Page 96 of Shallow

The entire crowd goes silent—not that anyone can blame them. Most of them are here because they’ve either been addicted to drugs or alcohol or been busted for it. Police aren’t exactly the most welcomevisitors.

Two officers get out of their vehicles, one who obviously spends all of his off-duty time bench pressing unsuspecting gym members, and the other who spends his slurping donuts through a straw. Two very different mentalities, but oneagenda.

Which is apparentlyme.

The first one stands in front me, his expression unreadable. “Are you ShilohWest?”

What a dumb question. That’s like walking up to Brad Pitt and asking if he’s BradPitt.

“Yes.”

He nods to my shoulder and holds out his meaty hand. “I’m going to need you to hand over thebackpack.”

Voices sound muted, as if they’re echoing from within a long tunnel, and I’m standing outside of in a rainstorm. I’m still staring, my mouth hanging open, when someone pushes their way through the crowd and moves in behind me. “Excuse me, what’s thisabout?”

“And you are?” The rounder of the two officers tilts his head over myshoulder.

“Gary Herndon. I’m the facilitator of thisgroup.”

Oh, wonderful. Now Gary’s up to bat. This should look great on the report to JudgeOliver.

The same officer widens his stance and adjusts his hat, I assume in an effort to appear more authoritative. Zipping his fly would probably be more effective, but I’m not exactly in a position to dole out advice right now. “We received an anonymous tip that illegal drugs are being distributed at thislocation.”

“That’s absurd,” Gary scoffs. “This is an addiction rehabilitationmeeting.”

“I understand that, Mr. Herndon, but the call specifically stated that Miss West was in possession of drugs with an intent to sell at yourmeeting.”

When I was twelve years old, Taryn and I went to an amusement park in town. I usually avoided the touristy gathering place, but somehow, Taryn convinced me to get on one ride called The Rainbow. After sitting in a long rectangular seat, they swung me up into the air and I thought,Oh, maybe this won’t be so bad. Then they swung my ass back down at such warp speed I literally flew out of the seat, gravity no longer my friend. I felt suspended, my heart still beating, but ironically at peace with knowing it was only a matter of time until itstopped.

That’s exactly how I feel right now. Still stuck on that damn Rainbow, suspended in mid-air with my still heart beating, yet waiting for it tostop.

Frankie jumps in front of me, his face flushed with anger. “That’sbullshit!”

“Is it?” The muscular cop cracks his neck to the side. “Are you saying Miss West’s illegal substance history doesn’t give us probable cause to searchher?”

Wellplayed.

“Fuck,” Frankie mutters under hisbreath.

The cop smirks and holds out his hand again. “Hand over the bag, MissWest.”

I sigh as the bag slips down my arm, but Frankie isn’t into being so agreeable. Grabbing the strap, he shoves it back onto myshoulder.

“But it’s nother—”

“Shut up, Frankie.” Cutting him off, I soften the blow with a forced smile. “It’s fine. They’re not going to find anything anyway, so what’s the bigdeal?”

He narrows his eyes. “Fine.”

Nobody says another word as I hand over the backpack to Officer Meathead. I’m anxious as they drop the bag onto the hood of their car and dig through it with insanely bright flashlights, but I’m not nervous. I’m still considering calling Cary like I’d planned on when I hear arrogant laughter. I’m still gripping my phone when I glance up to see Meathead holding the biggest bag of weed I’ve ever seen in mylife.

“Gotta be at least forty grams in here,” he announces, flicking the bag with his finger. “All of it separated into smaller bags. That’s possession with intent todistribute.”

That can’t be right. There’s somemistake.

Leaving the Ziploc on the hood of his partner’s car, he pulls a set of silver handcuffs from his utility belt. “Turn around and put your hands behind you, MissWest.”

Keepyour hands and feet inside the ride at alltimes.