Page 61 of Catching Camila

“Whoa!” Fer said, grabbing her arm. “You can't go out there.”

“I can't let them take her.” Camila gripped the shed wall and watched as the cruiser turned down the main road. “Fer, they have her!”

Fer shook her head. “There's nothing you can do tonight. The cops were asking about you. When I texted you, I thought maybe you could keep your mom from bitch-slapping an officer of the law, but it’s a good thing you’re late. They would’ve taken you with her. God.” Fer rubbed a hand down her face. “What're we going to do?”

Camila covered her eyes with trembling hands. “I should've been there.”

Fer gripped Camila's shoulders. “If you had been, they would've hauled your ass down to the station too for possession of stolen goods.” She dropped her eyes, shoulders sagging. “This is my fault. I never should’ve called the cops.”

“It's not. It's mine.” Camila's legs buckled. She slid down the shed into the dirt and put her head in her hands. “What am I going to do? I don't have bail. I’ll lose my job. We’ll lose the trailer…” She looked at her friend, tears spilling out of her eyes.

Fer leaned down beside her. “One thing at a time. We gotta get you out of here.”

“But why did they arrest her?” Camila stared at her sneakers and pictured Mama twisting around in the back of a cop car.

Fer lit a cigarette and sucked desperately on it. “When the cops got here, they did a search of the trailer. I said the call was a mistake, that I thought I saw someone, but it turned out to be nothing. They wanted to check, make sure no one was hiding inside or anything. That’s when your mom got home. All of a sudden they had her in cuffs. Some of the neighbors are saying there was a warrant out for her arrest. Shoplifting or some shit.

“God, your ma has a mouth on her.” Fer looked over. “I'm really sorry, Cam. Really. I didn't know.”

“You were just trying to protect me. I'm the one who had a wanted criminal at the house.” Camila tugged at her hair.

“Wait, that was the guy?” Fer's eyes popped open.

“No, I mean they have the wrong guy. I can explain—”

Sirens sounded again. The girls stiffened.

“We gotta get out of here.” Fer tugged on her arm. “I have a plan, but you gotta stand up.”

Somehow she rose. She let Fer lead her around several dark trailers and through the field. Finally, they stood on the sidewalk as a car, headlights off, pulled up. Fer pushed her towards it. “Get in.”

The backseat was cluttered with pop cans, wrappers, and crinkly cigarette boxes. The cheap upholstery reeked of smoke. Shaun sat in the driver's seat, a cigarette winking red in the dark. Fer slid in the back next to her and clicked the door shut.

“We good?” Shaun took a long drag and let the smoke trail from his lips.

Fer nodded. “You know where you're going?”

Shaun put the car in drive. “Yep.”

“Think you can avoid the cops?” Fer asked.

Shaun peered up at them through the rear-view. Camila could tell he was smiling. “Me, avoid cops? Yeah, I think I can do that.”

They drove ten minutes to the other side of town. With her face pressed against Fer's side, Camila folded into herself and pretended she was seven again, riding in the back seat as Mama drove home from Sunday mass. The swaying of the car used to lull her to sleep and Mama would carry her into the house. She used to feel so safe in Mama's arms.

Fer shook her. “We're here. Put this on.” Fer threw a men's oversized hoodie at her. Camila slipped it on and pulled the hood over her head.

They were parked in front of a rundown apartment complex. The brick buildings were splattered with graffiti. Weeds poked through sidewalk cracks. Most of the streetlamps were busted, creating an eerie darkness that hung over the lot like a fog. A few unsavory characters stood in a cluster near the front door.

Camila stared up at the crumbling concrete steps to the door under a fluorescent light. “Where are we?”

“You'll see,” Fer said, slipping out. “Come on.”

Camila took Fer's hand and followed.

They climbed the steps two at a time. The men near the door watched them. Camila scooted closer to Fer, the hairs on her neck standing up. Fer thumbed the button beside the door and a low buzz sounded.

“Yeah?” A groggy male voice crackled through the speaker.

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