https://youtu.be/7L_XRTeYPzc

*Note: Click the Youtube link above to listen to the Audiobook Version of this chapter voiced by Kristen Maglonzo featuring music by Tommy Lee (Ft. Andrew McMahon), The Used, and Paramore.

Elias

The flash of red and blue sirens light up the rearview mirror right as a patrol car pulls up behind us. He signals us off the freeway, and my hands are shaking so badly, I can barely hold the wheel straight as we exit.

Jersey tries to calm me down once I park the car, but I'm scared shitless. We're in someone else's ride in the middle of some quiet rich suburb a couple miles outside of San Diego, and I have a fucking record.

It'd be different if I had a sparkly clean driving history like Tanner's,--but I don't.

I have an accident everybody in San Diego remembers, and I don't need anymore reminders .

I reach for my wallet, but my hands are so unsteady it slips right out of my grip and tumbles to the floor.

I check the rearview and spot a cop with a shaved head sauntering over towards the car.

"Can you do me a favor, Jersey?"

My voice comes out broken and hollow, and I can't stand the sound.

"Whatever you need."

"C-Could you grab my wallet for me? I-I don't want this guy thinking that I'm--"

She reaches down and hands me my wallet before I have to explain myself.

"Everything's gonna be fine. Cops are assholes, but maybe we'll get lucky with this one. Just have a little faith."

I wanna take her words to heart, but my pulse is picking up the closer the cop gets. I fumble through my wallet, find my license, and make a last minute scramble to open the small coin pocket full of anxiety pills Dan gave me for emergencies. My hand slips, and my pills go flying all over the place like confetti.

Shaved Head taps on my window, and I totally freeze up. I know I should clean up my mess, that I should do the smart thing and pick the pills off my pant legs or brush them to the floor. But I don't move. I don't do a fucking thing but sit there waiting for the world to cave in.

Jersey grabs onto my hand outta the blue and runs her thumb along the rough edges of my fingers. I don't know why she even wants to be anywhere near a guy who's this small, this weak, or this fucking pathetic, but she's still trying to calm me down.

She's still trying for me.

"Open up!"

Buzz Cut bangs his fist against the side of Indigo's car hard enough to rattle the glass. I roll down the window as fast as the piece of shit handle will let me only to have him shine a flashlight right in my eyes when I look his way.

"Evening, compadre--"

Strike one.

"--do you have any idea how dangerously you were driving on the freeway? You could've hurt somebody, son. License and registration please."

I hand over my license while Jersey pops open Indigo's glove compartment. He eyes the hell outta my ID and then stares me down with a crooked smile on his military-chiseled face.

I just wanna get to where we're going. I wanna nod and smile this asshole out of my business and get back on the road. But this guy doesn't look like he wants to be anywhere else but here.

"This your girlfriend, son? She's cute. What's she dating you for? The drugs?" He asks.

I look down at his badge and focus on memorizing his last name instead of looking at him.

"No, sir. I don't mess with drugs,--"

Anymore.

"--and neither does she."

He takes his flashlight off and shines it down on all the pills spilled on my lap and smiles at me like a monster.

"Then what's all this? Vitamins?" He asks.

My blood pressure shoots up the back of my neck, and I grip the hell outta Jersey's hand just to stay calm.

"Officer, those are my--"

"Those are his meds. He takes them for his anxiety and right before you pulled us over he was having an attack. That's why we were having problems driving, he was--"

"Sweetheart, I appreciate your story but your boyfriend-o here should be able to explain it his own words. Or does he not know enough Inglés to do that?"

Jersey stiffens up and stares him down like an attack dog.

"He speaks perfect English, Officer, and he is more than capable of telling you what happened himself."

Dickhead tips the edge of his hat at Jersey, and then flickers his flashlight back over to me.

"You heard the lady, Mr. King. Why don't you step out of the car and explain your little situation to me somewhere where we won't be interrupted," he says.

He cracks open the door and ushers me outside, but I don't move.

"What are you waiting for, son? I said step outside. And bring some of those pills along while you're at it. I wanna get a closer look at your 'medication'."

"Don't you need a warrant for that, Officer?" I ask, even though I shouldn't.

He moves his hand a couple inches closer to his gun holster and takes a couple steps closer to me.

"You think you're some kinda lawyer, young man?"

"No, sir."

"You think you know how to do my job better than me?"

"No, sir."

"Then get--"

He grabs onto my shirt and yanks my whole body towards him.

"--the hell--"

I fall out of the driver's seat and hit the pavement so hard I scrape the skin off my hands and knees, but he drags me to my feet before I can say anything.

"--outta that car."

The second we're face to face, he brushes me off like we're buddies and slaps on that bullshit smile again.

"Careful now. You tripped pretty hard back there. Drugs will do that to you."

"I already told you, I'm clean, Officer."

He drops to the ground, picks up one of my pills, and pockets it.

"You're only clean unless I say you're clean. And I've worked by the border long enough to know that boys like you always have something to hide."

Halfway into trying to figure out how the hell to respond to him, I hear Jersey get out of the car behind me, and I whip around to face her without thinking about the consequences.

"Get back in the car, Jersey! I'm okay, just wait for me inside!"

All the color drains out of her face, and her eyes double in size.

"How is this okay, Elias? He's hurting you!"

"He's not. I'm fine, I just--"

"Did I tell you to move, son?!"

Officer Dickweed grabs both my wrists and shoves me into the side of the car. My ribs slam against the metal frame, but my adrenaline's running so high I can barely feel it.

"I just need to talk to her for a second, Officer."

"The only thing you need to do is keep your mouth shut, before you end up behind bars, you hear, ese."

I shut my eyes, keep them closed, and try my damnedest to force my mouth to do the same thing. But, I'm way too tired of his bullshit to keep myself in check.

"Why the hell are you calling me that?" I say, voice closer to a growl than a whisper.

"Calling you what?"

"Ese."

"Isn't that what you Mexicans call each other. I'm just trying to make you comfortable before things get uncomfortable."

The click of his handcuffs sets my pulse off the Richter scale.

"I'm not Mexican, sir. You're making a mistake."

"You are whatever I say you are, son. If I say you're a dealer, then you are. If I say you were driving recklessly on the freeway in stolen vehicle, then you were. And if I say you were resisting arrest--"

The cold steel of his handcuffs bites into my wrists, but I'm too shell-shocked to pay much attention to the pain.

"--then you're resisting. So be a good boy, relax, and maybe I'll drop the last part. You have the right to remain silent--"

I stop listening. I stop moving. And, I stop thinking to the point where I feel like I'm barely living and breathing in my own body.

Jersey scrambles out of the car and bolts over to me, but the officer won't let her get as close as I need her to be.

She stares at me, eyes glittering with tears turning red and blue in the police light glow.

"Tell me what to do, Elias. Just tell me what I can do to help you, and I will."

I swallow my pride like its poison and tell her the only answer I can think of, but the last solution I want.

"Call my dad."

***

(Thank you guys so much for waiting and for being so patient with this chapter!@kaelking12 and worked until the late hours of the night here to finish this on time so we hope you enjoy the read/listen! Let us know if you checked out the audio and what your thoughts were! Hopefully will have the next update same time next week!)