★

AMARA SAT ON ONE of those plastic, uncomfortable chairs at the police station. She was still in complete disbelief. How the hell did Lip and Ian manage to get themselves arrested? Fiona's leg bounced up and down next to her, the older girl hadn't said a word since they arrived. Amara could tell she was beyond pissed, and worried.

"No lattes or anything," Fiona's new friend, Jasmine informed, coming back from the cafeteria. Amara had no idea how the two of them met. Jasmine was from the north side, she wore a Calvin Klein jacket with those ugly brown Uggs. While the rest of them wore shirts with holes in them, and thrifted shoes. They didn't mesh well together, but surprisingly, Amara found herself liking the girl. She seemed nice enough, plus, she picked Amara up and drove her to the station after Fiona texted her the news. "But they did have got chocolate for Debbie."

"Thanks," Fiona said as the blonde woman handed the three of them drinks. "I appreciate you driving us, but you don't have to stay."

"It's cool," Jasmine replied. "I can hang out for a bit."

"Tony!" Fiona suddenly shouted at the officer, standing up to greet him. "When can we see them?"

"If Lip's not charged as an adult..."

"Fucking idiot," Amara muttered.

"You can see them both in court tomorrow."

"Charged as an adult?" Jasmine repeated.

Tony glanced between the three woman, his gaze skipping over Debbie. "He's seventeen. They may charge him with felony grand theft auto."

"They can't do that," Amara protested. "Lip will never get into college with that sort of thing on his record."

"I'm well aware," Tony said sharply.

"Well you better do something about it! Cause I'm not letting you and your little pussy police squad ruin his life."

Fiona held up a hand, a gesture for her to calm down. "There's no way Lip would steal a car. He's too smart, and Ian doesn't even drive."

"Well, if they didn't steal it—"

"They didn't!" Both Amara and Fiona defended in unison.

"If they didn't," Tony continued, sending the two girls pointed looks. "Then they'll have to tell a detective who gave them the car and agree to testify." Fiona froze at this piece of information, and Tony sighed. "If they don't give up a name, Lip could do five years."

"You have to have some sort of say in this, right?" Amara asked. "I mean, you're a cop too. Can't you like, say they were taking it out for a test drive or something? And they didn't know it was stolen?"

"That's not how it works," Tony explained, and she let out a huff of frustration.

"I fucking hate cops."

★

"It's almost one," Jasmine said, pushing herself up. "I gotta get going before Hal decides I'm having another affair. I could drive you girls home, if you want. Get some sleep. You can come back in the morning."

"No," Amara shook her head. "Thank you, but I wanna be the first person they see so I can kick them both in the balls."

Jasmine let out a slight chuckle, glancing to Fiona. "What about you?"

"I'm gonna stay too, but thank you for the offer."

"How about I drive Debbie home? She could stay at my house."

Debbie shook her head. "No. I wanna stay with Fiona."

"Actually, could you check on Silvia?" Amara questioned. "Tell her to sleep at Kev and V's or something?"

Jasmine looked conflicted, before nodding. "Of course, sweetheart."

"Thank you," Amara muttered, her eyes shutting again. "You're the bomb."

"I know," the woman replied, waving them goodbye as she left the police station. "See you guys tomorrow!"

★

"Jail?" Veronica asked the next morning, walking over to the table, and Amara wiped the sleep from her eyes, holding the glass V had just given her in her hands. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Jasmine was there," Debbie answered.

"Who?"

"The girl I met at one of Debs' classes. She drove us."

"You were there all night?"

"Yeah," Fiona told her. "Until they got moved downtown."

"Did Silvia stay at your house?" Amara asked.

Veronica nodded. "Came knocking on my door at two am, thought I was about to get robbed. Scared the living shit out of Kev, he walked down the stairs with a frying pan in his hands like that was gonna do anything, so that was funny as hell. She was still there, last time I checked."

"Thanks for letting her stay."

"Of course, so, what about a lawyer?"

"Gave them a public defender for their first court appearance."

"Fuck that," Veronica rolled her eyes, sitting down in one of the chairs. "We need a real one. Not some just out-of-law-school-liberal do-gooder with a 2000-ghetto-kid caseload."

"She's right," Ethel, their foster kid spoke up. "My husband's public defender never even met Clyde before the arraignment. Then, he suggested he plead guilty to child molestation and sexual abuse."

"How old are you again?" Amara asked.

"Thirteen."

"Yeah. Your public defender was right. Jesus, men are disgusting."

Kevin cleared his throat, awkwardly glancing around the room before speaking next. "What about Dickie Day? He helped Marty with that arson thing."

"Marty got six years," Veronica replied.

"Yeah, but he was actually guilty. Lip and Ian aren't," Amara pointed out.

"Well, Tony says the judge might just release Ian to me," Fiona stated. "I mean, he doesn't have priors."

"But what about Lip?"

Fiona cocked her head to the side before answering. "He might be charged as an adult. He's had a few scrapes with a cop."

Amara groaned. "God. What a moron."

"Truancy, shoplifting..." Debbie trailed off.

"And that fight where he fractured Cam Matlock's cheekbone," she added. "Although, to be fair, Lip didn't start that fight. The guy called me a skank, so it egged him on, and he punched him."

"But no felonies though," Carl cut in.

"Stolen Porsche, you said?" Veronica asked, drinking the coffee she made, and Fiona nodded. "Still no Steve?"

★

They waited outside of the police station, the snow had just started to fall slightly, and Amara was freezing. Tony had called Fiona—Ian and Lip were being let out, no charges. She didn't know how Tony managed to do it, but she was beyond grateful.

Ian walked out of the building first, Lip following shortly after, and the group rushed over to them. Amara felt a relived smile take place on her face as she hugged Lip. He tightly returned her embrace, before she pulled away, and kicked his knee, making him grunt, before she smacked his arm as well. She looked over to see Fiona punch Ian's chest.

"You're a moron," Amara told him, and Lip let a small chuckle escape as he nodded in agreement.

"I know."

"And an idiot."

"I know."

"Do you know how worried I was?" She demanded. "I mean, I've seen the TV shows. Jail is no joke, you do not wanna be in there, trust me on that one."

Lip snorted. "The only thing I would mind is that I wouldn't get to see you."

Stunned at the sudden change in his mood, Amara did what she always did when she felt awkward, she punched his shoulder. "You're a sappy piece of shit."

"Thank you."

"Ahhh!" Kev suddenly yelled, and they turned their heads to look at him. He dramatically raised his hands into the air, making them all laugh. "You guys popped your cherry! Did you see my dad in there?"

★

a/n

kinda short but whatever