Traffic violation fines in New York City were not actually that severe.
But there was one difference from the Eastern Kingdom.
Here, traffic violations were treated alongside minor crimes. Simply put, if you parked illegally in the Eastern Kingdom, you might only have to pay a fine and lose points. But here, you had to spend time appearing in traffic court.
So...
After restarting the car and heading toward LaGuardia Airport, Gwen was still relieved that they had gotten out in time. Otherwise, she would have had to take leave and make a trip to traffic court.
At the same time, she was a little puzzled.
"Strange. You can park outside the Manhattan courthouse, so why not the one in Queens?"
"..."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Hawk listened to Gwen muttering to herself. After thinking it over, he asked curiously, "Even if you got a ticket, it should be fine, right? If you told Captain Stacy, it should be no problem."
Gwen snapped back to attention, glanced at Hawk, then shook her head.
"No."
"Uh..."
Hawk remembered the family card Gwen had shown the traffic officer earlier.
Gwen seemed to see through his thoughts and explained with a smile, "Using the family card is fine, because everyone uses them. It's also a benefit the police department gives to police families. But getting a ticket is different. My dad would never call a friend at the courthouse over an illegal parking ticket. He'd definitely tell me sternly, 'Gwen, you should stand in court and bravely admit your mistake.'"
As she explained, Gwen imitated the tone and expression of George Stacy, captain of the New York Police Department's 19th Precinct.
Listening to her explanation, Hawk nodded in understanding.
He had always thought Captain George Stacy was the kind of rigid, old-fashioned captain who could not tolerate even the slightest imperfection.
But hearing Gwen put it that way...
Apparently, he was not.
Sure enough.
Movies were always stereotypical.
Forty-five minutes later.
Gwen drove up to LaGuardia Airport.
After unfastening his seat belt, Hawk thanked Gwen again once she had stopped the car.
As Hawk was about to open the door and get out, Gwen spoke up. "I'm curious about something, Hawk."
Hawk had already pushed open the car door and was preparing to get out. Hearing Gwen's words, he turned to look at her.
"What?"
"If I didn't accept your thanks, what would you do? Keep thanking me?"
"..."
Gwen's question left Hawk speechless.
After a while.
He looked at Gwen, who was smiling as though she genuinely wanted to know the answer, and thought for a moment.
"Sorry?"
"..."
This time, Gwen fell silent.
If she did not accept his thanks, he would apologize?
...That worked too.
The smile on Gwen's face widened. Looking at Hawk, she said with a laugh, "You've thanked me too many times. We're friends. Friends don't need to say thank you."
Friends?
Hawk was stunned again.
His relationship with Gwen was somewhat better than his relationship with the other students, but that was mainly because their physics classes overlapped, and they were desk mates in physics.
But that was all.
After all, aside from physics class, he and Gwen did not interact much at school.
More accurately, he did not interact much with any of the students.
Still...
Hawk did not argue with Gwen. He could not let her drive him back one moment, then tell her they were not friends the next.
He had at least that much social awareness.
Very soon.
After getting out of the car, Hawk watched as Gwen made a U-turn on the spot, hit the gas, and vanished from his sight. Then he withdrew his gaze and headed toward the temporary shelter.
That evening.
Manhattan.
Goreen Apartments.
Helen Stacy, dressed in loungewear and sitting on the sofa watching a new episode of Desperate Housewives, heard the door open and turned toward the entrance.
There.
Captain George Stacy of the 19th Precinct walked in from outside, wearing a white shirt, a tie, a black suit, and a police badge at his waist.
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
George answered, closing the door behind him before looking at Helen on the sofa. "Where's Gwen?"
Helen glanced toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
"She went to her room."
"Oh."
George nodded, then headed upstairs. Reaching his daughter's bedroom, he knocked on the door. "Gwen."
Gwen's voice came from inside. "The door's unlocked, Dad."
George then pushed the door open.
Inside the room.
Gwen had changed into cute pajamas, her smooth blond hair draped over her shoulders. Sitting cross-legged in her chair, she looked at George as he entered. "Dad, what's wrong?"
George remained at the doorway rather than entering his daughter's bedroom. Looking at Gwen by the desk, he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe, a faint smile at the corner of his lips. "You didn't go to class this afternoon, did you?"
Gwen froze for a moment, then understood.
She lowered her smooth legs from the chair and stood up.
"Someone called you?"
"What do you think?"
George smiled. "They had to call and verify it with me, just in case someone was impersonating one of my family members with a fake family card."
Although that was unlikely to happen.
Still...
There was a saying in the Federation: you could go without living, but you could not go without stirring up trouble.
There were people who used fake family cards to cause trouble, though not many.
But because it involved officers enforcing the law outside, calling to verify it in person was not ideal. So they would note down the license plate number, then report it after returning to the precinct for verification.
If the family card was real, then there was no problem.
But if they discovered it was fake, that was fine too. They had the license plate number, after all. That person could just wait to receive more than a dozen tickets in a single day.
The New York Police Department would make sure that person understood there was a price to pay for trying to mess with them.
Hearing George say that, Gwen was a little speechless. "Dad, I really didn't mean to park illegally. You can clearly park outside the courthouses in Manhattan."
George shrugged. "I'm not interested in whether you parked illegally. That's what the family card is for."
He was not that rigid.
The family card could be used, as long as it was not abused.
Hearing George's words, Gwen blinked.
"Then you..."
"But I am interested in why you went to the courthouse in Queens this afternoon."
"Oh."
At that, Gwen sat back down and picked up the book she had been reading. "It was nothing. I was just taking a classmate to the courthouse to handle something."
George smiled.
"A male classmate?"
"..."
Gwen put down her book and looked at George standing in the doorway, her expression serious. "Dad, Hawk and I are just friends."
That was not right.
That guy seemed rather resistant to being her friend.
Gwen thought of the fleeting stiff expression on Hawk's face that afternoon after she said they were friends.
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