Pulled It

 

 

Pulled It

 

 

     If Jessica paid no attention to him, it was because she had other things on her mind:  the tension

 

between her and her husband, the shock of what was happening to her sister, and the sudden,

 

unexpected advances from her boss at work.  All in all, the world she had created was indeed

 

collapsing around her and she hoped that at the end of it all, she would not be around to witness the

 

fallout. 

 

     So in late December when the police knocked at her door she wasn't exactly surprised by their

 

arrival.  She knew her sister had made some poor choices in the past and the latest revelation was

 

no surprise.  She was willing to cooperate, but since she and her sister had never been close even

 

when they were kids she didn't have the evidence the police were looking for, other than the instinct

 

the police thought would put her sister Amy behind bars for a very long time. 

 

     "Well, Jessica, " the police began, "we know your sister has been dealing drugs across the

 

Wisconsin and Illinois border, but we just have to catch her in the act."

    

     "What can I do?" 

 

     "Talk to her, get close to her, get her to confide in you."

 

     "She's not going to suddenly open up to me after twenty years of silence.  She'll see right through

 

that."

 

     "We need you to try ma'am.  The heroine use within our city limits has escalated, doubling itself

 

within the past two years alone.  We had another overdose just last week."

 

     "I know." 

 

     "How could you know?" 

 

     "That overdose was my Joey.  He was one of my students.  I know more than I'd like to know, so

 

don't come barging in here with sterile statistics on a community-wide epidemic.  He's just another

 

number to you.  He was my Joey."

 

 

     "I'm sorry.  We were mistaken.  Will you help us?" 

 

     Jessica snapped.  "Amy's my own flesh and blood.  While I obviously don't approve of her

 

actions, she is still my sister.  And Joey, my poor fucked-up Joey.  With a lot of help, he could have

 

walked across that graduation stage in a few short months.  After getting kicked out of Mrs. Kerbel's

 

US History class, I helped him fill out his Charter School application, so he was on the right track to

 

recover some of his lost credits.  Damn him.  What am I supposed to fucking do?  I can't help you.  I

 

can't  rat out my sister even if I don't like her for some "loser" kid who never came to school.  That is

 

unless..."  Jessica paused.  She stood in her living room glaring at the police officers as a bead of

 

sweat trickled secretively under her black dress.  She felt herself swallowing, and swallowing again,

 

and swallowing hard as she proposed a calculated compromise.  "Unless..."

 

     "Unless?"

 

     "Hmmmmm.  Perhaps there is something you can help me with." 



TBC