Busted

She ran away from me. "YOU FUCKING PERVERT! SOMEONE GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" She was screaming. 4 big fucking security guards surrounded me and I just smiled and nodded at them. They lead me, roughly, out of the building. Marley stood there with Andi, scowling at me while the guards held me.

"The fuck is going on? I'm out of the building. I thought we were friends." I said to Marley.

"The police are on their way pervert." Andi said.

"Yeah why would I be friends with a creep like you?" Marley shrieked. This was bad. Fucking Bella had made me forget all about the 'friends' thing. Also the look Marley gave me made me think it was like some secret nod that we WERE friends. This fucking curse. Wait. Did she say the police were coming?

Two police cars showed up and 4 guys came out to greet us.

"What seems to be the problem here?" The officer asked. I knew better than to talk to the cops.

"He touched my tits, and my pussy. He's a fucking creep and I feel really threatened by him." Marley lied. I just rolled my eyes.

"Alright ma'am, no worries. We'll take care of this son of a bitch." Said the portly cop with the southern accent.

"What on EARTH is going on here?" Bella was walking out of the building, on wobbly feet.

"This man accosted this young lady. We're taking him down to the station." The cop said to her. Bella looked at me and then Marley and sighed heavily.

"I can't fucking believe this. John, don't talk to anyone. I will get my lawyer and we will get this handled." She gently patted my back. "I'll have a word with Ms. Harmon."

I was actually arrested. Holy shit. I sat there in the back of the car wondering about the curse. How could I tell? I know it might've been obvious that Marley wasn't my friend but to this extent? So it's all or nothing and there was no way to know for sure? This curse was aptly named then. I'm surprised this hadn't happened sooner. Alan could've fucked me up, Bella could've definitely fucked me up. I had just been lucky.

I guess in the future, if I have one, I will have to work on people first. Make them my friends for sure and then use the curse. That's how I should've always been doing it.

I had plans for next weekend. Emily's sister was turning 18 out in Michigan and I was going to go surprise her. Maybe it's good that I hadn't!

"Nothing to say huh." The cop said. He was right, I had nothing to say to him. "Might be better for you to sort this out with us."

I ignored him and kept contemplating my life. They kept trying to get me to talk but all throughout the car ride, all through the processing and all the way to the cell, I hadn't said anything. I leaned back against the wall, closing my eyes to think. The cell was mostly empty except for a really old guy and a younger Asian kid.

I woke up abruptly to my wrist being grabbed. I looked up and saw the Asian kid holding my wrist. He laughed when he saw the branding on my wrist.

"Ha! Haha! Friendship curse. I know why you're here!" He was laughing hard at me. It was annoying but I just laughed with him.

"I got unlucky." I said.

"No, you got very lucky. You're just stupid." He said flatly.

"You know how this works?" I said, holding up my wrist. He breathed in quickly then shook his head.

"Nope, buuuuuut laundry place down in Chinatown on Mott. Liu Shun is my cousin he might know a guy. He's into that shit." He said.

"Who do I tell him you are?" I asked.

"Don't. I am 'black sheep' my name will get you ignored." He held up his wrist. It had a similar burn but different characters.

"What's that one? How many are there?"

"Criminal's Boon. I can steal from anyone as long as they're richer than me." He smiled. I smiled too.

"So what happened?"

"Guy in grey hoodie, could've sworn it was Bill Gates." We both laughed.

"So we're both stupid."

"You have to be to get one of these." He held up his wrist. "I don't know how many there are. It's not a curse, not really. Would you trade it away?"

I thought about it. I was in a jail in a fuckin police precinct, and I had lost any hope at a normal future. "Nah, I wouldn't trade it for anything." I said smiling.

"Yeah, maybe if you go learn about it you can figure out more about it." He said.

"Can you get rid of it?" I asked.

"There is a way. But everyone remembers what you did. And you might die." He laughed.

"So that's a no, then." I laughed too.

"Word of advice. Play the role of the curse. Don't try to cheat it or this shit happens." He motioned to the prison.

I considered what he was saying. I had taken people who were barely friends of mine, like the neighbors, and played fast and lose with their friendships. I had used the technicality of being friends to score sex, rather than allowing it to happen naturally. Was that the key? He knew more than I did.

"I'll keep that in mind."

About 4 hours passed before someone came for me. "Doe, you're out." I fist bumped the Asian kid and wished him luck.

"If I make more money than you don't fucking steal from me." I said jokingly.

"The curses don't work on each other. But if you drive a nice car in front of me, no promises." He smiled.

I was met by Bella and another busty brunette woman in the lobby.

"Oh shit. John are you okay? I can't fucking believe this. I told Marley I would follow her whole career and ruin her if she didn't cut the shit. Can you believe her? I am so sorry." She kissed me on the lips. "This is Hayley, she is a fierce fucking attorney and one of my oldest friends." I shook her hand warmly.

"Any friend of Bella's is a friend of mine. Glad to know you can mobilize in a moment's notice." I smiled at her.

"Absolutely. False claims of sexual assault are really dangerous. I hate liars." She said smiling. I decided to test the waters.

"Is there any way I can repay you? You really saved my ass." I said genuinely.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just doing my job. Here, if you end up in there again now you have my number." She smiled. I considered pushing for more but I remembered the Asian kid's words. Play the role. I took the card and pocketed it.

"Thank you. I will only call you." I winked. She blushed.

"I'll give you a ride back to your car." Bella said, still in her kill workout clothes. I followed her and waved goodbye to Hayley. "Some fucking day huh?" Bella asked as we got in her car.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I had fun with you though." I said to her genuinely. She gave me a warm smile and nodded.

"Me too, John. Just. Be on time tomorrow. Try not to impregnate half your building tonight." She nudged my shoulder.

"I already got you." I said nudging her back.

"Oh fuck. I think you actually did too, you came so fucking deep in me. I'm not on the pill." I shot her a devilish glance.

"You naughty bitch."

"It worked out! You wouldn't have been able to knock me up if I had!" She protested. Then she stuck her tongue out and kissed me again. "You're so cute."

I reluctantly got out of the car and into my own. Playing the role. This felt better. I also needed to go to Chinatown to get some more info.