Ness swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?" he asked, truly confused. "I’m not in any trouble!"
"Oh, yes you are," Ness’s mother insisted. "Quite frankly, Ness, I’m very surprised at you. You never do things like this."
"Like what? I don’t know what you’re talking about!" Ness was becoming more perplexed by the second.
Ness’s mother sighed. "Ness," she began, "normally, when you run off to have these little adventures of yours, I don’t mind you getting into a little trouble. You always have a good reason for your actions, and I trust you to make the right decisions. You’re a thoughtful, strong boy, and I know that you’re only trying to bring peace to this world." Tears started to form in her eyes. "But when Captain Strong called me a little while ago, I began to wonder if you were still the wonderful son that I think you are."
Ness put a hand on his mother’s shoulder. "But Mom, I am," he reassured her. "You taught me right from wrong when I was growing up. I only try to do good things."
Ness’s mother looked up at her son. "Ness, I know what happened this afternoon at the arcade, and I’m very disappointed in you. How could you, Ness?" She began to sob.
"How could I what?"
"Ness, don’t act like you don’t know," she said. "You threatened two kids with a baseball bat and stole their money. Then you smashed up one of the pinball machines with your bat. Ness, why did you do it?"
Ness’s mouth fell open. "I didn’t!" he said, gasping in shock. "I was out with my friends all afternoon! You can ask any of them!"
"Ness, there are witnesses to this. Frank Fly saw what happened, and Mayor Pirkle himself happened to be driving by at the time of the incident. Both of them immediately reported what they’d seen to the Onett Police. Luckily, the kids weren’t hurt. The only damage done was to the pinball machine. By the time the police arrived, you were gone." Ness’s mother burst into tears. She took a look at her son, then walked past him to go downstairs.
"Where are you going, Mom?" Ness asked, following his mother.
"I’m going to call Captain Strong," she said firmly. "He’ll be here soon to take you down to the station."
"But Mom, you don’t understand! I really didn’t do it!" Ness cried, barely believing what was happening. "Don’t you believe me?"
She looked back at Ness. "I thought I could trust you, Ness," she sighed, "but I guess I was wrong." She picked up the phone and started to dial it.
Ness stood in the doorway, amazed. This had to all be a giant nightmare. This couldn’t possibly be real...could it?
An hour later, Ness found himself sitting in a jail cell at the Onett Police Station, staring at the walls. Captain Strong had questioned him, and, after a long discussion, had concluded that Ness was guilty and was trying to cover it up. A hearing would be scheduled sometime soon, but until then, Ness would be detained there.
None of this made any sense. Ness hadn’t done anything. What was he doing here? He longed to be sleeping in his own bed, in his own room, in his own house. Ness had decided that he would be better off anywhere but here.
All Ness could think about now was what his friends would think when they heard the news. Would they believe that he was a criminal? No, of course not. They had been with him the whole time, right? How could they believe it? But regardless, the thoughts still gnawed at him.
What would Paula say? Although there was nothing going on between them, Ness had always felt especially close to Paula, ever since the first time she’d sent him a psychic cry for help. Their relationship was somewhat undefined and often volleyed back and forth between friendship and romance. They never talked about it though. No, Ness and Paula just let it ride. Ness was still terribly upset that he and Paula had been fighting. He remembered the hurt in Paula’s eyes when he’d told Jeff that he would bring him home, leaving Paula with Poo. Even though they were fighting, Ness knew that Paula had expected him to bring her home. He was sorry now that he hadn’t.
A loud rapping on the door to his cell broke Ness’s trance. "Hello?" a voice said.
"Yeah, I’m here," answered Ness.
The door swung open, and for a second, Ness thought that he had been released. A police officer stood in front of him. "You get one phone call," he said, emotionless. He took Ness’s hand and led him out to a small room about the size of a closet. Inside, there was a telephone. "Use it wisely," the officer said as he closed the door. "I’ll be waiting outside."
"Okay." Ness nodded as he picked up the receiver. Who should he call? Well, his mother already knew where he was, so Ness decided to call one of his friends. He wanted to call Paula most of all. He started to dial her number but stopped halfway through, remembering their argument. He couldn’t talk to her, not this soon after their fight. He dialed Poo’s number instead. At least Poo could fill everyone in on what was going on.
The phone rang three times before it was answered. "Hello?" the voice on the other end said. Ness could tell that it was Poo’s master.
"Um, excuse me, Sir, but is Prince Poo around? It’s his friend, Ness."
"Ness? Of course! Here’s Poo," the old master said, handing the phone to Poo.
"Hello, Ness?" Poo said. "What’s up?"
"You’re not gonna believe me," said Ness, "but I’m in jail right now."
"You’re kidding!" Poo exclaimed right away. "Aren’t you?"
"I’m afraid not," Ness said, shaking his head. "The police said there are witnesses who say I threatened some kids in the arcade and broke a pinball machine with a baseball bat, so I’m stuck here until the hearing."
"But how can that be?" said Poo, shocked. "You were with us all day!"
"I know! That’s what I don’t understand!" Ness cried. "Anyway, I just thought you guys should know. I want you to tell the others about what happened."
"Sure," said Poo. "But I still don’t get it. Can’t we just testify and say you were with us?"
"Frank Fly and Mayor Pirkle both claim to have seen the incident, not to mention the kids involved," said Ness. "It would be your word against theirs. You couldn’t win."
"All right," said Poo, shaking his head in disbelief. "I’ll tell the others what happened. I guess there’ll be no trip to the Lost Underworld tomorrow."
"Oh, you can still go if you want too," Ness replied. "I just won’t be there."
"Okay. I’ll have to call the others and find out what they want to do, I guess."
"Thanks, Poo." Ness sighed. "Oh, and one more thing..."
"Just name it," Poo said. "Anything."
"Tell Paula that I’m sorry."
"I will." Poo paused. "So long for now, I guess."
"Bye." Ness hung up the phone and opened the door. The officer was still standing there, as promised.
"Come on, let’s get you back to your cell," he said, grabbing Ness’s arm and leading him back. He let Ness into the tiny cell and locked the door. "Sweet dreams," he whispered as he walked away, leaving Ness alone again.
Ness just sat there. How could he sleep when all he could think about was whether or not Paula would forgive him?