Broken glass littered the small trailer's floor under the kitchen window, and the whole house was covered from one end to the other with junk and trash from weeks before that had never been picked up. The ticking of a loud battery-powered clock was the only sound in the dark house late that night, until an angry scream pierced the thick silence and an intense muffled argument ensued. The raging battle in the master bedroom was verbal for now, but there was no telling when it would turn physical- it usually did.

The front door opened amidst the confusion and a thin teenage boy entered, ignoring the usual crazy war in his parents' bedroom. This was Josh Ripley, a rebellious seventeen year-old redhead who tried to declare his independence in any way he could and always thrived on making trouble- staying out partying all night was the worst habit of his, the one that could most certainly drive his parents up the wall when they caught him. There seemed to be nothing that could keep him in line, though, and his reputation in the trailer park was the worst. This struck no one with surprise, because Josh's wildness surpassed even his father's. In fact, his whole family was well known for being loud, violent, drunks that not a soul in the park would dare purposefully cross without a death wish.

A cold breeze blew through the broken window and chilled the house, but Josh was used to it. Unlike most nights, his sister Whitney, who was two years younger, had not even come home yet. There was no telling where she went at night or who she was with, but Josh did not have the interest or the concern to ask. He was protective of her when he felt like it but otherwise stayed out of her business. As the yelling in the bedroom subsided, Whitney came through the front door.

"You're home late," Josh said.

She closed the door behind her and glanced briefly at him. "I think you're just early."

Josh shrugged and grabbed a warm soda from the ground beside the table and sat down backwards in a chair. Whitney dropped her backpack on the floor and frowned at their parents' closed door. "Haven't Mom and Dad had their nightly cuss-fest yet?"

Josh drained the can and threw it at the overflowing trash can, but it only bounced off and hit the floor with the rest of the junk. "You just missed it."

"Usually I'm the one that has to hear it." She stretched and yawned quietly. "There's only a few hours before we hafta get up for school, so I'm going to bed." She came over to him and reached to hug him, then frowned and leaned over his shoulder to get a look at his face. "Are you okay? You look stoned."

It was just like her to be touchy and worry over him. "I'm just tired."

"Well, okay," she said doubtfully, but she knew better than to press him about it. She gave him an affectionate shove and headed off into her tiny room.

The house was quiet again, but the noise of that night's party was still pounding in his ears. He was not stoned- he had had a couple of beers a few hours ago, but it took a lot to get him drunk so it was already wearing off. He tried to shake his headache, but it only seemed to get worse. He finally went to bed without taking his clothes off and was out almost before he knew he was lying down.

Morning came too quickly, and the alarm clock went off and pulled him out of his sleep. He reached over and smacked the clock off the dresser and sat up groggily. The sun was up and he could hear Whitney getting ready in her room beside his, so it was obviously morning even if it felt like he had not slept at all. He got up and grabbed some clothes from the floor on the way to the bathroom, passing the cracked mirror in the hallway as he went. He hoped that the dark circles under his eyes would somehow disappear before he got to school.

When he got to the broken kitchen window, it was evident that his parents had already left for work. They could only afford one car, which was basically nothing but a hunk of junk anyway, so they always had to drive each other to work. Josh's stomach felt too weak to eat, so he just combed his hair and yelled at Whitney to hurry up. She came out of her room, closing the door while pulling her jacket on and grumbling to herself. It was not much colder outside that it was in the house, but the bus did not come down to the trailer park, so he and Whitney had to walk to school every day- or the days they decided to show up, rather. That day was fairly cold, but Josh had forgotten his jacket and walked to school in a tshirt.

He was fifteen minutes late when he finally arrived to class and received a withering look from his teacher once again. The tardiness happened quite often, but this time Josh held back another sarcastic apology and just stared challengingly at the man and sat down. A friend of Josh's named Dimitri, who was a punk-rocker and was always covered in dark make-up and piercings, leaned over and slipped Josh a note. Since no facial piercings were allowed in school, Dimitri looked strange with no rings and only holes. He grinned suggestively and slapped Josh on the shoulder, but before the paper had barely switched hands the teacher's voice thundered and quieted the whole room.

"Ripley!" The man slammed his huge fist on his desk. "Am I going to have to complain to your parents already? Or suspend you again? Hmm?" Complete silence answered him. "That's what I thought. Don't make me call you out again."

Josh pocketed the note and slumped down in his chair. For most of the other students, note-passing would be a very small offense, but not for him. Since he practically breathed trouble, anything he did that was even slightly out of line got him reprimanded, though he could honestly care less. It was kind of entertaining, actually. This was his third high school and he was barely a junior, having been expelled from the first two schools for always making and being involved in trouble, and he had flunked and had to repeat his freshman year.

Dimitri looked at him and shrugged. Josh just tapped his pencil on his book and stared out the window. He made it through the whole class without the teacher getting on him again, and thankfully the bell finally rang. He and Dimitri jumped from their desks in unison and pushed their way into the halls before anyone else.

"Some chick that knows your sister asked me to give that note to you," Dimitri said when they reached the lockers. "I don't know who she is, but she's talkin' dirty to you."

Josh pulled the note from his pocket and scanned it over quickly. "Heck yeah she is," he laughed, and tossed the paper into the nearest trash can. "Whitney needs to contain her friends and keep em off me. It's not the first love note I've gotten from some desperate girl I don't even know."

Dimitri wrenched open his rusted locker and shoved his books inside. "Josh, if I got a note like that, I sure wouldn't throw it away. Every girl wants you, but you know, I think you could use a steady one. You can't go on with one night stands forever."

"Eh, you should worry about getting yourself a girl before you start tryin' to help me. Hey, I know you've got a thing for that babe who lives next door to you."

A slight color rose to Dimitri's face. "Rachel Cunnington. Anyway, it's Damian who's got a crush on her." Damian was Dimitri's younger brother and the lead singer of their garage band that the two brothers shared with their drummer Kip.

Josh merely shrugged, and the bell rang for the next class. Dimitri slid his books into the messenger bag at his thigh and adjusted his trenchcoat. Personally, Josh would feel far too restricted in all those heavy clothes and chains his friend wore, but then again he himself basically lived in tshirts, even in the winter, and was most comfortable in clothes that hugged his skinny frame rather than the normal baggy look everyone had.

"I've got chemistry class, so I'll see ya later," Dimitri said, but just as they were about to go their separate ways, they heard the angry cries of a fight down the next hall. They shared a look, then quickly followed the yells and pushed through the small crowd that was forming around a fight against the lockers.

Josh was not surprised to see that it was Whitney and some other girl down on the floor in a tangle of hair and fists. One thing Josh appreciated about his sister was that she did not waste time pulling hair and ripping out earrings- she fought like a boy and always went right in with her fists, this case being no different. The other girl had latched both hands into Whitney's long brown hair and was trying to smash her into the lockers, but Whitney was throwing hard punches to the girl's face and sides, or whatever she happened to reach first. Josh couldn't help but feel a little proud of his sister, but suddenly the tables turned and the bigger girl began to punch back, driving Whitney hard to the floor. Dimitri grabbed Josh's arm and said over all the yelling, "You're gonna hafta do something, man. Your sister's gonna get killed."

Josh knew his friend was right, so he took a chance and stepped into the open circle. There was no way he could be heard over all the hooting, so he reached down and grabbed the bigger girl by both arms and yanked her up from the floor. Whitney was on her feet in a flash, but he held her back from attacking the girl with the tips of his fingers against her stomach, and surprisingly she listened to him and only stood there. The other girl cried out angrily and began to struggle in Josh's grip, so he shoved her back hard. Dimitri was somewhere close by and telling them to follow him, but suddenly Whitney's hand closed tight around Josh's arm; he looked back at her and saw that she had turned a little pale, and as she made eye contact with him she nodded her head to the left urgently.

"Hey, keep your hands off my sister, punk!" a deep male voice yelled out. The crowd quieted a little, and Whitney looked at Josh worriedly one more time and backed away. Josh followed her gaze and turned around, but was met hard by a clenched fist to the jaw. He was driven back violently and caught himself hard on the lockers beside Whitney, who looked concerned but could do nothing but get out of the way. Josh gathered himself and whirled around to face a guy that was at least two times bigger and had maybe ten times as much muscle.

Josh saw Whitney cringe when the next punch from the guy came around, but Josh was unbelievably fast and dodged easily. The crowd had grown, and he heard someone call out "It's Ripley and Duncan!" but other than that there was still mostly silence. "Is that all you got? Don't be a pussy, bring it on!" Josh jeered at the other boy, and spread his arms as an invitation. He did not have to encourage him too much, though, for in a split second he was upon him again.

Josh did not try to evade the next punch, but before it could be landed, he struck out and kicked the bigger guy right between the legs, and then the crowd around them erupted in shouts and cries again. He heard Dimitri call out, "Get him, Josh!", but the rest of the yells were all mixed together. Josh was glad his friend was there and cheering for him, but he did not need to be told. As the other guy was bent over in pain and before he could defend himself, Josh had thrashed him twice with his fists, then followed up his performance and decked the boy to the tile floor. "Come on, Duncan!" someone called out, but then Josh heard Whitney yell "Get him while he's down!"

Josh dropped down with both knees on the other guy's stomach and started blatantly pounding him, but after only a few punches his wrist was grabbed and held firmly. Josh turned around and was ready to take on someone else, but found himself face-to-face with Principal Johnson.

"Joshua Ripley," the man said, pulling Josh up from the floor. "What a surprise. Why don't you two follow me down to the nurse, and we'll stop by my office on the way back." He let go of Josh's wrist and helped up the other guy from the floor while shooting glares in all directions at the crowd of kids who were standing around.

The nurse had trouble patching the other boy up but only had to ice Josh's jaw and stop his nosebleed. When the boys finally did get to the principal's office, Josh went back first and slouched in a chair on the other side of the huge desk, tapping his fingers on his knee impatiently. Principal Johnson entwined his fingers and leaned forward.

"So Josh, tell me why I've caught you in another fight today."

Josh smirked defiantly. "Cuz I didn't get out of the floor fast enough."

The principal glared at him icily. "All right, then, let me rephrase the question. What motivated you to get in a fight with Peter Duncan?"

"So that's his name? Thanks for letting me know."

The principal frowned. "You don't even know who you were fighting with?"

"I usually don't."

Mr. Johnson massaged his forehead and sighed heavily. "I'm giving you only so long to spit out the story, okay? So could we please just get on with it? I don't have all day."

"You could just ask that Duncan guy."

"I'm asking you!" the man exploded, slamming his fist onto the desk. It seemed that a lot of yelling and fist-slamming went on when Josh was involved. "I don't know what it is with you, Ripley, but if you don't just tell me right now what happened, I'll have you expelled- again."

Josh held up his hands and grinned. "Fine, I'll tell you. I've just never seen you so desperate to talk to me."

The principal turned red in the face and shot from his chair. "That's it, Ripley! Consider yourself expelled! I do not want to see you back in this school again. You've caused way too much trouble, and everyone is tired of putting up with you. You understand that?"

Josh shrugged and left the office. Getting expelled was old news to him, but he knew it wouldn't go down that well with his parents. Whitney was waiting for him outside in the hall and grabbed his wrist. "Well, what happened?"

"Expelled."

She let go of him. "Man, Mom and Dad are gonna kill you. They're gonna be so mad."

"What else is new?"

Whitney sighed and hugged herself. "I'm sure that Duncan guy will get suspended, but you're going to have to find another school."

"Hey, that guy started it with me. I was just gettin' his punk sister off you." Whitney looked at the floor. He grabbed her chin and made her look at him. "Why didn't you tell me you had a problem with that girl?"

She jerked her face away. "I figured I was going to take care of it myself." She pushed her hair back and closed her eyes for a second. "We had a little dance in the bathroom yesterday."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "She fought you once and still came back for more?"

Whitney looked at her fingernails, though normally long, were all broken off. "Now I've got to grow them all back."

"Why aren't you bruised from yesterday?"

"I am, she just never hit me in the face." She lifted the side of her shirt and revealed a dark bruise below her ribs. "She ripped up my favorite shirt, too."

Just like a girl to say that. Josh cracked his knuckles. "Looks like me and this chick need to have a talk."

Whitney looked at him suspiciously. "I know you. You don't talk, you fight. Would you beat up on a girl?"

"Why not? I will if she gets in my way."

Whitney sighed and looked at her watch. "Look, I'm really supposed to be in class right now, so I'll see you at home." She turned to leave, then stopped and glanced back at him and smiled a little. "Oh yeah. Thanks for sticking up for me earlier. Well... bye." Once Dimitri had said that if they weren't related, sometimes he would think that Whitney might have a crush on Josh. It sounded creepy when it was put into words, but Josh was used to it, and besides, it was crazy to think something as weird as that.

He left the school, and when he made it outside and down to the road, he realized and was surprised to find out that there was a small dread within him when he thought that he was going to have to face his mother. Both of his parents were going to be furious, no doubt, but his mother was the one that could even begin to worry him. He figured she would already be home from work, and depending on her mood, he was probably going to have to face her angry violence when she learned of his being expelled for the third time. But she had to know sometime, so he might as well go and get it over with now.

He took his time getting there, but when he reached the trailer park he was annoyed to see that his mother's car was in the driveway. He dug the house key from his pocket, but before he even got the door open he could hear his mother in her bedroom screaming at someone over the phone. Josh came inside and closed the door quietly... as if that would stop her from knowing he was there. She immediately stormed into the living room and slammed the cordless phone onto the receiver.

"Why are you here?" she snapped.

He might as well be blunt about it. "I was expelled."

She stared at him for a moment, then her face turned red. "Why this time?" she hissed, walking slowly towards him.

"I got in a fight with some guy."

She jumped forward suddenly, and in a flash had slapped him hard. "What is the matter with you?! Are you just high or something?"

She had slapped him right across his bruised jaw, and his face throbbed and burned like fire. "Are you, bitch?" he snapped back. He had the urge to slap her in return, but thought better of it and held himself back.

His mother grabbed a bottle of liquor from the coffee table and took a swig. "Why don't you get out of my house?" she snapped. At first Josh thought she was bluffing, so he just stood there and looked at her until her eyes narrowed and she threw the bottle at him. He dodged quickly and it busted to pieces on the wall.

He grabbed his backpack, which never held school books and was packed for just this type of thing, from the floor and left the trailer. His mother had sent him walking before, so he wasn't worried; he knew he could go back later that night when she was calmed down. Right now he needed to find a place to stay for a few hours, and Dimitri's house was the obvious choice. He had only been there once and now had trouble finding it, but after walking for about an hour he finally got his bearings and recognized the high-maintenance house on the road ahead. He knew the city well but was far more familiar with the run-down parts of town than this ritzy neighborhood. After he stepped up onto the brick porch, he tried to compose himself quickly and rang the doorbell. The house, and all of them on this street, for that matter, belonged only to people wealthy enough to afford the two-story place. It was quite a step up from the Ripley's run-down trailer, that was for sure.

It took a few minutes, but finally the door opened and Dimitri's mother leaned on the doorframe. "Hi, aren't you one of Dimitri's friends?" she said. Josh had met her before, but that had been awhile ago and she probably did not remember him very well. She was the odd one in the family, while Dimitri, Damian, and even their father were into hard rock and black clothes, she was actually quite buisnesslike.

"Yeah. Is it cool with you if I hang out on your porch until he gets home?"

She stepped back from the doorway and said, "Well I've got to head to work, but you can come inside and wait for him if you want."

"Thanks." He shouldered his backpack and went into the house. It was warm, spacious, and clean, the exact opposite of his house, and for some reason it had a faint smell like new plastic and lemon peels. He laughed when she told him to excuse the mess- he didn't see one. "You should see my house."

She smiled and grabbed a jacket from the coat-rack by the door and put it on over her sharp business suit. She looked at him steadily as she buttoned it up, and Josh knew that his bruised jaw and split lip had caught her eye. He had a feeling she was going to point it out, and sure enough she did. "Are you all right? You're bleeding, I mean."

He brushed his mouth with his fingertips and pulled back blood, but just shrugged. "I had a fight at school."

"I see." She grabbed her purse and squinted at him. "Ah, I remember now. You're Josh Ripley."

"Yeah."

"That explains it, then. Everyone knows you and your family, honey. And from what I gather, you're the wild child, right?"

She was right. "So, you fixing to kick me out or something?"

"Of course not!" She grabbed the door handle and smiled a little. "You can stay here whenever you want, just don't plan on moving in. Dimitri and his brother should be here soon, so you just stay here and help yourself to whatever you want." She slipped out the door and locked it behind her.

Now Josh was alone, as far as he knew, and everything went quiet. All the space in the house was almost eerie in a way, especially when he was so used to small, dirty spaces that were cramped right along with other people, and now it took him a moment to get his bearings. He walked slowly into the huge kitchen and dropped his backpack on the floor. It was still too early for school to be let out, so he decided to give himself a tour of the place. He had been here before, but had only went into the garage for a few minutes and back out, so he was not sure where anything was. Inside it was easy to get lost if he did not pay attention, but he looked around the downstairs fairly quickly and then headed up to the second story.

On the walls that lined the white-carpeted stairs were expensive pictures, a lot of nice family portraits. Josh's family was way beyond hanging up pictures- they were lucky to even have a photo album. When Josh got upstairs, he began looking behind doors; the first one on the right was a hall closet, but the next he guessed was Dimitri's bedroom by all the band posters on the walls and the electric guitar in its stand by the bed. Josh knew that Damian was the vocalist of their garage band, so it wouldn't make much sense for him to have a guitar, and the posters were of all Dimitri's favorite rock bands. The rest of the rooms were the master bedroom, a bathroom at the end of the hall, a guest room, and finally Damian's room. Josh pushed the door open and went in, far beyond the point of giving a crap about invading privacy.

Something shiny on the nighttable caught his eye, so he walked over and picked it up. It was a wallet with a heavy silver chain, and when Josh went as far as to open it, he discovered that it was full of cash. He knew he could easily take some of the money, but he also didn't really want to cause problems with his friend's family. He paused with indecision, then realized he wouldn't allow himself to pass up the opportunity and pocketed a few bills. He didn't want to take all of them; if he only took a few then Damian might not even notice it was missing. Spoiled rich kids.

Josh put the wallet back on the table and went downstairs. His heart was pounding a little, but he was not as nervous as he should have been, having stolen things before just for the thrill of it. But this was money, and he could use it. No one else even needed to know that he had it.

Time passed pretty quickly, and Josh was beginning to forget that the money was in his pocket when the front door was unlocked and Dimitri and Damian came inside. They did not even seem to notice Josh until Damian glanced into the dining room and mumbled something to his brother. "He's my friend," Dimitri said, and came into the dining room. "Hey Josh, what are you doing here?"

"Your mom let me in, so I was just waiting for you."

"What happened earlier with the principal? You get suspended?"

"Expelled."

Dimitri cringed. "You might as well just drop out anyway."

Damian moaned. "Oh man, please tell me Josh Ripley is not in my house."

Dimitri shot him a harsh look. "You don't even know Josh."

Josh smirked and stood up from the table. "Looks like I'm pretty famous around here."

"Everybody knows who the Ripleys are," Damian said bitterly. "And everybody knows they all bring trouble."

"Shut-up, Damian," Dimitri snapped. He looked at Josh. "Ignore my brother. He's not social."

The front door opened again and a man, also dressed in black, came inside and threw his car keys on the kitchen counter. He looked at them and took off his jacket. "Hi boys. Who's this?"

"Josh," Dimitri replied. "You've never met him."

Their father nodded. "Your mother at work?"

"Yeah," Josh said, and fought a smirk. The man narrowed his eyes.

"How long have you been here?"

Josh glanced at the clock. "Uh, about an hour." Don't worry, old man, I wasn't messing around with your woman, he thought.

"Well, I think it's about time you went home, okay?"

The man probably meant it to sound even more threatening than it did, but Josh did not think standing around and provoking him further was a good idea. He shrugged and grabbed his backpack. "All right, I'm going. See ya, Dimitri."

Josh left the house and slowly started home. There was nothing else to do, but he was not in the mood to see his mother, expecially so soon after getting into it with her. His jaw was still throbbing and he could taste blood in his mouth, even hours after the fight. He kept his pace slower and slower until he was doing more standing around than walking. But when he finally did make it back to the trailer park in about hour, he was half annoyed and half relieved to see a strange car in the driveway. If someone was at their house, that meant his mother would be on her best behavior and would not hassle him anymore about school. He threw the door open and walked inside, surprised to see his family, even Whitney, and the landlord out of the corner of his eye. Everyone together at one time was a rare occurance, especially just sitting there in the living room. But this was not the first time the landlord had been there- they had been warned more than once about being kicked out.

"Josh," Mr. Ripley said, "why don't you come over here and sit down?" Though he really meant get over here now.

"I have things to do," Josh said over his shoulder.

"Add this to your list," his father said firmly. There was a threat somewhere in his voice, but Josh defiantly ignored it and went to his room, slamming the door behind him. He heard the voices in the living room and strained to hear what they were saying. It was weird for people to be talking in his house in normal voices, rather than the usual screaming.

"You'll have to excuse Josh," his father was saying. Trying hard to sound polite and well-behaved. "He's a real smartass... I mean he's real stubborn."

He heard his mother say, "I'll go get him."

Oh no you won't, Josh thought, and locked his bedroom door. If the landlord wanted to kick them out, it wasn't necessary for him to be in there. It would all end the same way with or without him. A few seconds later the knob twisted and he heard his mother curse under her breath. "Josh, open this door and come out here like the rest of us."

"Go away," he snapped.

"Fine, stay in there, you little punk!" She stormed back into the tiny living room, and the low voices continued.

Josh fell back on his bed and threw his unfinished homework in the trash. No use doing it if he wasn't going back to school. He flipped on his stereo and cranked the volume, trying to drown out the voices in the other room. If that man was going to kick them out, then he should just hurry up and get on with it. He rolled over, and something crackled when he moved. He felt his pockets and pulled out three bills. He had already forgotten about the money he had stolen from Damian, but since it was right there he figured he might as well count it. A ten, a twenty, and a hundred! He sat up quickly. He hadn't expected that he had taken that much. And with such a large bill as a hundred, it was obviously going to be searched for- Dimitri's whole family would probably look for it, and Josh knew he was going to be the first one they blamed. Ah, oh well. They had to figure it out sometime. He stuck the money back in his pocket and turned off the music, and when he got up he saw out the window that the landlord was already leaving.

There was a banging on his door again. "Josh, open the door now!" his mother yelled, along with a string of insulting profanities. Josh ignored her until somehow she opened the door herself and stormed in. "What's your problem? Now that man probably thinks we're all just a bunch of drug-doing losers!"

"We are!"

There was silence for a few seconds, and she turned an angry red up to her hairline. Then she started yelling at him so intensely that her words were nearly inaudible. Josh expected her to hit him again, but this time she just walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Josh got up and wrenched open the small, rusty window, knowing that if he left his room through the door he would receive a verbal thrashing for disobeying not only one, but both his parents. And he wasn't in the mood for that again, so it was easiest this way, though he had just gotten home again and now wasn't sure where to go. Maybe he would find some of his street buddies and go skating, or tag a few walls until he felt like coming back. Going to Dimitri's house would very obviously be a bad choice, since he had stolen their money and would more than likely be the first one they suspected. And good thing he was so thin, or otherwise he would never get out of this tiny window.

He stayed out by himself for awhile, and after unearthing his supply of spray paint, tagged a few walls before he ran out and didn't have anything else to do. He walked around with his hands in his pockets for awhile, and just when he least expected it, almost ran smack into Whitney. She grabbed the front of his shirt and held him in place. "Mom's really mad, Josh. She'll be especially pissed if you don't get back home."

"What else is new?"

"I mean, she was yelling nonstop after you left. Dad was yelling too."

"They're always yelling, Whitney," Josh said impatiently.

She glanced down at the paint on his hands. "And if they find out you're tagging walls again, you're gonna die."

Josh shrugged, and Whitney's cell phone rang. She answered it, and their mother's screaming voice was so loud she had to pull the phone away from her ear. "She wants to talk to you," she said, holding the phone out. Josh grabbed it and hung up in one quick motion, and Whitney's mouth fell open. "Josh! Now you're really gonna die."

"Seriously, what's she gonna do to me? I'll go home and get yelled at again. Big deal."

"She'll come looking for us if we don't go back now."

Josh sighed. "Fine. I don't guess I should leave you outside in the dark by yourself. Come on."

Whitney struggled to keep up with her brother's fast stride on the way home, but she was already practically running. "Why are you in such a hurry? We have the rest of the night to get home, you know."

"You were the one complaining about mom. Anyway, I'm starving."

"You're always starving."

They reached the trailer a little while later just as the night wind was picking up, but when they got to the front step the door flew open and their mother stood there looking furious. "Joshua, get in here!" She grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him in, glaring up at him and completely ignoring her daughter. "We have some things we have to talk about." With the word 'talk' came a shower of spit.

"I don't have time," he said, prying her fingers loose from his shirt and dodging around her.

"Sit," she hissed, giving him a shove towars the kitchen chair. She couldn't physically make him, but her facial expression was convincing enough, so he sat down. She leaned over and got right in his face. "You have a serious problem, and especially lately, boy. And you're starting to drag your sister into it too."

"Into what? It's not my fault what she does. And she's fifteen, get off her. What's she doing that's so bad, anyway?"

"Sneaking out in the middle of the night, for one thing. I wonder where she got the idea to do that?" Her last words were dripping with sarcasm.

"She's old enough to decide if she's gonna do that crap or not. So don't blame me."

His mother slammed her palm down onto the table. "If you want to be stupid enough to destroy your own life, be my guest! Just leave Whitney out of it."

"Hey, I don't make her do nothin'. She has her own mind, you know. And I'm not the only influence on her- look at yourself! You and Dad are constantly high or drunk, and you want to blame me?" He flinched, expecting her to hit him, but for some reason she didn't.

"Do you know how bad you make this family look?" she hissed. "People hear our last name and think trouble immediately, because of you!"

"Not just because of me. How many jobs have you been fired from? You've lost count, haven't you? And how many times has Dad been in jail? You think I'm the only problem in this family?"

Now she did hit him, hard with her open palm. He gripped the chair between his legs and noticed that Whitney had vanished to her room. His mother didn't like to be faced with the truth- he knew that, but he never ceased to bring it out in the open.

Before anything else could be said or done, there was a loud knock on the front door. "Police," a deep voice said. Josh stood up and dried his watering eyes as his mother went to open the door. Not just one, but three officers were on the cinderblock porch.

"Can I do something for you?" Mrs. Ripley said, her voice stiff.

"Ma'am, we have a warrant to search the premises," one of them said, flashing a badge and a piece of paper at her.

"Sure... come in," she said, looking sharply at Josh. "Officers, can I ask what the warrant's for?"

"Some money was stoled from a residence on the other side of town," one said as they came inside."They say Josh was the last one there." The police seemed to always use the Ripley's first names, since they were quite familiar with them.

"Josh," Mrs. Ripley said ominously. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

"No," Josh said. He looked at the officers. "But you can go ahead and look wherever you want." He knew they were not going to find it unless they searched his pockets, but he planned on leaving before they got that far. But as if his mind had been read, one of the men tilted back his hat and said, "I'm going to ask than no one leaves the house."

Josh was busted, unless somehow he managed to get out of the situation, which at the moment did not seem very likely. His mother just nodded at the cop and said, "Okay, that's fine." She shot another accusing look at Josh.

One of the men motioned for Josh to turn around. "I think you know what to do." Josh hesitated, but accepted that it was over. He turned and put his hands flat on the wall and spread his legs. It seemed as if he was in this position a lot. There was silence as the cop patted him down, and when he got to the pockets there was a smile in his voice. "Looks like we were right." He pulled the bills out and looked through them. "A hundred, a twenty, and a ten. Just like they said." Josh did not wait for directions and interlocked his fingers behind his head. He knew the drill of getting arrested.

"Joshua Ripley, you're under arrest... again," the other officer said, and they snapped handcuffs on his wrists and took him out to the car.

-O-

Just to make sure you all know, Josh is obviously the future Beat, just in case you haven't figured that out yet. Anyway, plz review