Thomas & January (Sleepless 2)

“January! Oh my God! How are you?”

“Oh, you know, just hangin’ out,” I said, contorting my face at Tom. He shrugged his shoulders, physically approving of my choice of words. Nice. “Well, I mean, I’m in the slamma here in some little town an hour outside of London, but...”

“What! Why! Oh my God, January! What is going on? Do I need to call the Embassy?”

“July, we’re in the U.K., not Nicaragua, calm down.” Tom laughed.

“Who was that?” July asked.

“Oh, that’s Tom,” I said, without making eye contact.

“May I speak with him?”

“No.”

“Why ever not?”

“Because it’s unnecessary. I’m calling you because I’ve got a free call and you’re the only person I could think of to waste it on while they prove we are innocent of all our menacing charges.”

“What were you charged with?”

“Murder one.”

“Shut up, January,” she said, making me smile.

Officer David gave me the sign for "wrap it up." Apparently that signal is universal.

“Uh, I gotta go, buttercup. I love you, okay? I’ll call you when I break out. Tell Mom I love her and let her know I’m getting lots and lots of prison tattoos with the name ‘Bubba,’ or whatever the English equivalent to Bubba is, on my chest and arms.”

“Love you too,” she said and I hung up.

I walked over to Tom and sat next to him in one of the dirty plastic chairs that lay in several lines, to accommodate the staggering number of men and women, no doubt. I’m being sarcastic. There was one other gentleman in there and he was drunk as a skunk and so far off we could barely see him.

“I take it your sister is well?”

“Very.”

“Embassy?”

“Yes, she’s a bit...dramatic.”

“You don’t say?” he said, with a gentle smirk on his face.

“Good news!” We heard behind us. We both stood and faced Officer David. “You’ve been cleared of all charges. They found ya’ car right where you left it. I hadn’t looked far enough it seems.”

“Oh thank God!” I said, grasping at my chest.

“What can we expect from here?” Tom asked.

“You’re free to go, but I’d wait ’ere if I was you. Night’s cooled things off a bit. You can use that phone to ring your friend.”

“Thank you,” Tom said, walking back to the wall phone. He dialed Jason and I waited impatiently beside him, desperate to leave the place. My first impressions of England weren’t impressing. “Jason?” I heard. “Yeah, we’re good, bro. Thanks.” Laughing. “Yeah, okay, that’s fine, dude. Oh, good, good. All right,” he said, glancing at his watch, “cool. Talk to you later.”

He hung up.

“What’d he say?” I asked.

“The rental company will deliver a new car here in the next half hour.”