The group of teens stood in a circle outside in their suburban neighborhood.

“Man,” said Robby. “It’s cold out here.”

Troy nodded. “You ain’t kiddin’.” He breathed out a trail of wispy cold air and drew his jacket closer to his body.

Tanner looked around with a curious face. The distinct sound of sirens played in the distance. “Hey, I hear the police.” The others too listened for a moment, and a few nodded with recognition. “Hear it?”

“Yeah,” Robby stated. “I hear em’. Think they’re getting closer, too.” He shifted a bit, looking a little uncomfortable. The sirens were, indeed, getting nearer to them.

Mike, though quiet up until this point, asked, “Don’t think they’re coming for our neighborhood, do you?” He looked at the others with patient eyes, and none answered for a few moments.

“Nah,” Tanner assured Mike. “Why would they be?” Mike slowly nodded, but still looked weary. Tanner looked down, and the sounds of siren grew ever louder. “I swear if that old b**** called the cops on us for ‘loitering’ again, I’m going to kill her,” he growled, contradicting himself somewhat.

Robby gave both Tanner and Mike stern looks, shaking his head ever so slightly. “Hey,” he said sternly. “She is old. She’s had trouble with kids in the past… Break-ins and stuff. We’re the first people you’d think of, and she’s old and worried.” Mike began to open his mouth to speak but the expression on Robby’s face stifled him from sharing his thoughts. Troy looked on at the scene silently, with his eyes moving slowly between Robby and the others.

“It ain’t fair, though,” Tanner proclaimed. “All we’re doin’ is standing outside, and she acts like we’re sacrificing a goat to the devil out here. She doesn’t know who we are, or what we’re getting’ away from.” His expression was pained, and he looked to the others (especially Mike) expectantly. Mike turned his eyes to the ground silently, and Troy simply turned to Robby as if he were waiting for something. The tall boy stood silent for some time, but he sighed after a few seconds and looked into Tanner’s face.

“She’s old,” Robby restated. Tanner just let out a sigh and sagged his shoulders slightly. The sirens drew closer, and the guys looked at each other. They all quickly walked or jogged over to behind a nearby bush. As they crouched from behind the bush, they watched as a police car turned onto their street with its lights flashing and sirens blaring. Mike groaned. The cops came down the street and began slowing down near where the boys were standing before.

“Knew it,” Tanner stated. Robby held up a hand cautiously. The cops then exited the vehicle and walked up to, not the old woman’s house, but a neighboring home, and banged upon the door. All four of the teenagers displayed confusion and looked upon the police with curious eyes. The door opened and a woman answered the knocking, and she began to talk to the officers with a worried look on her face. She stroked her hair nervously often and was visibly upset.

“I can’t hear a word they’re saying,” Robby stated in a hushed tone. Troy nodded in agreement. “What do you think’s going on?” The others shrugged. They still watched the scene unfold from behind the bushes. The police and the woman talked for a few minutes outside of her door until the point where a noise or a commotion within the home drew both the cops’ and the woman’s attention. The girl stepped out of her house completely and covered her mouth as tears began to well in her eyes, and the police suddenly stepped inside. Tanner began to squint his eyes as their movements became either unclear or obscured. For a few minutes, only a few yells were audible from the inside of the home and both the sight and the sound of the commotion were obscured. However, the girl on the porch was still visible, and she stood with her back to her door crying quietly.

All of the boys then watched as the police pushed out a drunken man in handcuffs. He was grumbling under his breath, and as the police dragged him to their car the man shot the woman a glare of anger.

“I-… I don’t love you!” the man shouted drunkenly, his words slurred and scattered. “… Call the cops on me? Stupid b****!” The woman just stood with her eyes to the ground with tears rolling down her cheeks as she made no rejection or even a response at all to the man’s words. The police pushed him into the car and closed its door. They went back up to the house and began talking to the girl again, although she seemed for the most part unresponsive, with the occasional nod being the only indicator that she was listening to the police officers’ words.

“I swear,” Mike said, “I could almost smell the beer on him from all the way over here!” Troy shot the boy an angry look, and again Mike shut his mouth and looked down at the ground shamefully. The two others hadn’t even noticed the small exchange beside them, and if they did they made no effort to acknowledge it. Robby simply stared with sad eyes at the helpless girl standing up on her porch, while Tanner stared at the gravel road ahead, his eyes not focused on anything in particular. Troy’s eyes went from one to the other as if he was studying them for only a few moments, and eventually he turned away from the two to watch as the cops left with the drunken man.

“Do any of us know her – or him?” Mike asked with his eyes following from one boy to another. Robby shook his head, his eyes not leaving the house where the girl had reentered before he turned to Mike.

“Him? No,” Robby stated. “.. But we all know this type of thing all too well." The four boys began staring blankly off to the side. Robby was right.