Falling Asleep on a Stranger

“Hello, I’m officer Wiggins. Are you two young men Michael Fuentes and Antonio Perry?” the cop asked Tony and I. I was freaking out. Why was there a cop here? What could Jaime and Vic have gotten into? Was Jaime to blame for this? What the hell?

I’m sure if I wasn’t so scared, I would have laughed at the officers name, but I wasn’t so I just nodded. Tony did the same.

“Which one of you is which?” he then asked, to which Tony replied, “I’m Antonio, that’s Mike.” And he pointed to me. The cop just nodded.

“Okay, Antonio, I’m gonna need you to come with me for a bit. I have reasons to believe you’ve been assisting Jaime Preciado in a suspicious matter involving one Victor Fuentes. You’re coming with me.” He said sternly. What? Tony did what?!

“Uh, wait, officer, there must be a misunderstanding,” I said and tried to stop him. Suddenly another cop appeared with handcuffs in his hands. He came up behind Tony, who was standing there frozen in place, and tried to handcuff him. He shook them off and started yelling.

“What the hell?! I haven’t done anything! What’s even going on? Where are they?” he frantically asked. He looked furious and confused and I was feeling the same way. There was no way they were going to take Tony away.

“We have reason to believe you have assisted Jaime Preciado. The said person has abducted Victor Fuentes and they are now missing. We have no idea where they are.” He replied coldly. I rolled my eyes. Of course he didn’t care, no one ever did. This was my fucking brother! I wanted to know where he was and right now!

“Mr. Perry, you’re coming down to the station with us. Michael, I suggest you stay out of trouble. If we have any suspicions toward you we’ll be back, don’t you worry.” He told me and grabbed Tony by the arm, who was basically kicking and screaming his way out of the situation.

“You can’t take me! I’ve never done anything and I don’t know what’s going on with them! Please, that’s my best friend, I need to find him, I need to find him!” Tony’s voice got quieter and more muffled as the officer dragged him down the hallway, sobs threatening to overcome him. I turned around and ran to my house. When I got there I noticed that neither of my parents home. I was almost happy, but I could definitely use a ride over to the police station and figure things out, and hopefully get Tony out of whatever trouble he was in.

I just kind of stood in place for a minute, trying to think things through in my mind and see what I could do. They took Tony for questioning, and I knew he was going to be there for a while, I could feel it in my gut. Vic and Jaime were somewhere, wherever they were, I hoped Vic was safe. If what the officer meant by what he said, Jaime could be a dangerous person and who knows what he would do to Vic?! I couldn’t stand by and watch my brother leave, but there wasn’t much I could do from the outside. I needed to find out what was going on, and as soon as possible.

I ran out of my house and got into my mom’s car, not caring that I didn’t have a liscence and mom would probably kill me. I had bigger problems than being grounded for a week or two, anyways. Driving to the police station was interesting, but I finally made it there without getting pulled over or into an accident. I parked into a spot close to the front door and bolted out of the car. I sprinted to the door and came inside, seeing cops everywhere. Guarding doors, sitting with people in chairs, I mean everywhere. I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s a police station, but there were still a ton.
I walked over to their desk thing, where a girl officer was sitting on the computer, chewing gum and playing with a ring on her finger. She looked up at me, seeming bored out of her mind.

“Hi, sir, what can I help you with?” she said coldly. Were all cops like that, stoic?

“Uh, yeah, my friend was just brought here for questioning. Am I allowed to, uh, go back there and wait with an officer?” I asked. How was I supposed to know how stuff worked here? It was worth an ask.

“Antonio Perry?” in a completely disinterested tone. I nodded, resisting the temptation to roll my eyes. She snapped her gum a few times and clicked around on the computer.

“Room 6. Darryl will take you.” She said a little pissed off. I turned around and saw a blonde-haired cop who looked like he was a little too serious about his job. His arms were crossed and he was giving me a stare-down.

“Michael Fuentes?” he said sternly.

“Yep, that’s me.” I mumbled.

“Come with me, son.” He said and grabbed my arm to walk down a long hallway. He was walking faster than I was, so it felt like he was dragging me to wherever we were going. Room 6, if I remembered correctly. He suddenly stopped and turned to a door on the left side of the hallway. It looked beaten up and utterly destroyed, but it was a door nonetheless.

“Here you go, son. When you’re ready to be escorted back, press the button on this remote.” He told me. I was handed a little black remote-type thing with only one button, and I’m guessing it was a call button. I nodded and walked inside the room.

The first thing I noticed was how dark it was. The room I was in would have been pitch black if not for the ambient light coming from behind the glass. The glass separated into another room, a cream-white colored room that looked really modern and clean cut. Almost like they were keeping the crappy part a secret and this was what they wanted people to see. I wasn’t one to judge though. I was here for one thing and one thing only.

I saw Tony and an officer in the room. Tony was sitting down in a chair with his head down. There was a guy in a suit, probably a detective or whatever looking at Tony. He was standing with one foot on the chair and glaring at him. I watched them, since they weren’t speaking, waiting for something to happen.

“Mr. Perry, I need you to tell me just one thing. Where were you yesterday at 10 o’clock pm, and where can I get proof of whatever story you’ve got down your sleeve.” A speaker from the left surprised me. I guessed that was the detective or officer guy, talking to Tony.

“Sir, I told you already, I was at my friend Mike’s house. Michael Fuentes, look him up, go find him, we were together last night. We went for a walk to that bridge on the south side of the city and we went back to his house, where I spent the night. I didn’t leave the house and I sure as hell haven’t talked to Jaime since yesterday around like, five o’clock when he and Vic came home. They ran upstairs and I didn’t see them after that. I’m telling you I’m not lying, so why won’t you believe me?”

Tony asked frantically. It almost sounded like he was crying, but I couldn’t be sure. The speaker in the room wasn’t really clear.

“Son, it’s great that you can make up stories like that, but I want to know where you really were. Here, let’s check the records.” The other man said and picked up a folder. Records? What records? Tony had a record of stuff he’s done before?

“Ah, yes. June 17th, 2012, assisting in the kidnapping of 16 year old Kennedy Muir. September 29th, bystander of grand theft auto. November 4th, assisting kidnapping and being a bystander of the murder of Joseph Coolan. Plus countless other murders and kidnappings of people all over the country. Mr. Perry, there is no way you haven’t helped Jaime Preciado in this situation. I want to know what really happened and I want to know now, or you will suffer the consequences.” The detective told him. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jaime kills people? Tony HELPS him?!

“Sir, I’ve already been through this! I’ve done my time and I’m good now! Just because Jaime hasn’t stopped doesn’t mean I didn’t as well! I swear on my life that I have not done a thing since that day in November, sir, you’ve got to believe me!” Tony was almost in tears, shouting at this guy. I was still trying to figure out how Tony was supposedly this mass-murderer or whatever and I didn’t know if I wanted to hear any more of what was going on. I hit the button on the remote that the officer had given me earlier, and not two seconds later he walked through the door.

“You’re ready to leave, Mr. Fuentes?” He directed.

“Y-yeah, please.” I stuttered out.

“Right this way.” He said strongly. He grabbed my arm again and walked fast, back the way we had come before. I wasn’t paying attention and tripped and fell.

I looked back up at the officer who was glaring at me a little, but I didn’t really care. I had landed on my arm and something happened because it was killing me to put weight on it. “Ow,” I groaned out and I felt the officer’s hand on my back.

“Sir, are you okay?” he asked me.

“Um, I think I did something to my arm, it hurts.” I told him. He helped me stand up and then he took my arm in his hands, looking at it and checking it. For what, I don’t know, since he’s not a doctor or anything.

“You’ve sprained it, probably. It’ll be fine in a few days.” He told me and started walking me down the hallway again, a little slower this time. We reached the front room, I guess the lobby or so, and left me shortly after.

The girl officer from before pointed me towards the door, still looking bored as ever, and I walked out of the station not sure how to feel. Tony was being accused of assisting Jaime in kidnapping my brother and apparently, had been charged with being an accomplice in a ton of crimes Jaime had done. Did I want to believe that Tony was innocent? Yeah, but did I actually believe him when he said he was clean?

I didn’t know the answer. I wanted to believe him, but how well did I actually know him? I guess not well enough to be sure of my instincts.

I got into my mom’s car and checked the time. One o’clock. I hoped my dad wouldn’t be home early, I didn’t have a lie to cover Vic or myself, for that matter. ‘Oh yeah, Dad, I borrowed Mom’s car to see my boyfriend at the police station. By the way, he’s been missing for a day and they suspect Tony and their friend Jaime have something to do with it.’ Yeah, I don’t think that would go over well.

I drove home and went into my house, thanking my lucky stars neither of my parents were home. I went into my room and sat down at my computer, thinking about what to do now. There was no way I was going to do homework, that was for sure. I couldn’t concentrate to save my life, since my mind kept moving to the situation with Tony and Vic.

Hours passed and I had been playing mindless games on the computer, trying not to think about earlier at the station. Mom had come into my room at some point, asking where Vic was, and I told her he was at a friends and he would be there a few days. I didn’t know how long they would be gone and even if Vic came back I wasn’t sure I could make something up. I figured I should get some sleep, even though it was still kinda early.

I crawled into bed and curled up, tossing and turning all night. I couldn’t get my mind off of earlier. Was Tony dangerous? Was Vic even alive, and if he was, where was he?

I was going to make it my personal goal to see that Vic made it home safe and out of whatever danger he was in. Starting tonight.