Home [Book 2]

6

A female officer led John B into his cell and I cuffed him, walking back out with me.

"Wait, Officer, don't take her. Please. Don't take her away." John B pleaded, pressing up against the bars as the door closed.

The female officer shook her head firmly. "I'm afraid I can't do that, kid. Cell isn't big enough for two. She'll be in the cell next to you though."

John B looked at me and sighed, looking back at the officer. "Just don't—don't hurt her. Please. She's all I've got left."

The officer gave John B a stern nod of her head and walked me to my cell, taking off my cuffs and closing the cell behind her as she left.

"B," I pressed up against the bars of the cell and stuck my arm through, struggling to reach for his hand and intertwining our pinkies together.

———

"John Booker Routledge and Riley Marie Routledge, pursuants to the North Carolina statute section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty." The judge said, her gavel banging as people broke out into clamoring.

    I looked back and found my friends sitting in the stands, shock written on their faces as officers pulled us up.

    "Your honor, their 17!" JJ shouted over the clamoring, standing up as Kiara tried to silence him.

    "JJ," Kiara said, shaking her head.

    "Riley! John B! We're gonna figure this out." KeKe shouted as we were taken back to our holding cells and put back in.

    I leaned my back against the bars of my cell and sighed. "B?"

    "Yeah, Riley?"

    "Do you think we'll get out of this?"

    "We will. Okay? I still have to walk you down the aisle." John B replied.

    I smiled softly. "Yeah. Do you think JJ will look good in a tux?"

    "Oh, I think he'll look great." He replied, a smile on his voice as a chuckle rose up. "What will you wear?"

    "I don't know. Probably an old dress of Mom's that's been kept in the trunk in my room." I answered.

    "Pretty,"

    "Yeah," I closed my eyes, "I miss Dad."

    "I miss him too, Ri."

———

I sat next to my brother on the metal table and the door opened, Plumb opening the door and telling JJ he had five minutes.

    He came into the room and looked at me with a smile. "Hey, darling. Miss me?"

    I smiled and stood up, leaning me head against his chest. "This is as best as I'm gonna hug you right now."

    "I'll take it." He answered, his arms around going around me and he kissed my forehead.

    "Hey! No touching!" a male guard shouted, banging on the window. "Break it up."

    I sighed and pulled back from JJ, giving the guard a look before plopping back in my seat as JJ sat across from us.

    "I hate that rule so much." I muttered.

    My brother and JJ looked at each other for a moment before laughing.

    "I thought it was gonna be me." JJ said with a laugh. "But it was you two."

    I chuckled. "Welcome to our humble abode."

    "Yeah, when you guys said you had a new apartment, I had no idea." He said, looking around and back at us. "It's cozy. A little aluminum theme."

    "Yeah, we like to go for the cold, dark, depressing thing." John B replied.

    "Yeah. Hey listen, I'd love to sit here and chitchat, but I'm on the clock. And I'm here for one reason only, okay? Operation liberation, baby. Step one: piss off the cops so badly they don't see what's coming. Step two, at exactly 11 PM this evening, you're gonna have an attack of acute appendicitis."

    John B looked at me and I looked back at him before turning to JJ. "Do you know what appendicitis is?"

    "Yeah. Remember eighth grade? Algebra final?" JJ asked, "worked like a charm. Now to sell it, you gotta actually look sick, though, okay? You got some of that ghost face sunblock in here?"

    "JJ, we're in jail. We have a block of soap." I told him.

    "Is it white?" He asked.

    "Yeah. Mine is. Riley?" John B asked.

    "Yeah." I nodded.

    "Okay, that'll work. Take some of that. Rub it into your face well, okay? You don't want it rubbing off when they check your vitals. After that, run your hands under cold water for five minutes. After that, you're ready. Showtime, baby. Stumble out and collapse, okay? Once you're down on the ground squealing, they'll take you guys to the infirmary. There, you just gotta convince the nurse that that sucker's gonna burst. Okay?"

    JJ went through with the plan with us again just to make sure we got it before Plumb came back in and told him his time was up.

    "Time's up." She said.

    "Yes, ma'am. Trust me on this one. 11 PM." JJ said to us and got up, bending down and kissing my hair before heading back out of the room.

    An officer came to us and walked us back to our cells, pushing us in and leaving again.

    "This is the worst idea he has ever had yet." I said.

    "I agree. But this will work. It has to." He answered.

    I walked over to where the soap was and picked it up, wrinkling my nose. "Are we seriously about to do this?"

    "Looks like. You ready?"

    "I guess if it gets us out of here, I'll do just about anything." I said, turning the soap over in my hand.

    "Okay. Nothing to lose, Riley." He said.

    "Guess not." I breathed out, looking at the soap and started rubbing it onto the back of my hand before I stopped and looked up as my cell door creaked open.

    "B? That you?" I asked.

    "What was that, Riley?" John B asked from his cell.

    I turned around and ducked just in time as a fist slammed into the wall where my head and been moments before.

    "Riley?! Ri!" John B shouted, rattling the bars of his cell door and shouting for the guards.

    The man looked turned to me and looked at me like I was already dead, taking out a thick piece of rope and running at me, wrapping the rope around my neck and pulling hard.

    I gasped and pulled at the rope around my neck, choking out my brother's name as guards came rushing into the holding room.

    Shoupe and a female officer ran into my cell and Shoupe pulled the man away from me before shoving him back out of my cell and escorting him away.

    The female took the rope from my neck and helped me sit back on the floor, my back leaning against the wall.

    "You okay, kid?" She asked.

    "What do you think?" I asked, coughing.

    "You got one protective brother there. We could hear him from outside this holding block." She replied.

    "Yeah." I nodded, rubbing my throat. "What happens now?"

    "Now we find whoever's responsible. You kids may be in jail, but we still uphold the law in here." She answered, standing back up. "You going to be okay now?"

    "I think so."

    "Good," she said and walked back out of my cell.