The Drive-In Incident

WESLEY

The silver swirl of cigarette smoke danced under the painfully bright fluorescent lights, making its way into the nostrils of the boy. “Ya know,” Wesley spoke, waving his hand in the air to clear the stench, scrunching his freckled nose in discomfort, “those things will kill you.” 

“Shut it, Mister Jones,” Deputy Huxley growled before taking another drag. “We’re not here to talk about me and my sins.” Wesley Jones smirked and kicked his feet up on the steel table, reclining back in the cold metal seat. 

“Thank God, we’d be here all day.” The deputy’s ears turned red with anger. 

“Cut the shit. You know why we’re here. I have multiple witnesses telling me they saw you and your little friends creeping around at the drive-in Saturday. Now I have five reports of slashed tires. Care to explain?” Wesley Jones popped his scarred knuckles and shrugged. 

“How do I explain something I didn’t do?” Deputy Huxley narrowed his eyes menacingly. This kid knows exactly what happened. 

DEREK

“Sir, I must say, you really look like you’ve slimmed up.” Derek looked warmly at the deputy, his bright blue eyes depicting a very convincing look of innocence. Taking a deep breath, Deputy Huxley sat down in front of the boy. Derek Reed was the civilized one of the group; everyone knew that. He knew when to call off practical jokes that would cross the line. Now all Stan Huxley had to do was use that to his advantage. It was time to make him squirm. 

“Mister Reed, it has come to my knowledge that you had a birthday recently. Am I correct?” Derek’s casual smile began to fade.

“Yes sir.”

“And how old are you now, may I ask?” The boy’s thin lips trembled slightly and he swallowed hard.

“Eighteen, sir.” Deputy Huxley smiled. 

“Ah, eighteen. A wonderful age. It does come with a lot of responsibility, however.” He slowly stood up out of his chair, pretending to be fixated on the corner of the small interrogation room. “This includes, of course, responsibility for one’s crimes, does it not?” Derek ran a hand through his sleek black hair.

“Of course, sir. I am a firm believer in justice.”

“Perhaps a career in law enforcement then? Not too much schooling. There are a lot of great universities offering scholarships nowadays, and I heard you were one helluva baseball player. Although, I’m sure it would mighty hard to go anywhere to school with a criminal record.” The deputy leaned down so close to Derek that their noses almost touched, his tinged brown and grey beard sprinkled with pastry crumbs. “Tell me what went down at the drive-in, Mister Reed.”

CAROLINE

Caroline walked into the room gracefully, her thick curly hair bouncing off her shoulders. She sat down, blew a bubble with her gum, and waited for Deputy Huxley to shut the door. “Now Miss Jackson, I’m sure you know why we’re here.” She looked up, puzzled. You’re kidding me. They’re all gonna deny it. The deputy let out an exasperated sigh. “Saturday at the drive-in, during the playing of that new space movie, five cars had their tires slashed. All of them just so happened to be students from Oakwood Academy. Now, from what I understand, you and your little friends have had some trouble with Oakwood students in the past, correct?” Caroline continued chewing her gum but said nothing, staring at the deputy blankly. He stared back, and his ears began to become hot and red. “Miss Jackson, please.” Silence. Deputy Huxley’s vein began popping out of his forehead; he was reaching his breaking point. “Damn it. You’re a beautiful young woman with so much potential! Why are you running around with dumbasses who are only going to get you into trouble?” he exclaimed. Caroline looked down, and for a moment Stan Huxley thought he had gotten to her. This is it. The truth is finally going to come out, he thought excitedly. Slowly she looked back up, her dark brown eyes resembling pools of chocolate. 

“Sir?”

“Yes, Miss Jackson?” Deputy Huxley replied eagerly.

“Are you hitting on me?”

WESLEY

“Stan, I’ve told you time and time again. I wanted to go, but I had a hot date.” Wesley yawned loudly. “Sometimes you’ve gotta make sacrifices to get the woman. In this case, I had to sacrifice seeing space aliens with laser swords. Wasn’t an easy decision.”

“Don’t call me Stan,” Deputy Huxley grumbled. “You can’t wiggle your way out of this one, punk. You and your friends are going down this time. There were witnesses.”

“Witnesses, huh? What exactly did the witnesses say? If they really watched what the chick and I were doing, they’d be impressed—”

“Stop right now!” the deputy cut him off. “This isn’t a joke. Your friend Mister Reed is eighteen. This could mean a permanent spot on his record and jeopardize what could potentially be a career in ball. You wanna risk that? ‘Fess up and he’ll be off the hook.” For a moment Wesley was silent, as if he was actually considering being serious for once. 

“Alright, alright. I do have a confession.” Stunned, the deputy smoothed back his hair and blinked a few times as if to wake up from a dream. 

“Go on.” Wesley took a deep breath.

“I can’t remember the girl’s name from Saturday night.” 

DEREK

“I wasn’t at the drive-in Saturday, Deputy Huxley,” Derek explained calmly. “I was actually making dinner for my little sisters. Spaghetti Saturdays are their favorite.” 

“You understand you’ll be the one going down for this, right? Your friends will be free and you’ll be the one punished, all because of your age. Who’s gonna take care of your sisters when you’re spending the night in a cell?” The deputy’s voice lowered. “I understand your father died in a car crash last year and your mother… well, she ran off with one of the Oakwood student’s rich daddy, didn’t she? Only four months after your father’s passing… she abandoned you, didn’t she? You and your sisters?” Derek’s once peaceful demeanor changed rapidly and he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. 

“Quite similar to when your wife left you for her tennis instructor?” Deputy Huxley stood up fast, knocking his chair over. His ears were so crimson it seemed as if smoke would come from them. 

“You have no right!” he bellowed. 

“I know my rights, sir,” Derek replied darkly. 

CAROLINE

Caroline couldn’t help but snicker at her comment. “You think you’re funny, huh?” 

“No sir, Wesley is the funny one.” Deputy Huxley pulled out his pack of cigarettes and fumbled to grab one. He lit it, took a long, deep drag, and released the sharp smell into the air of the confined room. 

“Tell me where you were Saturday night.” Caroline grinned. 

“I was doing my anatomy homework. Did you know that you can decipher whether a skeleton is a boy or a girl based off certain bone structure? It’s fascinating, really—”

“Miss Jackson, I really don’t care. I had multiple people tell me they saw you in the middle of the movie, ducking down in between cars during the louder scenes. How are you going to explain yourself?” Caroline blew another bubble and twirled one of her blonde curls in her fingers. 

“I couldn’t have possibly gone to the drive-in Saturday,” she said, shaking her head. 

“Why is that?”

“I heard rumors that my ex was gonna be there, sir, and I despise him,” she explained dramatically. “He cheated on me with a cheerleader who wears eyeliner like it’s her job.”

“Miss Jackson, I really don’t care about—”

“Oh, oh, and he gave her the necklace he bought me! I mean c’mon, that’s low, right? It even had a giant ‘C’ on the back, but she’s too stupid to realize it.” As Caroline continued to squabble on about the girl’s hideous sense of style, the deputy sank low in his chair, feeling absolutely defeated. 

ALL

By the time all the interrogations were over, the crickets were chirping and a full moon was glowing. “I can’t believe we had to waste a whole Saturday with that idiot,” Caroline huffed, putting her hair back into a ponytail. 

“I know, right? God, you should’ve seen the look on his face when I mentioned his ex-wife,” Derek brought up, his voice filled with amusement. Wesley’s eyes widened and he grinned. 

“You did what?” The trio broke out into laughter as they shared their stories of the questionings. They unchained their bikes and sat in silence for a few moments. 

“It’s nearly nine o’clock,” Derek pointed out. 

“What should we do now?” Caroline inquired. “I was hoping to have a little fun.” Wesley smirked, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he reached down to his shoe. The other two watched him, curious. In his hand he revealed a switchblade which he twirled over his fingers. They all looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Anybody down for a movie?”