A Just Cause.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"How was your first day?" Sarge asks, "You meet any new friends?" she says sarcastically, letting out a smile. She seemed busy this morning. I could tell by the way she was speaking. It was faster than usual. She was shuffling through files rapidly.

"Great, actually!" I said, matching her sarcasm, "I actually saw an old friend of ours; I think his name was Lucas."

I had no idea what kind of clothes I was wearing today. These outfits were definitely going to get ridiculous soon. I could tell Sarge found my appearance quite funny today. I was speaking to her about my first day at the school and how I had seen one of our suspects, Lucas.

I began to explain, "Our boy Lucas, I'd say the description I was handed explained described him spot on. Now, I don't have much intel so far, but I can confidently say there's a good chance he is one of them. I could just sense it."

Sarge stops looking through the files immediately, snapping her eyes toward me. She quickly abandons her spot and faces me, beginning to question me.

"How could you already be so sure, Charlie? You literally have only spent an hour and a half with our boy Lucas, which means you can have your assumptions, but let's not play detective and jump to conclusions already." She says.

Damn it, I must've pushed it too much already. I didn't mean to be so impulsive, and I especially didn't want to get on Sarge's wrong side. There was so much left to be done.

"Yeah-no, of course! My apologies if I sounded dumb just now; I just had that feeling about Lucas - you know, when you have those certain feelings about someone, and you know it's true." I said, once again, rolling over on my belly as a little puppy would. I had honestly thought that Sarge didn't really know these feelings, where you could tell what kind of person one was, or when you could see through a mask one was wearing, covering up their true identity. I guess that was just a gift I had.

"I understand, Charlie, but we need more time and information for this to work. Just take it slow and give it some time." she answered, "everything will be fine. Just keep in mind these are high school students we're dealing with; we'll be completely fine." she finished, getting back to the spot she had been standing before.

Sarge could be quite hopeful sometimes, not expecting the worst-case scenario. If there was one thing I could take away from my mother's death, it was to expect the worst scenario possible. I always knew this was going to catch up to Sarge one day.

"Yes, ma'am, I appreciate the reassurance," I said nimbly. It was time for school again. I had finished reporting back to Sarge and was walking toward the off-duty vehicle when a couple different officers interrupted me.

"Charlie, right? The undercover job one?" one of the officers said, "Let me tell you, man, whatever you're doing in there, is pretty remarkable. Like straight out of a movie, man! You should be proud of yourself." he finished, reaching out his hand for me to shake.

"Thanks, man, I really appreciate it. I actually have to attend school right now, so maybe I'll see you, boys, around later." I said while shaking the other officer's hand, "You boys have yourselves a great day."

"You too." replied the other officer.

I felt different as I was now walking out of the station. I had never really been appreciated in that way before, and now, I didn't know how to feel about it. I noticed that I wasn't exactly happy or angry about the acknowledgment, which was fascinating since it almost felt like I had been waiting for someone to acknowledge the worth and impact I truly had.

I could barely see my surroundings outside of the car window. The brisk morning had brought a crisp feel to the cold air, fogging up all the windows. As it slowly defogged, I was able to see the neighborhood early in the morning. It was different during this time; the streets had barely any people, making it much more peaceful than I had always remembered in this place. I had always despised the fact that the city I lived in was so full and packed all the time since I couldn't even talk to any of them.