Page 33 of Kayden: The Past
“God, you can be such a fucking train wreck at times. How do you forget to pay a fucking ticket?” I could almost hear the venom in her voice. Danielle was the type who typically got quiet when she was pissed off but not today.
“I don’t know. I just did. I swear it wasn’t intentional, babe.” I rested my head against the pay phone.
“Jesus Christ! I mean, really, Kayden? How can you be so damn forgetful?” she yelled into the phone, almost blasting out my eardrums. I held the phone away from my ear to let her finish. “Oh yeah, probably because you were too busy drinking Jack than running down after work to pay your fucking fine.”
“I’m sorry! What else can I say?” I felt like a child—tiny and stupid. “I fucked up, babe. Now I have to sit in jail until tomorrow. I didn’t want this to happen.”
“When do you see the judge?”
“Nine a.m. tomorrow morning, and then I’ll be home.”
“I’ll be there to get you.” With that, the phone clicked, and she was gone.
There was anger and a hatred that I’d never heard in her voice before. Danielle wasn’t the most put-together and organized person. I thought she’d understand and maybe even laugh at me, but I’d never expected the amount of anger I felt slap me in the face.
I was thankful when morning came, and I walked into the courtroom. The night seemed to drag on, and I was cold and lonely without Danielle. I saw her sitting in the courtroom, and I smiled when she looked at me, but I didn’t get a smile in return. The smile quickly left my face, and worry filled my insides. A knot formed in my stomach as I waited for my name to be called.
“Mr. Michaels?” The bailiff called out to the crowd.
I rose to my feet and approached the small podium in handcuffs. “Here, Judge.”
“Mr. Michaels, you stand before me now because you failed to appear before me for a traffic violation.”
“Yes, sir.” I swallowed hard, and my mouth grew dry just by the look of him. He didn’t look friendly or forgiving.
“You were cited with reckless driving, and there is a heavy fine associated with the offense.” He rifled through his paperwork before speaking again. “You’ll serve three days in jail, Mr. Michaels, for failure to appear and pay a five hundred dollar fine for the reckless driving charge.”
I stood there trying to process the words. Three days in jail. I wouldn’t be getting out today. “Judge, I forgot about the ticket, please. I have a job and a wife, please.”
“Maybe next time you’ll remember, son. ‘I forgot’ is not a reasonable defense.” He slammed down the gavel, and the officer walked toward me to take me back to jail. I turned around, needing to catch a glimpse of Danielle, but she was gone.
The only thing I could think about while I watched the minutes tick away on the piece of shit clock on the wall was Danielle. How in the fuck did she just leave me there without a good-bye or even a last look? She vanished without a trace. I felt like I was going to climb the walls. I was trapped inside, and Danielle hadn’t answered any of my phone calls. She shut me out and turned me off.
