Page 149 of You + Me – Against the World

“Taped under the sink,” Curly replies.

“Hmm, not exactly original,” Goatee retorts, a hint of a smile twitching at his lips.

“There’s never been anything under that sink! I don’t even have any tape,” Vadim shoots back, clearly starting to get angry.

He tries to step toward the white package, but the ponytailed policewoman plants herself in front of us, blocking his path. Her massive frame blocks our view of what the other three are doing as they lean over the table where the package now sits. Tests, no doubt. I pray that it’s sugar, flour, one of Felix Alonso’s terrible jokes—anything but what I think it is. What I’m afraid it is.

Goatee eventually straightens up, blinks three times, then turns Vadim around and slams him face-first against the wall, exactly like he has been dreaming of doing ever since he entered the apartment. The click of handcuffs rings out, and I watch the shiny metal tighten around my boyfriend’s wrists. My heart clenches.

“What are you doing?” I scream, rushing toward him.

Ponytail intervenes again, clamping a hand on each of my shoulders.

Goatee starts yelling again, drowning out my screams. “Vadim Arcadi, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, a public defender will be appointed for you by the court. Do you understand what I have said?”

“That stuff isn’t mine, Alma! I swear to you!” Vadim twists his head around, and his tortured gaze meets mine.

“Do you understand what I said?” Goatee repeats, even louder.

“It was Keith, I’m sure of it! He must have come and hidden it here when I was staying at your place!”

“Shut up!” Goatee snaps, pressing Vadim’s head against the wall.

“Don’t hurt him!” I cry out, trying to make myself heard over the general uproar.

“We’re taking him in. Get the girl’s ID!”

“No!” Letting out a long cry of anguish, I scream myself hoarse. By the end of it, I don’t even recognize my voice anymore.

“Quiet down, unless you want to be arrested too,” the young, curly-haired cop advises me. “Don’t make things more complicated.”

Goatee and the other police officer go out the door, each pulling Vadim by one arm. He turns his devastated face toward me one last time as he struggles.

“Don’t tell them anything, Alma! Don’t get involved in this! Promise me!”

Those last words feel like a slap in the face. All he can think about is protecting me, at the exact moment when he’s the one in the most danger. Right now, at this very second, I love him more fiercely than I ever have. And once again, he’s been ripped away from me.

“Last name, first name, address, and phone number,” the young cop demands, pen and notepad in hand.

“Alma Lancaster… What’s going to happen to him now?” I ask, rushing to the window.

“You’re going to go home and remain available to the police. You may be contacted in the coming days. Now, address and phone number,” he repeats.

I stare at his tight, slicked-back curls, thinking of Vadim’s silky waves that I love so much. That I already miss. I’m so scared for him.

“If you want some advice, woman to woman,” the officer with the ponytail says, “change the company you keep. A girl like you has no business in this apartment with this—”

“You don’t know him at all!”

I watch him being shoved into a police car parked in the street, a hand that isn’t mine pressed roughly against his hair. He has just enough time to look up toward the window. His clear gray eyes search for me. My heart implodes with a foolish, futile happiness, as fleeting as it is painful.

He saw me, I know it. He saw that I saw him. And I couldn’t think of anything to say to him, anything to shout down to him…

I’m mortified.

I leave my contact information with the police, who finally leave once they have it. Then, I tidy up the apartment, pick up my underwear, and gather a few things Vadim might need. Will I even be able to take them to him? When? And what am I supposed to do now?

Stop crying, for starters.