Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 48: Misunderstandings

The officer sighed softly, leaning forward onto the table and flipping open the folder. He thumbed through the few papers within the folder before stopped, setting them back in their proper order and looking up at the blonde who watched him carefully.

“You’ve got a bit of a record here, Miss Sasazaki,” the officer said finally to break the silence. Mami scoffed before she rolled her eyes and leaned back into the chair. She separated her hands, dropping them down onto her lap.

“So what?” She responded with a bit of attitude to her voice. She could hear the officer from in front of her sigh softly. He pressed down the annoyance with her attitude though. He knew how teenagers like her responded; he knew it was nothing more than a defense mechanism – one he would have to break through if he was to truly help this girl. The officer coughed before picking up one of the papers.

“It says here your first offense was two years ago when you were caught shop lifting.” Mami let out a scoffing laugh and rolled her eyes. She remembered that. Two years ago when she was fourteen and stupid. She’d barely been introduced to crime and had no idea what she was doing. She wasn’t very keen on taking Haruna’s advice at that time either. Luckily for her, the police wanted to believe she was just a misguided child and let her off with just a small warning.

“Getting picked up by the police is what happens when you’re young and stupid,” Mami said with a shrug. The officer grunted softly, nodding his head and trying to gauge how Mami was reacting. To him, it had become clear very quickly that discussing Mami’s past with law enforcement would do nothing to convince her to talk. It’s not as if they had much on her.

“So does shoplifting, you know,” the officer mentioned back to her. If she wanted to play that game then he could play it as well. He could get on her level to make her talk; it was usually the best way to get troubled teenagers talking.

Besides the one incident two years ago, Mami didn’t appear to have many encounters with the police. For a student who the principal said had a knack for causing trouble, he assumed there would be more damning things on Mami’s criminal record. He knew how abuse victims work and knew Mami wouldn’t talk willingly. Conning her into talking with a bad record was his first solution, now he would have to take a different approach to getting her to open up.

“Can I just go home? We both know it’s pointless for me to be here,” Mami said in a rough tone. The officer chuckled softly at her attempt to gain release but shook his head. He flipped the manila folder closed, pushing it to the side and motioning for the other officer to take it.

He leaned back in the chair, pulling out a small pad of paper and a pen from the pocket on his shirt. When he sat them down onto the table, Mami narrowed her eyes into a glare again. Just who did he think he was in writing what she was saying down? They were really determined to get something out of her but Mami was even more determined not to let them.

“I’m afraid we cannot let you go home until we’ve talked a bit more. There’s a possibility your home is not safe for you; we need to rule out any possibility of you going home to an abusive household before we can release you.” Mami’s hands curled into fists and she growled lowly. She should have expected that for an answer but it didn’t stop the anger that it caused. She just wanted them to forget this whole thing and allow her to go home.