Dance In The Rain

~55~ Prison Hardened Him

I have to adult all day tomorrow so this is my Friday update, a day early ❤️

Tate's POV

I've got such a bad headache

"Grebner, can I have some Tylenol?" I ask through the bars. The lump on my head and gash on my cheek is from smashing my face on the steering wheel, and the cut on my left shoulder is from the window slicing the shit outta me.

Grebner stops at the cell and shakes his head. "I called Holden. He should be here soon."

Moments later I hear the door open around the corner and Grebner walks away from me and out of view. "He's just in the holding tank."

"He okay?" Holden asks. Why does his voice sound so weird?

"Few bumps and bruises, but it could've been a lot worse. He's fine....He's just around the corner. Come with me and you can take him."

"No. He can stay in here for a while."

What the hell?

"What?" Grebner asks with surprise in his voice.

"He's not coming home just to take off again. He drove while he was high, and technically stole my car since I didn't give him permission to take it. Surely between the two you have a reason to keep him."

"....uh, yeah, I do...Do you want me to actually book him? He will have a record if I do that."

"Maybe he should have one...He wants to play stupid games he can win stupid prizes."

"Holden, buddy, you sure you really want me to do this? I can just keep him in here tonight and you can get him tomorrow. I'm working all night, so it's no problem."

"Do your damn job! He drove under the influence and he stole my car."

A long silence stretches until Grebner simply says, "ok."

And when the door opens and closes again, tears spring to my eyes.

Is he really leaving me here?

Grebner comes to the cell a few moments later and gives me a sad smile. "Sorry, kid," he says as he unlocks the cell and steps in, holding out cuffs. I put my hands in front of me and he clamps each one down on my wrists. I try to ignore the slight pinching as I follow him out of the cell, but it isn't easy.

He leads me to an area with a computer, and multiple people stare at me with curiosity. This is so embarrassing

He does some work on the computer, and then silently takes my fingerprints.

"No ink?" I ask in a dejected voice, and Grebner smirks as he puts another finger on the small scanner.

"Nah, we're not as podunk as everyone thinks around here."

He finishes up my right hand and goes to my left, and I just stand there as this dude puts each of my fingers on the scanner, one at a time.

When that's done, he sighs sadly. "Don't smile," he says as he leads me to a line on the floor and points to the camera, taking my mug shot.

I feel like smiling to be an asshole, but I'm so miserable that I can't even fake one—Holden isn't coming for me.

Just like last time. He left and never came back

After that, he leads me to a room and grabs an orange jumpsuit out of a locker. He unlocks my cuffs and tells me to strip to my underwear. Once I do, he quickly pats me down to make sure I'm not hiding a gun in my ass, and nods. "Alright, put them on, Tate."