"Was it really necessary to duct tape my hands to the chair? You do realize that if the wrong person were to come in here, they could get some serious trouble," Zelda pointed out. The twins and Lucy had strapped her to a chair in the apartment above the Spike Pit after returning Zelda there.
"The wrong people don't seem to ever make it past Rufus," Lucy explained. "And you've already proven yourself to be opt to run off. Now I want you to tell me everything you and your little did last night."
"Look, not to sound coy, but I really don't know what you're talking about. Like I said, the last few days have been..."
"A haze. Right, right, like someone just loses their memory of the last few days, which happen to include the events I want to know about. Real convenient."
"Its not so much I forgot, its like remembering everything from the mind of a squirrel."
"I would have thought your entire life would have been lived out with the mind of an even smaller rodent."
"Look, you promised me that if I helped delete the damaged done at Ath- Linda's house you would tell me what happened the last few days. Come now, Ms. Pierce, I know you're not one to break your word."
"You don't know me!" Lucy snapped, but then paused. As much as she hated it, the ditz was right. Lucy Pierce had always made an effort to be a trustworthy person, whether it be to her patrons or to complete strangers. Most other Goths felt a need to be resentful and rude, but Lucy had learned long ago that regardless of how you dressed, most people tended to help a dependable person over a churlish one. Though this girl made her really want to make an exception to her principle. "Fine, I'll tell you what I know. But first answer me three questions."
"Fair enough," Zelda said, relieved just to have been able to secure some explanations.
"Alright. Did you plant cocaine to frame Joni, Linda, and Jayne?"
"I don't-" Suddenly a memory came into focus, of three small bags of a white powder. Zelda remembered thinking how much they looked like kool aid, but someone had stopped her before she had tried to mix any with water. "Yes, I think so. Well not me, but the other girls. Oh my god, I really helped get three girls thrown in jail..."
Lucy nodded. This was more a confirmation than a realization, but the information was still useful. "So that's question one. Number two, where did you ladies get the coke?"
Another memory seemed to float to the surface of the chaos of Zelda's mind. "Mike- er..." that wasn't right. A voice was supplying a new name to the girl who had once been her friend's little brother. "Michelle. The French girl. Her brother had a stockpile of it."
"Very good. Okay, last question." Lucy crouched until she was at eye level with Zelda. "Where's this stash?"
Zelda's mind managed to zero in again on the murky memory, but she held from blurting out the location just yet. "If I were to tell you, what would you plan on doing with the information?"
Lucy could think of no point in lying to the girl. After all, she seemed to be acting far smarter than Joni had led Lucy to believe she was, and if she was then she should have already figured it out. If not, then she was most likely too stupid to manage an escape beforehand anyhow. "If you were to lead me to the stash, it would soon turn out that the girls had been framed by some peers of theirs trying to cover their own transgressions."
"And would I happen to be one of their 'peers'?"
"That would depend on your level of cooperation, I suppose."
Zelda allowed herself a grin. Things were finally showing promise. "Well then," she said, "I better be very involved then, shouldn't I?"
