Chapter 3 – 50 in a 20 Zone

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!


"Is it any wonder Pete broke up with me a few months later?" Erin glared at her brothers.

"He was a blockhead, Sis. You could've done better," Danny informed his sister. "That guy was nothing but trouble."

"He was." Jamie leaned over toward Eddie. "He was the reason Erin got a speeding back then. She tries to blame it on me, but it comes back to Pete."

"Jamie, the ticket was your fault."

"Was not. You were the one driving."

"You were the one with the big mouth," Erin insisted. "Eddie, your boyfriend told the officer to give me a ticket."

Eddie looked from Erin to Jamie. "So, bossing around police officers is something you've been doing since you were little?" Eddie teased. "It's not just your new job, Acting Sergeant?"

"No! Geez, it wasn't like that. I didn't tell Officer Norris to write the ticket," Jamie protested. "Erin, tell Eddie what happened. You'll see."

"Fine. But it will just prove that I'm right. It was a few months later…"

==BB==BB==

"Baby, don't you want to watch my baseball practice?" Pete Farraday asked his girlfriend.

Erin sighed and leaned back against the locker next to Pete's. "Of course I want to, but I have to drive Jamie to the library first. He has to pick out a book to read for his class. Just one, so it shouldn't take very long. I'll take care of that, drop him off at home, and come back." Sometimes, like today, having her driver's license sucked. If she'd know she was going to become the family taxi driver, she wouldn't have been in such a hurry to get licensed. But at least she only had to deal with one passenger today, since both Danny and Joe were busy with their own sports practices this afternoon.

Pete slammed his locker shut. "Don't bother. We'll be done by then."

Erin snuggled up next to Pete and pulled his arm around her back. "Well, then call me when you're finished. I'll meet you somewhere."

"Fine." Pete ran his hand up and down his girlfriend's side as they walked toward the gym. "But you'd better be home when I call. I don't know where I'll be calling from, and I'm too busy to keep trying."

"I'll be there, don't worry," Erin tilted her face up to kiss Pete before heading to the study hall to retrieve her little brother, then out to the family car. She quickly settled Jamie in his seat before starting up the car for the short drive to the library. "So, Jamie, do you know what the book you're looking for is about?" Maybe she could make this trip even faster, if she could help her brother choose the subject of the book before they got to the library.

"Don't know," Jamie replied. "It has to be good, because I have to tell my class everything I learned from it." He thought for a moment. "Fire trucks."

Erin glanced at her brother. Where had that come from? "Okay. We can go right to…"

"Or bulldozers and construction stuff," Jamie interrupted. "Or big boats, or …"

Erin sighed. Maybe this wasn't going to be as quick as she thought.

"…whales. Or dinosaurs, but everyone will be doing that, so maybe not dinosaurs," Jamie decided. "Lions. Except my friend Leo said he might do lions, because he's named for them or something."

"What about giraffes?"

"No, not giraffes. Danny makes up stories 'bout giraffes." Jamie dismissed his sister's suggestion. "Airplanes. Or helicopters. Or rockets."

Erin pulled the car into a parking place beside the library. "Rockets are good. Come on, let's get going." She quickly led her brother into the library and over to the children's non-fiction section. Which is where the two Reagans spent the next forty-five minutes, as Jamie moved through the shelves of books, choosing multiple ones to consider. Erin glanced at her watch again. "Jamie, we've got to go. Choose your favorite two of those ones and you can decide later which one to read for your class."

Jamie glanced at the stack of books in his arms and pulled one out. "This one, about skyscrapers." He handed it to Erin. "And this one." He handed a second book about volcanos to his sister. "No, wait. This one." He took back the volcano book and replaced it with one about the solar system, then reluctantly placed the rest of the stack of books on a table. "Why are you in such a big huge hurry?"

"Because I am," Erin almost snapped. She pulled her little brother to the checkout desk. Finally, they were leaving! She handed her library card to the librarian and glanced at her watch. Shoot! She barely had time to drive home before Pete called! "Jamie, we have to go. Now."

"Okay. Bye, Mrs. Pearl," Jamie waved good-bye as Erin pulled him toward the door. It wasn't until Erin had him belted into the front seat that he realized something. "Erin, I only have one of my books!" He unbuckled the seat belt and jumped out of the car before Erin could stop him.

"Damn it, Jamie!" Erin glanced at the car's clock. Pete's baseball practice ended five minutes ago, and he'd be calling her any time. She needed to get home right away. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, counting the seconds. Damn that kid!

The second Jamie popped back into the car, Erin slammed the car into reverse, then quickly accelerated out of the parking lot and onto the street. She glanced at the clock again. "Great. Pete's going to call before we get home," she muttered. She couldn't miss Pete's call. She just couldn't! He'd think she wasn't interested in him and find a new girlfriend. And the senior prom was coming up. All the unattached seniors were quickly pairing off; if Pete got pissed and dumped her too close to the dance, all the guys she would want to date would already be taken. She had to keep their relationship going at least until then, especially since she'd been bragging to all her friends that she had a date all lined up for the dance. She reflexively stepped on the accelerator harder, causing the car to speed up.

"Erin, aren't you going kind of fast?" Jamie asked a minute later.

"No, we're fine. Shut up."

Jamie looked out the window at the police car they were zipping past so fast it was little more than a blur of blue and white. He'd planned to tell Erin about it, but if she wanted him to shut up, that's what he'd do. Seconds later, the policeman sounded his siren and turned on the flashing blue lights.

"Oh, dammit. Not now," Erin whined as she pulled over to the curb. She looked at the clock and watched another minute tick by. This was so not fair! "Jamie, why didn't you tell me about the cop car?"

Jamie shrugged. "You told me to shut up."

Erin gripped the steering wheel tighter. Why did her little brother have to be so freaking literal? He should have realized she'd want to know about the police car!

"Hello, miss. License and registration, please," the officer requested.

Erin fished around her purse and the glove box for the documents and handed them out the window.

The officer glanced at the papers and then looked at her. "Miss, do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

Erin shook her head. "No, sir."

"Fifty. In a twenty zone."

Jamie tried to do the math in his head, but ended up drawing the numbers in the air with his finger. "Erin, that's thirty over the speed limit!" he finally exclaimed. "You were more over the speed limit than the speed limit is!"

"Smart little guy, isn't he?" the officer chuckled. "Miss Reagan, where were you going in such a hurry?"

"Home," Erin replied. "My little brother needs to get home in time for dinner, so he can get to bed on time. He has a big day at school tomorrow."

Jamie frowned. Erin was making him sound like a little baby. And that also wasn't what Erin had said a few minutes ago. "Erin, you said you needed to get home in a hurry because you don't want to miss your dumb boyfriend calling."

"Stuff it!" Erin hissed at her brother. She glanced up at the cop. From the small smirk on his face, it looked like he'd heard Jamie's comment. She smiled at him. "Little kids."

"Yeah." The officer nodded. "Hang tight. I'll be right back."

Erin moaned and leaned forward against the steering wheel. She'd never get home in time for Pete's call now. And she was going to be in so much trouble once her parents heard about this.

A few minutes later, the officer returned. "Miss Reagan?"

Erin looked up at him. "Yes, sir?" She tried her best to look repentant.

"I noticed the car is registered to Frank Reagan? You related to him and Henry Reagan?"

"Yes, my father is Frank Reagan, and Henry Reagan is my grandfather."

"Daddy is a detective and Grandpa is the Chief of Police," Jamie quickly added.

As if the officer didn't already know that, Erin thought.

But Jamie wasn't through volunteering information. "And Daddy told Danny and Erin that if they get in trouble, they shouldn't use his name or Grandpa's name to get out of trouble, because if they get into trouble on their own, they should get out of it on their own."

"Jamie!" Erin hissed at her brother.

"Is that so?" the officer stated. "Well, in that case, I'd better write up this ticket. Wouldn't want to go against what your father taught you, would I?" He finished writing the ticket and handed it to Erin for her signature.

Erin took one look at the amount of the fine and whimpered. Suddenly, she knew where any money she earned this summer would be going. She needed to find a better-paying job; babysitting wasn't going to cover this ticket. Maybe there was a real restaurant somewhere that would hire a sixteen-year-old as a waitress.


Next: Boyfriends, dented cars and baseballs...