Grounded
CHAPTER 2

Gina pulled at her car door, the only prized possession she had obtained for working at the bank for four years. Sometimes she wondered how far she'd have gone if she had not quit the job; but she had to, it would not have gone well for her; at least that was what she thought. Besides, she loved bartending, a strange passion. She peeked into her ringing phone as she fastened her seat belt; it was a strange number. "Yes," she spoke after she pressed the receive button.

"Hello," came the reply from the other end; "I need to speak with Gina please." The man said, his accent was distinct, Gina thought she might have heard him speak somewhere before.

"You have her on the line already." Gina replied reluctantly.

"This is Downtown Police; we have your brother at the station; he was brought in this morning for theft and has asked that we call you." He said rather calmly.

Gina was in shock for a few seconds; "what!" she exclaimed when she finally found her voice. "We have your brother_"

"Sorry, I think you got the wrong number." She replied very quickly, interrupting him. Her whole thoughts were filled with disbelief.

"Ma'am, you are certain Andrew Johnson is not your brother, Alright; came the reply from the husky voice at the other end of the phone; "have a pleasant_"

"Wait; Gina interrupted him again; "Oh my dear God." She muttered under her breath; she was totally taken aback by the situation; "he is my brother." She finally replied, lowering her voice in shame. "Downtown Police Station, I'll be there in a jiffy." She concluded with uneasiness and the line went dead.

"Urgghh! The fool!" she bellowed, hitting her fist against the car horn. She didn't want to have anything to do with the police; but if her brother didn't get her involved, then who else would? She started the car and stepped on the accelerator swiftly. Andrew could have called Galena; Gina couldn't understand why he chose to call her.

She had not set her eyes on her brother, Andrew, for three years; this was why she was surprised when the man at the other end of the phone claimed Andrew was at the Police Station. He was diagnosed with kleptomania three years ago; he broke into a neighbor's house shortly after and then vanished. No one had seen or heard from him ever since. He left their family house flooded with inconsiderate reporters trying to make a story for the papers, the cops didn't make things any easier. For a moment, her family was in the spotlight; this was Gina's view as she looked from the bright side. She didn't care much back then because she'd wake up early and leave for work at the bank just before the reporters and the cops began to troop in. Now she cared because this was one of the most critical moments in her life; everyone was against her for quitting her bank job.

She pulled up in front of the police station, grabbed her purse to see if she had a lot of cash in it; she'd always interpreted the cops to be extortionists. She stepped down courteously and put her dark glasses on, she needed it for a little twist in identity; it would be embarrassing for anyone to recognize her in some other place as the relative of a thief. She ignored everyone around her as she got into the police station and marched right on like she knew where she was headed. She gave up pretending to know her way around and finally went back to the front desk to ask for help. The young man with dark hair and hazel eyes at the front desk answered her so sweetly, she couldn't believe it was a police station. He put a call through to the Police Chief from the landline and she was soon following behind, struggling to meet up as he walked very briskly yet smartly.

Lightly, his knuckles met with the door they were standing right in front of and his other hand immediately bent the doorknob to let them in; on the door was written boldly, 'The Police Chief.' The office was a beauty to behold; the floor shone quite differently from that on the outside of the office, it appeared to be marble-like, and the room was freezing cold. The table at the center of the room had so many files on them but they were sorted so neatly and piled up into one big stack. Below the table was a little dustbin that contained a few mussed papers and an apple core. She rubbed her hands together, she was cold; she walked right up to the table and sat in front of the young man at the opposite side of the table. He was having a conversation over the phone and was speaking in a dialect she had not heard before. She let her eyes run from her ticking wristwatch to the small clock on the wall and then to the art on the other side of the wall. "You're lucky." The police chief stated as he hung the phone up and faced Gina; "forgive my manners. Gina am I correct?" he asked.

Gina nodded her head in affirmation. "Your brother, he began speaking again much slowly this time; "he stole from a mall downtown, but you are lucky because the mall's owner isn't going to press charges." He stated, giving her a big smile. Gina forced a smile; for a moment, she wished the mall's owner was ready to press charges. She felt like she knew the Police Chief somehow, but she couldn't recollect properly.

"I'll let him go, he said in a whisper; "I cannot throw so much importance on theft at the moment because there are cases way bigger than this that I need to trash out; theft is a huge crime, but your brother was unarmed and did not resist arrest. I can pretend that this never happened." He reached into his drawer and drew out an empty A4 sized paper; he pushed it across the table to Gina. "I would need you to put down a written statement including that you have collected Andrew; don't forget your name and signature at the end of the statement."

"Thank you very much, I know this is a major favor." Gina said softly as she pulled her pen from her purse; thinking about how she didn't even have to pay a dime.

He left her scribbling notes on the paper and appeared minutes later with Andrew; the Police Chief was right; they were too busy handling a lot of other cases to handle Andrew. He looked good as new. She could not believe her eyes for a moment; she had not set eyes on Andrew in three years; he looked so muscular and handsome. His hair was trimmed low, his broad chest stood out in front of him. He had neither lost that chiseled jaw nor his cute look. She didn't want to come down heavily on him, it would be the case of the pot calling the kettle black. Her life was almost as intricate as his. She curved her lips into a smile and stood up to hug him.

"Galena." He called out in his husky voice as his arms went around Gina. He still hadn't figured the difference between his twin sisters. This had always been a problem for him since childhood.

"It's Gina." She corrected as she unlocked herself from his warm embrace, her ears still felt ticklish from the effect of his deep voice. "Thank you very much." She said to the Police Chief who stood at a corner, observing the duo and smiling. "Gina, have we met before?" the Police Chief asked, moving closer to her.

She had strongly believed so when she walked into his office earlier, but she didn't know any longer. "-I don't think we have." She replied cringing her eyes.

"It's just; you look really familiar" he said.

The conversation was beginning to seem awkward, especially with her brother in the middle of it.

She drew out her car key from her purse; "wait in the car; the red minivan right in front of this building." She said to Andrew gently. He took the key from her and left the office.

"I met this lady, Gina;" -the Police Chief folded his arms and rested on the table trying to recollect vividly; "-she had gotten in a fight with her mother and had a problem getting to her friend. I remember giving her a ride. You bear a resemblance to her and you even share her name." he pointed out.

It struck Gina immediately; she remembered. The night she had the heated argument with her mother just before she had disappeared months ago. She had left home in the middle of the night and wandered absentmindedly on the streets. His car had almost hit her that night; it seemed he was also lost in thoughts. He finally helped her get to Craig's house and they shared their problems as he drove through the cold night. He had told her that his wife had absconded with their nine year old son. He had no clue why she left; she left him no notes or messages and disappeared without a trace.

"I remember; she smiled, "Monte's the name, right?" Gina asked him still smiling.

He nodded; "it's nice to see you again; I never knew you were the Police Chief." She added.

He laughed; they left his office and began walking out of the police station. She engaged him in a conversation for he was so easy to speak to. He got her phone number just as they got outside the station. As he bade her goodbye and spoke to her about sitting for a cup of coffee, she suddenly stopped in her tracks in bewilderment and began to mutter strange words as she looked around. She turned to Monte, her eyes filled with horror like she had just seen a ghost, her lips parted to let the words out of her mouth.

"My car; she screamed almost going out of control; "It was right here, I parked it here.... Andrew...I gave him the keys...the idiot stole my car!!" she was in a fit of a stammer. She could not believe it; her car was gone.

Monte could barely understand her fully, but he could see that something was terribly wrong for she had even removed her glasses and her expression was that of pain. Her heart dropped; this was it for her, she had finally lost everything.