Thirty-Six

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It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. ~Buddha

Luke's POV

"So, what do you do with boys like Luke?" I could hear my mother ask, I could feel her glance on me, but I just wanted to disappear into the darkness of the room. To disappear altogether. I wanted Michael to be here, he always knew what to do, he always made me feel better.

"Well, we have a lot of options." James spoke to them. "We could send Luke to a reform school, but he graduates so soon, you might not see any progress. Ashton's not really pressing charges, but we could always place Luke in a detention center for a short time. Of course, he could be sent with you and then obtain a warrant that he has to report to. There's a lot of options. We could honestly do nothing. To be completely honest, I think Luke really does understand that what he did was wrong and doesn't plan on doing it again. He just wanted to defend Michael, that's all."

"I want to think about it." My mother said. "Can I, can I talk to Luke?"

"Of course." James said. He unlocked the door and opened it for my mother. She walked towards me and I never moved a muscle. She crouched in front of me.

"I thought I told you that you can't be with that boy." My mother said to me. "Look at the trouble you got yourself in because of it."

"I know." I replied quietly.

"You just don't listen to me anymore Luke." My mother sighed. "Now look at what you've done."

"You never listen to me. You never did. You're never home." I scoffed. "You've never supported anything I've done, you were never there for me when I needed someone in my life, an adult I could trust. You never cared."

My mother sat back slightly and looked me up and down, she looked like she was pondering what she would say. But instead, she stood up and walked out of the cell, I knew that what I said was true. She would never deny it either, she was a lot of things - a liar was never one of them. I was not wanted, and she had no problem confirming my fears.

"I don't care what you do to him," My mother said. "Whatever you think is best must be it. I've never dealt with anything like this before."

"Of course. Have a nice evening Mr. and Mrs. Hemmings." James said, I heard the cell door creak open as James walked inside and crouched next to me. "Are you alright, Luke? Do you want to talk to someone?" I shook my head slowly. "What if you could talk to Michael, do you want to talk to him?" I shook my head. "None of your friends? Maybe your boss?" I shook my head for a third time. "Okay, well have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

He walked out of the cell and locked it before walking away.

I was not trying to play victim here, I was not a victim, but I had thrown everything away and I was no longer sure of how to handle anything. I could feel myself shake and then everything just grew darker and darker. The sound of the building was left, and there was a guard sitting at the desk. Every now and again he would look at me.

"Hey kid," He called and I raised my head to him. "What's your name?"

"L-Luke.."I mumbled.

"Aren't you going to get some sleep? You've been sitting in that corner for hours." He said. I never answered him, but I could see the dismay on his face.

Eventually, James came back in the morning. He brought me breakfast and I ate it slowly, but it turned to sand in my mouth as I tried to choke it down. James could see that I was having a hard time eating it, but never said anything.

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