Page 7 of Degradation
The one at the front gives me a onceover and then rolls his eyes at his partner.
‘Okay, miss. These boys want to go to sleep, okay? Why don’t you come with us, and we’ll figure this out down at the office, huh?’
I take a step back. I don’t want to go with them. They’ll tell The Heath where I am, or John, and thenhe’lltell The Heath where I am.
‘Look, Officer, it’s fine,’ Mich says. ‘She’s okay to crash here. I don’t know why my roommate called you.’
They both ignore Mich. The biggest officer steps into the room. He reminds me of Crews from back at The Heath and I immediately tense under his scrutiny.
‘What’s your name, miss?’
I don’t answer.
‘Her name is Daisy. Daisy Novelle.’
The officer freezes. ‘Novelle?’
He looks me over again is if seeing me in a different light, and his lip quirks. ‘First time away from Daddy Warbucks, there, sweetheart?’
He turns to his partner, rolling his eyes. ‘You got the cuffs? You know how these spoiled ones can get.’
‘You sure you want to mess with the Novelles?’ the second one murmurs, but he still hands a pair of metal handcuffs over.
The first officer scoffs. ‘Those rich assholes don’t scare me.’
He steps forward with them dangling from his hand and my pleading eyes fly to his face and then to Mich.
I open my mouth to beg him not to let them take me and even though the words don’t come, he steps forward like he hears them anyway.
‘I don’t think you need those, Officer.’
The first officer barely spares him a glance, eyeing me as if he thinks I’m going toattackhim.
‘Don’t tell me how to do my job, kid, or we’ll take you down to the office too.
‘Is this girl really worth getting into trouble for, son?’ the second one asks.
Officer One’s eyes flick to Mich for a second, and I take my chance. I lunge away from him and try to get around him to the door. He curses, grabbing my arm and throwing me forward on the closest bed, which happens to be Travis’.
I hear his partner laughing behind him.
My scream is muffled by the mattress as I’m pushed into it with much more force than is warranted. These men are much bigger than me and probably weight over two-hundred pounds, but they’re acting like I’m a threat.
As my arms are wrenched behind my back, I feel the cold metal wrap around my wrists and click tight. I try to struggle, try tobreathe, but he has a knee in the middle of my back, keeping me completely immobilized.
I hear Travis complaining that he has to wash his sheets now that I’ve touched them because I probably have VD.
What’s VD?
My brain feels like it’s misfiring. My breathing is fast, and my heart is racing. I need to tell them what happened tonight, that I didn’t drink because Iwantedto. That Marcus and the others...
‘I swear these sorority girls get nuttier every year,’ the second one says to the first as I’m led out of the room.
‘They’re worse when they come from money, you know?’
His partner chuckles.
‘Don’t you know who my daddy is?’ he asks in a high-pitched tone.
