Dance In The Rain

~52~ Bail

"And that's it, man. I know it's a whole cluster and I shoulda called last night once she touched her, but I knew you'd nail Quinn, and...Dude, please leave Sylvie out of this."

The cop finishes writing something in his report, and then gets out his phone and takes several pictures of both my face, and Holden's. Once he takes my statement and Tate's too, he nods.

"I have to talk to Quinn, Holden."

"Talk, or arrest?"

The guy gives Holden a sympathetic look and Holden shakes his head. "Don't, Sean. She was protecting my sister, man."

"Holden, I'm wearing the uniform. It's Officer Grebner."

"Sean, please. Don't arrest her."

"Let me find Brandy and talk to her, and then I'll talk to Quinn."

"SEAN......."

Officer Grebner closes his notepad and walks to his car. "I'll be in touch, Holden."

Holden glares at his friend as he drives away, and then curses loudly as he kicks his tire, making more glass fall from the door.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault," I cry as I dip my head and sob into my hands.

I feel his arms around me and his lips on my hair. "This is my fault. I'm the one that dated her. I'm the one that made you think I would pick her over you. You've done nothing wrong, Annie. I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"Man this is a shit show," he says after a minute as he runs his hands over his face. He gets out his phone to call someone, and then waits for a minute.

"Hey it's me...Brandy came by today and we had an issue, so I ended up calling the cops and filing a report. I just wanted to give you a heads up before Sean showed up. Give me a call back when you get this."

He puts his phone in his pocket and lets out a big breath. "Help me get this car cleaned up, will ya?" He asks over his shoulder as he goes inside and comes out with an extension cord and a vacuum.

~*~

We all work on the car for a long time, when Holden finally nods. "This is probably as good as it'll get. I guess I better call Petey and see what to do with this."

"Petey?" Tate asks.

"The town mechanic. I don't even wanna know what this is gonna run me."

"You can have my stash, this was my fault," Tate groans as he tosses the last garbage sack in the outside trash can.

Holden's mouth drops open, and when Tate turns to look at him, he tilts his head in concern. "Are you having an attack?"

"No, I.....Woah you just took some responsibility. Thanks for offering, Tate....That means so much to me...Thank you, but no. I'm the one who locked the keys in the car to begin with."

"Well yeah, but that friend of yours could've gotten the door opened without this disaster...What if I pay for half?"

"Who are you?" Holden smirks as he messes up Tate's hair. "Thank you. Hopefully it won't be too high. Petey owes me for tutoring his kid last summer for free."

Tate is quiet as he kicks at some leftover shards in the gravel, and then looks at Holden. "I just don't see why we have to put up with so much shit. Women want equal rights, but then they bank on the fact that we can't hit them. It isn't fair, Holden!"

Holden stops scrolling in his phone to find Petey's number, and looks at Tate carefully. "Well, a lot of men do hit women. I'm just choosing to not be one of them. And if I do anything right by you, it's to teach you the same. I promise you Tate...You better keep your hands off of your sister, or any other female. I let Brandy hit me for far too long, and I've got to change a lot of things about myself. I never once hit her though, and I sleep really well at night because of it."