Sex & Drugs & Dungeons & Dragons

E3. Reluctant Heroes

Cobi had driven to Lincoln Park in the Dragon Wagon, where he'd run into Tony walking home. He told Tony what happened to Derek and now the two of them were telling Griffin and Hope: "Derek got thrown in fucking jail!"

"What?!" Griffin couldn't believe it.

But Tony just nodded. "Beat the shit out of Kenny, who called the cops on him."

"What'd he do that for?" scolded Griffin. "Was he drunk?!"

"No, dude," Cobi scolded right back, "he was defending my sister."

"Then good for him," said Hope.

"It's not that big a deal," Griffin dismissed. "His dad will bail him out."
"That's just it, his Dad completely freaked out," Cobi said. "Basically blamed it on Dungeons & Dragons. He's making him stay in jail to teach him a lesson."

"What does beating up Kenny have to do with Dungeons & Dragons?"

"Pretty much blame everything on Dungeons & Dragons now," sighed Tony.

"Shit." Griffin chewed his lip, worried. "How long he gonna be there?"

"My cousin got falsely accused of marijuana possession," Cobi said with disgust, "and he was held for thirty days before he even got a trial."

"No way his old man will let him rot in jail for thirty days," Griffin scoffed.

"I dunno, man," Cobi replied skeptically. "You didn't see how pissed he was. And I think he's got some fucked up notion that jail will somehow 'build character.'"

"You know how Derek's father can get," Tony agreed. "He's even more stubborn that Derek is."

Griffin rubbed his temples in frustration. "So what are we supposed to do about it?"

"Get him out of jail!" Tony flared angrily.

"Yeah, man, he's our friend we can't let him rot in prison!"

"We don't split the party, remember?"

"Well that's easy to say when you're playing D&D," Griffin growled in frustration, "when you've got an 18/00 strength and the ability to summon eldritch fire. But we can't do that in real life, can we?!"

"Why don't we just post bail?" Hope said.

"How much does that cost?" asked Griffin.

"When my friend got popped for vandalism it was only a couple hundred bucks," Hope replied.

Cobi shook his head grimly. "Derek's being held for battery. His bail's gonna be more like five grand."

"How about a bail bondsman then?" Hope speculated.

But Cobi continued to shake his head. "Guys, I've already been through all of this with my cousin. A bail bondsman won't take the risk of lending to a minor. The only way to get Derek out is to come up with the full five grand."

"I've got a couple hundred I was saving for Gencon," Griffin offered.

"Me too," said Tony.

"I could chip in a hundred when I get my paycheck," Hope offered.

"Yeah, well, I got a little too but it's still not even close to five grand."

They sat in silence for a few moments. "He must be terrified," Hope worried.

"Naw," Cobi re-assured her. "Derek's not afraid of anything."

Griffin sighed and finally stated the obvious: "Well, like it or not, there's nothing we can do about it. Not right now anyway."

"There's gotta be something," Cobi pleaded.

"Maybe we don't have to do anything. If his old man really is just teaching him a lesson he'll probably only let him stay a single night in jail. Hell Derek'll probably be home before we are."

Cobi frowned, unconvinced, but he didn't have a better idea. "All right," he finally conceded. "You want a ride home?"

Griffin glanced over at Hope. "Naw, dude, thanks, I'll take the L."