A/N: 1.) This is a Bender/Allison friendship chapter…note the long length! ;)
2.) I, nor any of my family was ever involved with the American police system, so this is not derived from any real events, and if it seems a little out of whack…well too damn bad because I'm writing it!
"Come on! I was framed!"
"Been there, done that!"
Bender kicked the wall of the holding cell in frustration. Allison sat on the bench watching him pace.
"I demand my one phone call!"
"That's only in the movies, jerk!" spat the policeman sitting at the desk guarding them. Allison had been silently observing her surroundings.
"Stop trying," she finally muttered. Allison was curious. For someone who was always so 'rebellious,' Allison noted that Bender almost looked…afraid. Afraid to be behind bars. Allison felt herself shiver. It was almost summer, and she was so cold. She wanted Andy there with her to put his big, strong arm around her waist and his big, strong shoulder to lean her head on. She had a feeling Bender wanted Claire with him too. For now she just wrapped her arms around herself and leaned her head on the white concrete wall, littered with graffiti-style obscenities of all levels.
Where WERE the others? Allison imagined them coming back to find the two of them in custody, the car wrapped in police tape, police cars everywhere. They were abandoned there on the highway, just like she and Bender were abandoned in the lonely cell.
"Why shouldn't I? We're innocent! Oh wait, hold on—, " Bender kneeled down next to Allison. "—plead insanity!"
"WHAT?!" Allison said out loud. The policeman raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"It might work," Bender muttered. Allison whispered back into his ear.
"That only works in a courtroom! Besides, if it DID work, it would send me to the Koo-Koo Hut!"
Bender stood again and began pacing. "How long are we gonna be here?"
"In the morning you two will get transferred to a state juvenile prison in Indiana, then you'll get your damn trial," said the officer.
"We're innocent until proven guilty! We have rights!" Allison hissed.
"No you don't. You're still minors…the both of you!" said the officer, putting headphones over his head and leaning back in the chair.
Bender growled. "He can't hear us anymore! Scumbag!"
"Our bail is huge," Allison muttered. "It would take a miracle to get either of us out before morning. We can't go to Indiana!" She said, shaking her head. "My parents are too busy to bail me."
"My dad would just tell them police to hurl me in the clink and throw away the key. We're screwed, Allison. Fucked over. And it's my fault!"
"No, it's not. Neither of us would have been caught if I hadn't tripped. We share equal blame, so no more about that," Allison said. "Maybe we'll get off easy. We're first-time offenders, both of us…"
"Yeah, we'll that ain't gonna do—both of us?" Bender's train of thought was shifted.
"I could see it right away in your eyes. You're just as afraid as I am!" Allison accused.
"How…?" Bender was amazed, embarrassed, and confused all at once. "Fine! I surrender! I, 'Bad Boy' John Bender, have never been arrested before!"
"That actually doesn't surprise me," Allison said. "There's a difference between a rebel and a criminal, John," she said. Bender nodded and licked his lips. "Just like there's a difference between a kook and a recluse," said Allison. Bender gave her a look. "Okay, so I'm both! Bad example…"
"This is bad. Once we see Indiana, we have NO hope left no matter what!"
Allison nodded. "I think this is kind of exciting, actually! It's kind of an adventure. I might go home and write a novel about this, using pseudonyms, of course. What do you want me to call you?"
Bender snorted. Only Allison would find this adventurous! "I dunno…you choose," he decided.
"Hugh Jass?" Allison joked.
"NO!" Bender yelled. "Um….Jack something…"
"Jack Mancuso. Sound manly enough for you?" asked Allison. Bender nodded.
"What are you naming yourself?"
"Maria Robin," she answered. Bender smiled.
"And everyone else?"
"I think I'll call Claire…um…Elsa Buchanan. Brian will be James Romano. And Andy, I'd like to see Andy as Ace Ferrell," Allison said.
"Where do you think they are right now? Coming after us?" asked Bender.
"They technically are our only hope. But there's no way they'll be reaching Edmonston before dawn," Allison said, sighing woefully. "If they're smart, they'll try heading back to Hillsdale to find a phone—"
"—why didn't WE think of using a phone in Hillsdale?" Bender asked, suddenly wanting to slap himself.
"I would have preferred not to. This is much more exciting!" said Allison. "Exciting AND scary!"
Bender smiled at her with his large straight teeth. "Only you!"
"Only me!" Allison chirped. Bender leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. "We're not going to get out of here before morning, are we?"
Bender sighed. "Nope, probably not. We're Indiana-bound at dawn," he confirmed. Allison nodded.
"I'm scared," Allison confessed. Bender nodded and bit his tongue.
"So am I, Allison. So am I."
"This isn't exactly what I'd imagined the place would look like…" Claire mumbled. The Police Precinct in Edmonston was not much bigger than a ranch house. It wasn't a well-kept place either.
"Wow, Allison's in that awful place? Poor thing!" Andy muttered.
"Claire, you got the money?" asked Brian. Claire nodded. Lucky for her she memorized her bank card's pin number and found an ATM. None of them called their parents, only because then hell would really break loose. They did plan to phone Claire's father once Allison and Bender were bailed out.
"I emptied my saving in case it was set high. Let's just hope bail is not more than 25,000 dollars each…" she muttered.
"You had 50,000 dollars in your savings?" asked Brian, amazed.
"Well, I would have emptied my checking account too, but I still have a few bounced checks to pay for…" Claire muttered. Andy and Brian looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Come on," Andy pleaded. They walked into the precinct and walked up to the front desk. A policewoman was thumbing through some files.
"Hello," said Claire. The woman looked up and peered over the top of her glasses.
"May I help you youngsters?" asked the woman.
"You have two young people here accused of auto theft…John Bender and Allison Reynolds?" asked Claire. The woman nodded.
"Yeah?"
"We have their bail money," said Claire, holding out the wad of bills she took out of the ATM. The policewoman nodded and counted the money, then shook her head.
"This is only 50 grand…don't you want them both?" asked the woman. Claire looked confused.
"Exactly how high is the bail?" asked Brian.
"50 grand EACH!" said the policewoman. "You can take ONE of them with you, but I'd hurry and choose. At dawn they're being transported to Indiana to a state prison," said the woman. Andy gulped. He couldn't imagine how afraid Allison would be in a state prison a whole state away!
Claire opened her mouth, but Andy and Brian pulled her aside. Andy spoke instead, "We need to think this through carefully," said Andy. "We can get one out…and break out the other," he said. Claire looked horrified.
"First we steal a car, NOW we break them out of JAIL?!" she whispered.
"What else can we do?" asked Brian.
"I think we should bail Allison. Then you and I distract the police, and she and Brian can go and break out Bender and we'll meet in the woods and go from there!" Andy reasoned.
"What about calling our parents for more money?" asked Claire. Andy shook his head.
"That'll stir up more trouble," said Andy. "We'll see what we can do later with that. It'll just complicate things," he insisted. Claire was speechless. This was turning out to be quite the crime spree! She was overwhelmed.
"So we're bailing Allison?" asked Brian. Claire nodded and went back up to the counter and slapped the money on the desk in front of the woman.
"So, have you ever come close?" asked Allison, smirking. A very interesting conversation has stricken up, and as a result Bender had admitted (on accident) that he'd never had sex. The confession truthfully shocked Allison. She felt that if anyone in the entire school was a stud, it was him. And what about the wallet full of girls?
"Shut up! You've already gotten enough information out of me!" Bender said, laughing through his teeth. It may have seemed a casual conversation to most, but with the coming of midnight, and dawn close behind, Allison would have talked about dog shit and it would've been a great talk…it kept her mind off her impending transport to Indiana with the morning.
"Come on, you've already told me half of it!" Allison egged. Bender rolled his eyes.
"You'd make a great interrogator for the government, you know that? I mean, you could get Pee Wee Herman to admit the 'secret word'!" Bender smiled.
"Yeah, the day I work for the government will be the day that you become president!" Allison said.
"I have come pretty close, once with this New Wave chick named Josie," said Bender. "She was the only real picture in the wallet, the rest were fakes." Allison motioned liked she wanted more detail. "That answers your question!"
"Fair enough," Allison conceded. "But why did you feel the need to fake being a stud?"
Bender looked at the floor. "I'm not saying another word, alright? You already have enough trivia about me to blackmail the shit out of me until kingdom come!" Bender snapped.
"I'd never do that to you. BUT…if you don't tell me, I COULD tell Claire—"
"—Claire who?"
Allison rolled her eyes. "You like her. Admit it. It's not bad to be in love," she said. "I actually might be in love myself," Allison muttered.
"With who?" Bender raised an eyebrow. Allison smirked and buried her face in her hair. Bender understood. "It's Sporto, isn't it?"
"Don't tell!" Allison blushed.
"I won't tell Sporto if YOU won't tell Cherry, got it?" Bender bargained. Allison nodded.
"Deal," she agreed. Suddenly, a police officer (not the one sitting at the desk supervising them in the cell) came in and unlocked the cell. Allison squeaked in nervousness.
"Are we getting transferred already, Barney?" asked Bender. "The donut shop ain't open yet!"
"Shut up, prick!" said the police officer. He pointed at Allison, who squeaked again. "You, come with me, now!" Allison didn't move. The policeman went right into the cell and grabbed Allison's arm, heaving her to her feet.
"Get your hands OFF her, faggot!" Bender yelled. The policeman succeeded in getting Allison outside the holding cell and keeping Bender inside. "Allison!" he called.
Allison looked horrified as she was dragged out with the officer. Bender was alone.
Andy and Brian paced the lobby while Claire continued thinking of how the hell they could pull their plan off by dawn. It was already midnight. They had to work quickly.
A policeman appeared in the doorway with Allison. Andy felt his heart drop into his intestines, seeing her afraid and pale. She saw him and immediately shot herself into his arms. Andy put his arms around her shoulder and she began panting heavily.
"I thought I'd never see you again!" she whined. "John's still in there!"
"I know, I'll explain it to you outside," said Andy.
"John's gotta come with us! He'll get transferred!" Allison begged. Andy guided her outside, nodding thanks to the officer. Claire and Brian followed them out onto the sidewalk. "What are we going to do? If he doesn't come with us, I'm not going!" she said. Andy nodded.
"We know you're not. We've got an idea…you know how to hotwire a car, Allison. Can you pick a holding cell lock?"
Allison's mood changed almost comically. She suddenly grinned through her tears of struggle.
"I can do even better!"
"Police! Help!" Claire yelled from outside. "He's got my purse!"
Andy ran off down the street with Claire's purse, and then stopped, waiting for the police to come outside. Only one showed up. "Get the entire precinct out here, this man is armed!" Claire pointed at Andy, and he began running again. The police blew a whistle around his neck, and everyone who was on the night shift at the precinct was called outside. Claire even pretended to faint into the arms of two of them. Andy used his racehorse-like strength and speed to his advantage and flew down the street. The police split up and began running after him. Claire looked behind her for a split second and saw Brian and Allison rush back inside.
In the room with the holding cell (now unguarded) Bender leaned against the wall, kicking at the dust and debris on the floor. He looked up when he heard footsteps. He was surprised to find Allison and Brian there.
"Dorktron? Allison? What the—"
"—sh! We don't have much time! Brian, look for a key in case there is one!" Allison bent down and studied the lock for a second. Brian sifted through the desk to no avail. "It's a 1930's Brighton lock. Is this a prison or a playpen?"
"What the hell are you talking about? Don't tell me you were bored one day!"
"You got it!" Allison said. Brian shot up from the desk.
"Allison!" Brian tossed Allison's confiscated bag at her. She smiled and dug around inside. She eventually extracted a stray earring and a tube of toothpaste. She squeezed just a smidgen of the toothpaste inside and stuck the earring in. She fiddled with it a moment, then felt a click. Smiling, Allison pulled open the door with ease. Bender laughed a moment and charged out of the cell.
"You need to get out more," Bender muttered.
Allison nodded. "Come on, let's jam!" The three kids ran out of the precinct and took off into the woods to await the other two members of their gang…
"So, you were WHAT?"
"Rehearsing! For a play!" said Claire quickly and nervously. She would need to buy a new diary just to write about today when she got home.
"In the middle of the night in front of the precinct?" asked the police chief.
"Yes, you see, we were the understudies, and the stars got sick and the play opens tomorrow night, we need every second we can get, no matter where we can get it!" Andy lied.
"Do you know how stupid that sounds?" asked another policeman.
"Welcome to my life, this whole week has been a nightmare!" Claire muttered, truthfully.
"Go home and sleep on it, punks. We ain't got time for this!" the chief said. Claire noticed Allison and Brian sneaking away with Bender in tow. She nodded ad Andy, who handed her the purse. They dashed away into the woods, and the police went back inside. Andy and Claire didn't bother to stick around for when they found Bender gone.
They found the other half of The Breakfast Club sitting in a small clearing, waiting.
"They'll be looking around here for you," Brian warned Bender. "We can't stop to sleep. We just need to keep walking AWAY from the precinct."
"Once we get back to Shermer, we probably can sort it out—"
"—how are we getting back? We're now 80 MILES from Shermer, not to mention on the lam!" Claire whined. "We can't risk being seen in Edmonston again to look for a phone."
"She's right," said Andy. "All we really can do now is wander around until we find a road, follow it, and hope it leads to a town."
"The point is, we're all safe," said Allison. Bender shook his head.
"No, we're not," he said ominously.
"What do you mean?" asked Allison.
Bender never answered her. The group suddenly understood. They slowly began walking deeper into the woods, silent, aware, tired, and desperate.