Arrested 2

As Caleb was being pushed into the waiting van of the mobile police, he stole a glance at his boss' office window just in time to see the blinds dropping down.

Someone had been standing there and watching. It was Mia. He couldn't see her eyes but he was certain she was having a really good laugh at the open humiliation meted out to him.

"Get into the car and don't waste any more of our time, punk!" The officer holding him yelled angrily and slapped him hard across the face.

Caleb blinked hard, trying to refocus his blurred vision. From the corner of his tear-stained eye, he could see the curious stares of his former colleagues from the large glass windows of the administrative office downstairs.

"Former?" he thought ruefully. "Did I just lose my job for real?"

"Are you deaf?" The other police officer blared out, jarring his eardrum.

"The hot slap must have deafened him," the one who slapped him snorted and then burst out laughing croakily.

His colleague joined in.

Caleb felt the ringing laughter in his ear as he settled into the van. The officer who slapped him got in beside him while the other one settled into the driver's side and slammed the door. Within minutes, they were heading towards Pitcham Police Station.

Caleb was praying earnestly in his heart that his friend Abhi would honour his wish and not involve his mother in this mess. But that thought came a minute too late as his phone started buzzing inside his pants pocket.

"Turn off that damn phone, will you?" The officer driving sneered at him.

"Any word you say to anyone will be used against you in the court of law," he added, scowling at Caleb from the rearview mirror.

"Court of law?" he muttered.

"But I didn't commit any crime that I should be jailed for."

"We will soon find out when you get to the station." It was the officer sitting beside him that responded this time.

Caleb closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. His mind couldn't decipher all that was happening to him.

He was already a broke-ass dude or was it a wretch as Mia had implied? He needed money to sort out a lot of personal needs and now, he wasn't only out of a job but also facing arrest and a possible court case. He could even end up in jail. Where in the world was he going to get money to hire a good lawyer?

But the worst was yet to come.

His phone rang again the second time.

Irritated, the officer sitting at the back let out, "For proving stubborn, you will be thrown into the dirtiest part of the cell along with those hardened criminals."

Caleb froze. His hands trembled as he reached into his back pocket to fish out the phone and turn it off. He wasn't in handcuffs, thankfully.

He held the phone and stared bleakly at the screen. "I said turn it off!"

Caleb made to cancel the call but his finger mistakenly swiped on the receive button and his mother's alarmed voice boomed from the other end.

"Hello!"

Caleb jolted upright. He glanced at the officer driving and met a cold, stony stare. "I didn't know my finger had pressed the wrong button," he tried to explain, the fear visible in his eyes.

The officer ignored him and continued to scowl.

His mother's voice interrupted again, "Hello, Caleb, are you there?"

"Yes, Mama, I'm here."

A moment passed before he could utter another word. "Are you okay?"

"You have to come home at once. The landlord has thrown our belongings out of his house," Leah said in a rush of emotion.

"What? How could he do that to us, Mama? I promised to pay him today when I receive my salary," Caleb lamented.

The officer sitting next to him stifled a grin.

"You will have to settle your bail payment first, punk!"

"What did you say?" Leah asked. "Are you alright, son?"

Caleb ignored the officer and replied to his mom instead, "I will sort things out when I get back. Just plead with the landlord to be patient."

Then without waiting to hear his mother's next word, he hung up.

"That was a smart move." The officer driving said smiling.

Caleb closed his eyes as the van pulled into the police station.

The two officers alighted from the vehicle and exchanged a knowing look.

Caleb nearly peed in his pants.

Then as if on cue, they both started walking towards the other side of the car park. When they had gotten out of earshot, they stopped and began to whisper between themselves. He couldn't make out what they were saying but it seemed as though they were arguing over something.

After a short while, the officer who was driving marched to the back of the van. "Hey, you! Come down here at once," he ordered him.

Caleb's heart flew into his mouth. His jail sentence had been decided. It was all over, he thought. Like a robot controlled by a remote, he obeyed and alighted from the vehicle trembling.

"Now listen carefully," he started, "we were instructed to throw you in jail without bail. However, the news of your unfortunate eviction from home and the uneventful loss of your job has made us reconsider. We will only ask you to pay a bail sum of 50 dollars."

Caleb swallowed hard.

"Do you have the money or would you rather be locked up?" The officer who sat with him behind was asking.

"I can come up with the money," Caleb replied without thinking. "Let me speak with a friend, please."

The two officers again exchanged a knowing look. "Just one phone call," they chorused.

***

Twenty minutes later, Caleb and Abhi were walking out of the police station trying to get a cab.

"I could never thank you enough for coming to bail me out," Caleb said, clasping his hands together in a gesture of gratitude. "I promise to pay back the money as soon as I get a new job."

Abhi put a hand on his shoulder, "It wasn't easy getting the money, and getting away from work without being noticed."

"How did you manage then?"

"I had to sneak out through the back gate after asking Mr Apollo to cover for me."

Mr Apollo is the company's supervisor and a friend to Abhi.

"You'd need to hurry back before Mr Hart notices your absence."

Abhi agreed and then groaned reflectively, "Aha, just before I left the office, I saw him and Mia coming out of his office together and they both seemed very happy."

Caleb only shrugged quietly.

"Come on, talk to me, man."

"Don't worry about that for now. Let me quickly return home." Caleb said and flagged down an approaching cab.

"Alright. Take care and let me know how things turn out."

He nodded and quickly entered the cab before his friend would notice mucus dripping from his nose. He was really touched by his show of concern. But more than that, he was weeping inside for the humiliation Mia has caused him.

As he arrived at their house, the sight of his mother sprawling on the ground in agony shattered him into a million pieces.

"What on earth!" he shrieked.

Just then his landlord appeared from the back of the house. "You should be glad I let you and your wretched mother pick a pin out of my house."

The insult directed at his mother hit a nerve. Caleb launched toward the bulky, white-haired septuagenarian but Leah was fast enough to tug on the hem of his trousers begging, "No, son, please don't fight him to avoid being arrested."

Hearing the word arrest made him stop dead in his tracks. His insides raged like a seething volcano. This was by any stretch of the imagination the worst day in a man's life.

"Mama, why are we suffering so much?"

His mother could only sob quietly. Then slowly she straightened up, "At least thank God you still have your job."

Caleb shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that, Mama."

"What happened? Did you get into a fight?" his mother cried. "And who is that man over there?"

Caleb looked about him, wondering who his mother was referring to.

Then he saw him.

A tall man wearing a brown suit, dark goggles, and a pair of black cover shoes to match his black leather briefcase was approaching them.

"I don't know him, Mama," Caleb said in a whisper.

"Neither do I," she returned.

"Young master," the man said as he drew closer, "it's about time you knew your family."

Caleb's landlord who was about to leave stayed listening.

"What family are you talking about?" Caleb demanded, trying to regain composure.

"And whom are you referring to as 'young master'?"

The question hung in the air.