Chapter 34: Cops and Robbers

The flaming bag of poo was meant for Sedrick, but it's his mother who comes out stamp out the small, stinky fire.

Sheridan does not get away with his prank so easily this time. Mrs. Moldonado called the police, who take him home in their patrol car, lights blazing. What happened to 'the police won't touch you' Sheridan wonders.

Rex is of course furious when his son is brought home by the police. "I should have sent you to military school," he yells, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I'm sorry, Dad, I won't do it again," Sheridan says. Apologies and promises have always worked before.

Rex has no idea how to parent his difficult son. He hasn't done anything different than what his own parents did in raising him, and he never made trouble as a kid.  Yelling hasn't helped, trying to channel the boy's energy and aggression into martial arts hasn't helped, and Rex is out of ideas.

"I'm going to have to ground you, son. You come straight home from school every day."

While he's grounded, Rex spends more time with Sheridan. He feels he's failed as a parent, and is trying to provide the guidance that must have been lacking.

"Getting caught by the police was a real game changer for me," Sheridan tells him, "I don't want to ever go through that again. I'll be good from now on."

"That's good to hear, son," Rex says, "But you aren't off the hook just yet."

Dulce is far less troublesome than her older brother.

It's Dulce's birthday.

Dulce becomes a teen.

Rex gets another tattoo.

Sheridan is finally let off the hook, and the first thing he does is seek out Chanda. The change in police policy regarding the untouchability of Enmity family members came from a major change in the police department hierarchy. Tanushri Ramaswami had passed away and a new, harsher, police chief had stepped in.

"My mother died and you can't even call me!" Chanda yells at him as soon as she sees him, "On top of being in mourning, I've had to worried if my boyfriend gives a shit about me!"

"Chanda, I love you!" Sheridan insists, "I just thought you'd need some time to yourself."

"I needed you!" she says, "How could you be so stupid?"

"I'm sorry, I really am," Sheridan says, feeling like all he ever does is apologize.

Chanda sighs, "All right, I forgive you. But you had better find a way to make this up to me."

Tamsin has fun scaring her grandmother's ghost.

"Oh! You nearly scared me to death!" Autumn says, hugging her granddaughter.

"Sedrick is totally talking to your sister."

Sheridan turns to deal with the impudence of his sworn enemy.

"My, uh, brother looks pretty angry at you," Dulce warns Sedrick.

Chanda gets out her phone, ready to shoot the coming fight to upload to simtube.

"Don't talk to my sister! Don't even look at my sister!" Sheridan yells, slapping Sedrick around.

"Stop it!" Dulce yells. Sheridan doesn't hear her.

"I'm so sorry," Dulce apologizes, "It's not his place to say who I can talk to."

"I'm taking off now," Sedrick says. He's not interested in fighting Sheridan for the right to talk to his sister, especially when he's about to graduate, and said sister is just a freshman, far too young for him to pursue, anyway.

Chanda rewards her conquering hero.

Just a day before his last day of school, Sheridan meets Demond Riley outside the bookstore. Long ago, Demond had been a sports hero of Riverblossom Hills High, just like Sheridan is now. Demond is also distantly related to Sheridan; his mother Roxanne Riley was Jasmin Enmity's half-sister, on her mother's side. He also happens to be Chanda's uncle, by marriage to Sundari Ramaswami, Tanushri's older sister. But Sundari was much older than Tanushri and died quite some time ago. Vampires don't usually retain family connections with the kin of human spouses, so Demond isn't really considered one of the Ramaswami clan.

Demond still follows his alma mater's team and knows Sheridan's reputation, and the two immediately hit it off, reminiscing about great plays and joking about the incompetence of rival teams.

"You've got great skills," Demond says, "I've had my eye on you for some time. I've been looking for new talent for my business. When you've graduated, I'd like to discuss your future in my company."

Sheridan hadn't given much thought about what he was going to do for  a living. Everyone assumed he'd go into professional sports, but despite his love for his game, Sheridan doesn't really want to make a career of it. He's certainly willing to hear what Demond has to offer.

The school holds a gig award ceremony on the last day of classes. After receiving his own trophy, Sheridan sticks around for one last prank, toilet papering the principal's office. Unfortunately, the principal anticipated his move and he was caught. Once again. he has to ride home in a police patrol car.

"How many times are we going to go through this?" Rex yells at his son as soon as the police escort him home.

"It was the last day of school," Sheridan protests, "I just wanted to have some fun."

"Being a juvenile delinquent isn't 'fun'!" Rex yells, "And starting tomorrow, you won't be a juvenile anymore. Keep up this shit and you'll end up in prison!"

Sheridan grows up. Physically, at least. Whatever his maturity level, he's legally an adult.

Demond Riley calls to remind Sheridan of his promise, and Sheridan agrees to meet the vampire at Red Shed the next afternoon. Once there, Demond is upfront about what his business entails.

"I'm a master thief," the vampire says, "And I'm looking for an apprentice, someone I can train to be as good as I am, and become a full partner in this enterprise. And that someone is you."

"I don't know," Sheridan hesitates, "I'm good in a fight, but I've never stolen anything. And, I'm incredibly rich, I don't really need money, I certainly don't need to steal it."

"I look at you and see myself, so many years ago," Demond says, "It's not about need, not about money. It's about being free of society's rules, and the challenge of defying them without getting caught. I've followed your school career, not just on the field, but the fights, the pranks...you and I hear the same call, Sheridan. You'll never be satisfied with a regular career, or with just coasting on your family's wealth. You need the kind of rush that only a criminal lifestyle can bring."

Everything Demond says rings true with Sheridan, and for the first time, he knows what he wants to do with his life.

Sheridan agrees to work for Demond. "Let's drink to our partnership," Demond suggests. Sheridan eyes him nervously; Demond is a vampire after all.

"Drink? You mean, like, feed on me?"

"Ugh, no, thank you," Demond says, and orders two Morcubus Molotovs, "I'm a vegetarian."

Before they part, Demond pulls Sheridan into a manly hug. "Welcome to our family," he says, "Come to the abandoned warehouse tomorrow at ten, and we'll get you started."

That evening, Sheridan meets Chanda for a date at Bamboo-Zle.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do for a living?" she asks him.

Sheridan isn't about to tell her he's signed up with Demond Riley's crime syndicate. Someday, he figures he'll hav to tell her, especially if he goes ahead with his plans to marry her. But for now, he's keeping it to himself.

"I don't really need to work for living, the income from our investments alone is more than enough for three families to live comfortably. I'm going to explore my options before I commit to anything."

"With your skills, you'd be an incredible asset to the force. Maybe you could consider police work as one of your options?"

"Police?" Sheridan nearly chokes, "Is that what you're doing?"

Chanda nods, "Like my mother," she says proudly.

"I thought you hated doing what your mother wanted you to do," Sheridan says.

"All teens hate doing what their parents want," Chanda laughs, "But I"m grown up now. I'm proud of what my mother did for this town, and I want to follow in her footsteps."

Sooner or later, the fact that she's a cop and he's a criminal is going to spell trouble for their relationship. Sheridan hopes it's later because right now, he just wants to be with her.

_______________________________________________________

Challenge Notes:
Gen 6 is officially on. Recap of the roll:
Single parent, one kid, Crime/Thief career. Goal is Hobby/Obsession and Misc Fun is Fighter.

Story Progression put Chanda in the police career, not me, lol. I do have it set so there is a high probability of children following a parent's career unless they have strong traits leading them to something else, so it makes sense. It certainly helps play into my story. :D
Demond Riley is a level 10 Thief track criminal, the only one. I used MC to make Demond Sheridan's boss in the career, as the default choice was an Emperor of Evil type. I figured since Sheridan is going Thief track, he should have a master thief boss. There are very few crime carer Sims in the neighborhood (and tons of cops, lol), and I think Demond is the only one in thief career track.

Sheridan's traits are Athletic, Brave, Rebellious, Hot-Headed and Flirty. No, I didn't give him klepto. While it would have made sense for the thief career, I know from past experience with that trait that I find actually using it kind of annoying, especially when I don't actually need stuff, like in a first generation. So, I didn't want to waste a trait slot on something I wouldn't really use.

His hobby is going to be working out. He's already at level 8 of Athletic, but I'll keep him pumping iron every week even after he hits level 10. I used MC to give him more muscle definition, to go with all the time he spends working out. Fights will come soon.

Rex got his last tattoo. He also got his LTW, I forgot to mention that last chapter.

Dulce's traits are Loves the Outdoors, Easily Impressed, Excitable and Bookworm. She'll turn YA in about 6 days.

If it isn't obvious, Sheridan's favorite color is yellow.

Outtake:

Rex accidentally clicks a gnome porn fetish link