Luan remained buried under her blankets for some time before anyone else entered the cell, and she didn't move to see who it was when someone finally did come in. There was a slight squeak and then a young female's voice:

"I remember my first time in this hell hole," the voice said. "I was scared shitless. Hid in my cell for days. You couldn't've dragged me out. That's how you feel right now, huh?"

Luan pulled the blankets down from over her head and sat up. One of the girls who had been by the phones was sitting on the stool. She was a tall ginger girl, with a thick smattering of freckles across her face, intermingled with what appeared to Luan to be exceptionally nasty acne. The cell door was closed, but not latched. Luan eyed the door, a wave of uneasiness washing through her. The girl looked from Luan to the door and back.

"It's fine, I just wanted to talk to you in private," the girl said. "You gotta be careful not to latch the door, it locks automatically. You have to push the emergency button to have them open it. They get grumpy about that."

"Are you my roommate?"

"Yep, my name is Sabrina Tooms, but everyone calls me Rina."

"I'm Luan Loud. Those girls are really loud," she said, the din from the dayroom was reverberating off the cell walls.

"Yah, you get used to it by your eighth or ninth stint here."

Rina grinned. Luan noticed that she was missing an upper canine tooth.

"You've been in here nine times?" Luan asked, alarmed.

"No, I was joking. I have been here three times now. Keep trying to pay back my momma for knocking out my tooth I suppose."

"If your mom hurt you, she should be in jail, not you in juvie."

"Hah, got you again!" Rina laughed. "She didn't knock out my tooth. A word of advice for your stay here, be careful about what you share and who you share it with and that goes for everything. Also, don't take these girls' words for things. They like to spin tales and run their mouths."

Luan nodded.

"How many times have you been here?" Luan asked.

"This is my third time here and I do have issues with my mother, that's the truth."

"I'm sorry," Luan said, and she meant it. She couldn't imagine not getting along with her own mother.

Rina tsked and waved a hand through the air.

"No loss really. I do better on my own. Only seem to use when I've been with my mom for a while. Plus, I'm gonna be sentenced Friday and by the time I'm back on the street, I'll be eighteen and won't have to go back to her."

"How old are you now?"

"Nearly seventeen. On Saturday."

"So you'll be here for a whole year?"

"No, I'll be going to the center up state for a while. I'll be finishing up my G.E.D. and I have to do my court ordered drug treatment there. After that I plan on enrolling in job training."

"You do drugs?" Luan asked, she had not initially picked up on what Rina had meant by 'use.' She did now though.

"Yah, along with virtually all the girls in here. Enough about me though. You wanna share?"

"I'm here for a crime I didn't commit."

"Aren't we all?" Rina laughed, but then she frowned, looking Luan hard in the eye. "But if one of us is really innocent, you look like you'd be the one."

"It's true, I didn't stee-"

"No-no-no," Rina put up a hand in a 'stop' motion. "Like I said earlier, be careful about what you tell people. Don't give out details of your crimes. Some girls will try to get time off by testifying against you."

"Oh, OK."

"I meant share about yourself. You have a family?"

"Yah, my mom and dad. I have nine sisters and one brother."

Rina laughed.

"No shit? Then this place isn't too bad for you. You're packed in at home too."

Luan managed a smile and chuckled.

"I guess you're right about that. I'm used to lots of noisy girls around. My sisters aren't always easy to live with either. My sister Luna, who I share a room with, is a musician."

"Wow, what does she play."

"The tuba, violin, harp, drums, but most often the guitar. She favors electric guitars. She can also sing."

"Sounds…loud," Rina giggled at her own pun.

"Yah, it can be really loud in our room. We've gotten into many fights when she plays her music while I'm trying to practice my magic or clown routine."

"You're a magician?"

"Well, not after what has happened that led me to be here…That's over whether I'm guilty or not. No one will trust me again."

"I know how that feels."

"What about your family?"

"What about them?" Rina shrugged. "My mom's a bitch, all she does is drink and tell me I'm worthless. My sister has a different dad who is nice to her. She stays with him. I visit her when I can."

"You couldn't go live with your sister?"

"No, he's not my dad and he has two kids besides my sister to care for."

"You don't seem like the type who'd be in juvie."

"There're all types here."

Rina stood up from the stool and approached the bunk.

"Come, sit with me out in the dayroom. It doesn't look good with the other girls if you are antisocial with them. At least put in an appearance now and again. I'll be right here. Most of the girls here are fine most of the time. There are fights every once in a while, but not as much as TV would have you think. This is the nonviolent offenders' tank anyway. The violent girls are housed upstairs somewhere."

Luan followed Rina out to the dayroom and the pair sat at the table nearest their cell. Most of the other girls came up to Luan and introduced themselves. Some were polite and soft spoken. Some clearly had a wild side to their personality. Luan spent the next few hours getting to know a few of the girls and watching TV. Drug use was prevalent throughout the histories of the girls. Many starting to use drugs and alcohol as early as elementary school. Some had mental health issues and many came from unstable families where drugs were also present. She knew that all these girls had the ability to make their own choices, but she also felt a little sorry for them.

It all made Luan grateful for how wonderful her family was, even if she always had to wear hand-me-downs and they didn't have money for expensive vacations or a van that didn't break down all the time. She never had to wonder where her next meal was coming from, where she was going to stay and her family was always there to support her no matter what. Luan realized that that support was about to be severely tested.

Luan didn't get much sleep that night, between some of the girls shouting back and forth and the clang of the big slider door when it closed every hour after an officer did an hourly walk through, the housing unit was not a quiet place. The girls who had been loud during the night where not let out with the rest to clean that morning. Rina explained that they were in 'the hole,' the inmates' colloquial term for being on disciplinary lockdown and they would be there for a few days. They would only get an hour out a day to shower, clean and use the phone.

Luan skipped the long line for the shower and washed her face and armpits in her sink. She wished she had some deodorant. Rina said you had to buy that on commissary. Luan had no money, so she would just have to do without.

She helped Rina clean their cell. They scrubbed down the sink and toilet, wiped the table and stool and swept and mopped the floor. Rina showed Luan the way they needed to have their bunks made every morning. She explained that the officers did a detailed head count and inspected their cells twice a day, but the one in the morning was the most thorough and they had to have their cells clean and bunks made.

"Your bunk doesn't have to be military-grade made, but the blankets and sheets need to be tucked in. They will be untucking them and inspecting them when they get here. I know it will be frustrating, but pick your battles. This one ain't worth it. I tried arguing with a guard the first time I was in here about it. Trust me, it just made life harder for me. You can always remake a bunk."

Once they were done with their cell, they helped some other girls clean the day room. They stayed clear of the two girls who were arguing at one end of the room. Rina said that one was suspected of stealing commissary from the other. She thought that the argument would evolve into a fight soon. She and several other girls had started a pool on how much longer it would be.

Breakfast that morning, fruit oatmeal, a large sausage patty, half an apple and milk, was a step up from dinner the night before, a hunk of some version of meat, clearly instant potatoes, squishy green beans, sour applesauce and a fruit juice packet. Luan found herself wishing for the higher quality of public school lunches. Rina told her that somedays were better than others when it came to the food, you just learned to deal with it.

Luan had dozed off at the table she had sat down at with Rina sometime mid-morning. She was startled awake by the sound of someone shouting her name. She shot up from the table and looked around. Rina and another girl at the table pointed her to the male officer standing at the open slider door.

"I'm Luan," she said, approaching the officer.

"The weekend judge set bail on your charges," he said.

He had Luan sign the document to indicate she had been informed of her bail and he handed her a copy of it. He took his leave.

Luan looked over the paper. It had a bunch of typing on it that didn't appear to have anything to do with her. There was a checked off box next to a line that described setting bail. Her bail had been set at $5000 cash or bond.

Rina came up to stand next to her.

"$5000, not too bad."

"I don't have that kind of money."

"You could go through a bondsman. Your family would just need $500 and something for collateral. It's a promise that you will show up for your court appearance on Monday."

"I need to call my family."

Luan went to the one empty phone and followed the instructions for calling collect. It was going to be expensive, but she had no money of her own to use. It took a few minutes to get through the process and when Rita's frantic voice came on the line, Luan was brought to tears by the sound of it. First, she assured her mother that she was alright.

"This is a nightmare!" Rita exclaimed. "This is all wrong, all wrong!"

"Mom, I don't have much time. They sent my bail at $5,000 cash or bond. If you go through a bondsman, it's 500 and collateral."

"What is collateral?"

"I don't know that's what I was told."

"Ok, we'll get this figured out. We'll get you out of there. I hope today. We can get $500 together, no issue."

"Thank you Mom. I'll pay you back the 500 somehow."

"Honey, don't worry about that. Just hang on a little longer."

Luan ran into the waiting arms of her parents and siblings. They had all come to pick her up at the detention center. She was wearing the clothes she was arrested in and Luan was sure she stunk, but no one appeared to care.

The family ushered her into the van for the thirty minute ride home. Once they were in the van and on their way, all the kids began peppering Luan with questions. Where there lots of fights? What was her cell like? What was the food like? Lynn Sr. shut them down quickly, seeing that the questions were upsetting Luan.

"Hey kids, your questions can wait. Can't you see that Luan is tired?"

They all apologized and quieted down. Lily offered Luan her blanket and Lola offered up her satin pillow she used as extra back cushioning. Luan thanked them tearfully and curled up against the window. She fell asleep shortly thereafter. The family was mostly silent for the remainder of the ride home.

Dressed in their detective suits, Lincoln and Lucy walked up to Luan's room. They had been home for about an hour. Luan had run inside and upstairs as soon as the van was parked in in the driveway. They could all hear her crying in her room. Luna informed them that she was sobbing into her pillow and refusing to talk to anyone, even their parents.

Upon entering the room, they found Luan pulling her Funny Business equipment from her chest and putting it into cardboard boxes. She appeared to be nearly done.

"Luan, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm giving this stuff away. I won't be needing it anymore."

"Why's that"? he asked.

"Whether I'm guilty or innocent, it won't matter in the realm of public opinion. No one will want me on their property again. So, I won't need my performing equipment anymore."

"Come on, Luan, you are overreacting," Lucy said.

Luan picked up two of the boxes.

"I wish I could be as naïve as you two," Luan said, heading out the door with her two boxes.

Lincoln and Lucy followed her out to the street. Luan set the boxes on the curb. She turned to head back into the house.

"Luan, listen to us," Lincoln pleaded. "We will clear your name. Once that happens, you can go back to performing."

"I already told you, Lincoln, that won't happen. Now, you can either help me or leave me alone. I have three more loads to bring down and I need to find Lana. I am giving Gary to her."

Lincoln and Lucy decided to help Luan bring down her boxes, but once the teenager was gone, they hurriedly carried the boxes back inside and hid all the boxes in the attic. Lucy had a special spot behind a stack of holiday decorations that no one ever went, so Luan's boxes would not be disturbed.

The eleven and eight year olds sat down next to the boxes.

"Luan is crushed," Lucy stated.

"She's probably right about no one trusting her," Lincoln said. "It'll be years before someone trusts her to perform in their home again, even if she is cleared of stealing the bracelet."

"We can't let her go down for that," Lucy said. "We all know she didn't do it."

"I won't rest until we clear her name."