***

The car screamed to life as she twisted the key. Pounding her foot to the floor, the tires squealed on the blacktop as the car lurched forward, taking flight at her command. The guard at the gate barely had time to get the gates open before the little, black Trans Am barreled trough showing no indication of stopping, open or not. Karen didn't notice his expression, nor did she care; she had one thought on her mind-Bailing her fifteen-year-old son out of jail. *** "No, sir, I had no idea he was there." Karen studied the hulking form in blue behind the desk. He didn't look happy to be filing reports at midnight. He didn't look happy to be dealing with a hysterical mother at midnight. And he didn't look happy to have had the honor of booking Izzy High's stepson. The reporters had been banging on the doors of the precinct for two hours, begging for a statement. Karen had battled them too, and she hadn't been amused either. They had come at her with lightening speed when the little car pulled up by the curb, shoving tape recorders in her direction, questions flying about. She ignored them, and pushed her way through. *** "What was on your mind?" She pulled her son through the crowd that waited as cameras flashed at the pair. Karen fought their efforts to block her, Bobby remaining limp and uncommitted to the fight. Opening the passenger side door she shoved the boy into the seat and slammed the door then pounced around to the driver's side with a fury that made even the most aggressive reporters step back in fear. Flinging her door wide, she dove into the car, slammed the door and pulled away with no regard to the hapless reporters who jumped to avoid being hit. Looking over at the hunched body beside her, Karen searched for the child she had known; this boy was a stranger. In just one short day, he had become someone foreign and frightening. "You're going to be sixteen next month, is this how we're going to start off the new age?" She waited. Silence. "Bobby, don't do this to me now." Karen's voice trembled and her hands tightened around the wheel as she willed herself not to cry. "What am I going to tell Isaiah?" "Yeah, this is bad, huh?" He looked at her for the first time since being retrieved from the barred cell. "Imagine the publicity." His gaze fell back to the floor.