Prison ...Cell... Phone

It had been a curious week, Sergio and his friends were spending their final year trip in the Algarve. There were about thirty teenagers spread throughout six hotel rooms.
It had been a blast. No parents, no rules and enough money to party, eat and sleep properly. They would spend their days sleeping or sunbathing on the beach.

That day hadn’t been any different, but around 11 in the evening, something happened. Sergio had been having fun throwing some carnival bombs in an empty parking lot near the hotel, when a police officer passed by. Usually in Spain, these bombs are not forbidden, so Sergio was caught by surprise when the officer shouted at him. The Portuguese friends tried to explain but it was too late; the police officer made Sergio get into the car like a real criminal.

Sergio was in a cell thinking about how curious the week had been; so peaceful and worry-free. The air was heavy and humid and you could see the moss growing in the corners of that room divided by bars.
It all happened so quickly, no time to neither think nor react and this was no light matter. There were two options: he could go free and without charges, or the police officers could take the xenophobic road and write something on his clean criminal record. None of them were easy.

Everything rushed to his head… the week, that afternoon dancing and playing cards in the hotel, the police car and the sound of the police officer’s Portuguese voice.
Suddenly he started to hear what seemed to be a rhythmic clacking of plastic against the metal bed. It was his cell phone. Apparently the police officers had forgotten to search for weapons someone who they considered dangerous.

Sergio laughed to himself and answered the phone. Lots of familiar and worried voices were heard from the other side.
‘Hey, “tio”… where are you?” shouted one of his friends among other voices.
‘Ask him if he is alright…’ someone said.
‘Well… I’m okay. I’m at the police station in a tiny cell. Can you ask Lorenzo to come and get me?... He is not a minor, right?’ Sergio whispered.
‘Yeah… yeah! Wait a couple of minutes… We’ll go and get you. What’s it like? You know… to be in a filthy cell?’
‘Just shut up and come! I’ll tell you later.’

As he was hanging up the phone and the silence settled down, he immediately started to miss those voices. Sergio remained still, somewhat incapable of moving, still trying to understand his new reality.

No turning back now, he was alone and afraid.

All he could do was to wait.