Red Clover by Florence Osmund Read Free Book Online

shouted. “This is a raid!” A stream of policemen rushed in after him, causing complete pandemonium. The overlapping high-pitched screams from the patrons made it impossible to hear what the police were saying.
    Lee turned around to seek out Robin, but she was nowhere to be seen. Several people headed toward the back of the bar, and Lee followed suit.
    But before he got more than a few feet, a policeman grabbed his arm and said, “You’re not going anywhere.”
    He pushed Lee into a corner with about twenty-five others and said, “If any of you move, you’ll be tased.”
    Lee stood among the other detainees, petrified of what was going to happen next. Where was Robin? Had she gotten away?
    They were escorted to one of several paddy wagons parked in front of the nightclub. Lee took a seat next to the guy at the bar who had hit on him.
    “First bust?” he asked.
    Lee nodded. “What are we being busted for?”
    “Oh, they’ll come up with something, you can be sure. They think if they harass us enough, we’ll go away.”
    “You’ve been arrested before?”
    “Many times, honey.”
    A policeman slammed the back door shut, and a minute later, the vehicle started moving.
    “What happens now?” he asked LaRue.
    “They’ll put us all in a cell, and then book us one by one. We’ll be out in a few hours.”
    LaRue turned out to be right. Squeezed into a holding cell, they were called out one by one for booking. Robin was not among them. Lee was one of the first pulled out. They searched him and then took down his name, address, date of birth, social security number, and place of employment. When he told them he was a student, they asked for the name of his school. After being photographed and fingerprinted, he was led back to the cell.
    When everyone had been booked, they were each handed a Desk Appearance ticket that included a court date. The charge was public lewdness. They were told they could leave.
    Lee followed the others outside, and not knowing what else to do, stood with them while they talked about how they were going to get back to their cars. The group headed down the street. Lee followed.
    They walked several blocks until they came upon a drug store. One of the more conservatively dressed men went in and called for several taxis. It was a twenty-minute ride back to Rosco’s, four people to a taxi.
    Lee stewed the entire weekend over what happened, highly upset with Robin for abandoning him. He didn’t have her home phone number, so he couldn’t call her, but she could have called him at the lab.
    When Robin arrived to work the next day, Lee was talking with Dr. Rad about their tasks for the morning. She joined them but avoided eye contact. They were assigned to pruning peach saplings in the main greenhouse, and as soon as Dr. Rad was out of earshot, he confronted her.
    “Where the hell were you Friday night? Do you know what happened to me?”
    “I heard. Look, I’m sorry. But when I saw that door burst open, I knew what was coming. My parents are understanding, but not that understanding. And my father being dean and everything...and I was there with a fake ID, so I would get whatever you got plus drinking as a minor. I had to book it out of there.”
    “Thanks a heap.”
    “I’m sorry. What did they get you with?”
    “Public lewdness. And they asked me for the name of my school. Why would they need to know that?”
    “What’s your school’s policy on students having an arrest record?”
    “I have no idea. This may come as a surprise to you, but that subject has never come up for me before now.”
    “I don’t blame you for being mad at me. I never should have taken you there.”
    “You got that right. And you could have called me over the weekend…you know, to see if I made it out okay. I would have called you, but I don’t have your number.”
    She jotted down her number and handed it to him.
    I don’t need it now.
    He thought he knew her. Now he wasn’t so sure who she was—a