Page 31 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

“What else happened?”

I bite my bottom lip, dragging it between my teeth until it pops out. “When I turned twenty, I was pulled over for speeding. To be fair, I was late for work, and I was only going five miles over the speed limit. The officer who pulled me over asked to search my car, and I knew if I said no, he would assume I was hiding something. I gave him the OK to search it, and well, somehow, there was a bag of heroin in my glovebox. The bag wasn’t even mine. I’ve never touched a single drug in my life.”

“Do you know whose bag it was?”

I shake my head. “Nah. I’m positive I was set up. When I went to court, they put me on probation for a year. Right before probation ended, I guess I was one of the lucky ones… in the wrong place at the wrong time. A couple of guys got into a fight behind my work, and I tried to break it up. My boss called the police, and due to my probation, I was searched. Somehow, another bag was found in my jacket pocket.”

Summer’s eyes fall. “Was that bag yours?”

“No. I think it was planted there. My parent’s overdose was enough for me to never want to try drugs.”

She nods in understanding, but the glossiness in her eyes shows that I might be reminding her of something that upsets her. I don’t like that, so instead of continuing I let the silence linger on as I finish my cigarette.

“What happened with your aunt?” Summer breaks the silence.

I try to shove the vivid memory that creeps in, but it consumes my thoughts anyway.

***

“Alec Sokolov.” I clench my hands into tight fists when the guard steps up to the cell, my nails digging deeper into my palms. “You’re free to go,” he says, pulling out the ring full of keys and searching for the one to unlock the holding cell I’m in.

“I told all of you the bag is not mine.”

He chuckles. “That’s not why you are being released.”

My jaw clenches. “Then why am I being released?”

“Your bail was paid.”

My eyes narrow, shock consuming me.

That’s all he says while I follow him down the hallway and up the stairs into the lobby of the police station. He swipes his ID card, and a loud beep goes off before he turns the knob and opens the door.

I stiffen, standing in the doorway, looking at my very angry aunt Jules. Her hands are resting on her hips, all the while her foot taps against the hard floor.

This is going to be splendid.

Her eyes morph into hatred the longer she stares at me. I should be used to this by now.

“Let’s go, Sokolov. We need to close this door off,” the guard says.

I nod, pinching my lips together, and moving toward Jules. She doesn’t bother to say anything to me, which doesn’t surprise me. She’ll wait until we’re out of the station before she gives me her opinion. That’s what she always does.

Aunt Jules doesn’t give a shit about what happens to me, which is why I am confused as to why she would bail me out. Was it because of Callie?

I know Callie is with the neighbor across the street. Jules would never take her to the police station.

Jules finishes with the officer at the front desk, grabbing the plastic bag with belongings in it. She pushes the bag in my direction and lets go before I have a good hold on it. The bag slips from my fingertips, but thankfully I catch it before it hits the ground.

Appreciate that.

She walks past me in complete silence, refusing to make even the slightest eye contact. I follow her to her car and climb into the passenger side, turning my focus out the window while she drives back to the house.

We’re halfway there when Jules breaks the silence. “Samantha called me.”

I nod, already figuring that part out myself.

“I can’t keep doing this, Alec.”

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