Recollection Of Questionable Events

Under The Cover Of The Night.

(10) Under The Cover Of The Night:

Araceli Torre

“We’re checking, but that doesn’t seem to be the end of your night?” Riggs asked.

“Nope, and the next part could possibly be considered...slightly illegal," I stammered.

Could this be why I’d been arrested? If that was the case, my entire family needed a long time-out, and maybe then they would stop getting me into trouble.

“Well then, please continue Ms. Torre.”

The car ride home had been beyond uncomfortable. Monica had refused to utter a single word…she blamed me for the whole ’car’ fiasco. But it didn’t worry me too much, since Monica never stayed upset for long.

Besides, the lack of chatter gave me ample time to come up with several ways to fix this mess. After the events of the night, it’d become clear to me that our neighbor was emotionally attached to his belongings.

“We have to return everything,” I said, finally breaking the silence.

We were parked in front of my apartment, not even trying to get out of the car. We were both still traumatized from the night’s events. It wasn’t everyday that we got chased by short fat men, drove through rivers or almost crashed.

“It’s all long gone by now,” she responded.

“No, not all of it…they’re too lazy.”

“That’s true.”

“Right. So there’s a good chance that most of it is still lying all over your living room floor,” I said.

“Mmm…what do you suggest?” Monica asked.

The ‘what to do’ came easy; we needed to return everything that the crazy ladies had stolen. The ‘how to do it’ got tricky, but apparently Monica had ample time to mull that problem over during the long drive.

“Go change, wear all black and meet me back here in thirty minutes,” she demanded.

“What now?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Monica looked like she wanted to add something else, but refrained. She simply nodded and we parted ways…running in opposite directions.

 

* * * * * * *

 

Monica hadn’t arrived yet, which meant the chances of me chickening out were higher than normal. To help prevent that, I decided to stay outside until my cousin showed up.

Letting my body fall to the ground, I tried to not look suspicious, a difficult task on a normal day, but it turned out to be especially tricky dressed as a ninja…in the middle of the night.

The whole situation made me a little wary, and I hoped that my black sweats blended into the night well enough to deter any nosy neighbors from calling the cops. For extra assurance, I arranged my hair around my face and settled down for quick nap (it was way past my bedtime).

“Psss…”

I laid completely still, opening one eye at a time to let my vision adjust to the darkness again.  When I felt confident I could see, I sat up and searched my surroundings for the source of the strange noises. It didn’t take me long to spot Monica hiding in some bushes near our mailbox, her big eyes bright with excitement.