here?"

"I'll leave day after tomorrow. Where are you taking these rascals?" He says nodding at the kittens peaking outside the box.

"To my friend's place."

"This is surprising though. You and Raylan being pet parents together," Peter says.

"Ew, please don't say such abominable things. Wait... You thought we were raising them together? He didn't tell you how he ended up with them?"

"Aren't you getting late?" Raylan urgently says.

He didn't tell Peter the story. I laugh.

"I've photos of your brother kissing Tony's girlfriend," I say. Peter's eyes widen.

"Hey, I did not kiss her!" Raylan shouts from inside the room.

"Well, technically, he did not," I say.

"But you'll tell Tony that Raylan kissed that girl or it was mutual, if you ever show the photos to Tony. That's how you're threatening little Ray," Peter says smirking.

"You really are the brightest among us all, Peter," I proudly say while walking away, "If I ever end up murdering someone you'll be the one I would want to defend me."

"I'm not a defense lawyer."

"Then you'll just have to quit your job and come defend me. Although, I'll warn you, the person I would've murdered would most likely be your little Ray."

He just laughs as I leave.

While on my way to Tess' house, Becca calls me and asks me to go see her. She had also called Tess to come. Although she doesn't say what's the matter, something seems to be bothering her. I change course.

At Becca's house, she shows me and Tess her phone. There's a photo of a naked woman posing raunchily. The woman's face is same as Becca.

"What is this?" Tess says.

"It's that asshole Deel. He's photoshopping my face into pictures like this and spreading them."

Deel is my most hated human being. He is Becca's ex. Usually my friends and I are good at judging people, but we failed miserably when it came to Deel.

He goes to a school in the neighborhood. We met at someone's birthday party. He and Becca hit it off right away. Tess and I didn't find anything strange about him. He was polite, funny, and seemed honest.

But boy did things went downhill or what after they started dating officially.

He was such a control freak, trying to dictate everything about her, even what she wore.

Becca eventually snapped and dumped his ass. But he keeps bothering her like this from time to time.

This time he had gone too far.

"Look, this seems serious. We gotta go to the cops and nail this bastard," Tess angrily says.

"We don't have any proof it was him, and I don't even know if he can get punished for this. I don't want to flare things up without knowing it will work," Becca says.

Maybe seeing Peter before was a good thing. I can ask him for advice. Since I don't have his number, I call Raylan.

Over the phone, I talk to Peter and tell him about Becca's situation.

Peter thinks about it and then says, "There's a better way to deal with jerks like that. Send his contact details to me, and if you might know where we can find him."

I send the details.

Later, after I reach home at night with the box full of kittens, Becca calls and tells me that Deel had contacted her and apologized. He had deleted the photos and promised to not do anything to bother her ever again.

Becca says he sounded scared.

I get the feeling Peter might not have handled the situation entirely legally. But he really did us a huge favor.

I leave for the house next door with the box.

"Peter!" I call out.

Raylan comes out. "Peter is staying at RG," he says, taking the box from me. "That shithead deleted everything, by the way. We made sure of that. Did he apologize to your friend?"

"He did. You went with Peter, too? Thanks a lot Raylan!" I say, reaching my hands out and giving him a hug. The kittens meow and join us in the hug.

When I move away from him, Raylan says, "You'll probably just end up coming to me to fix that for you later, threatening me with the photos. So better to get ahead of it."

I kinda feel guilty for blackmailing him.

Kinda.

I profusely thank him again and leave.

Having Raylan around is not always a bad thing, I suppose.

End of chapter

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