Teenage Troubles: Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Crééa Street, Fait 9th of September 2015, 9:19 AM
"You're the reason you're late, not us, Lyall." A graying, grumpy and gloomy example of a rabbit half-growled as he pressed his paw on the accelerator, needlessly over-taking the black hatchback that had been driving at a decent speed.
Crawford's personality could only be described as a bigoted, hypocritical, luddite of a rabbit whose only achievement in life was occasionally helping the impoverished communities around the world. He would be off every six months to go do something, but 9/10 times he was just delivering sermons there and not at all fixing their problems. HIV crisis? Take a pilgrimage. Depression? Apparently it doesn't exist. Gay thoughts? Turn it off with conversion therapy, a noose and what was now his third book describing why anything not straight should be a crime.
His body was exactly what you'd expect of a cowardly man: frail, no taller than 5'10, his fur a mixture of white and gray splotches, drooping ears, gnarled claws, a pot belly and eyes so faulty his glasses were figuratively stronger than microscopes.
Shrugging, Lyall answered:
"I know."
He couldn't answer properly, his mind was somewhere else.
"You know?! You'd better know! This is how all this crime happened around here. Cubs, got lazy, failed their exams, had cubs of their own and those cubs grew up seeing their daddy on the dole, stealing and begging. And I've spent more than enough money on psychology tutors for you to know how that ends, but let me tell you..."
Lyall tuned his father out, he didn't need his nagging, old teachers to be replaced with his father. Hopefully, the teachers in his new school would be cut from a finer cloth.
But again, he didn't spend more than a minute on imagining his new teachers.
Two nightmares in a row, it was bound to turn to three.
"Lyall, are you listening?!" Crawford, scowled and lurched forwards to look at his rear-view mirror to spot his step-son watching the leaves on the pavement. "Lyall?"
"Lyall, listen to your father." The black rabbit's mother's voice cooed from the front passenger seat.
He considered using the 'He's not my father!' line, but settled for a huff and sitting up straight.
"Thank you."
His mother Rose didn't strike anyfur as the wife of a man as vile as Crawford. Small, like her cubs, intelligent, like one of her cubs, and sweet, like the other one of her cubs, it seemed like hypnosis or mind-control had gotten the satin rabbit to marry Crawford. Her fur was white like Crawford's only her's hadn't started showing a single sign of gray just like her silver hair that she'd tied back in a bun. Today was the day that she started worked as a secretary at a local business, so she'd come dolled up in her best-business wear: a rouge red blazer tucked into a black, stripy pencil skirt with a white blouse and matching cat-eye glasses.
Yet, despite Lyall's expected and favoured response, Rose frowned and pushed::
"Is everything alright dear?"
"Yeah..." Crawford played along, acting as if he knew that something was wrong with Lyall despite not being able to understand his step-son's emotions at all. "You didn't quip back for once."
"So?"
"Maybe you're finally accepting it at all." The old rabbit chuckled.
"Not likely." Lyall muttered under his breath.
"There's the Lyall we know." Rose didn't hear what Lyall had answered back with, else she would have disciplined him as if he were a feral, but she knew that facial expression as 'sod off you old git.'
Crawford laid off on the preaching, leaving Lyall to go back to window-gazing. Everyfur outside had a story and a trouble or two, he told himself. It was easy to guess. The black wolf in a tracksuit was out for his morning jog, thinking about an affair his wife had committed. The she-otter was furious that her Jeep had broken down and that she had to walk to City Central to get to work. And the rabbit in the reflection was too complex and suppressed to read.
He'd known for long enough now that he couldn't understand himself 90% of the time.
Shouldn't he feel excited? This was a new life, but all he could think about was his old one.
How were they all doing? Luukas, Guy, Peyton and Kiwi. There was so much to worry about. Luukas' surgery, Guy's grades, Peyton's girlfriend and the backlash Kiwi was getting for everything. For everything to surface the last school day when Lyall's entire life was on a plane and everything in Eria was invisible to his parents, some fur must have planned it. Who, why, how? Only Kiwi and himself were supposed to know...
"Shouldn't we be giving him the talk?" Rose joked.
"Mom... I'm fifteen." Lyall complained, stomping his boot.
"Oi!" Crawford snapped.
"Too bad!" Rose hummed.
Groaning, Lyall buried his head in his messanger bag and tried to endure.
"If you find a girl you actually don't repulse-"
"-Crawford..." Rose complained.
"- we have to approve her first, you don't touch her, if she tries anything you call us and no... touchy things."
Lyall couldn't be anything but uncomfortable as a debate over what he was and wasn't allowed to do sprung up between his legal parents. Rose was advocating for Lyall to at least be allowed to kiss the girl, whereas Crawford argued that if Lyall kissed a girl without him giving her his blessing he and it would be the focus of the next sermon.
So they really didn't know?
"What if it's a boy?" Lyall questioned.
Crawford and Rose stopped speaking, rolling to a stop a fair distance before the red lights. They were in silence as the car slightly crept forwards.
"I ask-"
"We heard!" Crawford bellowed, the car lurching forwards violently sending Lyall and Rose forwards in their seats only for them to be yanked back by their seat-belts.
"So why aren't you answer-"
"If you come home having even met a fag boy's gaze you'll be on the streets for the rest of your life!" Crawford snapped, leaning back over the arm of his chair and jabbing his finger at the smaller rabbit.. "Am I clear?"
"Yes!" Lyall stammered.
"Am I CLEAR?" Crawford emphasised.
"Yes!"
"Say it to me."
"If I come home having even met a boy's gaze I'll be on the streets for the rest of my life."
"Again!"
"If I come home having even held a boy's forepaw I'll be on the streets for the rest of my life."
"Again!"
"If I meet a boy's gaze I'll be on the streets for the rest of my life!"
Crawford stopped bellowing, bringing the car to a stop on the school road.
"You can walk the rest of the way, it'll give you time to get that message into your head, boy."
The fox, still blushing vividly, rapped on the door to the bear's office.
"Come in." Murphy's stern voice rang out.
Max stepped into the room and was almost knocked clean out by the tension that exploded from the room.
In an awkward silence, a black rabbit sat opposite the bear, the lagomorphs back was as straight as a ruler and his eyes were glaring straight into Murphy's. The counsellor was sat in a similar position, twizzling a pencil into a sharpener despite it being sharp enough to stab some fur with. The fox thought that it was the bear's intention to make a weapon out his stationary and gut the rabbit or something equally gruesome.
"Hi."
Max sucked his lips, awkwardly seating himself next to the rabbit who responded:
"Hello." His voice (the rabbit's) sounded energetic, but somehow cold and emotionless.
"Max, take a seat." The bear coughed, breaking his stare by turning his head.
"Sorry for making you wait for so long."
"It's alright, I know Mrs. Penhouse likes to talk and it being the first day could only make that worse."
The bear shuffled through the papers littering his desk, knocking a few to the floor and others onto the two boys. Max grumbled and brought hem back onto the desk whereas Lyall politely placed them on the floor next to him, the bear stood up with a screech of his chair and retrieved them being careful to look Lyall in the eyes the entire way.
Seated again, Mr. Murphy handed Max two small, A5 purple booklet and tossed a similar two to Lyall.
"Your registration booklets. Max, they're for Lyall to sign and say he's tutored you, the other to say that you lead him around today. Lyall, I'm sure you're not so dumb that you can't figure out what they're for."
"Thanks." The rabbit smiled. "What am I tutoring him in?"
"Didn't you read the e-mail?" The bear rolled his eyes and closed his book.
Max answered instead, trying to prevent a full on fight between the two.
"Psychology and history."
"Thanks." Lyall smiled.
"Introductions?" Murphy coughed.
Lyall fell silent, waiting for Max to start first, though he already knew the fox's name.
"Max Vaughn." The fox held out his forepaw to shake.
"Lyall. My last name's Morrigan but I don't like it."
"Me neither..." Murphy muttered under his breath, so quiet that the teens didn't catch it.
Cocking his head a little and squinting to focus more on the exact build of Lyall's face, Max interrogated the rabbit slightly:
"Have I met you before? Like, have you ever lived here before? Or maybe been to so a summer camp near here?"
"I don't think so. I moved here from Eria." The rabbit replied with a shrug as he let go of the fox's forepaw as a shiver ran up his spine.
As he turned his back, he winced. Hopefully this Max kid was straight, otherwise Crawford would make him plunge his forepaw in bleach or something to 'purge the germs.'
"Huh. Maybe I'm imagining things. Plus I think I'd remember some fur like you."
"That's sweet." Murphy interrupted. "But both of you need to be getting to class before you end up being behind in your studies."
"Right." Max and Lyall agreed in unison, standing up.
"See you soon, sir." Max leaned across the desk to shake the bear's forepaw as Lyall slipped out of the room to wait in the corridor.
Olive colour walls, that patterned, dirty cream colour with all the clashing circles carpet which was course and felt grimy to the touch and practically a sauna, the psychology room was just your average classroom. It had three windows along one wall, looking down onto the school courtyard that (because it was surrounded by four buildings) looked like a prison yard. There were the basketballs hoops, payphones (from when the grounds were used as a boarding school), but no weight sets, so maybe it could pass as a deprived prison yard. Over those windows were actual cream coloured, rectangular blinds with the chain of beads for raising and lowering them that no fur could remember how to work. The classical, 'this school is for the working class and is severely underfunded,' look was completed by the interactive whiteboard installed over the old blackboard that couldn't be cleaned.
The only psychology teacher in the school, Mrs Young, scribbled away with the pen, drawing poor diagrams in an attempt to explain Freud and all his wonderful theories. The class were drawing as well, drawing doodles in their books and most likely sketching some contraption to either kill themselves, the teacher or everyone to get out of the class.
Lyall sat in the back corner on his own desk, pencil case, books, text book and planner neatly arranged on the side with his stationery lined up. Max sat to the right of the rabbit's with his desk full of clutter and paper that had been dumped there by the teacher. Quinn was in front of Lyall, his desk was equally as tidy as the rabbit's.
For the past twenty minutes now, Mrs Young had been back and forth between Max's desk and her own, chatting to the fox after he sped through the work. She was being rather flirty about it, her leg occasionally knocking the fox's, batting her fake eyelashes and laughing at everything Max joked about. It was unnerving and surely Lyall wasn't the only fur to pick up on it. He may not have been, but he was the only fur to point it out.
"What's that? A dating application or something?" Lyall joked, pointing to the fifth sheet of paper Mrs Young had given him.
"Shut it, bunny. Like those actually exist." Quinn butted in, leaning back and over to ask Max: "Wha's that?"
"Worksheet."
"You're finished again?" Lyall raised an eyebrow, looking over to see that the fox's answers were definitely not correct. "Don't you think you should check them over?" He suggested, trying not to offend.
"Tha-"
"No fur actually checks their answers, Lyall." Quinn rolled his eyes. "Max, give me the answers for that sheet. I can't be arsed."
"Do you want them too Lyall?" Max faked a smile, holding them out to Quinn.
"No thank you. I like to be independent."
"Oh, so you're a know it all? You'd better not stick your paw up for every question."
"No fur does that, Quinn." Lyall tried to sneer back at the wolf.
The black canine shot Lyall a dirty look and showed him the finger before turning back to scribble down Max's answers.
Keeping his head down for the rest of the lesson, Lyall only spoke to Max when the fox spoke to him and didn't dare look up at Quinn.
"Lyall you fucking mong, yes isn't an answer." Quinn snorted with laughter.
"Pardon?" The rabbit came back from spacing out.
He found himself walking down the science corridor with Quinn and Max.
"Don't be an ass, Quinn. I asked you if you had a packed lunch or if you were going to buy one."
"Uhhhh... Buy one I guess. Do they take tabs?"
"Yeah, but unless you really are poor you don't want one." Max advised.
"Why not?"
"Because the rest will make fun of yous. Nofur goes into canteen debt and stays on the next year."
"I don't think a bunch of rough kids are going to be able to drive me out of this school over something so small. Besides, I like this place."
"You actually like this shithole? Boffer." Quinn stared at the back of Lyall's head, glaring holes into the rabbit's flesh as he walked behind the rabbit and fox.
"It's better than the private school I went to in Eria."
"You went to private school? Tosser."
"What's wrong with private school?"
"Take a guess." Max laughed, stopping Quinn from saying anything too harsh.
"I guess I won't eat lunch then. Where are we going?"
Lyall ended up dropping behind as Quinn shoved past him to walk next to his best friend.
"The lads are probably going to want a rematch now that Moore's out of suspension." Quinn reminded the fox just as they turned into the canteen, but now that the wolf had mentioned it they didn't stop for food and instead walked straight through and out onto the field out the back of school.
"Well let's give him one. You coming, Lyall?"
"I don't think I have a choice. It's meet your friends or get lost in the school."
"I'm sure a smart ass like you can find your way around in this dump."
Knowing that Quinn wasn't being nearly as cruel as he could be, Lyall hoped that he was the worst of his friendship group. He was incredibly mistaken.
As the threesome arrived, the group was bumped up to a total of twelve bodies.
Three being of course, Lyall, Max and Quinn and the rest being the two canine's friends. By name those friends were: Colin, Ash, Khasan, Miraç, Bran, Theo, Lance, Milo and Kingston.
"Where's Moore?" Quinn immediately asked, looking around the group. "And my brother?"
"Fucked off to smoke." A lemur answered, his orange eyes honed in on the rabbit hidden behind Max. "Who are you?"
Strangled for breath, Lyall couldn't respond properly and coughed out an answer that no fur could understand.
"What, are you mute or something bunny? Want me to sign...?" The lemur cooed mockingly.
"Don't be a prick, Ash. This is Lyall, guess he doesn't know how to talk around somefur who doesn't blink." Max answered.
"Lyall Morrigan? You related to that pastor?" A lizard like creature stepped forwards, what his exact species was was hard to discern.
"Yes. He's my step father." Lyall's voice choked up a bit.
"He ever tupped you behind the pews, altar boy?" That same guy continued.
"Pardon? What does that mean?" The rabbit played dumb, secretly thinking about kicking the lizard in whatever genitals he had for making such a vile joke.
"Y'know." The lizard grabbed his crotch and humped, crying out in a way that Lyall assumed was supposed to sound like anal sex.
"Khasan, fuck off." Max warned, jabbing the lizard on the shoulder. "Stop being such a faggot."
"Piss off, we need to know who we're letting into the group. You a virgin?" Khasan continued his drilling.
"... In what way are you asking? Like kissing or-"
"Who'd have guessed the goody two shoes Morrigan, a virgin." The black wolf rolled his eyes he nudged some fur off of a metal bench and sat down on it.
"Whaaaat, never fucked a pussy, boi?"
Lyall was thinking about doing something a little bit more violent than kicking Khasan in the balls now. He wondered how good the FCPD were at finding bodies.
"Yes, I have. I was making a joke before I got interrupted so rudely-"
"What you saying, bunny?" Quinn piped up with his mouth-half stuffed with a burrito. , the bench screeching as he pushed away from the table.
"I was talking about how you interrupting me was-"
"I heard."
The black wolf squared up to Lyall, he was at least a foot taller than rabbit, more strongly built and by far more experienced in fighting. He wore a snarl, sharp, dangerous canine teeth exposed to scare the rabbit. It didn't seem to be working.
Lyall stood like a wall, arms crossed and a pout on his face as he looked up at his soon-to-be-attacker.
"Then what did you ask me to repeat it?"
"You thick? Dropped on your head as a cub? Take a guess."
Max, Khasan and the others stood watching either egging the fight on or anxious about how badly Lyall was going to get his ass kicked.
"Hit him!" Some fur yelled.
"Shut up!" Max retorted, giving whomever it was a shove. "Quinn stop being a fucktard."
"Why are you calling my brother a fucktard?"
The teen's twelve heads turned in unison to a second black wolf accompanied by a nearly golden tiger. The wolf was more or less Quinn, but with red eyes, but the tiger stuck out from the crowd like a sore thumb. Standing taller than the rest of the boys by far, much more built and mean, it was quite obvious that this was Moore. His silent character didn't impact on how his intimidation skills. Maybe it was the wolf's snarl and his glare, but the group backed off leaving Quinn, Max and Lyall in the centre.
"Because he is one." Max huffed.
"That's not very kind of you."
Moore went and stood with the others, whereas the second wolf loomed up to the three in the middle.
"Rex, stop being a dick." Quinn interjected. He stood between Rex and Max, pushing his brother back. "You can't get into a fight on the first day."
"Stop acting like you own me. Ever since him you've been a complete control freak-"
Rex didn't get to finish his sentence, Quinn yelled something incomprehensible and socked his brother in the nose. The older of the twins cried out as his nose crunched, he staggered back as his forepaws flew up to cradle it.
Though, Rex wasn't out of commision for long. He returned a blow before anyfur could stop them and the situation exploded into a proper fight.
Rex struck first after the initial punch, pouncing on his brother and shoving him to the concrete. Quinn went down with an 'Oof!', the wind was knocked out of him. There was no time to react, in the blink of an eye Rex was unleashing a volley of sadistic, furious punches.
"Dude!" Some fur, probably Khasan, yelled and tried to stop the fighting, he was pulled back by Theo who warned him not to get involved. Especially not with Rex fighting.
"Rex." Moore projected calmly, his voice stern and without concern.
"Holy shit." Lyall cussed under his breath, feeling vomit bubble up as blood from Quinn's nose splattered on the ground and his head jerked to the side.
"Rex!" Max shouted, rushing forwards.
"Rex." Moore repeated.
The fox grabbed Rex from under his arms and at least held him back from punching Quinn anymore, though it was clear Max was struggling to keep the boy off of his friend.
"Rex." It was Moore again.
Not giving up, Rex squirmed and spat abuse at his beaten foe until a swift kick to the head knocked him out of Max's grasp and onto the concrete like his brother.
In a stunned silence, the boys watched Lyall whimper and lower his foot to try to fake innocence.
"What the fuck you little queer!" The black wolf, Rex of course, exploded, getting up like nothing had happened despite the gash on one side of his face.
"I didn't mean-"
Lyall didn't have time to explain, Rex dived on top of him and rung the rabbit's net like he was the catch from a hunt. Squawking, Lyall fumbled at the wolf's wrists and tried to make him slack for even a moment, or at least get him to stop digging his claws into Lyall's throat.
"Rex what the fuck!"
Putting his weight into it, Max shoved against Rex who hardly budged. Moore soon intervened on the wolf's side, placing a threatening forepaw on the fox's shoulder who shrugged it off, but had no choice to be to panic as the rabbit's face turned blue.
Fortunately, as Lyall's struggling was about to end, a teacher pushed past and grabbed Rex by the waist, hauling him off.
"FUCK OFF MAN!" Rex clawed at the air, only to be stopped by a second teacher grabbing his wrists. "OI!"
Ignoring him, Max crouched down and shook the rabbit's shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
"OI! BUNNY BITCH!"
"I've had worse." Lyall grumbled, rubbing his throat.
"FIRST CHANCE I GET YOUR FUCKING DEAD."
Rex was screaming threats all the way, but nofur really believed him.
"Are you alright?" Max worried, speaking with genuine concern, helping Lyall to his paws. "For real this time, don't act tough."
"Y-yeah. That happened so fast."
The group of boys dispersed in twos and threes as the fight was resolved, Quinn got up on his own albeit a little weakly and gave a weak smile to Lyall.
"Thanks."
It warmed the rabbit a little, getting thanked by somefur who he didn't count among his allies and friends.
"You're fucked, I don't like you and you're the dumbest motherfucker in the school, but thanks." The wolf had to add.
"Uhh..."
"Are you going to be alright, Quinn?" Max gestured to the injuries.
"Of course I am. It'll scab up before long and it's not like he really got me." The wolf managed a short laugh.
When the bell for third lesson sounded, the three of them gathered up their things and headed for their next lesson. But, the moment they got through the door to their lesson they went sent off to Mr. Murphy's office. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know why.
"So... let me summarise." Murphy huffed.
Quinn, Lyall and Max sat with their backs straight and heads bowed in their seats.
"Lyall, you got into an argument with Quinn, Max you insulted Quinn, Rex challenged you Max and then......?"
The three burst into words, their sentences stumbling over the other's and their timing tangling everything into an incoherent mess.
"Wow, wow, wow! Slow down, you three! Lyall, your account."
"After that, Quinn protected Max and defended him from Rex. However, Rex said something hurtful and Quinn burst out, he pushed Rex. Then, Rex got back at him by jumping on him and... well that."
Lyall gestured to the wolf's banged up visage.
"And?" Murphy urged him to continue.
"I kicked Rex because he was seriously hurting Quinn. The wolf's reaction was to attempt to kill me."
Quinn scoffed and muttered something under his breath.
"Is that everything?"
"Yes." Lyall nodded, resting his forepaws in his lap and lifting his head.
"Max can you confirm this?"
"Absolutely, word for word." The fox answered truthfully.
"Quinn?"
It took the wolf a moment to think.
"Yeah."
"Glad we're all on the same page."
Murphy flipped through his book to the 9th of September, took a pen and scribbled down some notes. During the minute he spent, the three boys sat silently, waiting for the bear's divine paw of justice to come crashing down on them. Having grown impatient, Max opened his mouth to speak up only to be abruptly stopped by Mr. Murphy slamming his book shoot.
"Right. Your registration booklets, please." Murphy held out his forepaw to Max, who shrugged and responded:
"Lost it." He slumped in his chair, shoving his forepaws into his pockets.
"Already? For f- nevermind, no matter. It doesn't matter."
Lyall placed his in the bear's forepaw.
"Max, don't lead Lyall around anymore and Lyall don't follow him. It's easier for me and Rex stands less chance of actually doing anything if he can't find you, Lyall. So for God's sake stay off the playground until things blow over."
"Right."
Getting out of his chair, Mr. Murphy opened the door to his office and peeked outside.
"Oi! Jessie!"
A cat, about 100M down the hall turned her head to look at the bear.
"Yes, sir?"
She had a strong northern accent.
"Show this rabbit around. He's tailing you from now on."
Mr. Murphy took Lyall by the wrist and tugged him out of the door, handing him two purple booklets.
"Good luck." Was the bear's final farewell and with that, he slammed the door.
Lyall hurried after Jessie, who was already heading back to class.
Coming back to his desk, he continued:
"Now that he's gone, tell me. What did Rex say to make you lash out?"
But Max and Quinn had no answer. The fox tried to open his mouth to speak, but Quinn sharply jabbed his arm.
"Quinn-"
"What? I don't want anyfur to talk about it."
"Fine, fine. Both of you can go then, it really doesn't matter."
The bear leaned back in his chair, yawned and stretched as the two boys got out of theirs. They were rightfully suspicious, Murphy wasn't the type of furson to simply let things go. Leaving the office, Quinn pulled Max close and cursed him for almost blabbing.
It was hard to tell if Jessie and Lyall were getting along or not. The moment they reached the classroom Jessie took a seat in the back of the class, leaving Lyall to take a spare seat at the front. Stranger yet, when the bell for lunch sounded, Lyall found Jessie walking at his side as if they were long lost mates.
"Do you know where you're going?" She laughed as the rabbit headed towards the end of the Vedish corridor which was a dead end.
Jessie, a chocolate brown Havana, was almost a foot taller than him and coupled with her weight could probably crush his skull.
"Are you talking about where I'm going for lunch or how I'm getting there?"
"Both."
"I don't know."
Jessie, with a guffaw, veered off and bumped into the lockers head first; it didn't seem to hurt her though.
"Come on, this way." She gestured with her shoulder as she U-turned.
Lyall wasn't one for protesting. However, he was one for questioning.
"Where are we going?"
"Music block."
"Shouldn't we be going to the lunch room?"
"No, unless you want to be strung up by your lucky feet and beaten to death by Rex. Word travels fast here."
Was this prison or high school?
The rabbit flinched, apparently he'd already made a name for himself as a punching bag.
They left the Vedish corridor by slipping through an empty staff room, coming out onto the playground. Lyall could hardly keep up as Jessie twisted into another corridor, then around a bend, then around another until slipping into a room. He just caught the tip of her tail with his eyes.
"Jessie wait!" Lyall complained, managing to slide into the room before the door closed.
"Shhhh..." The feline chuckled, flicking off the lights and plunging the both of them into absolute darkness.
They could both just about spy each other's eyes and could barely see what they were doing. But, this was perfect considering that they were hiding from any of Rex's friends, Rex and the teachers.
"How often does this work?" Lyall couldn't help but be a little nervous.
"Rarely. I normally get found, but depending on who finds me I might get to stay. Don't worry about getting shouted at either lucky paws, if you're with me the teachers will be chill about everything. Plus, we have music here next! You are on the same timetable as me right..."
The rest of the day seemed to slip away from the two of them, laughing their way through music and then through maths. Somewhere along the way Jessie slipped the rabbit her number and convinced the rabbit to call her at the weekend.
Lyall didn't have time or the guts to shout after her and tell her that he didn't have a cellphone.