CHAPTER EIGHT
Next thing I know, I was un-cuffed and tossed into a cell with a few other Serpents from the van (including Sweet Pea, Toni and the blue-haired girl). Sweet Pea angrily banged on the cell bars which echoed throughout the already tiny cell, which rang annoyingly in my ears.
I put my hands up to my ears as a reflex. It felt like all of my senses were heightened. My hearing. My emotions. Everything was irritating, even the sound of people breathing. And I wish that Sweet Pea would just shut the hell up-
"Stop it, Sweets," said Toni, calmly. Wow, she read my mind. "Complaining isn't going to get us anywhere."
Sweet Pea gave one final blow to the cell bars like it owed him a living before taking a seat on the empty bench next to me. The few other Serpents in the cell were sitting far apart, none of them were sitting next to each other and a few were standing up. It seemed like all of them were in their own world. Toni was huddled up with the blue-haired girl, who seemed scared and timid. Toni had her arm wrapped around her.
It had just occured to me that the blue-haired girl might be Livewire, Ghost's younger sister who was dating Toni. No wonder she was so concerned about Ghost earlier on the van.
The van.
Last thing I remembered was throbbing pain in the back of my head. And the back of my head was still throbbing at this very moment. I reached my hand out to touch the back of my head.
"Hey," I called out to Toni, who perked her head up from a resting position, "did I pass out on the van earlier?"
"Uh. . . Not exactly," said Toni.
"What the fuck does that mean," I asked, hand still placed on the back of my head.
"You looked like you were on the verge of passing out but you never really did pass out," said Sweet Pea. I turned my head to face him, he was also in a resting posture. Back against the wall, slouching over with his hands on his knees. "You just seemed- drunk," he added.
I must be actually drunk to not remember any of that or I might actually have a concussion. Either way, all I want to do right now is sit tight and not worry about any other thing because this throbbing pain is enough to worry about.
I shut my eyes and winced in pain once in a while. This headache/migraine or whatever it is is irritating. I just want to close my eyes and fall into a deep slumber but, a) I'm in a prison cell, b) Holy shit I'm in a prison cell, c) It is uncomfortable as hell.
"Hey," I called out to Toni again, "How long does this last?" This as in being put in a cell.
"Depends," she replied. "Couple of hours. Depends on how long it takes for the other Serpents to bust us out. But considering that the cops are aiming for Serpents," she sucked in her breath like 'sssk', "It's gonna take us a while."
I thought about Archie. He must be trying to bust me out of here. Is he? He better, he's the one who landed me in this mess in the first place anyways. Oh, how I regret trying to help the others. At least Ghost escaped, but the dick twat sitting next to me did not and because of him I'm stuck here.
"So what usually happens now?" I continued to ask.
"Interrogation," she said.
I nodded and leaned back in my seat, head against the wall. I closed my eyes and reminisced in the pain.
After a while, Toni spoke again, "You alright?"
I shook my head, eyes still closed. "My head hurts like hell," I said.
She said nothing else. It was not like there was anything she could do. I did not need anyone's sympathy at the moment, it was not like they could do anything but feel bad for me.
To my left where Toni and Cassie were sitting, I heard a soft mumbling from Cassie, almost like a hamster squeak, she asked Toni, "What happens when they call me up?"
I finally opened my eyes and turned my head slightly towards the couple.
Toni replied to her in a soft comforting tone, "Just tell them you're not a Serpent. If they ask you what you know about Serpents dealing, tell them you don't know. They won't ask you anymore questions."
Cassie nodded her head gently.
Cassie was obviously no Serpent. She was too soft and innocent looking. Her blue hair might say so otherwise, but her mannerism seemed gentle. She was curled up in Toni's arm. She was genuinely scared unlike the other Serpents who seemed more angry than scared.
A few minutes go by and a cop walked by the cell and unlocked the gate. He raised his fat finger and pointed at a lanky Serpent to my right. "You, interrogation," he ordered in a deep gruffy voice.
The Serpent obeyed and stood up and walked over the bars where the cop cuffed him and brought him away.
Silence and boredom became my friends again. I stared at the blank, grey, dull walls and they stared back at me. My eyes bouncing off the walls, juggling back and forth between the Serpents and the grey bars in front of me.
A few minutes go by again before anyone spoke. The two Serpents to my right were having an argument about raw tuna. It might be the boredom talking but it is quite entertaining.
"How did you know there was going to be a drug bust?" asked Sweet Pea.
It took me a moment to register that he was talking to me. I slowly turned my head to my left where he was sitting and met his eyes. I could feel several eyes fall upon me as well. I hated this attention.
"My Brother," I spoke. "He and his friends were doing Jingle-Jangle and the Mayor thought the Serpents were dealing."
Toni scoffed, "Serpents don't deal Jingle jangle, the Ghoulies do."
"Well tell them that," I said.
"Do you honestly think the cops will listen?" Sweet Pea leaned forward and sat at the edge of the bench.
I knit my brow at him, "Yeah, that's why I told you to tell them." Duh.
He rolled his eyes and looked away. Yeah, keep rolling your eyes, I hope you find a brain back there.
"Why would the mayor think the Serpents are dealing Jingle-Jangle?" asked a Serpent.
"Why else?" Sweet Pea spoke out, "We're Serpents. They target us for everything."
"Now we're stuck here," he turned his attention to me, "because of your brother." Emphasis on 'your'.
This ungrateful bitch. "I'm stuck here as well, fuckface," I spat, although I felt too drained to argue. "Thought you'd be a little bit more grateful that I tried to save your ass back there."
"Well look at me, I'm stuck here!" he spoke harshly.
"Look at me, I'm stuck here with you, asshole!" I retorted back.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
"You two, break it up!" ordered the officer posted outside the waiting cell, baton in his hand. "You two are bickering like an old married couple."
I gave him the middle finger once he turned his back on us. To my left, I heard Toni snigger. A few minutes of silence go by again. What was minutes felt like hours and the lanky Serpent who got called up for interrogation finally came back to the holding cell and the cop called on Cassie next.
Cassie looked at her girlfriend warily as she stood up. Toni held her hand and kissed her knuckles and mouths 'It's okay' to her.
"What did they ask?" Sweet Pea asked the lanky Serpent immediately after Cassie was brought away. The other Serpents swarmed him with questions as well.
All except Toni, who as though was in the state of tranquility. She had her back against the wall and arms crossed over each other, legs also crossed over the other.
"You don't look worried," I said to her.
She shrugged, "This isn't my first time."
"So what time is this?"
"I lost count."
"God, that's sad" was what I wanted to say but kept to myself. Instead, I simply nodded. Lzzy's a Serpent but I've never heard her getting arrested for anything Serpent related to that extant. I bet she's living the best life right now not getting arrested.
Lucky bitch.
"Why did you try to save me earlier?" asked Sweet Pea solemnly. I shifted my attention to him.
I scoffed, "You thought I was saving you? I was going after Ghost."
"But you warned me anyways," he said.
"You were about get all annoying," I explained. "Oh you punched me in the face, northsiders always get away with everything," I imitated.
His eyebrows pulled together, looking offended, "I don't sound like that."
"A little," added Toni.
He looked at her sternly yet almost jokingly, "Topaz."
I grinned, "See, your friend agrees with me."
Sweet Pea flips her off and mouths 'fuck you.'
Toni mouths back 'I love you' and pout her lips and blew him a kiss.
"Since when were you friends with Ghost," Sweet Pea continued to ask.
"I just met him today," I said.
"And you decided to help him?"
"Well at least it was better than helping you."
He rolled his eyes.
I grinned.
He sighs and adjusts himself in his seat, "You're probably gonna be our sooner than us."
I furrowed my brows at him, "Why is that?"
He looked me dead in the eye, leaned in and said, "You're not a Serpent."
"Well apparently the cops see me as one," I replied.
"You're not one of us."
"I don't want to be one of you anyways."
He growled, and looked away angrily and so did I. I leaned back in my seat with my arms crossed across my chest and legs crossed over one another.
Cassie came back to the holding cell faster than expected, faster than the first guy. Then the officer called on the next person. He called onto me.
I gulped and made my way to the gate where the officer cuffed me and took me away. We walked down a long corridor and to the interrogation room.
The officer pushed open the door to the interrogation room and blank, grey walls (much like the holding cell) greeted me.
Seated at the table in the middle of the room was Sheriff Keller, who eyed me very closely when I walked into the room. "Kenna Andrews?" Sheriff Keller asked, a mixture of shock and disbelief in his tone. He furrowed his brows at me as I approached the empty seat across from him.
"Hello, Mr Keller," I greeted with absolutely no seriousness, as I took the empty seat across from him.
His eyes were still glued onto me with disbelief. "What is she doing here?" he asked the guard standing by the door, who shrugged. He sighed, "I know you're no Serpent, Kenna. So tell me how you got wrapped up in this mess?"
I leaned back in my seat, making myself comfortable. "Some cops thought I was a Serpent and locked me up, so here I am," I said with a smile on my face.
Sheriff Keller still had his eyebrows furrowed at me, and we were staring each other down. I honestly could not take this seriously, I am innocent, I have nothing to be afraid of.
"Do you think this is a joke?" he asked, still not taking his eyes off of me.
"Yeah, absolutely," I said. "Like you said, I'm no Serpent, so let me go and I'll be on my merry way."
"Not yet," he said.
I rolled my eyes.
"What are you doing messing with the Serpents in the first place?" he continued to ask, clicking his pen, hand poised.
Don't I need a lawyer or something? My mum's a lawyer. Aw just thinking about my mum made me sad.
"Messing with the Serpents?" I croaked.
"Why else would the cops mistake you for one?"
"Well, I was trying to prevent innocent teenagers from being wrongfully arrested, and- well, I failed."
"Innocent teenagers?" he asked as if I said something wrong.
"Mr Keller, they're about the same age as me. Do you really think that they're capable of dealing drugs?"
The sheriff smirked, "Oh, Kenna. I might just think you're the innocent one. You don't know them, like I do."
I think the fuck not. Doing drugs? Yes, I know. Teenagers do it all the time, they think it's cool and a fucking trend or something. Teenagers dealing drugs? Never heard of it.
"I once knew a kid who dropped out of the fourth grade to run drugs to support his nana," he continued to say.
It took me a moment to take in what he had just said. When I did, I burst out laughing, "A fucking ten-year-old was dealing drugs?"
The sheriff simply looked at me sternly, no crinkle tugging at his lips, he was staring at me with a straight face.
I cooled myself off and faked cough, "Yeah, sorry officer, not funny."
Totally fucking hilarious.
"Like I said Kenna, you don't know these Serpents-"
I sniggered. I was imagining a whole fucking child being your drug dealer and I just couldn't control myself.
"Sorry," I fake coughed again. "Sir I don't know anything about drugs. Maybe you should ask my brother, he definitely knows more than I do."
The sheriff shifted a few files around. "We did question your brother and his friends, and Reggie Mantle said his dealers were from the Southside."
"And you immediately assumed it the Serpents?" I spat.
The sheriff opened his mouth to speak but decided not to. He sighs, "I know you're trying to defend your friends, Kenna, but these drugs are ruining people's life's, help me take them off the streets."
I could tell him that the Ghoulies were the ones dealing and not the Serpents but that would mean Sheriff Keller will keep on asking me more questions so I said nothing.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?"
I paused for a moment to think but I- I don't remember holy shit. It was like my mind was blank and empty. It was like that time during public speaking I got so nervous I blanked out for an entire minute except this time I wasn't nervous.
"I don't remember," I uttered.
"You don't remember?" He furrowed his brows at me. "Don't try playing funny Kenna, this is serious matter."
"Sir, I had a concussion or at least I think I did" was what I wanted to say. Wait how did I get a concussion?
"Kenna?" he looked at me with concern.
I gulped, "It was after Betty, I saw you come out of her house. Archie came running towards me, told me you were about to raid Southside High."
"So you decided to play hero and warn the Serpents before we came," he said.
I shook my head. When did I get a concussion? My head is so fucked up- I can't remember. . .
"I'm no hero," I mumbled.
Mouth gaped, Sheriff Keller was about ask another question before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Another officer came in, he said, "Excuse me, Sheriff. She's been bailed out."
"By who?" asked Sheriff Keller.
"Her father," said the officer.
Final-fucking-ly.
The officer escorted me out of the interrogation room. We walked past the cell where the cops were holding the Serpents and a cop was unlocking the cell door. We reached the main entrance of the police station and there stood my dad, my brother, Ghost and a few other Serpents.
My dad's face fell when he saw me walk out of the interrogation room. "Kenna," he uttered heart-wretchedly upon seeing me.
"Dad," I ran up to him and collapsed into his arms, he held me into a tight embrace.
We let go and Archie, who stood nearby, pulled me into a hug as well. "Kenna, I'm sorry," he said into my ear.
"Why the hell was my daughter arrested?" I heard my dad exclaim to Sheriff Keller.
Sheriff Keller tried to explain, "It was an honest mistake-"
"Honest mistake?" My dad raised his voice. "Tom, you know my kid, she's no Serpent, if it was a mistake then why were you still interrogating her?"
"Fred, I sincerely apologise-"
"No, you listen to me-"
I watched as my dad and the Sheriff argued over me. Behind them, a flood of Serpents started pouring out of the holding cell and into the main entrance. Families and friends of the Serpents started hugging each other, glad to see each other again.
I couldn't help but smile when I saw Cassie reunite with Ghost. It was such a wholesome moment. At least it would have been if it didn't have my dad arguing in the background.
Ghost pulled away from the hug and noticed me standing nearby. He said, "Hey Kenna, how you doing?"
"Not that great," I admitted. "Is Lzzy here?"
"Wow, you only care about her, huh?" he asked.
"You seemed perfectly fine the last time I saw you running away from the cops while Sweet Pea and I were hauled in by the police," I said.
"Sorry," he uttered. "She's not here. Thanks by the way, for getting me out."
"No problem."
"Thanks to your dad as well," he pointed to my dad who was still arguing with Sheriff Keller. "We've been standing outside the police station for hours trying to figure out how to bust out the Serpents. Then your dad came and helped us out."
"He helped bust all of them out as well?" I asked.
"Mhm," he hummed.
"Seriously?" intruded Sweet Pea, who must have been overhearing our conversation.
"Yeah, her dad's a saviour," said Ghost to Sweet Pea. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have known how to bust you guys out."
★ ★ ★
Lots of time has passed since the arrest and by the time we got out of the station, it was late in the evening. Dad didn't ask any questions about the arrest which was great cause that meant I didn't have to explain the mild concussion I have. We got Chinese food for dinner before heading back home.
First thing I did when we reached home was head to the bathroom. I reached for the cabinet behind the mirror and fished out the bottle of aspirin. I dumped out the contents into my palm and counted it.
Five.
If I take a few, my dad will notice. I think I can deal with the pain. Besides, my dad probably needs it more than I do. So I dumped the pills back into the bottle and put it back into the cabinet.
I headed downstairs to the dining table where dad and Archie were already starting to eat. I walk-
I stumble-
I'm losing balance, I crash into the wall beside me.
My head is spinning.
I-
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I know nothing about the law, so this entire chapter is just me bullshitting.
I didn't expect the chapter to be this long. I thought it'd be short so I tried my best to extend it and welp, it turned out longer than expected. Funny thing is, there is more things that I can add but decided not to since it was so long.
Also guess what, I have a major exam coming up!! So before I go into hiatus in August, I'm going to quickly finish up this fanfiction (that I've been writing for about one-and-a-half years) So prepare yourself for quick (and probably-not-so-good cause I'm rushing) updates!!
Ps. Is there anyone who does wattpad covers that can help a girl out? Dm me!
I suck at graphics someone come save me!