? This is the stupidest goddamned thing --'

"'That's it,' he said, and took a little silver micropore hood off his belt, the
kind that you cinch up under the chin so the person inside can't talk? I started
squirming away then, pleading with him, and I finally caught the desk sergeant's
eye. 'He can't do this! Please! Don't let him do this! I'm in a *police station*
-- why are you letting him do this?'

"And the cop smiled and said, 'You're absolutely right, little girl. That's
enough of that.' The Sony cop didn't pay any attention. He grabbed my head and
stuffed it into the hood and tried to get the chin strap in place. I shook my
head as best as I could, and then the hood was being taken off my head again,
and the Sony cop looked like he wanted to nail the other cop, but he didn't. The
desk sergeant bent down and cut my straps, then helped me to my feet.

"'You're not going to give me any trouble, are you?' he said, as he led me
around to a nice, ergo office chair.

"'No sir!'

"'You just sit there, then, and I'll be with you in a moment.'

"I sat down and rubbed my wrists and ankles. My left ankle was oozing blood from
where it had been rubbed raw. I couldn't believe that the Sony Family could
inflict such indignities on my cute little person. I was so goddamn
self-righteous, and I know I was smirking as the desk sergeant chewed out the
Sony cop, taking down his badge number and so on so that I'd have it.

"I thanked the cop profusely, and I kept on thanking him as he booked me and
printed me and took my mug shots. I was joking and maybe even flirting a little.
I was a cute fifteen-year-old and I knew it. After the nastiness with the Sony
cops, being processed into the criminal justice system seemed mild and
inoffensive. It didn't really occur to me that I was being *arrested* until my
good pal the cop asked me to turn out my pockets before he put me in the cell.

"'Wait!' I said. 'Sergeant Lorenzi, wait! You don't have to put me in a *cell*,
do you, Sergeant Lorenzi? Sergeant Lorenzi! I don't need to go into a cell! Let
me call my mom, she'll come down and drop the charges, and I can wait here. I'll
help out. I can get coffee. Sergeant Lorenzi!'

"For a second, it looked like he was going to go through with it. Then he
relented and I spent the next couple hours fetching and filing and even running
out for coffee -- that's how much he trusted me -- while we waited for Mom to
show up. I was actually feeling pret