Jax
I stood in front of Unser as he went over his continuous complaints about the club. He helped us out a lot today with taking care of Leland, one of the scumbags that only shook hands with people no darker than a vanilla wafer. I tried to justify it to him, but Unser wasn't a killer. During his time as a Sherriff, he had never taken a life, so this was a lot to take for him.
"Thank you. I owe you," I said sincerely. Unser just grunted and walked away solemnly. I could tell that he still wasn't okay with it, so I knew I'd have to ask my mom to visit him today to keep him company.
"Jackie," Chibs said, grabbing my attention. "Wendy said they need you at Abel's school."
"What now?" I groaned. Trying to think about all the possible things that could've gone wrong.
"She doesn't know."
"Well, have her send Gemma, hell, send Nicole down there."
"Child services were called. They need the father." My mouth fell slightly agape as my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I said no words as I raced out of the hospital at the thought of something being wrong with my son. I couldn't keep count of how many cars or streetlights I passed trying to get to Abel's school.
Once I arrived, I saw my mom's SUV parked out front, but I didn't spot Nicole's. I was slightly agitated about that considering that she should have been here. So, I planned in my head to have a talk with her about it when we got home.
When I walked into the school, I was directed into a small room that Gemma was in. She was standing there with a man and a woman that I didn't recognize.
"What the hell is going on?" I questioned my mother.
"I don't know they won't tell me anything," she said, glaring at the woman and man.
"Are you Mr. Teller?" the woman asked from behind my back.
"Yeah," I said, shaking her extended hand.
"I'm the assistant principal, Mildred Treal. And this is investigator Syeed from Child Services."
"Where's my kid? Is he okay?"
"Yeah," Ms. Treal said nodding her head nervously. "Please just have a seat."
The investigator volunteered to go get Abel and left us with the principal. "Is Ms. Booker going to join us as well?" Ms. Treal asked, "I noticed that she was removed from Abel's emergency contact list."
I was taken aback at the mention of Nicole's last name. "I thought you needed his father, not his babysitter," my mother said, her tone full of agitation.
"Yes, well, Ms. Booker and I have been going over Abel's behaviors and his progress in school, and she's been communicating effectively with Abel's teacher. I just wasn't aware of she was still employed with your family."
"Did you take Nicky off his forms?" I looked at my mother, who didn't answer in front of the principal. I tried to hide my irritation, but I was really annoyed that my mom would take Nicky off of Abel's contact list. It explained why she wasn't here though; she couldn't have possibly known anything when she couldn't be contacted.
"Can you at least tell us why child services are here?" I asked the principal, trying to switch my attention to the problem at hand.
"We'll explain everything," she said, still avoiding the question.
Shortly after, Abel's teacher walked in with Abel and the agent. I didn't miss the look of horror that was on her face when she laid eyes on my mother. "Hey buddy, what's going on?" I asked Abel, leaving my chair to kneel in front of my child.
"Show him, Abel," his teacher encouraged.
Abel hesitated for a bit, biting his lower lip as if contemplating going through with what she was asking. But then he turned his arm over and pulled up his sleeve. His whole arm was decorated with deep, long wounds that were bright red. I looked down in complete horror at the marks that were on my son.
"What happened baby?" Gemma asked over my shoulder, concern dripping from her voice.
"Who did this to you?" I asked him, locking my eyes with his. I was prepared to imprint the same marks into whatever parent the other child belonged to.
"It's okay honey, you can tell the truth. This is a safe room," Ms. Harrison said, urging Abel to talk. "Who did this to you?"
"Grandma," he said simply. I was taken aback by his answer and for a moment, I didn't think I heard him right. But then I turned around to look at my mom, whose face was a pale white as she stared at Abel, and that's when I knew that what I heard had been real.
When I left Abel's school, I called a meeting at Gemma's house. Nicole had answered when I called but I didn't tell her what happened until she was in front of me. She was with Thomas, who was sound asleep in her arms from the drive, and just by looking at her I knew that my boys would always be safe with her. However, my mom had never laid a hand on my kids, so I was confused as to why Abel had accused her of abusing him.
"Jax, I dressed Abel for school this morning and then we went to your house for Nicole. The only thing he had was the scratch over his eye from Tommy, nothing else," Wendy stated.
"Then what the hell happened?" I questioned, "Mom you had the boys for days because you didn't want Nicky to have them. He accused you of cutting him, can you explain that?! Why would he lie?!" Everyone stayed silent as steam came out of my literal ears. "He knew that was going to get you in trouble. What the hell happened to him while he was here?"
"I don't know baby. He's been quiet, kind of distant."
"It's gotta be about Tara," Nero interjected. "Maybe he thinks Gemma is trying to replace her. He probably thinks that if he gets her out of the way, it'll bring his mom back."
"Yeah, but wouldn't he feel that way about Nicole?" Wendy asked, "I mean she's practically living with them. She's sleeping with his dad and he wakes up to her most mornings." She spoke about Nicky as if she wasn't sitting right next to me, but Nicky didn't react to her words. Her eyes were glued to my mother and the rage inside of them was evident. Her chest was heaving up and down, and I knew the only thing keeping her from jumping over the table was Thomas sleeping in her arms.
"He needs to talk to someone," Wendy suggested.
"I agree, he's obviously internalizing something that's too big for him to handle," Nicky said in agreement with Wendy. Wendy looked surprised to hear someone else agree with her, a rarity in this family I suppose.
"He's five. He doesn't need a shrink," my mom said, shooting them both down.
"Oh, so he needs you? A couple more nights at Grandma's? Tell me, what injury should we expect next?" Nicole shot back. "Woah," I said trying to calm her down, her leg was shaking rapidly under the table and I put my hand on it to calm her.
"I'm sorry, can you hold him," she said to Wendy as she got up from the chair. I could see in her eyes that she was on the verge of hot, angry tears. She loved Abel, loved my boys like they were her own. It killed her when anything bad happened to them. And I knew that what happened with Abel today was breaking her heart. Putting her in a bad head space as she had with her daughters.
"Abel needs something! I mean if he did this to himself..."
"Wendy and Nicole are right. We need to find someone that'll help him figure this out," Nero said.
"But for now, you can't be alone with them Mom." Gemma's face became serious as she realized what was happening.
"Jackson, you know I would never hurt my boys."
"It doesn't matter what I know. Child services are calling the shots now! The state could take them if we don't follow protocol. They can't be here anymore, Mom. No more nights at Grandma's." I directed my attention to Nicole, "Babe, I'm going to need some more help with them." I was blatantly asking her to move in with me in front of everyone. Not exactly how I wanted this to happen.
"Yeah, I can do that but I don't want you to pay me anymore if that's what this is going to be." Nicole crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for my reply.
"Babe, but what about your dad?"
"I can get paid helping Bobby around. While I'm gone, I want Wendy to fill in for me." I let out a visible sigh as I realized what she was saying. Wendy was taken aback at Nicole's determination to keep her around. I guess she didn't realize just how crafty the woman was.
"Are you able to help me out Wendy?" she said, not bothering to ask for my okay on the matter. Her mind was made up, and she knew I wouldn't speak against her.
"Yeah, sure," Wendy nodded in agreement as my mother stared at her in horror. Nicole ignored the look on her face as she leaned into me while I draped a lazy arm over her shoulder. Twisting her around until she was buried in my arms.