Chapter 15: Black Mailed
"Um Excuse me?" I cleared my throat and got the attention of the woman sitting behind the glass window
"How can I help you?" she asked looking up from her computer screen
"Is there a prisoner here called Rattleballs?"
"Yes there is." She said after typing on her computer
"Great. Is it possible for me to go see him?"
"I'm sorry but visiting hours are over." She stated pointing at a sign taped on the window above her, "Why don't you come back tomorrow?"
"Visiting hours ends at 6, there's still 20 minutes left! Can you please let me go see him? I promise I wont take long" I begged
"Like I said before, visiting hours are over. If you don't leave now I'll call security."
I stepped back and turned around to look at Marshall, I need to see him now! I can't wait till tomorrow I pleaded to him silently
Marshall stepped in front of me and leaned down on the bar; he knocked on the glass to get the woman's attention, and when she looked up curiously he slid of his sunglasses and beanie
"Hey" he smirked and I frowned
The woman gasped silently her hands both clasped on her gaped mouth and her eyes wide open, "you...You're…oh my god! OH MY GOD!" she whispered loudly
Marshall Lee slid his sunglasses back on and put his finger on his lips asking her to keep quiet, the woman obliged happily.
"I see you're a fan." He said pointing at her, the woman smiled broadly and played with her necklace
I noticed that the necklace she's wearing had Marshall's name on it; I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms waiting for Marshall to finish his flirting
"I'm a BIG fan! I know everything about you. I follow you on twitter and instagram and tumblr! I attend almost all your concerts and I make sure to buy all your albums as soon as they come out! I love you so, so much!"
"Really? That's amazing. I really appreciate all the effort you put in supporting me. You're the best fan ever. Also I think I've seen you in one of my concerts."
"OMG! For Real?"
"Definitely. I never forget the face of my fans." He winked making her giggle, getting impatient I cleared my throat loudly reminding Marshall why we were here in the first place.
"So um….Candy?" he hesitated, reading her name tag
"Yes! Cotton Candy, that's my name." she nodded excitedly
"Right. You see, my boyfriend here would really like to see Rattleballs today. It's kind of really important. So if there is any way possible could you let him in?"
"Oh. Uh…I'd really like to but I'm not allowed to let visitors in after 5:30. I'm really sorry."
"Oh, that's a shame." He mumbled then very slowly pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and slowly slipped it to Candy via the open glass window, "So, how about now?"
Candy was practically jumping in her seat when she took hold of the paper Marshall slipped her. Then she paused and looked up giving me a quick glance before going back to admire Marshall Lee. "well…" she hesitated, "I guess I could let this one slide." Then she typed into her computer a bit, pulled a walkie- talkie and asked for Rattleballs and then she signaled with her hand and an officer walked towards us.
"Just follow him and he'll take you to the waiting room." she said
I nodded a thank you to her and with one last look at Marshall- who gave me an encouraging smile- I left. I followed the officer through many hallways until we reached what looked like a waiting room, as I stepped in the officer said,
"Please wait here, the prisoner Rattleballs is on his way."
I nodded to him before taking a seat at one of the many empty chairs and waited. There were a couple of people there as well; a family visiting their father, a mother with two kids talking to another woman, and two men having a very serious discussion. Within a couple of minutes the front door creaked open and in walked Rattleballs dressed in red overalls and his hands cuffed together in front of him. I gasped silently when I took in his appearance. He looked like he aged 20 years; his hair in unkept and growing white at the roots, and the wrinkles by his eyes looked deeper. When he saw me though, a warm smile spread across his face.
"Good to see you sir. Since you're here, I suppose you already figured it out." he said as soon as he took a seat across from me
"I'm sorry! I should -" I started but got interrupted
"Don't say that. The police here believe I'm the criminal, do not give them a reason to doubt." He said firmly eyeing the policemen standing at each corner of the room.
"But Rattleballs, because of me you…you're here!"
"Let us get one thing straight sir. I volunteered to do this, to be here. It was my choice. And while the main reason was for your sake, another reason was because I wanted to do it. It's also my duty to protect you. Do I make myself clear?"
I nodded, "but…don't you regret it?"
"Sir I don't regret what I did, in fact I'd do it again if I could. Earl Lemongrab wasn't one of the finest people I worked under. The way he treated his coworkers and his employees was despicable. I guess you would know that firsthand."
"You still didn't have to."
"I wasn't the only one who volunteered you know. Almost all the staff from the Gum family house wanted to take this crime upon them. Everyone there loves you Gumball, and they would hate to see you waste away in prison when you have a great future ahead of you."
My eyes stung with tears and it took all my will power to hold back a sob and not have a break down.
"By the way, I read the newspaper. You quit your job and got yourself a nice trophy wife...err husband."
"We're not married yet, he's just my boyfriend." I rumbled feeling my face heat up and mouth pulling into a smile
"So, what's next on your agenda?"
"I- I want to go to France, there's a culinary school I want to attend. A friend of my father's works there he might help me get in. And also maybe open a bakery store too."
"That's wonderful. Your father would be very proud of you." He said softly making my chest swell in happiness and pride. But just when things were getting nice a police officer approached us and said that the time was up. Rattleballs stood up about to leave that's when I took my chance and hugged him. And then I whispered a silent 'Thank you' to him before stepping back and letting go.
When Rattleballs was back to his cell, I took a few calming breath before stepping out of the room and walking back to my boyfriend. Marshall Lee was exactly where I left him; he was busy talking to the reception girl Candy. From the outside you'd think he's enjoying himself, but since I know him better I could tell that his smile was forced and his eyes were calling for help. When he saw me his expression changed to concern with a mix of relief and curiosity. And when my eyes met his I found myself flinging myself at him, and burying my face in the crook of his neck. Marshall's arms were around me in an instant and he walked me out of the penitentiary without giving Candy a second look or a goodbye. We walked out the curb and into the parking lot stopping in front of his car.
"You okay babe?" he said stroking my hair
"Yeah, can we stay like this for a little while longer?" I mumbled against his shirt
"Sure thing." He replied pulling me tighter and resting his forehead on my shoulder. After a few minutes I shifted my head to face him and found Marshall staring at me.
"Hi." He whispered pulling back to place his forehead against mine
"Hi." I whispered back with a small smile
"Feeling better?" he asked leaning close, his hands on my hips
"Yeah." I nodded then leaned further and sealed our lips together. My hands clutched the back of his head pulling him deeper while our tongues danced mutually enjoying each other's texture and taste. We pulled away with a content sigh, his nose nuzzling mine.
"So, MacDonald's?" Marshall suddenly asked in a husky voice making me giggle.
xXxXx
I woke next morning feeling light and happy; all the worries from last night smoked away by Marshall Lee. Pulling on my pink robe I walked downstairs stifling a yawn. I found Marshall in the kitchen flipping pancakes and humming to himself.
"Good morning princess, nice dress." He snickered and kissed my forehead
"It's a robe!" I said pulling out a carton of orange juice from the fridge and pouring some in a tall glass; draining half the glass in one gulp I placed it back on the counter before wrapping my arms around my boyfriend's waist and resting my forehead on his back. "Smells good." I murmured
"Me or the pancakes?"
"both." I chuckled
"Hey Bubbs, can you do me a favor?"
"Hm?"
"Mind checking the mail for me?"
"Sure." I said then turned around walking out of the kitchen and down the front foyer, unlocking the front door I walked down the front yard to the mailbox and retrieved all the mail stacked in it. As I walked back I sorted through the mail; most of it was junk, while Marshall had only few letters addressed to him. When I placed all the letters on the dining table I noticed one large envelope addressed to me. It took me by surprise because no one- other than Peppermint- knows I'm living with Marshall Lee. I flipped the letter searching for the return address but there wasn't any. Feeling curious I opened the envelope and tried to shake its contents out except the only thing that came out were a bunch of dead insects; roaches, stag beetles, ants, spiders, etc. I freaked out and threw the letter away.
"What happened?" Came Marshall's voice as he rushed to my side,
"The letter….bugs..." I mumbled getting goose bumps I rubbed both arms trying to rid the feeling, Marshall walked to where the letter was and picked it up
"Gumball….there's a letter here…addressed to you." He said quietly, "You might want to check it out."
"What does it say?" I asked walking to him, instead of answering Marshall handed me the letter to read myself. When my eyes scanned it my mouth fell open, "This…no one was supposed to know this information! How- how is this possible?!"
"It's blackmail." Marshall said with gritted teeth. All of a sudden the home phone rang making me jump in my spot. Who was calling? Is it the sender?
"I'll pick it up." Mumbled Marshall as he walked towards it and picked up the phone, "hello?"
I followed after and stood beside him wondering who was on the other end, my answer came to me in a few when he handed the phone to me saying, "It's Peppermint."
I sighed in relief knowing the ID of the caller then took the phone from him and said
"Hey Pepp."
"Gumball did you check the news?" came Peppermints frantic voice
"The news?" I asked bewildered looking at Marshall, "What for?"
"It's a disaster, they know. Someone managed to figure out the truth and sold it to the press. Now they're broadcasting it everywhere. I don't know how it got out of hand; there must've been listening devices in the company or something."
Marshall and I ran to the TV and turned it on; he switched between channels until he landed on the news channel and what they were broadcasting blew my mind.
The news reporter had a horrified look on her face while she was reporting my crime, "It's unbelievable I tell you. For the past years we were lead to believe that the previous CEO, Earl Lemongrab, died from a heart attack when in reality he was murdered. And the killer is no one but his nephew Bonnibeau Gumball himself! What baffles me, ladies and gentlemen, is how he is still loose walking down the street instead of being in his proper place - which is behind bars like every other criminal."
Marshall curses under his breath and I stand there shocked.
I swallowed thickly before saying, "Peppermint…what am I supposed to do now?"
"Nothing, don't do anything. Don't even leave the house. It's a good thing no one knows you're staying at Marshall Lee's. Curses! I shouldn't have said that on the phone. Anyways I'll try to contact your lawyer and see if we can fix this. Don't call me; I call you if anything happened."