The Wrong Side Of The Tracks (Leighton)
Page 6
"Good evening Miss Raker, do you need help with anything?"
"Ugh no, I just got to look up a few articles. I'll only be a couple minutes," Alex answered as she signed her name on the clipboard.
"Oh okay, the archive room is unlocked. Just come get me if you need any help." Alex nodded and thanked her, and then headed to the backroom. She settled into the cushioned red chair and stared at the blinking cursor in the search engine. She wasn't even sure what exactly she was looking for, but she knew whatever she found here would be un-opinionated and unemotional facts. She typed her Aunt's name into the search engine and began scrolling through the articles. They appeared in chronological order starting with her birth announcement and ending with her obituary. After her birth there were five or six articles she was mentioned in pertaining to her father's mayoral campaign. Following that was a police blotter; it was a weekly list of arrests made by the Leighton Police Department. It was dated about two weeks before her death. There were no details just her name, age, and charges. At the bottom of the list of criminals it said, "Alessandra L. Raker Age 16, Perjury"
Alex took a deep breath and opened the next article, titled "Leighton Mourns Mayor's Daughter's Untimely Death." She article was short and to the point, she scrolled down and began reading it slowly, careful not to scan over any details.
In the wee hours of the morning on Sunday November 1st police received a call reporting an accident on Lost Creek Bend. Paramedics and local police arrived at the scene and retrieved the 1989 black Buick from Lost Creek and revealed there was a body in the car. After her family was notified it was released that the body of the woman in the car was that of sixteen year old Alessandra L. Raker, the daughter of Mayor Charles Raker. According to Leighton Police Miss Raker was pronounced dead at the scene, with water in her lungs. Investigators believe Miss Raker fell asleep at the wheel, there were no signs that she attempted to escape the car, and she was pulled out of the creek with her seat belt still intact. The investigation was closed this morning.
The next article was her obituary listing her family members and the time and location of her funeral. So Kenzie wasn't mistaken, technically she had drown. But her Grandma said she wasn't drunk or under the influence of any drugs, and she had the test results to prove it. If Sandra wasn't drunk, how did she not wake up? Who sleeps through their car crashing into guardrails, flipping through the air, and then submerging into water? She must have been knocked unconscious at some point, because the only other explanation is she didn't want to survive, and Alex refused to accept the idea of that.
The clock on the computer screen changed to 7:49, she had to leave before she got locked in. She really didn't want to go home, her parents were super stressed over the campaign and upcoming appearances, and they were driving her crazy. As she made her way out to the empty parking lot, she dialed Kenzie's number.
"Hey girl, where are you?" She could barely hear her over the background noise, music, yelling, and wind.
"I'm leaving the library, where are you?"
"Okay, don't move we're going to drive by in like three minutes and we'll just stop and get you."
The phone went dead before she could ask who she was with or where they were going. She wasn't even sure she was in the mood to party, but now she really had no choice. She couldn't call back and say never mind, they were going to be there any second. It was still misting outside, she pulled her hoodie up over her head and shivered. She heard a click behind her as the librarian locked the school doors and headed towards her car.
"Is someone coming to get you Alexandra? I can wait with you if you'd like..."
"No, my ride will be here any second. Thanks," Alex was cut off by the squealing of tires as the explorer she rode in on the way to LVL sped into the parking lot, with some obnoxious base bumping. The librarian looked at the vehicle driving towards them and raised an eyebrow at Alex. Before she could lie and say they weren't her ride, Kenzie hung out the passenger window screaming her name and laughing hysterically.
"Ugh, I got to go," Alex stuttered as she turned towards the car, which was now parked at the curb waiting for her.
The librarian nodded with a disapproving look smeared across her face. Alex half expected her to physically restrain her and not allow her to get in the car, and then call her parents. "Be safe!" she heard her call as she climbed into the backseat.
Jarrod, the boy that owned the car was half passed out in the backseat next to her. He had crumbs all over the front of his shirt, most likely from the crumpled up McDonald’s bag on his lap. Alex looked up and seen Karter staring back at her in the rear-view mirror. Her stomach did a somersault; she hadn't expected him to even want to come get her. Then again, Kenzie probably said they were going to pick up her friend and didn't specify who the friend was. He glanced away after a Nano-second of eye contact as if he could care less. What did she expect? Was he supposed to pick her up and twirl her around in the rain and tell her how much fun he had sleeping next to her?
She glanced uneasily at the speedometer as Karter hit forty-five miles per hour on Main Street. "So, where are we going?"
"There's a house-party in Harpursfield. We were going to go check it out," Kenzie replied as she went to sort through a stack of CD's. Harpursfield was one town over from Leighton; Alex didn't know anyone that lived there. The only times she had ever been there were to go to their outlet mall with her Mom.
They stopped at an abandoned red light and waited for it to turn to green. "You gotta take the back roads bro," Jarrod mumbled as he squirmed in his seat trying to get comfortable.
Karter turned the radio down, and swiveled in his seat so he could see them in the back.
"What? Why?"
"There's only one head light."
"Are you kidding me bro? You really got me driving through down-town with one head light. You know I don't have a license!" Jarrod just shrugged and dug in his pockets for a lighter, he had been holding an unlit cigarette since Alex had gotten in the car almost five minutes ago.
Karter turned to his sister and started shouting, "Really Kenz? What the hell happened to low-key?"
"It's not my fault his car is a piece of shit! Get out of my face! If you're gonna scream at someone scream at him! You're the one who wanted to drive!"
The light turned green, and Karter stomped the gas. The two of them continued to scream and swear at each other, as he sped down Main Street. They were in the business district next to the diner, and a handful of other mom-and-pop businesses. There were no streets he could turn down until he made it through two more traffic lights.
"Guys..." neither of them acknowledged Alex in the back seat as she tried to get their attention. They continued their argument as they waited for a couple of customers leaving the diner to walk through the crosswalk painfully slowly.
Kenzie continued yelling at Karter, aggressively gesturing with her hands. "Really Karter? Now you know the cars not legit and you're gonna floor it down Main Street!"
Alex leaned forward between the driver and passenger seat this time, "GUYS!" They both stopped for a moment and looked at her as she pointed to the empty pharmacy parking lot. Across the street from them, parked against the building in the shadow they could see the nose of a Leighton Patrol car. At the same moment they all looked at the patrol car, the officer turned the engine on and pulled out of the parking lot behind them.
"Shit!" Karter swore under his breath. They finally got to an intersection, and he turned down a dark street. Alex held her breath as she watched the patrol car turn down the street behind them. Everyone in the car was dead silent as the blue and red lights flicked on behind them and illuminated the interior of the Explorer.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Kenzie asked as Alex felt the car picking up speed.
Suddenly Jarrod was wide awake, "Dude, don't do this. Just pull over."
Alex looked over her shoulder at the blinding lights gaining on them. She felt a sharp pain in her side as Jarrod elbowed her trying to r
each over the seat and grab the wheel. Kenzie wasn't even screaming full sentences or making any sense, she and Jarrod were now shoving each other back and forth as she tried to stop him from climbing over the seat.
Alex looked down at her hands expecting them to be shaking uncontrollably, but they sat folded neatly in her lap gripping her purse. She felt like she was having an out of body experience, like she was sitting on the sidelines watching her own body. Who was that calm and collected girl taking charge of the situation?
She leaned forward and talked in Karter's ear so he could hear her over Kenzie and Jarrod, and the sirens. Out of nowhere another cop car had joined the one behind them. "Karter, when you get around the corner you got to pull over. If we all jump out of the car and make a run for it they can't prove you were the one driving." Karter didn't say anything, didn't even nod his head. For a moment she was scared he was ignoring her, then without warning he slammed on the brakes. Alex started pushing Jarrod out of the backseat ahead of her, and she heard Karter and Kenzie both yelling to get out of the car.
Alex's feet hit the ground moving, but her efforts were pointless. They were in suburbia; aside from breaking into someone's home there really was nowhere to hide. She heard the cops tackle Jarrod as he ran sloppily down the sidewalk. She crouched on the other side of someone's Nissan parked on the street, and held her breath. She was so busy straining her eyes in the shadows trying to see where Karter and Kenzie ran to, she didn't even hear the cop creep up behind her and drag her up on her feet by the hood of her sweatshirt.
He clasped her arms behind her back with cuffs while informing her she wasn't under arrest yet, he just had to cuff her because she was attempting to resist arrest. He led her out of the shadows back to the Explorer where it sat half on the curb with all four doors wide open. Under the street-lamps she could see Jarrod and Kenzie both sitting on the curb surrounded by officers. Behind her two more officers were marching Karter. She glanced over her shoulder and seen him with his hands behind his back and his head bowed down staring at the ground. The collar on his shirt was ripped halfway down the front, and he head some leaves in his hair, he had clearly put up a fight.
"Which one of you was operating this vehicle?" shouted a middle aged officer. He stared at them with no sign of emotion, while a huge blue vein throbbed down the middle of his forehead. Alex and her friends sat on the curb staring at the ground in silence. There were several patrol cars gathered around them now, and you could hear everyone on the street gathering on their front porches to find out what the raucous was.
"All four suspects apprehended, we're just trying to sort out the situation," the officer spoke into the radio on his shoulder. Then he turned back to them, "Do you know how many laws you four broke tonight? Failure to signal, failure to pull over for a police vehicle, driving without a headlight out, going double the speed limit, running a stop sign, underage drinking..." The cop that was rummaging through the Explorer held up a plastic baggy and added, "unlawful possession of a controlled substance," to the endless list.
The officer lowered his voice, "Look, I really don't care who was driving or who I arrest. But you're not walking away from this. Someone is going to the station with me, NOW. You got thirty seconds to decide or I'm just going book you all and get this circus out of the street." Alex turned to Kenzie next to her, ready to talk it over with her comrades, but apparently there was nothing to discuss. None of them took their eyes off the pavement, or even acknowledged the officer's proposition. She knew what she was going to do, she just wanted to enjoy the last thirty seconds she had before her life went to hell.
"All right, that's it!" the officer grabbed a hold of one of Karter's arms and dragged him to his feet. "Let's go Mr. James; you're contestant number one..."
Alex struggled to her feet with her arms still pinned behind her back, "Wait! He didn't do anything, I was driving."
The officer dropped Karter's arm and spun around, "What?" he growled. Alex looked at Karter, and for the first time he looked back at her, not past her. His face filled with raw emotion, not disgust, or irritation, or cockiness. He looked back at her with nothing in his green eyes but fear and respect, mixed with a glimmer of hope.
"Alex you don't have to do this," Kenzie whispered.
Alex looked down at her and smiled, knowing in her heart this was probably going to be the last time she saw her. Not only were her parents going to ship her to Antarctica when this was over, Kenzie was probably never going to forgive her for lying about her identity.
"It's okay. Trust me," she whispered back. Then she took her last breath of free air and looked back at the officer, "They begged me to pull over, but I thought I could out run you."
He snickered degradingly at her, "Suit yourself sweetie. Do you have any identification on you?" She nodded her head at her purse lying on the ground where the officer searching the car had tossed it. He picked up the bag and fished out her wallet. He held the wallet up and asked her, "You sure?" She smirked back at him and nodded confidently. He opened her wallet and pulled her cards out of a clear pocket. In his hands he held the emergency credit card in her father's name, her student id, library card, and a coffee club card from the diner. He stared at her ID for a moment, and then looked back up at her disgustedly. He turned his back to them, took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. After a few moments of excruciating silence he spoke, "Good evening sir, I apologize if I woke you. Uhh, I need you to come down to Fayte Ave., we got a bit of a situation and we're going to need your assistance. It's Alexandra."
WELCOME TO WEST VIRGINIA
Alex sat on the bench outside of school waiting for Mrs. Raker to pick her up; attending classes had been the extent of her social life for the past six days. Her parents had confiscated her cell phone and laptop the night her father had to pick her up.. The police agreed to not file charges against her and her friends, for fear of it jeopardizing Davis's campaign. That was the last thing they wanted to do since he conveniently slipped up and revealed the police salary raises he had planned for his next mayoral term. She was beginning to second guess whether trading her freedom for Karter's was really the wisest decision, although he was spared jail time she might as well be in jail.
Her Mother pulled up in her Mercedes and honked the horn, as if Alex hadn't already seen her and wasn't walking to the car. She climbed in next to her and slammed the door as hard as she could. Keri Raker didn't even wait for her to put her seatbelt on. Alex sucked her teeth at her as she struggled to hook the strap while her mother turned sharply out of the parking lot. Why didn't she just tell her she hoped she'd fly through the windshield? Hostile was a generous term to describe their relationship since Alex was nearly arrested. After an hour of screaming at her that night, she hadn't spoken to her since. Without her phone, or her Mom's constant babbling Alex was on the verge of a breakdown. She was so desperate for human interaction; she even caught herself trying to make conversation with the hallway monitor this afternoon.
Alex broke the silence when her Mom passed their street without turning, "Where are we going?" She had a sudden paranoia the last few days that her parents were going to ship her off to boot camp like without warning her like on a corny ABC Family show she saw.
"Well your father, Donavon, and I are going to Philadelphia for the weekend like we planned months ago. YOU are going to go stay at your grandmother's for the weekend. And don't try anything, she knows you are grounded and what you did."
Their family had a weekend trip planned to Philadelphia for weeks, at one point Alex had actually been looking forward to it. Nobody had spoken of it since her incident so she just assumed it was postponed. Her mother was trying to punish her even more by taking the trip and leaving her behind, and that hurt a little. But the idea of spending a peaceful weekend without her parents ignoring her and slamming things around whenever she was in their presence sounded like the ultimate vacation.
"I don't have any clothes with me," she said in a tiny voice.
Mrs. Raker pulled into her Grandmother's long driveway and Alex grabbed her trash-bag and hopped out without even saying good-bye or asking when she would be back for her. Hopefully her Grandma would have a little more heart than her parents did; she rang the doorbell as her Mom peeled out of the driveway. After a few moments her Grandma came to the door and opened it, making room for her to get through, without saying two words to her. Alex shuffled in and headed toward the den.
"Where do you think you're going?" her Grandma called after her.
Alex stopped in her tracks, was it possible this was going to be worse than her own house? At this house she wasn't even allowed to go in the den.
Her Grandma sat at the kitchen table and gestured for her to join her. Alex couldn't take another lecture. She contemplated walking out the kitchen door with her trash bag of clothes, but really where would she go? She didn't have a single friends' house to run to. Feeling defeated she dropped into the chair across from her Grandma. After a long awkward silence she look up at her, but her eyes weren't filled with anger or disappointment, just tears.
"Do you know what I regret most about my relationship with your Aunt Sandra?" Alex shrugged, she had an idea where this was going, and she prepared herself for another lecture about how her parents were grounding her to protect her, not punish her. Her Grandma was going to say something along the lines of if she had kept a closer eye on Sandra then she would still be alive.
"I wish I talked to her, and knew who she really was. When I sat at her funeral looking at my beautiful baby's body about to be laid to rest, I realized I didn't know the person inside it anymore. I was so worried about how everything appeared to the outsiders looking in, that I didn't even know what was inside anymore. I spent my whole life trying to make everything seem perfect; my children, my marriage, myself..."