Seeking An S.O.S.: Behind The Scenes

13. The Lies We Keep

Bonnie stood firm in front of Roman's truck as he was about to close the door. Panting, Bonnie tried to remain alert as she calmed down. Her arms were flailing wildly as if she was an aircraft marshaller communicating with air traffic control and relaying information to Roman through visual signals.

"Hey Roman, please don't go yet! We need a ride. Please help us out!"

Her frantic voice and constant movements caused Roman to pause what he was doing, as he wondered if this mysterious woman was in any trouble. He was ashamed as there were onlookers nearby eyeing him. The woman in a trench coat wasn't just an embarrassment towards him, but was also humiliating herself.

Choosing whether or not to respond, Roman gazed at the blonde and snickered. He tried to remember who she was, or how she even knew his name, but nothing came to mind. That is until he recognized the man running behind her.

Then it all clicked. And it smelled like trouble was headed his way again. He was shocked to see Clyde and frowned. His girlfriend was also an eye sore for Roman; she was just using her body as bait to get what she wanted.

Roman facepalmed himself and sensed he was a ladies magnet due to his long hair he refused to cut off. He figured that it was his shiny hair that stood out, despite the other handsome features that made women swoon.

Roman hated going to the barber. Thoughts of a barber pole came to his mind, the colors of red, white and blue boiled in his mind. The pole that people might have gripped onto earlier made him disgusted, as those people might have known that the locks of their beautiful hair have been cut and now laid as trash.

Abruptly, he imagined what the bitterness must've tasted like by swirling his tongue inside his mouth. When he tasted the metallic taste of blood, he realized he was gnawing on the soft inside of his cheek.

This is bad!

Roman shivered just thinking about it, and quickly shook his head to return back to reality.

Focusing on the man behind the mystery woman, he looked in the man's blue hues with rage. The man was the same one Roman accidently bumped into as he was leaving the Loyalton casino, a place he often visited in his spare time. Roman was about to head home that day, when that guy suddenly ran towards him in the lobby. The clumsy fool was in a hurry because he was being chased by the security guards.

One thing led to another, and soon both men knocked each other out and fell on the floor. The two were in pain, while Roman endured a head bump.

Once the two were able to get up on their own, Roman allowed the man to leave after his short introduction, not knowing that he made a serious mistake as footsteps approached them.

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Loyalton Casino Mishap

Holding onto his forehead, Clyde stood up and faced the person he ran into. At first he thought his victim was a tall statue that could break at any second since Clyde knew the casino owned a lot of expensive artifacts. That's mainly the reason why he and Bonnie were there in the first place, to steal what they could apprehend, so they can resell it to the less unfortunate who couldn't afford them. A game of Robin Hood is what Clyde called it; not stealing but paying it forward. Yet, Bonnie called it 'It's a living to make ends meet'. But their dirty schemes didn't always work out on schedule, and that was what happened that day. As the guards heard the alarm go off in the gift shop, the thieves ran off in separate directions.

Clyde didn't pay attention to where he was going. As he was always fearful if he broke priceless items he did not want to be blamed. The thought of being heavily punished again was a nightmare for him as one of his former foster parents abused him. After accidentally breaking one of her expensive vases, Mrs. Springer spanked him good to a point that her husband took over to finish the job. Clyde was of age, in his pre- teens where he could defend himself, but he chose not to say anything. Instead Clyde fell prey to these kinds of attacks.

Once social workers found out about this fiasco, Mr. and Mrs. Springer were given a warning and barred from being foster parents again if that situation continued. But once the social workers left, the abuse continued as if the warning meant nothing.

Soon Clyde ran away with a black eye and the perpetrators were arrested for child endangerment. And even if those years have passed, Clyde still remembered that horrible episode, but he kept to himself, for he didn't want anyone to know about his past.

However, his thoughts were quickly interrupted once he heard a loud moan. Relieved that it wasn't a breakable object, Clyde sighed. But he wasn't out of the hole yet, as he felt guilty for hurting another person.

Roman's first instinct that day was that Clyde was another patron who lost his money due to bad habits, but he was wrong.

He found out Clyde and his girlfriend snuck out of the casino's gift shop with $50 worth of merchandise once he himself was interrogated. Damage was done - a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and likewise as Roman preferred to keep personal things to himself, he didn't want his family to know about it.

Once the guards caught up to them, the two men were scarred for life. Thinking that Roman might be part of this scheme, the two were asked to come with them peacefully to a back room. It was either that or both would be handcuffed in front of the public, which Roman despised. He closed his eyes hoping for a prayer to happen that he would soon be released.

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"I'm innocent, I tell you!" Roman complained as the security guard led him into the dark room. Roman didn't expect a day at the Casino to end up like this and was hoping that this major issue wouldn't be broadcasted.

"Tell it to the judge, thief. Sit down!" The security guard named Masterson yelled.

"Thief? I'm no thief. Here check my pockets, if you want. Golly! All I did was play some slot machines. And since I lost, I was about to go home, when that man ran towards me."

Roman pointed at Clyde, who was sitting motionless as he too was trying to process what he was going to do next.

"Jenson turn on the light, will you?" the casino's supervisor asked.

Once the bright lights gave way, the two men sitting in the interrogation room started to sweat, as they tried to find a loophole to get out of this situation.

A burly man walked inside and asked the guard next to the door, why he was even asked to come. The gentleman was rather irritated since he was contacted during his dinner. He clenched his jaw, had an intense eye contact with the guard, and furrowed his brows showing how angry he was. Holding a chicken wing in his hand, the guards tried so hard not to laugh at their boss.

"Okay, what do we have here, Jenson?" the casino manager, Enrico Mantel, asked.

" Chavez and I apprehended these two outside as they were making a getaway," replied the first security guard.

"And what were their crimes?" Mantel questioned as he kept munching on his food.

"Stealing goods from the gift shop, Sir," replied Chavez,who tried to look away from his boss as he was hiding a smirk on his face.

Knowing that his food habits were often odd, Mantel eyed him.

"Chavez, if you have something to say to me, spit it out, I won't bite!"

Chavez turned around to face his boss and chose his words wisely.

"Well, sir please put that chicken bone down, you also happen to have a stain on your shirt."

After viewing this whole fiasco occur, Roman got tired of waiting. Putting his hands together on the counter, he stood up.

"Excuse me, I hate to break this up. But I'd like to know if I can go home now, as I am innocent!"

In addition to that, Roman knew Harley would start lecturing him if he couldn't make it on time for dinner.

Going to the casino was one of his secretive pastimes he wanted to keep from his step-sister, as gambling was something Harley despised. Her biological father was imprisoned as he was a compulsive gambler who ruined their family, until her mom met Roman's father.

But now Roman gulped as he should have listened to her, because he felt his luck had run out.