Written in 60 minutes.

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Saturday, September 13, 2024

Webber House: Kitchen

Aiden tore open the bag of popcorn, and upended it into the large glass bowl. His phone vibrated next to him with a notification from Snapchat.

He scowled, picked it — another stupid picture from Danny and Rocco who were holding up their bottles of beer and a caption wish u were here well drink 4 u

“Morons,” he muttered. Even he knew you didn’t take incriminating pictures of yourself with your phone. It would serve them right if he saved it for later blackmail—

In fact— Aiden tapped a quick screenshot, saved it to his camera roll.

“Dude, it’s not gourmet cake.” Cameron stopped in the doorway. “It’s popcorn. We’re waiting on you to start the movie.”

“I’m just adding butter the way Mom likes.” Aiden dumped the melted better he’d already prepared into the bowl. “Let’s go.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Kristina plucked a piece of pepperoni from her pizza, popped it in her mouth. “I think Michael’s overreacting. You need to talk to him—”

Dante sat down on the sofa, a bottle of beer in his hand, and sighed. “I’m not getting in the middle—”

“Everyone says that, and then they take Molly’s side. Michael said that, too—” Kristina folded her arms. “I just don’t understand why no one gets that Molly is making a huge mistake—”

“What I don’t get—” Sam leaned over to snag a napkin for her cheese fries. “Why do you care? Molly’s not hurting you. She’s doing a job. Let her deal with everything that’s happened in her own way. You guys will stay in your separate corners for a few weeks, your charges will get dismissed, and you’ll be able to focus on the real villain. Ava.”

“See—” Dante tipped his beer at Sam. “That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what we need to focus on. Ava.”

Kristina made a face. “Where’s Scout? I thought we were going to watch a movie.” She looked to the stairs. “I didn’t chase her away with my bad mood, did I?”

Dante opened his mouth, looked at Sam who grimaced. “No. She just wanted to watch something on Netflix, and it’s some ridiculous teen show that I have zero interest in. I can make her come down—”

“You might as well tie a pork chop around my neck and force people to play with me.” Kristina folded her arms. “Everyone’s running away from me.”

“We’re not, Krissy. We invited you over, didn’t we?” Sam reminded her, and Kristina sighed. “Let’s put on a stupid movie, and we’ll get some more drinks, right? You can sleep in Danny or Rocco’s room. We need to have one night where we don’t think about anything awful.”

“So, I guess dinosaur movies where lots of humans die is out of question, huh?”

“A comedy then. Something from when we were younger.” Sam picked up the remote, navigated to one of the streaming apps. “What’s that one movie you used to watch all the time? Around the time Danny was born?”

“Moneyball,” Dante said, and Sam whacked him. “Hey! Don’t knock it until you try it!”

“It’s all about math, no thanks.” Kristina burrowed into the chair. “I’m just in a rotten mood. This was a bad idea.”

“No, we just—we have to find the right thing to distract you. Adam Sandler.” Sam clicked the title. “Just please, Krissy, give it a chance, okay? For me?”

Kristina sighed. “All right. For you. And the movie you were thinking about was Pitch Perfect.”

“Oh, that’s right. You thought you could sing acapella for like three weeks.” Sam paused. “It was not pleasant.” She was rewarded when her sister smiled. “And, hey that’s a trilogy, isn’t it? Dante, go get those beers—”

“And a gun so I can kill myself,” Dante said, pretending to be injured when Sam slugged him in the shoulder. “Beers coming right up.”

Webber House: Aiden’s Bedroom

Aiden didn’t hear his phone the first time it rang — well, buzzed — his ringer was off. Or the second time. But the third time, the vibration of the phone had moved it towards the edge of the nightstand and Aiden definitely heard when it clattered to the floor.

“Oh, crap—” If he busted another screen his mother was going murder him—he rolled towards the edge of the bed, snagged it off the floor — and saw the missed calls from Rocco.

And since it was a little past one in the morning, and Rocco had called three times in rapid succession—

Make that four.

Not a good sign.

“This better be good,” Aiden muttered.

“Yo, we’re outside. Come let us in.” The words were a little slurred, but it was definitely his cousin, and he could hear Danny in the background.

“You’re cracked if you think you’re coming in this house. Mom would murder me, call Sam and Dante, and then you’ll be dead. We’ll have a group funeral—”

“No, no, listen—listen—” Rocco giggled. “Listen, we got a plan—”

“I’ve heard that before. Go away,” Aiden hissed, then hung up the phone. Then grimaced. Oh, shit. If they were out side and making noise — Jake and his mom’s room were right over the front of the house—

Shit, shit, shit—

He needed to get them away from the house.

Webber House: Elm Street

“Look, I gots ten fingers—” Rocco splayed out his hand, waved at Danny. “Where’d they come from?”

“Your butt,” Danny said, then exploded into his own giggles, stumbling and sliding to the ground by the front wall of the Webber house. “Your butt,” he repeated again.

The door opened behind them, and Aiden stepped outside, in a t-shirt, shorts, and bare feet. “Shut up you assholes, my mom is right there—” he hissed, stabbing a finger at a window above them.

“Yeah?” Rocco lifted his head up. “Hey, can she tell me what jail was like? She was with chicks, though, so maybe it’s not the same—”

Aiden scowled, grabbed Rocco’s arm and dragged him towards the street. “What the hell happened to the plan? You were supposed to crash with Frankie—”

“F-funny thing—” Rocco wavered slightly, then stared at his hand. “Ow—what’d you hit me for?” he demanded of Aiden.

“We need to get you both out of here before Mom wakes up. She’ll snitch on you—” Aiden looked at Danny, then leaped forward, snagging the vape pen from Danny’s hand. “What are you, stupid? You’re outside—”

“It’s cool, no one’s here—” Rocco tugged out his own, took a puff, then blew the smoke in Aiden face. “And stop acting like such a wuss. You like this stuff—” He offered the pen to Aiden who slapped it out of his hands.

“I like it at the boathouse when people aren’t around,” he snarled, his voice still hushed. “Not when my mother is twenty feet above me, and can smell it, you fuckers. Get out of here!”

“Listen, listen, listen—” Danny rolled over on all fours, then shook his head. “Whoa, that—that was not a good idea.” Then he lumbered to his feet, and slung an arm around Aiden’s shoulders. “My guy here—” He took Aiden by the jaw, shook it lightly. “He’s a little uptight. We just gotta get him laid. Tobias isn’t doing it right—”

“Hey, twat waffle, you’re not getting shit either. Georgie doesn’t even know you’re alive,” Aiden growled, shoving at Danny who went into Rocco, and then they both went down to the ground. “Go away—”

“What’s going on here?”  They heard the voice a moment before the beam of flash light blinded him.

Aiden brought his hands up to protect his vision — then realized Dex Heller was striding towards them with another uniform by his side.

Cops.

Of course.

“Oh, I am so dead—” he moaned, then looked down at the vape pen he’d snatched from Danny. He released it with a horrified squeak, sending it flying —

Where it landed at Dex’s feet. He looked up at Aiden, then sighed. “You’re kidding me, right? Morons.” He paused. “I can go knock on the door and wake up your mother now, or she can get a call from the PCPD. Your choice.”

Aiden opened his mouth, then looked over to see Rocco vomiting on the cop’s shoes. “You know what, call from the PCPD. That way I get to live a little longer.” And Mom probably wouldn’t wake up Jake or Cam —

Who were actually going to kill him.

Webber House: Elizabeth’s Bedroom

Elizabeth was only half awake when she reached for the ringing phone. “Hello?” she slurred, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “What is it?”

“Ms. Webber? This is Dex Heller.”

“Dex—” Elizabeth jolted. “Dex. Officer Heller.” She shoved herself out of bed, started looking around her room. “What is it?” Oh, God, had Jason been in an accident? Was it Laura, or Kevin—

“I’m sorry to wake you, ma’am, but we’ve got your son Aiden down here. You’ll need to come down.”

“You’ve—” Elizabeth shook her head, jerked her door open and headed down the short hallway. “No, you don’t. He’s right here—” She opened his door — and saw the blanket hastily shoved back. “He was just right here.”

“I know. We picked him up out front of your house with his cousin, Rocco Faloncieri and his stepbrother, Danny Morgan. Public intoxication, possession of tobacco, disorderly conduct—”

“Wait, wait, wait—” Elizabeth pressed a hand to her forehead. “You—you picked him up out front of the house. W hy didn’t—” She went back down the hallway into her room, trying to locate the jeans she’d discarded earlier. “Why didn’t you just knock on my door?”

“Your son asked to be taken in.”

“He asked—you know what, I’ll deal with this when I get down there. Have Danny and Rococo’s been called?”

“Yes, ma’am, I contacted Sam and Dante just a little while ago. I’m sorry about this.”

Elizabeth disconnected the call, took a deep breath, counted to ten, then called Jason, who despite the hour, didn’t sound as if he’d been asleep at all. “Elizabeth? What’s wrong—”

“Everyone’s alive,” she said shortly. “For now. I don’t understand what the hell happened, but somehow my son, yours, and Rocco all got arrested for drinking and smoking outside my house.”

“Outside—” Jason stopped. “Danny?”

“Yes.” She blew out a short breath. “Do I need to call Diane? Is this going to mess up my bail? Jason—”

“Let’s just—I’ll call Diane, just to put her on alert. Come by the diner, pick me up. We’ll go down to the PCPD together. One step at a time.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Maybe less. No, I have to go the speed limit—damn it—” She ran into the side of her dresser, stubbing her toe.

“Elizabeth?”

“I’m fine. I just—” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I’ll be right there. Call Diane. And then we’ll go kill our kids.”

PCPD: Squad Room

Aiden leaned forward. “Listen, listen, those morons—” He swept his hands over towards Rocco and Danny, seated across the room with other officers. Rocco looked a little green, and was clutching his stomach. Danny hadn’t sicked up any of his alcohol and was still riding high from the hit he’d take from his vape pen.

Oh, God, please don’t test the vape pen, please don’t let them find out it’s weed, Aiden prayed.

“I was sleeping, okay? Look, look—” Aiden shoved his phone at Dex. “Look! That’s me, at my house, and them calling me! Because I was inside, asleep. My mom will tell you I was home with her all night—these idiots, they showed up, and they wanted to come inside, and I told them, no, I was trying to make them go away—”

“Calm down.” Dex took the phone, which Aiden had unlocked, scrolled through the notifications, then looked at him. “You got a Snapchat notification from Rocco a few hours ago. You still got this picture?”

Aiden pressed his lips together. He’d already snitched. Might as well finish the job. “Yeah. Yeah. It even says I’m not with them—it’s like the last photo on my camera roll—you can’t mess my mom up on this, she didn’t know anything, and I didn’t do anything—”

“Right. Your mom’s on bail.” Dex hesitated. “You don’t smell like alcohol, and your eyes aren’t glassy. I’m not seeing any signs you did anything. Tonight,” he added. “The vape pen I found you with?”

“I took it from Danny. You gotta believe me, and you gotta—put them in jail, okay? They’re idiots. Me, I’m the boring one. I stayed home!”

“Give me a few minutes.” Dex got to his feet, and Aiden started praying to every deity he could remember in case one of them was in the mood to take pity on a kid.

PCPD: Parking Lot

Elizabeth jerked the car to a stop, just barely making it inside of the lines, and they were both almost out of the car before she could put it in park. They saw an SUV pull into another spot, no better than she had, and Sam was flying out of the car.

She saw them, hissed. “What the hell happened?” she demanded. “What the hell are you thinking letting kids have alcohol? Aren’t you in enough trouble—”

“What the hell—” Elizabeth threw up her hands keep Sam back.

“Sam—” Dante came up to her, pulled her back even as Jason stepped in front of her. “Stop. None of us would give them alcohol. Just—cool it—” He looked at Elizabeth. “I’m sorry. We were asleep—and I just don’t understand. Did  they sneak out?”

“I—how would I know? Aiden was home with me all night! I don’t even know how they got to my house! Or when!”

Sam scowled, pulled out her phone. “That’s impossible. Their phones were at your house all night, look—” She held out the device — and Elizabeth reached for it, squinting to confirm that the devices labeled Rocco and Danny were, indeed, on Elm Street.

“They never came to your house tonight, did they?” Dante asked. He looked to the sky, muttered something.

“Did they say they were coming to Elizabeth’s?” Jason wanted to know.

“They said—God, I’m such an idiot.” Sam scrubbed her hands down her face, moaning slightly. “Oh, God. They played me.”

“They played us both.” Dante looked at Elizabeth and Jason. “Rocco said Aiden was gonna let you and Cam have some time since he was leaving tomorrow. So they were coming over to play games. It’s not—I mean, they’ve come over plenty to do that.”

“They—” Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “No, they go to your place to do that.” She pressed her lips together as the realization dawned. “Oh, so this is something they do all the time.”

“Great. Great. This is fantastic.” Dante took a deep breath. He rubbed his mouth, looked at Sam. “It’s always Rocco asking.”

“Because I double check everything Danny does. Unless he’s doing it with Rocco—I need to sit down.” Sam moved away, leaned a hand against the SUV they’d parked. “Okay. Okay. We’ll compare notes later, right? We’ll figure out how much they’ve been lying and to who. Right now, we have to get them out of the PCPD.”

“Before this ends up on FBI’s radar,” Jason said grimly.

“I swear to God, if this stunt ends up screwing your bail—” Sam looked at Elizabeth. “I’m so sorry. I never—I should have realized you wouldn’t want our idiots over with you tonight. Not with Cameron. I just—Danny got under my skin, and he did it on purpose—” Her voice wobbled, and she turned away.

Dante rubbed her back, and looked at Elizabeth. “He made a crack about she wasn’t gonna let him go because you’re a criminal now, too,” he said, and Elizabeth sighed, rubbed her forehead.

“So you didn’t argue because you wanted to prove to Danny that you weren’t going to do that anymore,” Jason finished.

“This is all my fault—” Sam shook her head. “Oh, God. I can’t even—” She pressed a hand to her mouth.

“We’ll figure out the details later,” Dante told her, rubbing her shoulders. “Come on, we’re a united front right now. All four of us. They’re the idiots, we’re the parents. Let me make calls. I’ll make sure this goes away,” he told Elizabeth. “I wouldn’t pull strings for Rocco otherwise, but this needs to stay off their records. The arrest has to disappear. Your address can’t be put into the system. I’m not gonna let my kid screw you up. I promise.”

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