Chapter 28_ Would you rather...
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"Will you just shut up?" I barked at Jamie.
I was in a really bad mood, and his optimistic comments added fuel to fire.
"What?" he pouted.
"Stop trying to find positivity in this situation," I said angrily.
"Why not?" he pouted again.
"Because it isn't there," I replied.
"You sure?" he pouted, yet again.
"Stop!" I growled and turned away from him.
"Why are you taking out the chief's anger on us?" he asked.
I didn't reply.
"Tell me, Mary," he poked me.
"Because it's your freaking fault that this happened," I yelled.
"Mine?" he gasped.
"Yes, yours!" I replied.
"How?" he asked.
"If you hadn't unlocked the handcuffs, none of this would have happened," I snapped.
"Excuse me? You were in on the plan too," he snapped back.
"Cut it out, you guys," interrupted Harvey.
I threw Jamie a scathing look and turned away.
Silence fell over us, as we sat, lost in our own thoughts. I felt guilty for blaming Jamie. He was right about me being a part of it. I could have stopped him if I wanted to, but I was as eager to get back at the chief as he was.
After reflecting for about fifteen minutes, I decided to apologise. After all, united we stand, divided we fall. And also, I didn't want Jamie to feel hurt because of me.
I took a deep breath. "Sorry," I said in a low voice.
Jamie ignored me.
"I said, I'm sorry, Jamie," I repeated, a little louder.
"Huh? Did you say something to me?" he turned towards me.
"I..." I gulped, "I said that I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"I didn't quite get that? Can you repeat that a little louder?" he cupped his hand behind his ear.
I slapped his shoulder and he grinned.
He looked at his watch. "Been waiting for thirteen minutes," he said.
I smiled sheepishly and Harvey rolled his eyes.
"All is well that ends well," Fred smiled.
"This isn't over yet," Harvey said.
"And chances are slim of its well end," said Jamie.
"Not so optimistic now, huh?" I snorted.
"You have a problem both ways. If I..." he was interrupted by Harvey.
"Let it go, Jamie. We should tell each other funny stories," he said. "To lighten things up a bit."
"I don't know any funny stories," I said glumly.
"Me neither," said Jamie.
Harvey rolled his eyes.
"What about you, Fred?" he asked.
Fred shrugged, "can't recall one right now."
"You?" I asked Harvey.
"Nope," he said.
"This is awkward," said Jamie.
"I know!" I exclaimed. "Let's play would you rather..."
"Cool," Jamie said.
Harvey and Fred nodded their approval.
"So, let's start with the youngest," said Fred.
"Jamie," said Harvey.
"One of us will ask you a question. Okay?" Fred asked.
Jamie shrugged.
"Can I?" asked Fred.
I and Harvey nodded.
"So, would you rather commit sucide with a gun, or would you rather jump off a building?" asked Fred.
"Seriously?" Jamie rolled his eyes.
"Related to my latest case," Fred shrugged.
"Aren't we your latest case?" asked Harvey.
"Will you let Jamie answer any time today?" I asked, scowling.
"I would rather shoot myself," Jamie replied before Harvey could answer me back.
"Why?" asked Fred.
"Because there's time between the jump and the crash. And I'm sure those moments would not be... uh, nice?" Jamie explained, somewhat uncertain.
"Cool logic," said Harvey. "But I would have chosen to jump off a building. Because firstly, I wouldn't have the will power to press the trigger. And also, jumping off a high building would resemble flying a bit. Would be an exhilarating experience."
"Exhilarating for me too." I said. "If you let me do the honours of pushing you off."
"Ha ha," Harvey laughed sarcastically.
"Your turn, Mary," said Jamie.
"I'll ask," said Harvey.
"Sure," I shrugged.
"Would you rather kill someone to save your own life, or would you rather get killed to save someone else's?" asked Harvey.
"That's dumb," I said.
"Just answer," Harvey replied.
"I don't know. It depends what kind of person is in trouble. Or what condition I'm in," I said.
"A gunman grabs you and any other random person on the street. He asks you that he has to shoot one of you and that the decision is yours. What will you say?" Harvey asked.
"I can't even tell. I can't tell unless I'm in the situation. It'll be so unrealistic if I say I'll sacrifice my life for a random person. People who say that are either liars or idiots. Or in very rare cases, exceptionally brave or kind hearted." I said, annoyed.
"You didn't answer my question," Harvey said.
"I can't..." I begin angrily.
"Fine! Fine! It's a little kid. A five year old kid versus you. What would you do then?" Harvey was determined to get an answer.
"I'll save the little kid," I answered promptly.
"Good," he said. "I would..."
"Moving on," I interrupted him quickly. "Jamie is going to ask you a question now."
"Would you rather rob a bank of its money, or would you rather rob a museum of its art?" asked Jamie.
"Why is everyone asking questions about suicide, murders or robberies?" I asked.
"We're sitting in a jail cell, aren't we?" Harvey muttered.
"So, your answer," Jamie prompted him.
"Hmm," Harvey took a couple of minutes to think.
"You there?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes.
He blinked. "I'll pull off a heist at a museum. Art can be sold at the black market easily. But money can be traced because of their numbers."
"Art can be traced too, you know," said Jamie.
"But I would have a foolproof plan," Harvey smirked.
"And what would that be, may I ask?" I scoffed.
"I'd get an amature artist to forge the painting or art pieces for me. I'd make all the arrangements with the client and use the forgeries during the exchange. Then if the FBI comes in, uninvited, they won't have anything to pin on me because apparently I would just be selling second rate art. Not stolen art. And the real piece would be delivered at the same time I would be making the fake, red herring exchange," Harvey explained. "Oh, and the buyer won't know my true identity."
"You thought of all that in about a minute?" I asked, impressed.
He nodded a bit shyly.
"And he, people, is what you call an evil genius," Fred clapped.
Harvey took a mock bow.
"Now it's my turn to ask Fred a question," I said.
"Go ahead," Fred shrugged.
"Would you rather use brains to get out of a difficult situation, or would you rather use fists?" I asked.
"Fists," answered Fred at once.
My opinion of him dropped down several notches. I could not bear people who underestimated the power of the brain. The least he could do was think about it. Even if it was for a few seconds.
"Why?" I asked, masking my disgust as shock.
"You know, fists come in handy," he said, a smile tugging at the sides of his lips.
I was barely able to conceal my disgust.
"Get it? Fists come in handy?" he said and threw back his head and gwaffawed.
He was insulting the power of brains. I was speechless!
Jamie looked confused as he saw my expression, and also as he saw Fred laughing lika a maniac, at the horrible pun he had just made.
Harvey threw me a be-careful-we're-under-his-watch-in-a-jail-cell look, and handled the situation by laughing along with the brain insulting constable. Harvey knew how much I appreciated brains, and their power to pull off anything.
"You both don't get the pun, do you?" Fred asked me and Jamie, breathless with laughter.
"We did, actually. But it's not as funny as..." Jamie was cut off by a constable barging into the room.
"Is anyone of you Mary?" he asked.
"I am," I said, raising my hand.
"I have to take her with me," said the constable to Fred.
"But my orders..." started Fred.
"Orders, my foot. Her aunt is here and she is demanding to meet her at once. And that woman is scary as hell," he said.
Fred looked at me and I smiled proudly. I gave Harvey a, I-told-you-so look as Fred unlocked the door and the constable led me out.
"We're couting on you, Mary," said Harvey.
I waved at them and stepped out with the constable, following him to the chief inspector's office.
The chair behind the desk was empty, and my aunt was standing in front of the desk.
"What happened, Mary?" she asked.
I narrated the whole story, leaving out majority of the details.
"You skipped school?" she said in a low, dangerous tone, completely ignoring the other, more important problems.
"I... Harvey and Jamie made me," I stuttered.
"I can't believe..." she started.
"You asked me to stay home if I wanted," I said. "But I went to the beach instead. What's wrong with that?"
"Staying at home and skipping school after reaching there is an entirely different thing," she said.
"I can do whatever I want," I said stubbornly.
"No, you can't," she said firmly.
I scowled in return.
She turned towards the constable.
"I am taking my niece and her friends home with me. Send Harvey and Jamie here as well," she said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," said the constable. "I don't have the authority..."
"I said, bring the two boys to me. Now!" she ordered.
"But..." he stuttered.
"No buts. If you don't do what I say, your chief is going to be in more trouble than he can imagine," she said.
The constable didn't say anything, he just shook his head.
"Call him!" she ordered.
The constable quickly dialed a number on his phone and placed it on his ear.
"Sir, the girl's aunt wants to talk to you," he said. "The one you arrested from the beach."
On hearing the reply from the other end, he handed the phone to my aunt.
"You don't know me, but I know you," she spoke quietly but firmly.
"No, you were introduced to me as the shady chief inspector," she said.
"I know a lot more then you think I do."
"Because Jones works for my firm," she said, smirking a bit.
"To take my niece and her friends home."
"We can have a detailed talk later, if you want."
"Thank you," she said a little too sweetly, and handed the phone back to the constable.
He listened what was being said on the other end, and nodded.
"You are free to go," he said to me.
"Thanks," I beamed. "Can I go tell my friends?"
He nodded, gesturing me to follow him.
"Guys, we're free," I squealed, barging in.
"You're joking," said Jamie, disbelieving.
"No, I'm telling the truth," I squealed again.
Harvey, Jamie and Fred turned to look at the constable for confirmation.
He nodded.
"Congratulations," Fred smiled.
He unlocked the jail cell door and let Harvey and Jamie out.
I skipped all the way back to the chief's office where aunt was waiting for us.
As soon as she saw us, she turned around with out a word, gesturing us to follow her.
"All is well now. We're free," said Jamie, getting into the car.
"You are still in trouble," aunt said, starting the car.
Harvey groaned and banged his head against the glass window of the car.
"Careful," I said, beaming. "Don't crack the window."
***
I got ready for my date with Ralph.
Even though I had gone through a lot in these two days, I couldn't postpone my first date with Ralph again.
For one, I couldn't cancel the date again, for no apparent reason this time. Ralph might think I was rude. For another, I didn't want him know what I was going through, and I also thought that the date might prove to be a nice distraction.
I checked my makeup one last time, and put some money in my purse before hopping down the stairs. My hand was on the door knob when,
"Where do you think you're going?" asked my aunt from behind.
I answered without facing her, "meeting a friend."
"You can't. You're grounded for three weeks," she said.
"I'm what?" I turned around sharply.
"Grounded. As in you can't leave the house except for school," she said.
"I will leave whenever I want," I scowled.
"You won't! And don't use that tone with me," she said.
"I will use whatever tone I want," I scowled again.
"Go up to your room, or else I'll double you punishment," she said.
I nearly burst into tears. I thought that aunt would not be harsh on me after what happened last night. But obviously I was wrong.
"Why do you like doing this to me?" I growled. "You've never grounded any of the others."
"I've never grounded you either," she pointed out.
She was right. Grounding wasn't really her thing.
"Why start now?" I asked.
"Because I knew you'd say I was unfair in punishing you for your escapades. So I talked to Mr. McDonald and asked what punishment was Harvey getting. He told me he grounded him for a month. And I'm only grounding you for three weeks," she explained.
I was speechless.
She turned to go.
"You can't! Not today," I wailed.
"What is it?" she asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," I mumbled angrily before stomping off towards my room.
I texted Ralph,
'I am so sorry, but I can't come tonight. I am grounded. For three whole weeks.' _M
He didn't reply.
I kept my phone in my hand for seven minutes, waiting. Then I typed a text again,
'I am so sorry that all my texts start with the clause, "I am so sorry", but I really mean it.' _M
I waited for a reply for about ten minutes before typing, yet another text,
'I got grounded just before exiting my house. Or else I would have texted you earlier. <3' _M
Then I erased the "<3" sign and added "XOXO" instead.
I reread the text and decided to wait for five more minutes for his reply.
Five minutes passed and still no reply.
I got a bit annoyed that he was ignoring my texts like I purposely got into detention or got grounded.
I erased the text, annoyed. And also because I did not want Ralph to think I was clingy. What did I care if he texted me back or not? He was the one who liked me.
I set my phone, facedown onto my side table.
I tied my hair into a messy ponytail and flung myself on my bed. I reached out towards the side table and picked up the book resting on the very top.
I had just started reading when my phone buzzed, indicating a text.
My heart thumped as I picked up my phone and swiped to the see the text.
It was Harvey! I sighed as I read the text,
'Can I call?' _H
I did not reply and turned off my phone before turning back to my book.
The proverb, 'books are a man's best friends', was written in cursive font, on the front page.
'More like a teenage girl's,' I thought and sighed.
Authors note:
I absolutely love this chapter, because of the pun I created :"D
If you do too, vote, comment and share.
Toodles!
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