His Safety Net

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

       Family game night with my family was normally a dangerous thing. Almost everyone in my family, apart from me and my mom, were very competitive, so if anyone lost, there would be a riot happening. Yet my family always insisted on having a game night.

       So far, it was an extremely calm game night. Almost too calm. It wasn't going to be long before someone rioted about losing, or claimed that someone else was cheating.

       When it was Alan's turn, he looked at everyone suspiciously before placing down three of the cards in his hand. "Three kings," he said.

       "Cheat," Ryder said almost immediately.

       "What?" Alan asked. "How did you know? Are you the one cheating?"

       "Nope," Ryder said. "You just always look at everyone suspiciously whenever you're planning on cheating, as if that would make it less obvious. Get a different tell."

       Alan sighed heavily, flipping over the cards he placed down to show that Ryder was right about him lying. He then picked up every card in the centre of the table, now being the person with the most cards. "This game is bullshit."

       "Watch your language," Dad said.

       "You swear all the time."

       "Not with little kids around."

       "Not with little kids around," Alan mocked.

       "Watch it," Dad warned. "Or you won't get any pizza when it gets here."

       Alan scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his seat as Orchid took her turn. So the rioting was slowly beginning. It still seemed a bit calm but if Alan got caught cheating again, he would probably knock the table over.

       Orchid placed down two aces, and nobody called her bluff. I rarely called someone's bluff in this game unless I knew for a fact they put down different cards from what they said. I didn't want to risk getting all the cards in the dark, like Alan did.

       As Mom was taking her turn, my cell phone started ringing. I took it out of my pocket, furrowed my eyebrows at the number I did not recognize. I normally didn't answer numbers I didn't recognize because most of the time, it was spam calls.

       However, Alan loved talking back to spam calls so whenever I was around him, I did answer those calls.

       "Ooh, is it a spam call?" Alan asked. "Please say it is. I haven't talked back to a spam call in a long time."

       I shrugged before answering my cell phone. "Hello?"

       "...Hey," Jerome said in a soft voice. "I, uh... I need a favour."

       I placed my cards down on the table before getting up from the chair, heading to the kitchen for a bit more privacy during the call. "What number are you calling from?" I asked.

       "...The police station."

       "The police station? Is everything okay?"

       Jerome sighed. "Yeah, I just... The police took all my possessions, including my wallet so I can't even pay the bail they want. I tried calling Brandon but his dumbass isn't answering the phone and I'm still somewhat avoiding my other friends so--"

        I cut him off, knowing what he was trying to ask me. "How much is the bail?"

       "Sixty-five dollars," Jerome said. "Of course I'll pay you back right away. The police just won't let me pay it myself. They said someone has to do it for me, which is bullshit." I heard someone mutter something, then Jerome slightly pulled the phone away from his ear to talk more to who was by him, judging by his voice sounding my distant. "Well, then let me pay my own bail if you don't want me complaining about how run things here." He sighed before bringing the phone back to him. "Will you be able to come? I understand if you can't but--"