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To answer insertsnamehere's question: This is the chapter. She doesn't have any dialogue with Andre yet, but she does at least talk.
When we got to the jail, they sent us our separate ways to the holding cells. They had a hard time keeping us away from each other; we broke from the cops holding us and tried to stay together as best as we could, but it never worked. They always pulled us apart, and soon we were pulled into different doors and felt more alone than ever.
It wasn't long before there was a commotion outside of the room, and soon enough my grandma came barreling through the door, searching wildly for me. There were a few cops behind her but they weren't going to get in her way any time soon. "ANDRE!" She screamed.
"Right here, grandma," I said, getting up from the bench in the cell and walking to the bars. She ran to my cell (even though it was just a few feet away from her) and grabbed the door. I should've realized this would cause her paranoia to flare up, all the more reason I should have told her that I was doing this stuff. She of all people could have talked me out of it, if for that reason only.
"What could have possibly made you think you would be able to rob a bank!?" She asked.
"Honestly?" I replied. She gave me a look. I sighed and said, "the uh, other robberies we did." I said it low, so that the cops wouldn't hear me, but neither did grandma.
She asked me to repeat it louder, and I did, but she still didn't hear me. "Do you have a pen and paper?" I asked her. She took a pen and a notepad out of her purse and I wrote down what I said, along with telling her not to repeat it out loud.
She sighed loudly as she read it looked at me with disappointment. "You're the one that's been causing all this commotion in the streets?"
I looked down and nodded. She asked, "Your friends too?"
I was about to lie and say it was all me, but as I opened my mouth to do so, she said, "Don't lie to me, boy." I sighed and nodded my head again. "Whose idea was it?"
"Does it matter?"
She sighed this time. "I guess it doesn't. All that matters right now is that you're here, and that you need to get out."
"I don't think that'll happen any time soon, grandma."
"Why not? They won't put you jail for no more than a few years, will they? Oh God, I – " She started , but I stopped her. There's no way I would get just years in jail for what I plan on doing.
"No, not that. Ya see, I kinda plan on confessing. About all the crimes I've done, these past two years. For me to ever have a clear conscience, I need to. Don't try to talk me out me out of it. You can't. I've got my heart set on it."
She never did. She just looked at me, with an unreadable look on her face, and said, "I don't know why you're doing this, and I don't really want to. I just need to make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. I trust you."
I grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She smiled at me and tried to give me the paper I wrote on, but I said, "I don't need it."
We both knew this might the last time we got to talk freely (as free as you can get when surrounded by police officers) to each other. "I love you, Andre." She said.
"Love you too, grandma."
We were never good with goodbyes. "I've uh, got cleaning to do at the house. Do well, Andre."
"You too. Goodbye grandma."
"Goodbye."
I waited until the door closed behind her to confess. "Guards," I called. "I have a confession to make. Actually, confessions."
One chuckled and said, "Kid, you don't need to confess. We got you and your friends robbing that bank."
"Not that!" I said, frustrated. "The robberies that have been going on for the past two years, and the occasional beatings? The ones you thought were 'gang occurrences'? You might want to release the people you took in for them, because I did 'em."
As Judge Helen looked down at us, the three delinquents in the courtroom, we all stood at attention behind our table and looked forward, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. We were given time to talk before being sent to the courtroom, and during that time, I told them that I'd confessed. They looked at each other slyly and told me they did too because they knew I would, which surprised me. I expected them to be mad or confused, but I guess I was underestimating how well they knew me.
Now we stand here beside our lawyer (we used some of the money we saved to afford her) as the lady in front of us prepares our fate. "I understand your three clients robbed bank a few days ago, and confessed to the robbing of…seventy-five people, and the assault of fifteen, over the course of two years, am I correct?" She said with her nose turned down and looking at our lawyer over her glasses.
"Yes, ma'am." She said. Cat broke her resolve and began to sob openly, and it didn't take long for Jade to pull her into her arms.
The judge looked pleased, as if she got off on our obvious suffering. I kinda wanted to punch her for it.
"Is there anything you would like to say before your clients are charged?" She asked, that sick smile still on her face.
"Yes, your honor. I would like to say a couple of things." Our lawyer started. "These three juveniles may be guilty, but it is only due to their desire to change their lives for the better. Society has created and enforced the idea that people in their situation are doomed to live like that for their whole lives, and frankly, your honor, my clients wanted to prove them wrong. They wanted to show the world that you can grow up in a place like Northridge and not be like the majority there, but rise above it. They just went about it the wrong way, and now they're being treated like no more than criminals, no more than the majority. Something they tried so very hard to get away from.
"I know somebody who went through the same situation when they were a little kid. Thirty-one years ago, a little girl named Diane was born in a hospital not far from here. She, like my clients, expected something better in life, more than the expectation society placed unto her. She did what she had to do to get out. It included robbing a few people, and dealing with some shady characters, but it took a brutal wake-up to make her realize what she was doing wrong – getting caught was that call.
"She almost went to jail, but ended up with a few days worth of community service. That was enough to scare her into realizing what she was doing was wrong, so she paid more attention in school, starting getting into after-school activities and turned her life around. Eventually she got into an ivy-league college and became a lawyer, and now she stands before you. So take her success story as a model to imprint on these kids. They never wanted to hurt anybody, –" Jade smirked a little bit at this before steeling back up, "they wanted a chance.
"Let them have that chance so they can be a better contribution to society." She ended her speech and took a deep breath, before sitting down in her chair.
Helen's face was void of emotion. She probably already had an idea of what she was going to give us before our lawyer – Diane – started talking, so I don't think what she helped much. It's a shame; we didn't even need her yet we already paid her in advance. I looked over at Jade and Cat, who were still together, and took the time to look Jade in the eye. She may be acting all tough, but I can see through her defense. She's just as afraid as Cat, and I am too.
"That was quite the inspirational story, Diane. If more kids were like you then maybe I would give out community service more often. But, as you know, the charges in this case are much more severe. But there is something a little more, involved, than community service; something called criminal labor." She started to adopt that smile on her face again.
"No, no, no…" I chanted as I started to shake my head.
"I think that's the most fitting punishment here, considering they would still be contributing to society, even if it's a smaller scale. The defendants are charged with seventy-five counts of robbery, fifteen cases of assault, and one case of attempted grand theft. The sentence is life in criminal labor." She said.
It was like time was still. Everything was in slow motion and I couldn't hear a thing, not even the sound of the judge's gavel hitting the wooden desk. I looked around and saw Cat and Jade falling to the floor, Jade's armor finally cracking as tears fell down her face; my grandma frantically getting up from her seat and trying to reach me, Cat's parents openly bawling, Jade's mom doing the same as my grandma, and her father still sitting in his seat, shaking his head. I didn't even know what to do with myself. I felt Diane's hand on my shoulder and realized tears were falling out of my eyes too.
My life…it's over. All my dreams about being signed to a recording company and getting my grandma and me out of this chizhole were ruined, because even though I was leaving, my grandma would stay here and let her paranoia consume her. She wouldn't have anyone to take care of her. And I'd be working on some wealthy grunch's land.
I regained my senses and looked around again. Helen was threatening to hold Jade's mom and my grandma in contempt of court if they didn't calm down. The cops and Jade's dad were trying to calm them down, without much success. "Grandma," I finally said as I made my way to the policemen holding her back, "calm down. I'll be okay."
I turned to Jade's mom. "I will take care of Jade, Eleanor. There's nothing to worry about. We'll find a way out of this." I said calmly.
"So will I, Nora; now let us get out of the way. We're doing more harm than good right now." Jade's dad said. He led her out of the door and out of sight.
Jade was helping Cat up and shrugging off the cops trying to get them. "Let me get her up!" She finally screams, frightening most of them off her. I went to help her with Cat and as soon as she was steady on her feet, the cops cuffed us and led us out of the courtroom.
"What the fuck are we going to do to get out of this?" Jade asked. "We're not just going to let them take us away from each other are we?"
"What could we do? We all know that escaping this kind of security is darn near impossible!" Cat replied, sounding defeated. She shook her head. "I mean, if we couldn't rob Bank of America, how do we expect to get away from the barracks?"
I sighed and replied, "Don't talk like that, Cat. We gotta be optimistic if – "
"I'm tired of being optimistic! I'm tired of trying to trick myself into thinking we could walk away from this! I had a bad feeling about that heist the moment we walked into the building, but I didn't say anything. And I can't help but think that maybe if I did, we would still be free." She said, openly crying again.
"Let's just all stop blaming ourselves, alright? Ya know what; let's just stop thinking about who's at fault here, and instead be strong. Breaking us down is exactly what they want to do to us, but we're not going to let them." I started.
"Do you know what they do people who fight the authority in there? They kill them, and call it an accident. Are we supposed to just fake it for the rest of our lives? None of us are that good." Jade said.
"That's where the people come in." I answered, grinning. Jade and Cat looked at me confusion, so I elaborated. "This whole ordeal was been really wonky. Think about it, we were put to trial literally a day after we were taken in, and now we're being sent to the barracks right after our trial. That's a little fast, even in a situation like ours.
"Why would they be working so fast to get us out of the city? I'll tell you why: to keep this from going anywhere. We're probably the only ones who know what criminal labor's really about in this city, only because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there were a lot of news people out there when we got in this van, who would pay big money to get a hold of a story like this. They don't want this case, and with it the secret, getting out.
"And now that we're out, they have to make sure our families don't know anything. But they do, and once the government tries to shut them up, they'll go to the news stations."
"And all hell will break loose," Jade finished, and smiled. "Smart. But how long until this prediction of yours comes true?"
"No idea. But it shouldn't take more than a couple of years, tops." I said.
"I like it." Cat finally said. She stopped crying sometime during my speech.
"So do we have a reason to stay optimistic now?" He asked and looked over at Cat.
She smiled. "Yeah. But it this doesn't work, we need to take any option out."
"I hear that," I said.
"Yup. Now all we can do is hope and pray the people who 'employ' us know eachother." Jade said.
We were all sent to entirely different buildings, but it didn't take long before the wardens took me out to be given to the highest bidder. They gave me khaki shorts, sandals, and a white tank top to wear, and gave me time to shower before walking me to another van that would send me to the location of the auction. I was alone, but the convoy that was waiting had a lot of vehicles, so they probably have everyone alone. Smart move.
We stopped at a huge estate out in the country that was already surrounded by expensive cars. Even though this whole situation is very wrong, it was pretty impressive. They could keep a secret this big so well-kept. It looked like every rich person in the state was here; maybe even the governor. I'd bet Helen was here.
They took all of us through the back entrance and kept us in a small room while they prepared the stage and seats. I looked for Cat and Jade and found them together, looking at somebody in disgust and anger. He was leering at the both of them, and leaning over Cat. I made my way through the small crowd to make sure they didn't start a fight and to get that obvious creep away. By the time I got over there, he was already cowering away from Jade who somehow had a pair scissors in her hand and was pointing them menacingly at his face.
"Now if you don't leave me and my girlfriend the hell alone, Sinjin, I will cut. You. Up." Jade threatened, the scissors now pressed up against his nose.
"It looks like he's about to pee himself." Cat giggled.
"You disgusting freak. Get the hell away from us before I make good on my promise." Jade said. The kid ran away, almost running into me in the process.
"I think he did pee himself." I said with a smile.
"He deserved it; he tried to make a move on Cat, and then asked me when she said no. I would have cut him up if I knew I wouldn't get in trouble." She replied.
I was about to reply when the door opened and the wardens called out our names alphabetically to the stage. Once everyone was up on the stage, they put us in connected chains with our hands in front of us this time and told us to stand there until the show started. "Besides," One said, "It's not like you have a choice."
Two sisters were the first to come in the room. They were very early, as it wouldn't start for another thirty minutes, but they were obviously looking early to see who they wanted to bid on. It's weird though, the fuller one wasn't trying to hide her staring, while the skinnier one didn't even look at us except for a few sideways glances. I could understand why she didn't want to; some of the people here were crazy and you could see it in their faces if they didn't show or say why they were. The lewd comments and gestures made even me cringe. Of course, those that did that were taken care of but there still were the secretly insane ones.
I didn't want to listen to their conversation, but I was intrigued, so I did. It was also kinda hard not to; the fuller girl was really loud. "C'mon Tori, just look at them! Are just gonna randomly pick someone?" She asked.
"No Trina, I'm not. But I'm not gonna act like they're not people and just stare at them like animals!" Tori said, gesturing to us on stage.
"Dad wouldn't like to hear that you're acting like this." Her sister, Trina, replied. "You know you have to pick someone, so I suggest you get over whatever complex you have and pick somebody. Besides, they must've done something bad enough to deserve this. So woman up!"
"Eh, fuck you bitch!" Somebody said. "You're lucky I can't get out of these chains or I'd –" The wardens knocked him out before he could finish and took him out the group, which left nine of us.
Trina threw her hand out towards us. "Ya see? They don't care about us, so why should we care about them?" She said.
Two boys came in the room and sat beside Tori. The taller one asked, "You guys looking at who you wanna pick?"
"Trina is; I'm not. I don't even know if I want to anymore." Tori answered.
"No one actually enjoys this part of the process, but it's a lot of easier to just pay lump sum now instead of getting a maid or gardener that you have to pay hourly." He said.
The boy beside him spoke up. "That's a weird term."
"Eh. My dad uses it all the time." The taller one replied.
"Why don't you come sit beside me, Beck?" Trina asked and tried to look sexy.
He frowned. "No thanks; I'd rather stay with Robbie, here." Said boy, Robbie, smiled. "Now enough meaningless banter, let's judge the people before us." Beck said and swept his arm towards us.
They went through everyone in the line, judging everything from their looks to how they reacted when they talked about them. Tori said maybe one of two things the whole time, but she did look at us that much. She'd look at them for about half a minute, then go on to the next one. She kept with that routine until she got to me. I don't know why, but when she got to me, she stayed at me; and I stared right back. She wasn't close enough to where I could see her eyes, and her face was unreadable so I didn't know what she was thinking. But her sister did, because when she looked over at Tori, who hadn't taken her eyes off of me, she smiled slyly.
"Boys, I think Tori here found someone!" she said and nudged Tori, which caused her to break her gaze and turn to her sister. She saw the look on her face and turned to the boys, who had the same look.
"Wha…? No, you guys are crazy!" She said. "I was only –"
"Staring at him." Beck said.
"With that look on your face." Trina continued.
"The one you get when –" Robbie started.
"Shhh! Shut up, alright? You guys are so embarrassing sometimes!" Tori said.
I was confused and it showed. I looked around and met Jade's eyes. She saw my confusion and smiled smugly. "You just got picked." She mouthed.
Shit.
"Well, now that goody little Tori here has chosen, it's time to get down to business." Trina said.
"I know who I want; her." Beck said. The three turned to heads to see who he was picking; but I knew by her indignant shriek I who it was. Just like that, Jade and I are gone. And I didn't know whether it was wrong or not that I hoped Cat gets picked by the nerd or the diva.
"Robbie?" Trina asked and looked to him.
"I know exactly who I'll be bidding on." He said. "The redhead."
I never thought it was possible, but my heart soared and dropped at the same time. It soared because we were all going to be together, even if through a group of friends; but it dropped because of Jade, who let out a roar the moment redhead left the boy's mouth. I was afraid she was going to act this way, but I didn't think she would react like that.
She tried to get out of her restraints and get to the boy as hard as she could. I saw the wardens rush to get to her, and I called out to her, trying to get her calm down. Cat tried as well, but I have a feeling the only thing that did calm her down was the way the scrawny boy recoiled in fear, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to get to her. When she saw it she calmed down and a smirk grew on her face, but the rage never left her eyes. The wardens didn't know how to deal with her sudden calmness, so they gave her a warning and left it at that.
But the thing that scared me was the way Beck reacted to Jade's reaction. He smiled the same way she did, and the smile only grew when he saw her calm down. That's down-right wonky, and it makes me worried, to be honest.
Tori and Trina laughed at Robbie and called him a wuss. He tried to explain, but the explanations never helped his case. Beck continued to watch Jade, and saw her and Cat talk quietly to eachother, and the quick kiss they shared.
Suddenly the intercom sounded, reminding the people on the estate that the auction is about to start. We straightened our bodies and got ourselves ready for the heartbreak and suspense that we knew we were about to face.