71. Panic is for chickens

**Emara Stone**

“Emara. Come here.”
My bladder shrieks in fear and I gulp nervously as I follow my dad to the other room, which has a table and two chairs allotted on either side. Screeches echo in the room as he pulls out a chair and orders me to sit.
*Don’t panic. Panic is for chickens.*
I remind myself that I am not a scared chicken, but princess- “Emara, I want you to answer honestly everything that you know.” My dad warns me in his lethal cop tone, that I have only witnessed him talking over the phone.
“Dad, I-I am sorr-” He bluntly cuts my attempt for an apology and asks, “Who invited you to that party?”
My heart twerks panickingly and I look down at my fidgeting fingers on the table. He knows I secretly went out in the night without his acknowledgement. My father is beyond hurt. He is beyond the word ‘angry.’
“No one. We went ourselves.” I say dejectedly. Hiding won’t make penguins pink.
“Was that kid Ryan there?” His gaze stays cold at me and I nod in silence. “And his friends?” I nod again. He scribbles something on the paper then looks up at me gravely, “Do you know what kind of party it was?”
“A fighting tournament.” My voice gets lower, like my grades.
“It was a drug party.”
My eyes shoot up at him, wide and full of shock. Dad interlinks his fingers and leans forward with a serious face. “Underground parties are covered in the name of illegal fights, but their internal goal is to smuggle drugs to their rich clients.”
Red flags hoist up in my head as Ethan and Zydus’s conversation plays in my pretty head. Expensive crystals-Imported stuff-In demand.
Ryan had warned Ethan to get out of Zydick’s circle. Because he knew what they were selling. *But did he really get out of his group? Or is he still in contact with that dick?*
“Drugs from Cuba and Durban are imported here via East Sea port and delivered to their clients for taste and trail during these fighting tournaments. Coz it is said to enhance body’s agility and observing senses. The drug, Moonlight crystals are said to be four times more potent than cocaine. Which makes people savage and hyped up to violence. That’s why they are commonly sold into orange zones where riots and violent activities are noticed maximum. Making them a perfect product for fight club markets.”
Sweat pricks on my skin as I realize how deeply I am stuck. This time by my own stupidity. No doubt why Daniel was hesitant to give us the address at first. I should have listened to Ana. I knew she was one smart brain in my life.
*Coz now I am fucked. That too without a condom.*
“Did you take any of those stuff, Emara?” My father asks me with a scrutiny of an eagle. One lie and he will throw my princess ass in the dungeon.
I shake my head like a broken doll whose switch is as useless as my panties I am shitting in right now.
“Okay. I want you to tell me every detail of that party and people you met there.” He pulls out a fresh A4 size paper and a pen with royal blue ink to write my statement.
“I swear I don’t know anyone. I just heard about the fight and went there to see Ryan only.” My throat gets clogged by the time I reach to Ryan.
“You are lying.” His clenched fist bangs on the table and I jerk back in absolute fear. “No one could have known about the location except their rats.” Flares of anger visible in his eyes as he glares back at me with so much intensity that I can see my future being grounded in my tower forever.
*He is really hurt this time.*
I feel my heart throbbing at the sight of it and the urge to get up and run for the wild seems more logical than telling him the real story of my screwed up life.
“The locations are decided a few hours before the event and that’s why it gets hard to track their activities. So, I want you to tell me every name you know.” My father says as he brings out his hands together on the table and gives a stark look of severity.
I gulp under his cop stare and sweat like a culprit. “There was this guy in white pants and he controlled the crowd through a mic.” The acid in my stomach starts to bubble uncomfortably, and I realize I really lack testosterone for all this.
“Name?”
“I don’t know his name. And there were fighters with weird names, Hyena, Alpha, Dinosaurs, Bacter-” My tongue halts in its expedition as I think of Ethan. *Fuck!*
If my dad found out about Ethan being directly linked to these drug scandals, he would not leave him out. Because the man sitting in front of me is not just my father, but a hardcore police officer.
And right now, all he desire is to catch up those smugglers at the cost of anything, even his daughter or son.
“Emara, I need real names. And at this very moment, before they flea the city or get underground with Moonlight crystals.” His eyes appear as cold as the icy depths of the Pacific while they gawk me as a suspect. *Shit!*
“Who else was there?” He growls, and I flinch back at his rawness.
Zydus. He was the one to offer drugs to Ethan. He said he owed him money for the powder my brother took. *That fucking idiot.*
“Emara. I know you know the name.” His eyes read mine and I look everywhere in the room expect the unfriendly cop.
If I told Zydus’s name, Ethan’s name will eventually pop out from his drug circuit. My dad will be vividly hurt knowing his best sperm took illegal drugs and fought barbarically in the tournament, something that he finds it filthy. I can’t see Ethan in jail or worse, I can’t destroy his career for something he took mistakingly.
“Whomever you are trying to protect, will not work.” The cop barks at me roughly, and I seem to find it hard to breathe. My brother is one smart man in our family. He is a sweet, intelligent guy and I can’t spoil his bright future.
“I want the names linked with the drug racket. And if you didn’t tell me, I will be forced to take actions against you and your friends sitting outside.”
My breathing hikes and I feel panic in my panties as fear bubbles in me and the constipation reaches its zenith.
“Emara, name!” He growls and I blurt the first name comes in my mind.
“Dakota.”