Chapter 1

"I'm not going," Litt stood there stubbornly, with her arms crossed. Acting like a smart ass was an excellent mask to cover up her true feelings.

The police officer, Mike, scoffed, "Yes you are! Right now, a matter of fact."

"You can't make me!"

"Ya wanna bet?" With that he lunged at her so she wouldn't run away again. Grabbing her by the arms he threw her against the car and handcuffed her arms behind her back. He was treating her like a criminal, even though he had been dealing with her for five years now. Every time a call came in about her, no matter what he was doing, they made him take it. He was the only one with enough patience with her. But he usually didn't treat her this harshly, because he knew a little bit of why she acted that way--but if he had known the WHOLE deal, there would be some changes in the amount of people in her household. "Do you understand now?" he hissed her ear.

She didn't respond at first, too surprised to speak. But the moment of silence passed all too quickly, and she said, "What the FUCK! No! I don't understand you! And you sure as hell don't understand me! Now let me go!" Her cheek was pressed against the window of the car, and she was in an extremely uncomfortable position. His silence only made her more frustrated, and she began to struggle.

Mike slammed her into the car again to calm her down, and said, "Look, you either go home, or you can visit with your old buddies."

Litt's eyes went wide at the suggestion. There was no way she was going to be taken to the station; the officers hated her, and she had made "visits" all too often in the past couple of weeks. "What the hell kind of choice is that?!"

"I'm gonna count to five, and then the choice will me MINE, girl," he threatened.

Sighing, she relaxed in defeat and grumbled, "I can't believe this. The one time I STAY off campus, the god damn teachers notice I'm missing. What the hell's up with that?!"

He opened the side door and let her get in herself. He shut the door and then got in on his side. Litt stared out the window, like she usually did. She mumbled, "At least take off the damn hand cuffs before the mom and pops see, ok?"

Mike looked at her through the rearview mirror. "Sure, I guess. But next time I'm taking you in. You can't keep running away like this. Or smoking, or doing drugs. Those bad habits are getting you into serious trouble. If you keep it up, I'm gonna have to send you back to the corrections facility--for longer this time. You can't..."

Litt drowned out his usual lecture with her own thoughts. She began to stretch her muscles so that she'd be ready when he let her out. There was a reason she stayed away from her house. Two, actually. Her mother, and her father. She had come to school too many times bearing cuts and bruises, although knowing her nature, everyone dismissed it as another fight with the neighborhood kids. But the teachers were becoming suspicious, and that day during first period Mr. Tamborino (the school administrator, he dealt with this kind of stuff) came in and told her she was having lunch in his office, so when lunch rolled around, Litt walked out the door. Now she was being sent back to the place that was the source of all her problems. Why didn't she talk to someone about it? Why didn't she get help? Call it stubbornness. Call it what you want, but she felt that she should be capable of dealing with it herself.

"Well?"

Litt snapped her thoughts back to the present and looked at him. "Well, what?" Mike sighed frustratedly.

"You weren't listening to a WORD I said, were you?"

She smiled faintly. "Pretty much so."

"What were you thinking about?"

"I was preparing myself," she muttered quietly. Silently, she was deciding whether or not to run the moment she had a chance, or face them. She was leaning more towards dealing with her folks, because last time she tried to run, Mike managed to catch up to her. And then it was all over. But then again, she thought. My leg was messed up at the time...and I'm ok now. Although, I'd like to keep it that way.

"For what?"

Litt scoffed, "What do you think?"

He didn't respond though. He had pulled up to the house and got out. He took his time getting her out and uncuffing her; he knew how antsy she was. "Shall I walk you to the door?" he asked sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up." Looking at the house, she hesitated slightly. Both parents were home, and she knew that they knew she had run away again. She was really gonna get it. Especially if Mr. Tamborino had call her folks. "Hopefully I WON'T be seeing you soon," she grumbled as she made her way up the short driveway to the door. Resting her hand on the knob, she paused one more before entering the gates of Hell.

Go to index| Back to Fanfiction| Next Chapter