Chapter 7. First Pit-Stop in Hell.
Honestly, I felt bad that we took Eric's car. I wasn't sure if Hyde would make a trustworthy driver, though I had to hope he was because he insisted on driving. The Photo Hut wasn't a long way by car, but I'd still have time to converse with him. I wanted to know why he was so bitter towards an acquaintance. There was an awkward silence in the vehicle while I formulated what I'd say. I couldn't really think of anything direct, however, so I tried being casual.
"That was a pretty sick gift you gave Eric, man," I said.
"Mmhmm," He mused.
Silence.
I decided to turn on the radio. The Grateful Dead, nice. I turned the volume up. This action seemed to spark something in Hyde.
"You have good tastes, man," He said quietly.
"Thanks," I smiled. "So, what kind of music are you interested in?"
"Oh, y'know, the good kind. Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Jethro Tull, Rolling Stones…" He listed.
"Same," I responded.
"Don't tell the others I said this, but you're not as bad as I suspected, man," He told me as we pulled into the drive-thru of the Photo Hut. Oh? I'm not as bad?
There was no one at the drive-thru. After a minute of waiting there in silence, Hyde began getting annoyed and shouted, "Yo!"
A man groggily came up to the window. Yeah, we came to the right place. This dude was a complete hippie.
"Hey, man, I was trying to take a nap."
I held back a laugh, as Hyde said, "We're here to get the lady's pictures, man."
The Hippie looked at me, "Okay, last name, lady?"
"Scott," I stated.
The Hippie walked away from the window to go get my pictures.
"So, why didn't you like me to begin with?" I inquired.
Hyde shrugged, "Girls around here typically equal trouble. I mean have you seen Jackie?"
"What about Donna?" I added.
"Yeah, she's pretty chill I guess," He mumbled.
"You guess?"
"Yeah, I mean, she's not anything special…. Just a girl."
The way he said it made me think….
"You like her don't you?" I smirked.
He shook his head, "No! Maybe. But she's taken. Friday night we went out to see a concert and she kissed him, man."
"Oh, I'm sorry, man. There are always other girls, though," I shrugged. I wasn't really much for comforting people.
The Hippie came back to the window with my pictures. I handed Hyde the cash my father gave me to give to him.
"Oh, wait, before you go, are you sellin' anything man?" I asked.
"Such as?" Hippie's ears perked up slightly.
"Beer," Hyde said. "And misdemeanors."
The Hippie smiled, nodded, and walked away for a minute. He came back with everything. We left with thirty bucks left still. The drive back to Eric's we discussed music. We were almost back to Eric's house when we heard police sirens and saw lights echoing behind us. Hyde sighed out of frustration and stopped.
"Shit," He whispered.
"Maybe they won't look?" I tried to be helpful.
"Have you seen how we look? They'll look." He stated.
The police officer tapped on the window, which Hyde rolled open. He gave the officer a cheesy smile.
"License and registration."
Hyde pulled out a license, but said, "This is my friend's car, officer."
The officer rolled his eyes and checked over Hyde's license before handing it back. He looked around the car with his flashlight, which blinded me.
"What's in the bag, young lady?" He asked.
"Oh, pictures I just got developed… and a few groceries."
"Groceries? At nine o'clock at night?" He grabbed the bag from me and looked in it to chuckle. "Figures. You two are coming down to the station with me."
We sat together in a small holding cell, waiting for the officer to come back to tell us that we could make a call.
"Who are we going to call?" I asked, sighing. I stood up and started pacing a bit. My father could not figure out that I went to jail because of possession. Not again.
"Are you on good terms with your folks?" He asked. "Because, if we call Foreman then his parents will find out, along with the whole town."
"I am, somewhat, but if my father finds out I'm back to my old routine again, he'll ground me and make us move to Alaska or something," I explained. "What about you?"
"Eh, Edna's probably drunk and blowing someone right now…" He shuddered a bit. Edna must be his mother… poor thing.
I sighed, "I guess I can risk leaving again if it means that nobody else finds out. I'll call my father, then." I suppose it's a good thing that I never really spent time bonding with anyone yet. Too bad that I was finally starting to find out about Hyde, though.
The officer came over to the cell and handed me a dime. I put it into the slot, punched in the number, and waited. He finally answered.
"Hey, um, dad…"