Following the Rules

Chapter 18

"Officer Cooper, is it?" I asked, feigning ignorance. I was still hoping against all odds that I could play this off as something uninteresting and unworthy of mentioning. In all reality, I'd never forget officer Cooper. Not when he was the one who had interrupted my first time.

"Shouldn't you be handcuffed and on your way to holding?" He asked darkly.

None of our previous encounters had gone very well. On top of him walking in on me and a girl in the park, there was the time I stole his police car, another when he tried to break up a fight between me and his son, my fist had accidentally collided with his face. The last time had been when he chased me off for vandalizing his house.

"No, that's not what I'm here for." I said. My gaze shifted over to Kaylee.

Officer Cooper looked back and forth between the two of us with mortified realization. "God help us. Don't tell me you're here for Kaylee?"

Toni stepped up alongside me, eyeing him cautiously. "We are."

He swiped at his forehead and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "I should take my two weeks of vacation."

"Am I free to go or what?" Kaylee asked impatiently.

"Unfortunately."

She smiled wickedly as she leapt to her feet. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

Toni scolded her. "You're lucky that woman isn't taking this to court."

Kaylee rolled her eyes, catching my gaze right as she twisted her arm around mine. "You've got some explaining to do, eye candy."

The hope I'd been holding out on plummeted. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. It hadn't been that long ago when I'd been ditching classes, staying up all night at parties and sleeping with different girls every day. I'd gone through them like water.

I forced the memories to the back of my mind, focusing on the present.

" 'Till next time, Brad!" Kaylee yelled over her shoulder to officer Cooper. She waited until we were in the car to let the string of questions loose. "How do you know officer Cooper? What did you do? When was the last time you were arrested?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I said flatly.

"You're dating my best friend, you're not allowed to withhold information." She said. There was a giddy excitement in the way she shoved herself between the seats to look at me. "Was it for assault, trespassing or armed robbery?"

"Calm down, it was just a parking ticket." Toni said softly. But it wasn't, and the way her eyes darted from left to right told me all that I needed to know. She had no idea how I knew officer Cooper, she was covering for me, and she was scared. "He forgot to pay the parking ticket."

Kaylee settled back, frowning deeply in disappointment at the center counsel. "But--"

"That's enough about Sawyer." She said sharply. "I want to talk about you. You can't keep doing this.. starting fights."

"She was asking for it--"

"I'm serious Kay," Toni turned to chastise her. "You lost your apartment, you're going to lose your car if you don't make the payment. You can't afford a court case."

The car became unnaturally quiet after that. Even when we got back to the house, they seemed to be avoiding eye contact. In all the time I'd known Toni, I'd never seen her go off like that. She was too soft spoken, too sweet. I was starting to see more and more of the real Toni, the parts that she didn't let other people see.

After parking the car in the drive way, I unlocked the front door and went straight to the kitchen. There was too much tension in my shoulders. The knott in my stomach was growing too large. I had to make it stop.

"What are you doing?" Kaylee asked me apprehensively when I started gathering the ingredients for peanut butter cookies.

"What does it look like?" I asked.

She sat down at one of the stools, watching out of the corner of her eyes as Toni strode past us without a single glance. She flinched when the sound of Toni's bedroom door slammed. "She's pissed.."

"Mhm."

I wasn't paying attention at this point, I just had to mix the ingredients. Peanut butter and shortening to start with. Don't think about the void. You don't need to fill it. Just focus on creaming the ingredients together.

Kaylee watched me silently as I worked. She crossed her arms over the center island and rested her chin on her forearms.

Sugar, brown sugar, baking soda.

I turned to get the eggs, when I turned back around Kaylee was reaching for the mixing bowl, about to stick her finger inside to taste the batter. I smacked the back of her hand with the wooden spoon I'd been using to mix with.

"Motherfucker," she yelled, withdrawing her hand. "That hurt."

I pointed the spoon at her, glaring daggers. "You should know better. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"

Mine would have swatted me for what she was about to do.

She cradled her hand close to her chest, her eyes blazing fire when they raised to meet mine. "No. She taught me things like how to sew a wound and cure a hangover. Many other things that included how much oxycodone you can take before you overdose. Manners weren't very high on her what--to--teach--Kaylee--list."

What. The. Fuck.

I just stared at her, too dumbstruck to come up with a response. This whole time I thought I had the bad girl all figured out. Now I'm starting to think I was wrong. There was more to Kaylee than alcohol and swearing.

Guilt washed over me for how I reacted. Grandmama would have been ashamed of me. She was the one who taught me how to bake. She was the one who taught me when to act proper like my mom always wanted and when to have fun.

This was not one of those moments to act proper.

"I'm--"

"Forget it."

She stood up from the stool and walked out the front door before I could say anything else. Before I could apologize.

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