Alice gets arrested for setting the dumpster on fire.

Question: Who turned Alice in to the cops?

xxx

Chapter Seven

Alice POV

"I'm not the only one who knows the story behind that mug shot that your daughter published in her paper."

"This is bull! My mom will just bail me out again!" I shout at practically every cop that turns my way.

"Not this time, sweetheart!" the cop says, yanking my arms up and pulling me over to get my mug shot. I stand in line after they empty my pockets and pat me down for the fourth time. The lady in front of me instructs me on how to put down my fingerprints. She doesn't ask for my name. I have been here three times before. I was only actually charged with stealing one time but ya know, I miss this place after not being here for a while.

The order of the chaos.

"Come on, Alice. You think you'd learn by now. Two years and you won't be here anymore. You'll be looking at full jail, real dirty time, sweetheart," she says.

"Oh, you know how I love the clean bathrooms and privacy, Mrs. Lane," I tell her.

She shakes her head and pushes me along. I walk toward the picture and he hands over my board. I stand up, holding onto my board and giving a dirty look as the camera flashes in my direction.

"Get your ass over here, Smith," the cop tells me. I walk over to him and he pushes me in front of him, holding me by my cuffs. He pushes me along toward my cell.

"Alice, what are you in here for this time?" he asks.

"Arson," I tell him.

"Did you do it?"

I lick my tongue over my lips and tilt my head down, sending him flames bringing in my eyes. The wild look is somewhat familiar to a man like him. He has seen it all too many times before.

"What do you think?" I ask him.

"Well this is your first arson charge," he says. "Maybe the sheriff will be kinder to you."

I shrug as he pushes me into the cell. I wait there for a while, bored out of my mind and playing with my nails. After a while, he comes back and tells me that the Sheriff wants to talk to me about my charges. I am sure this is going to be bad but I have to shrug off that thought and stand tall when I am pushed toward his office.

He sits me down, attaching the cuffs to the desk in front of me. He pushes the chair in a little bit so that I am against the table in front of me. Sheriff Howard sits in front of me with his hands in front of him. He leans forward, looking at me. He is not surprised. He is almost annoyed, as if he is tired of seeing me.

"Why do you act out, Alice?" he asks.

I shake my head and give him a shrug. I try to lean back but my hands are attached so I throw my legs over each other and tilt my head to the side, pursing my thick lips.

"Just so that I can see your happy face everyday, Sheriff Howard," I tell him with a grin.

"Oh, Alice," he says. He opens a file in front of him and begins rummaging through before he flips out a piece of paper and turns it over so that I can see my very first mug shot.

Ten years old. Stealing. My first and only charge.

"You stole money, clothes and food from a local store," he says. "When we told your mom that the store was willing to drop all of it, she told us that she wasn't. She said that you deserved the jail time and that it would make you a better person."

I give him a fake smile that he can tell isn't real.

"Oh you know my dear mother, always being kind," I say in the most sarcastic tone that I can possibly muster. He ignores me. He takes the piece of paper back and then flips on to the next one. I remember getting in trouble for that. I stole all of those things because I was running away. I didn't want a sister and my mom was spending all of her time with her. I was angry so I ran away.

"And the next charge was when you were thirteen. It was also stealing but it was dropped after there wasn't enough evidence showing that you were the one who was doing the stealing. After all, you went in there with your newly found gang members, the Serpents," he says.

I nod.

"You say gang members with such admiration, Sheriff Howard," I say. He gives me a short laugh. It sounds lame and almost fake but I think he is trying to make fun of me. He is trying to prove a point. He doesn't think I am as deadly as I clearly am.

He ignores my comment after the laugh and moves on to the next thing.

"Then you got another charge for gang related activity when you were fifteen. That was dropped after there was not enough evidence to prove it but you did spend the night here," he says.

"Yeah, I remember it all," I tell him. "And this time…they told me that I am being charged with arson. They said that I set a dumpster on fire, which sounds ridiculous considering I was at home when that happened."

"Home?"

"My trailer," I say.

"Right. Alone?" he asks.

I nod. "I didn't feel well. I didn't want to go to school. So I stayed home and somehow I got blamed for all of this and I think I know who and why."

"Really? So you are telling me that you didn't set that dumpster on fire?" he asks.

"I am telling you just that," I say, leaning back in relaxation a little bit. I am not worried. He has no proof. They'll make me spend the night here and then I'll be done and out of here. "Unless you have proof to show otherwise, Sheriff Howard?"

He gives a small smile and then shakes his head, pointing his finger at me from across the table.

"You are a dangerous snake, Alice Smith," he says. "But one day you'll learn. You'll have to."

"Learn what?" I ask.

He leans down.

"You are not as tough as you think you are."

He stands up, putting my records away and then walking around to the side of the desk where I am sitting. He sits back against the desk, right in front of me.

"You'll spend the night here until your mother decides to pick you up tomorrow morning," he says. "If she decides to pick you up at all. I hear she's watching a game at the school where your sister, Penny is a cheerleader."

I know he says it to piss me off but damn, I want to rip his throat out for it. I am led back to my cell, where at least I can sleep in peace.

Ohhh…Penny is Alice's sister! I always loved that theory and really think the writers might pull that on us.

Question: Who turned Alice in to the cops?