I was pretty mean to Vi on the phone just now, I guess. I’m going to have to make it up to her, but if she only knew the kind of shit we just went through, she’d surely understand.

The stakes were high, so I made Adam get in the passenger’s seat. There was no way I was going to let him fuck anything else up. I knew they weren’t going to hit that bank. It was too obvious of a pick. I knew exactly which way to head.

At first, we had an officer that was chasing a young female on a motorcycle, young, fairly fit, maybe 5’ 6”. I’m surprised by the news because women aren’t usually the type of people who rob banks. No offense to women, of course. It just rarely happens. But I wasn’t interested in grabbing her just yet. I figure, if we get the other guys, she’ll come without putting up a fight.

So, we went after them. Only, we couldn’t fucking find them. Turns out, the guy was too slow in getting into the escape vehicle. When he dropped some cash and went back to grab it, his friend left him. Now, we have our key.

“Fucking hell, boys! We did it! We’ve gotten one step closer to solving this thing!” I burst into the front room of the police station with a giant Champagne bottle in my hand. I open it and out comes giant spurts of wine. Everyone holds their glasses below it, hollering away.

“Yeah, well, if you didn’t trust in me, this whole thing would have been solved today. I fucked it all up,” Adam scowls.

“Nonsense,” I laugh. “It doesn’t matter. We got one. We’ll get them all soon enough. Remember what I said when this whole thing first went down?”

“Sure do, sir. It takes a couple to understand the pattern,” he says. I nod.

“It sounds better how you said it, but that’s exactly the point,” I smile. “They’re fucking done. And soon enough, that girl and the other guy will be thrown in jail for a long ass time.”

“Damn right.” Gary, a cop of 12 years nods his head in solid agreement.

“Now, let’s finish our drinks and interrogate the poor bastard. He seems a bit frightened,” I laugh loudly and chug my cup of champagne. When I’m finished with it, I sigh and throw it against the wall. It falls right in the trash.

“Game faces,” I say, walking toward the interrogation room.

I knock on the door and open it. Adam and I walk in and sit down. “Elroy, how you doing?” Adam says, sounding very calm, like he’s going to be the one who helps him out on this.

“I need a lawyer,” he says.

“Well, I hear you, but there’s no lawyers around at this moment. It’s getting too late in the day and everyone has gone home,” he says. Tears stream down Elroy’s face. “But come tomorrow, we’ll get you that lawyer. Don’t you worry.”

“Alright,” he nods. “I understand.”

“Right now, we just need to ask you a few questions. It’s standard protocol, really. You don’t need to be worried, but mind your answers because they could be used in court,” he says.

The kid gulps down. “In court? Shouldn’t I—”

This is where I come in. I get out of my chair and place my foot on top, leaning forward. “Look, I already know what you’re going to ask because we hear it on a daily basis, kid. If you get a lawyer, all deals go out the window. That’s just how it’s gotta be. Right now is your chance,” I tell him. “If you don’t tell us some things fast, the years are going to start adding up for you.”

The kid nods and closes his eyes for a few seconds, taking it all in. It’s as if he’s dizzy. I’ve heard that that happens sometimes. You immediately become confused and wonder, “how the hell did I get here? What did I do?” when you know deep in your heart exactly what you did.

“You made a conscious effort to rob two banks,” I say. “You realize that?”

“I do,” he says.

“You committed two federal crimes. That’s as huge as you can go, big boy,” I say, taking my foot off the table. I pace around the room until I’m behind him now. “Two. That’s a prison sentence you can’t undo. A jury is going to put you behind bars for nearly your whole life. When you get out, you’ll have nothing. No job. No wife. No kids. Hell, your parents won’t even be alive. You’ll be all alone. Then what? Did you even think about that?”

“I did not,” he says, starting to shake. I hate doing this interrogation business. I hate making them feel like shit. I know how dismal it all feels. I know how it makes me feel at night. The guilt. The shame. But I know it needs to be done. There’s the law and people need to follow it.

“Do you wish you could take it all back?” Adam asks, calm and gentle-like.

“Yes, sirs. I do. There’s nothing I wish for more right now,” he says, crying. He hangs his head and sobs as the tears start flowing.

“Shit, I just want to lock you up right now. I want you to pay for what you’ve done,” I say, playing the bad cop part up pretty damn high.

Now is Adam’s turn to soften the blow of all this. I need him to offer the plea deal that’ll get this guy’s friends out of hiding. I already know it’s going to work because of how he’s reacting.

“Stop it, Marshall. Can’t you see you’re scaring the boy?” Adam asks, standing up and facing me, like he’s angry with me. Elroy looks up and analyzes this odd exchange and his tears suddenly stop. Yes, there’s someone to his defense.

“Well, he committed a federal crime, Adam. What do you want me to do? Let him go?” I ask him. It’s almost as if Elroy is waiting for him to answer me “yes.” “You want me to just tell the boy that everything is alright now?”

“I want you to lighten up,” he says. “He’s not a criminal. Any sane person can see that. He’s a nice, young man. Hard working, probably. You can tell he just got mixed up into some shit. Hell, I did at his age too. I got into some real bad trouble. I just didn’t get caught.”

I back off and put my hands up. “Fine. You handle this shit. I can’t do it,” I say. I walk out of the room, allowing all of the tension to leave there with me.

The cops outside lightly clap and laugh a little when I’m outside of the room. They’ve been watching the little show on the monitors this whole time. I laugh with them and join them at the monitors, pouring myself another glass of that champagne.

“Watch as the guy folds all his cards. We’ve got this, boys,” I whisper. “We’ve got this.”

Adam sighs and sits back down. He throws a set of keys on the table so that Elroy can give his wrists some rest. “Here,” he says. “You don’t deserved to be all chained up, man. I’m sorry about him. He’s a little bit of a loose cannon some times.”

“A lot of cops are like that,” he says.

Adam laughs and lights up a cigarette. He doesn’t even smoke, but he’s giving the kid the illusion that they’re friends or something. “Want one?” he asks, tossing the pack his way.

“Sure.” He lights up and leans back. After a few quick and shaky drags, he asks, “So am I done for? Am I going to go away for life?”

“You could,” Adam admits. “Or you can play ball. It’s really your choice. You kind of remind me of myself. I don’t want to see you go down the wrong path. You’ve got a lot to live for. There’s so much more to be done, isn’t there?”

“I’d like to do so much more,” he says.

“Like what? Tell me?” Adam asks.

“Like, go to Europe. Like meet someone beautiful. Start a family. I’d like to live my life. Right now that sounds pretty good,” he says. “The only reason I even helped them rob that stupid bank was because it was enough money to pay my debt and leave this country. I thought I had found a way out. Now, I’m fucked.”

“You ain’t fucked,” Adam says, hitting the ash onto the table, like it’s normal. “You have options. Take our deal.”

“What’s the deal?” he asks.

“I’ll be right back,” Adam smiles.