"It's been three days since George left. I wonder how his game console purchase is going." During dinner at the Cooper family's, Connie inadvertently brought up George.
Yes, three days ago, Mike ultimately couldn't dissuade George. Under the pressure of marriage and having a child, George decided to take a gamble.
And a big business of 100,000 dollars was a very big deal for Cooper.
Therefore, most of everyone's attention these past few days had been on the departed George.
"Not even a phone call, so mysterious…" Mary frowned when she mentioned her unreliable eldest son: "I don't know why, but I've had a bad feeling these past few days."
As the saying goes, a mother's heart is connected to her child's. George's disappearance without a trace three days ago naturally made Mary, his mother, very worried.
"Don't worry, George has grown up. I believe he can take responsibility for his actions." George, as the head of the family, had quite a bit of confidence in his eldest son.
A fledgling bird will eventually grow up one day.
Georgie was about to start a family now, and his child was almost due.
In this situation, George was very happy to see him stand on his own.
Just as everyone was chatting about Georgie, the family phone in the living room rang.
"It must be Georgie calling, I'll get it…" Mary, her heart in suspense, quickly walked out of the dining room.
A few minutes later, she returned, looking as if all her energy had been drained.
"What's wrong, Mary? Did something happen with Georgie?" Seeing her daughter's appearance, Connie also had a bad premonition.
"It's Georgie… The call was from the police. They said Georgie was arrested…" Mary said, dazed.
For ordinary people, going to the police station is not a good thing.
"What… Georgie was arrested!?"
The bad news Mary brought caused a drastic change in the expressions of Connie and the others. Mandy even clutched her stomach, as if it had affected the fetus.
"Everyone calm down!" At the critical moment, it still had to be Connie.
"Mandy, don't get agitated. We're here, Georgie will be fine…" After comforting Mandy, Connie looked at her daughter and asked seriously: "Explain clearly, what exactly happened to Georgie?"
"I didn't hear too clearly, I only remember them mentioning illegal immigration, smuggling, and seizure…" Mary, flustered, complained: "I knew it, nothing good would come from Georgie."
"This…" Connie, who didn't know what specific crime Georgie had committed, was at a loss for a moment.
"Don't worry, everyone—" Seeing the scene descend into chaos again, Mike calmed everyone down and said: "I'll call Robin and ask what exactly happened."
He had already guessed something about Georgie's situation and decided to confirm it with Robin.
Robin, who worked in the Department of Transportation, was considered the guarantor for Georgie's arcade. Now that Georgie was in trouble, she should have been notified as well.
"I was just about to call you guys…" After the call connected, Robin's tone was not good.
Clearly, as a guarantor, now that Georgie was in trouble, she was also implicated.
However, out of consideration for Pastor Jeff and Cooper's relationship, Robin still explained in detail what Georgie had done.
Finally, she also reminded Mike to inform Cooper to bail him out at the police station.
"Did you find out what happened to Georgie?" As soon as Mike hung up the phone, Connie immediately asked.
"I did…" Mike didn't keep them in suspense and recounted what Georgie had done.
It turned out that Georgie had gone through an overseas Mexican channel to buy game consoles.
Coincidentally, on his way back transporting the game consoles, he was discovered by border police.
Fortunately, the items Georgie smuggled were not dangerous goods, which allowed him to be transferred to the local police.
However, because of the serious nature of Georgie's actions, the local police, under pressure, followed the clues and subsequently sealed his arcade.
He was now being held at the local police station, awaiting final judgment.
"So, Georgie is quite capable, isn't he?" Connie, who now knew exactly what Georgie had done, actually relaxed.
Connie, with her rich life experience, knew that although Georgie's current offense seemed complicated, the penalty would not be too severe.
However, as decent people, George and Mary felt like the sky was falling after hearing about their son's harrowing experience.
"Mary, you stay home and look after Mandy and the children. George, Mike, and I will go to the police station to see…" Before long, Connie made the most reasonable arrangements.
…
In the police detention room, a large number of unopened game consoles were piled on one side, while a dejected George sat on the other.
"Do you admit to smuggling game consoles and operating a gambling arcade?" The middle-aged police officer, holding a stack of documents, questioned George according to procedure.
The stack of documents recorded all of Georgie's criminal evidence.
"I admit it." Georgie decisively conceded.
He had not been subjected to any violence, and aside from being a bit down mentally, his overall condition was actually quite good.
"Good that you admit it—" Seeing Georgie willing to cooperate, the middle-aged police officer didn't make things difficult for him anymore and directly announced the judgment: "Given the serious nature of your offense, as a warning, you will be fined five thousand dollars or sentenced to three months in prison. You can choose."
"I choose to pay the fine, but isn't five thousand dollars too much?" With his girlfriend pregnant at home, Georgie naturally wouldn't choose to go to jail.
And after his recent big venture, he had already spent all of his and Mandy's savings.
So, Georgie currently couldn't come up with five thousand dollars. Thus, a sudden idea struck him, and he thought of playing the emotional card: "My girlfriend is about to give birth. To take good care of her and the baby in her belly, I need a lot of money. So…"
Georgie's intention was clear: to cry poverty and ask for a reduction in the fine.
"How touching—" Indeed, the middle-aged police officer was drawn in by Georgie's story, but he didn't budge: "According to regulations, five thousand dollars is already your minimum fine. Of course, you can also choose to go to jail."
Watching the police officer's sudden change in expression, Georgie finally became distressed.
Just then, the door to the detention room opened, and Connie, George, and Mike walked in, accompanied by a receptionist.
"Why are you here?" Georgie, having just done something wrong, felt a bit ashamed to face the three of them.
"If the police hadn't called, we wouldn't even know what good deeds you've been up to lately." Connie reprimanded Georgie, then went to the middle-aged police officer to understand the situation.
Knowing that Georgie could only be released after paying bail, Connie decisively took out five thousand dollars and handed it to the police.
"Let's go, Georgie. We should go home." Connie maintained her cool persona.
"Thank you, I'll find a way to pay you back that money." The matter was finally over, and Georgie, walking out, made his promise.
"That's not urgent. You should think about how to explain it to Mary and Mandy when you get back!" Connie, who had made some money in the stock market, wasn't too concerned about five thousand dollars.
At this moment, she even had the leisure to "watch the show."
It was important to know that Georgie had not only "failed" in his venture this time but had also lost all of his and Mandy's savings.
His business was gone, how would he support his girlfriend and her unborn child?
It was predictable that Georgie's ill-advised actions this time would undoubtedly infuriate Mary, his mother.