“Nothing, I just need a minute.” I walk away and toward the love of my life. She sees me coming and quickly wipes at her cheeks. “Why are you crying?” I ask her, as if I have a right to know. Without hesitation, I reach out and touch her arm, as if there isn’t a huge divide between us.
She looks from me to her arm and adjusts the way she’s standing so I have no choice but to let her go. “Go away, Ajay.” She steps to the side to get away from me.
“Whiskey?”
She stops, turns, and looks at me with tear-streaked eyes. Whiskey opens her mouth to say something,
but then thinks twice. She walks away while shaking her head, disappearing into the women’s rest room. If we weren’t in a courthouse filled with people, I’d follow her in. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something like that with her.
“Ajay, we need to go,” Elle’s behind me and unfortunately reminding me of what I have to do now. I glance at the door one more time before following Elle into the courtroom. Harrison and Katelyn are already sitting in the front and Elle joins them while I take the seat next to Saul.
Fletcher Oakes is the next to arrive. He’s followed by Sheriff Foster. I’m slightly upset that I haven’t been able to take a jab or two at him in the last few days. I fully expected him to stop by my room a few times to try and arrest me for drinking a beer. Sadly, he’s disappointed me there.
The bailiff tells us to rise, which we do, waiting for Judge Harvey to take his seat. He reads his script, reminding the people — all my people — that we’re here to hear the case of the State of North Carolina versus Ajay Ballard on the charge of vandalism. “Mr. Oakes, please present your case.” As Fletcher stands, I stare out the frosted glass window, not needing to hear any of this.
“Whiskey, this is a bad idea. What if he wakes up?”
She giggles. I kiss her to keep her quiet.
“Come on, Whiskey, let’s go home.”
She pushes away from me. “Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Ajay. Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s like a rite of passage to teepee Harvey’s house.” Whiskey goes to the truck and fills her arms with toilet paper. She’s spent months collecting and hiding them where her parents wouldn’t find them, all for this moment.
Whiskey throws roll after roll, laughing as she does. I refuse to help her. I don’t want to get caught up in this mess. If she gets busted, her parents will do whatever they can to help her. The only person I’ve got is her.
Roll after roll is thrown over the shrubs, trees, the car parked in the driveway, and the house. Once she runs out, she runs back to the truck and grabs more, all while I stand there, pleading with her. “Whiskey, that’s enough, come on.”
“No,” she snaps. “Harvey deserves this.”
I step back and put my hands up in the air. “Have at it, sunshine!” She takes my words to heart and continues to decorate the good Judge’s house. And just when I think she’s finished; she goes back to her truck and pulls out a cartoon of eggs.
“Seriously, Whiskey?”
“What, I can’t make it easy for him.”
“What’d he ever do to you, huh?”
She starts hurling eggs at his house, ignoring my question. They crack and splat down the wood siding. This man is going to have to get up at the crack of dawn and clean this up before the sun heats up.
“Whiskey?”
“What, Ajay? You want to know what this bastard did?”
“Yeah, I do, because if we’re going to get busted, I at least need a reason.”
“He won’t touch us because if he does, I’ll tell his pretty little wife that he fancies my mama and told my mama that if she wants to keep her job, she’ll fancy him back.”
“Does your dad know?”
“Yeah, he does, but Harvey is a piece of shit and my daddy doesn’t want to lose his job, so I’m going to take care of it for him.”
I shut up and let her get her aggression out on the house. I know Mrs. Foster loves the Sheriff, so I’m not worried about her cheating on him. But the Sheriff, he might not appreciate the Judge if he were to find out.
When the sprinklers come on, she screams and runs toward the truck. I hop in just as she slams the door.
“Drive, Ajay!”
I do as she’s ordered, burning rubber as I try to get away from the house. I look over at my girl; her hair is wild, but there’s a damn smile on her face and that’s all that matters.