"Hey Alex! How's it going?" Hondo greeted, as he finished suiting up at home.
He had a couple of errands to complete downtown, including finishing up with Internal Affairs about the Franken Doc case that almost cost him his job. Since Street was going to be out, Tan requested early leave to catch a plane for his nephew's birthday celebrations this weekend and the other two were working with the recruits all day, Hicks granted him the full shift to get everything done down at the courthouse, plus deliver some reports to two local precincts. He didn't complain at all, since he was planing to have an easy going weekend... finally! The latest months have been rough on him and he needed to just grab the couch and be a bum.
"Hey Hondo! Doing good. Took some time this weekend to take the family out. Cost a fortune! Better start saving from now, partner." he said with a smirk.
Hondo smirked alongside with him, shaking his head. He only had a slight idea of what awaited him, but he could only cross his fingers. "Word." he paused, "Hey listen, um...how's Street's case coming? You think the judge will go easy on 'em today?"
"To be honest, I'm surprised the judge is handling the case at all. There are no charges involved, so technically the hearing is supposed to be conducted in family court. So, I don't get involved, don't need to anyway. There's no one to defend, really. Heard that Rogers personally asked for the case, minding that he and the family court judge, I think his name is Green, are pals. I assumed they talked and Rogers asked for it."
"Damn! Green is much easier to work with, Alex." Hondo lamented
"Oh, yeah, for sure. Rogers is among the toughest of them all!"
"Alright, alright." Hondo said slowly
"I'll tell you what. I got some time before I start prepping my witness now. I'll give Street a call. Ok?"
"You're a life saver, Alex."
"No, actually, you are...and I will be forever grateful!"
The smell of freshly cooked bacon, eggs, sweet pancakes and many other menu items filled the air as Street, Chris and Rubio made their way to the corner booth. Street held Chris' hand and Rubio directed traffic. The diner was so crowded that even the counter stools were all filled. Street and company were lucky enough to arrive just in time as another family stood up and left, vacating the booth. A young bus boy came quickly and prepared the table as they made their way to it.
"Your waitress will be with you shortly." the young man said grabbing everything and wiping the table clean.
"Fabián?" Rubio asked, recognizing the young man
"¡Híjole, Rubio!" (Hey Rubio!) said the guy extremely excited. He held the container with the dirty dishes and the cleaning rag with one hand to his hip, while offering his wrist for Rubio to greet. He wore an excited smile, from ear to ear. "¿Tu cómo éstas, chamo?" (How are you, dude?)
"Estamos bien. Que bueno verte. Trátame a mi y a mis viejos bien." (We're good. It's nice to see you. You better treat me and my folks well.) he said with a smile, returning the gesture. He finished by pointing to the couple, who sat across from him.
The shy young man turned to Street and Chris and bowed his head, then returned his attention to Rubio. "De ahorita, ¡guey! Oye, y gracias porque Laurita es una chama guapísima. Ya llevamos 3 meses, ¡guey!" (Immediately, dude! Hey, and thanks coz Laurita is so hot. We've been together for 3 months already, man!) the young man say excitedly
"Acho*, ¡que duro! Dale. ¡Cuidate, Fabi!" (**Awesome! Ok. Take care, Fabi!) Rubio said with a smile. *no real translation, cultural expression*
The young man swung the deep container to the front, bowed his head one more time and turned around to leave.
"He seems nice." Chris said
"Yeah. I meet him when I was in the street. He help me with food and I helped him get a girl's number. He doesn't talk much."
"I don't even wanna ask...how. No." Chris said with a frown, shaking her head.
Both Rubio and Street repeated her action as the two silently shook their heads, with giggles. Some seconds later, the waitress came over and took their order.
"So, we gotta talk." Chris announced, placing her hands in the table, in front of the teenager.
He turned his attention to her, then to her hands. "Woah!" he said loudly, startling the couple sitting besides them. Chris and Street giggled as they hushed him.
"Not so loud, buddy!" Street said between giggles
"Pops, you did it! The ring was for Chris!"
"You knew about it?" Chris asked with a confused look
"How?" Street asked, as he shared a puzzled look with Chris
"I find the ticket when I was helping to clean. I think at first it was for the other woman."
Street hung his head and sighed. "There's no other woman. Listen..."
...and so, the young officers set out to explain the events of the previous Friday night and the ones that unfolded. They wanted to be honest with him because they felt he needed to know the truth. Of course they only revealed a G rated version of the events!
"I'm a lil bit worried about how the judge is going to take it...but, we talked about it and we want you to know that we decided to face it together. We want you to understand that we do love you and we both want to keep our family together. It's kinda what neither him nor I had growing up...and honestly, we don't wanna lose it."
"I don't want to lose you too."
"Listen, I gave Chris that ring as a promise and we made a pact... for us, for you and for our family that we were going to fight for us, together. We want you to be part of it."
"I am. No matter what the judge say."
"Right."
"And Topo."
"Ok, fine. And Topo!" Street said rolling his eyes
"Just...tell the truth. Whatever the judge asks you. We'll be ok." Chris reassured him
RIIING
RIIIING
Everyone in the table stopped as the ringing interrupted the conversation.
"Sorry." Street lamented as he took out the mobile. He read the name on the screen and was delighted. "Hey Alex. You're on speaker."
"Hey Street. Hey family! How's everybody doing?"
"Getting breakfast before facing Rogers." He answered
"Hey Alex" Rubio greeted
"Counselor" Chris greeted
"Hey, kid! Captain. So, I heard."
"Yeah, it's ok though. I think we're ready." Street said nodding towards the others in the table
"That's good to hear. Listen." he paused. "I made some calls and it seems Rogers requested Rubio's case personally. Since there are no charges to be tried, the hearing is supposed to take place in family court, not teen court, as it is known."
"Is that a good thing?"
"I'm not sure. It is rather uncommon for anyone to take on a family cases, since they are so delicate. I'm trying to decipher if there is a connection here, but haven't been able to find it yet. There must be a reason why the judge keeps working your case."
"That's just my luck." Street lamented, shaking his head
"Yeah, well...Hondo called and said your girl might be in trouble for wrecking your bike? That true?"
"Uh...yeah. We had a situation last weekend. Just a misunderstanding."
"Oh, ok. Well, I don't work cases in family court but from what I heard, those kinda things can really affect your chances at getting the kid. Anger management issues are among the top motives for child abuse. So, CFS usually is skeptical when it comes to applicants with history of anger issues."
There was a deep silence, as the three stared at each other clearly worried.
"It's ok. We'll figure it out." Street said, grabbing her hand firmly
"Well, you could say it was remnant of extreme stress or procedural examinations from the program she's in. Hondo tells me that she has been cramming up and this morning was out running before the sun came out. Could've been an episode or something. If it gets to that, try a psych defense."
"Ok, ok. Thanks a lot."
"No problem. I'll be around the courthouse, so I'll see if I can meet up with you later."
"Sure thing."
"Hondo will be around too. Told me he has meetings and paperwork to deliver all day today."
"Alright."
"Take care!"
The three chatted for a while, until their food arrived. Rubio attacked the plate as if he hadn't eaten in days, while Chris and Street took their time. The eggs were tasty, as well as the coffee, which had just the right touch of sweetness.
RIIIING
RIIIING
"Remember to put in on vibrate when we go in." Chris said between mouthfuls
"I better turn it off altogether!" Street said as he took out the phone. "Hey man!" he greeted
"Uh hum." he listened and chewed
Ate some eggs.
"Yeah" Listened. Chewed.
Took a bite of the bacon strips.
"Awesome!" Listened. Chewed.
Took a sip of coffee and swallowed slowly.
"Oh my God! Thank you so much! Can't wait to tell em."
The others frowned quizzically. Another bite of eggs.
"Perfect! See you then. Thanks, man!" he clicked on the screen and laced his phone away
"What happened, pops?" Rubio asked curiously
"Well" he said with a mouthful. He swallowed, then continued, "I thought we needed a break from all the troubles and issues. And since the guys told me that Chris here hates cruises, I decided we could go on a field trip to Nevada, Colorado or wherever you want to go. A friend of mine is lending me a fully equipped RV with everything we need! What do you say?"
"Woah! That's cool." Rubio said amazed as Chris smirked, "Why you hate cruises, ma?"
"I don't hate em, I just...don't like to be enclosed." Chris answered nodding nervously
"Yeah, well with this we would be visiting the outdoors, so...it's a good option."
"But...pops, what about camp?"
"Oh, darn! I forgot." Street said dropping the utensils and shaking his head, "I totally forgot about baseball camp and the RV can only be taken this upcoming week."
"It's ok, I can spend Saturday with you and then you can leave me there. Pick me up when you come back. Pops, you just got ma happy....so, spend time together!"
"That wouldn't be so bad...but for how long?" Chris said turning to Street
"Well, I could take some days. How about you?" Street asked
"When do they say who is the leader?" Rubio asked her
"I'm not sure because they wanted us to complete some certifications this week. But, most can be done online. So...and the final announcement I think will be in two or three weeks."
"Well, we have the camper for 14 days, camp is only 10. So, you will have a chance to spend time with us." Street said
"Duro." (Awesome!) Rubio said with a mouthful
"Sounds like fun." Chris added
"We certainly can enjoy some time together without guns, hospitals and abductions. Right?" Street asked turning to Chris
"Yeah! And I want to be a big brother!" he said giggling
Chris and Street turned abruptly to him and in chorus recited "What?"
HAHAHA