Page 32 - HEF Pen & Ink 2020

Michael, Tommy and I arrived at the old Rob- ert’s farm early. It was a nice day out, partly
cloudy, but warm. I was looking up at the sky and could see the sun rays poking out from behind
the clouds. I was talking to Tommy about the guys we were meeting, saying how this drop-off
should be pretty quick. Then I heard it. We all heard it. The bells of the coppers cars coming
down the street. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening at first, but then it hit me. We were
going to jail. All of us. How did this happen?
OVERGROWN WATERFALL
by Nate Schellhardt
The sound got closer and closer and I could hear Michael yelling at me to move or run, but I couldn’t. My body froze. I knew that the coppers would arrest us; it was inevitable. I’d heard about the stories about the other bootleggers who’d gotten ar- rested. They never ended well. I mean, take Tommy’s brother for example. I don’t want that to happen to Tommy, or Michael. I don’t want to die.
I felt claustrophobic. The jail cell wasn’t tiny, but I felt like the walls were closing in on me. The cell reminded me of a grave; no light, no air, just you, and yourself. Even though it was Tommy, Michael and I in the cell, along with the guys who were coming to buy the booze, I still felt alone, like I’d been stranded on an island with no way to get home.
It had been a couple days since we’d been in there. The other guys had been moved to their own cell, so it was just the boys and I now. At least we had each other, like always.
“Frank Wilson, Michael Elsner, and Thomas Kinney?” An officer had come over to our cell and brought out his keys.
“Yeah? That’s us,” Tommy said, looking up from his shoes.
“You’re all free to go.”
We stepped outside of the station, taking in the sunlight for the first time in days. I looked up at the sky and, just like before, I could see the sun rays poking out from behind the clouds.
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