The Revolution of Riley

We each hand him our purses and he leads us to a quiet and small seating area. The walls have patches of paint missing making the room like it has scabs. The light above us keeps flickering on and off and the sticky floor beneath us causes our feet to make suction noises as we move them. He tells us to sit on a hard rickety bench in the back of the room. This place looks like jail. I wonder if they will let us have a phone call. I look at Keri and Alyssa to see if they are as scared as I am. Keri keeps rolling her eyes and sucking her teeth, probably wishing that she never came with us and Alyssa hasn’t looked up from her boots once. After ten minutes, the door shakes from a knock from our very angry and disappointed mothers. We listen as the security guards explain the situation to them and watch as the worry grows on their faces. They explain that they are in the process of searching our things and that they will be back soon to let us know the outcome. Our moms stay quiet until the security guards come back in with an expression on their faces to let us know that the worst has happened.
Ms. Brixton instantly stands to her feet. “Well, did you find anything?”
The guard nods his head and holds up a purse. “Whose purse is this?” he asks.
I recognize it instantly. It’s been sitting on my shelf for the past two weeks. It’s Alyssa’s.