Chapter 2 - Released

	Chapter 2 - Released
Some People's Parents	Prev \| TOC \| Next

It was Monday at 4pm. As Astulf lugged the last of the computers out to the taxi, he thought tiredly what a bad weekend it had been. Why did they arrest him? Why did they think he was in Guatemala instead of at his final exam? Why did they let him go now, with no apology and no explanation?
Well, Lieutenant Sandson had said "We regret to inform you our evidence was not reliable, and we will have to drop the charges." What did that mean? Did he regret that he didn't have good enough evidence to convict him, or did he regret arresting an innocent man?
He felt a warm flush, as if he was embarrassed about something, but pleased about it.
"Hi"
It seemed to have something to do with the woman speaking.
"Excuse me?"
The voice sounded hesitant, as if she was afraid to interrupt something, and she was speaking to him! He was bent over putting the computer in the car. He half-turned as he pushed the computer.
"Yes?" He could see her feet: business-like black shoes under stylishly fake-worn jeans, one graceful hand holding a notebook. The computer slipped and he turned back to shove it into place. The warm feeling was keeping him from his work, he was vaguely irritated from lack of sleep, and he didn't want to take it out on her, definitely not on her.
"Are you the grad student who was arrested for drug trafficking?" She could feel the warm feeling building that she'd noticed when she first saw him. She had to force herself to speak in a professional manner.
"They dropped the charges. Apparently their evidence wasn't 'reliable', whatever that means." He closed the back door and moved to the front door. He wanted to make sure he cut this short, before he said something stupid.
She had to be professional, she had to. "So you claim you're innocent?" She actually wanted to say how terrible the whole thing was. She could feel his pain and exhaustion.
"I'm innocent. And I'm going back to my apartment to see if I can get my assignments done." He got in the cab and spoke to the taxi driver. "That's all of them."
She could feel his relief. But she still had to push for the interview. "Wait! Wait! Don't you want to have your say in the paper?"
Astulf shook his head, looking straight ahead of the cab. "No." He waved at the driver to leave.
"Wait!"
He knew she understood that he had to leave. "Sorry, nothing personal. I'm just not in any shape to sit down and make intelligent conversation now."
To the driver: "We can go when you're ready."
"Tomorrow, then?" To her, the desperation in her voice sounded fake. The car started to pull away.
"Maybe." She heard him say as the car left.
The driver chuckled as they went down the street. "That was impressive!"
"What was that?" Astulf leaned back as the warm glow drained away, leaving anxiety and exhaustion.
"Getting away that fast. I've seen that reporter in action before, and nobody has gotten away from her in under five minutes."
"Yeah?" Astulf was so tired.
"Can't be just because she's good looking. Lots of reporters are good looking."
"I wouldn't know. I never really looked at her."

Some People's Parents

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