The rest of the day I spend in my room. I came out once, trying to see if dad would let me watch the game with him, but no dice.
"Go back to your room, Liam," he said in a tired voice.
He really made me stay in my room until dinner. When dinner got here, he turned off the TV, and we ate at the table. We never eat at the table—We ALWAYS watch TV while we eat.
"You're gonna have to start behaving, bud. It feels like I'm grounded too. This sucks," he says, pushing his rice around his bowl.
"You don't have to enforce it. I like our old arrangement," I say, taking a bite of my quesadilla.
"Yeah, well you weren't that far off at the precinct. I AM afraid of your mom," he says with a goofy smile. "I don't wanna get in trouble again—I don't understand how someone so short and tiny can be so loud. Maybe I'll be able to tweak things later on, but for now, I've got to try it mom's way."
I go back to my room once dinner's over, and I stay there until morning.
~*~
When I come out of my room, ready for school, I hear dad on the phone. He's talking in a hushed tone.
"Shit. Do nothing until I get there," he says as he slams his phone back into his pocket. He sees me then and schools his face from stressed, to a smile. "Morning bud. You ready to go?"
I nod, slinging my book bag over my shoulder as we walk to the car. "Who was that?" I ask. Dad is really tense and on edge.
He sighs. "My case is going sideways; It might be a long night. I'm gonna call mom and see if she can keep you at the station until I get off."
As we're driving, he calls mom. Mom agrees, and said she'll pick me up after school. I'm not sure how that'll work since she's working, but that's not my problem.
School was boring. My friends that were with me the other night are all grounded; They all got in huge trouble. I don't know if they all got in the same kind of trouble I did, though. That's definitely not something you talk about with your friends. At least it's not just me that's grounded and missing out—Silver lining, I guess.
Brooklyn's in History, looking beautiful. I haven't talked to her much, because Aria is still on the warpath. I'm trying to let the dust settle for a while—I don't want Brooklyn to be subjected to Aria. I smiled at her though, and she smiles shyly back at me.
When I get out of school and look around the parking lot, I'm not seeing mom anywhere. Great: She forgot. Suddenly I see Taylor in the Chief's car. I'm nervous to talk to him—I haven't seen him since the other day.
I get in the car and shut the door, looking at him carefully. He's got a big smile on his face.
"Hey Liam!" He says, not sounding mad at all.
"Is mom ok?" I ask. Mom not being here to pick me up, while on shift, scares me. Is something wrong? Is she hurt? The terror it sends me is paralyzing.
Taylor understands immediately. "Yeah, sorry—She's fine. Ambulance and truck had a call, so Chief asked me to pick you up."
The flood of relief washing over me is intense.
The drive is quiet at first; I don't know what to say. Finally Taylor breaks the silence. "How ya feeling?"
"I'm fine now—Your belt is wicked, though. Thanks for giving mom another option to torture me with."
He laughs, hard. "Yeah, it does suck, doesn't it? I was on the receiving end of my dad's belt many times. I almost felt sorry for you there at the end. Ouch!"
We're quiet for a few more minutes before I get up the courage to speak.
"I'm sorry, Taylor. I don't know why I keep doing this crap. Sorry you got involved, and that I was a jerk to you."
"It's all good," he says simply, clapping my thigh lightly.
"How long you in for this time?" He asks, glancing at me.
"Two weeks"
"Video games?"
"Unfortunately. Mom sure knows how to torture a kid."
Taylor chuckles again. "Do you like Call of Duty."
"Of course I do." What kind of a question is that? Does a bear shit in the woods? Duh Taylor.
"Well, once you're free, come by sometime. We'll see if you're any good."
"Cool! I don't wanna make you cry though, that would be embarrassing."
Taylor scoffs. "Pretty confident for a guy who will have been grounded for, like, 5 weeks. I've had 5 weeks of playing, perfecting my skills. You're going down, kid."
"We'll see," I say, rolling my eyes.
He chuckles as he pulls into the bay. We get out of the car, and my heart sinks. Mom still isn't back.
Taylor sees me looking at the spot the ambulance should be, and claps my shoulder. "Don't worry, Liam. It was just a car accident call. Plus, Greene and Keegan are there, along with the Chief. They will all look out for her."
"I'd feel better if you were with her," I say, looking at him. Something flashes across his face.
He appreciated that comment—a lot.
"She'll be fine, come on—You want something to eat?" He asks, walking to the kitchen.
"Sure"
"Liam!!!! How ya doin', dude?" Diego asks, coming over and pretending to jump on my back.
"What's up, Diego?" I ask, grinning at him.
He's my favorite; He isn't that old—Early twenties, maybe? He's cool. I came over one other time a couple weeks ago while I was grounded, and he played basketball with me for over an hour. It was fun.
"How long you here for today? Have time for a basketball game? Maybe we can get Preston and Rhodes to play too," he says, looking around to find more men.
"I don't know how long—But yeah, sounds fun." Anything is better than staring at the walls in my room.
"Sweet! Hey Preston, want us youngins' to school you and Rhodes? We'll show you what it's like to be young again."
Taylor grabs the ball and chucks it at him. "Awful big talk for two guys who still live with their mommy's."
Taylor can't be older than 35. He must have played basketball in high school—He didn't even need Rhodes help, kicking our butts. Once the game was over he smirks and puts Diego in a head lock. "Not so cocky now are we, Diego?" He says, laughing and going to grab a water. Just then the truck pulls into the bay. I wait, expecting to see the ambulance pull in behind, but it doesn't.
The feeling of terror comes back immediately. Diego looks at me funny, not understanding what my problem is. Taylor turns and sees my face, and pulls me into a hug.
"Buddy, calm down. The ambulance never gets back the same time we do. They have to take the person to the hospital and fill out paperwork. She won't be back for at least another half an hour. If there was an issue, truck would never have come back."
"Ok"
"You're worried about your mom?" Diego asks seriously—He's not making fun of me at all.
I simply nod.
He gets it immediately—He knows better than I do how dangerous this job is.
He simply gives me a high five, and pulls me into his side. "We've all got each other's backs. I promise you."
About half an hour later mom gets back, and I go over to her.
"Hey buddy!" She says, giving me a hug and a kiss. "I've missed you. Have you had a good time?"
"Yeah. I played basketball with Diego, Preston, and Rhodes."
"Who won?" She asks, looking at all of us.
"Preston," I say with an attitude. "He destroyed us."
"Yeah well, he cheats."
Diego points at mom with emphasis. "Thank you, Freeman!" He says, with excitement in his voice. "Yes he does!"
Taylor perks up once he hears what he's being accused of.
"Hey! I'd be happy to challenge you, Freeman, if you wanna put your money where your mouth is," he grins, taunting her.
"Sorry, I don't play with cheaters," she says, grinning back.
"Ummm, hello?... I was playing with Preston—Don't I get any credit for the win?" Rhodes asks, offended.
"No" Diego, Preston, and I all answer at the same time, laughing.
~*~
The rest of the day was fun. Diego, Keegan, and I played cards. Mom wasn't happy that they were teaching me poker, but Keegan informed her that it was a necessary step to becoming a man. Mom just rolled her eyes, but left it alone.
Dad finally gets to the station around 9:00 pm. He's limping a little, and has a nasty cut above his eye. Everyone is in the living area, watching as dad walks in.
"Alex! What happened?" Mom asks, rushing over to dad.
"The case went South," dad says as he gives her a gentle hug, wincing a little.
"The drug one?"
Dad simply nods.
"You ok?" She asks, touching his face, trying to look at his eye.
"I'm good," he says, wincing away from her touch.
"Sit"
"Don't, Ellie. I'm fine."
"Alexander Levi, I'm gonna throw a huge fit in about two seconds if you don't sit your ass down, right now."
Taylor, Greene, Diego, and Keegan all laugh. They know mom's not kidding.
Dad sighs and rolls his eyes. "Down, tiger."
He sits down carefully and shakes his head, looking back at mom.
More chuckles erupt behind us. Everyone knows by now that when Ellie Freeman looks like that, you listen to her.
Mom comes over to him and starts pressing on his eyebrow again. "Nothing's broken. Why didn't you go to the hospital and have them look at this? You don't need stitches, but it does need bandaged."
"I'm fine, Eleanor."
"Oh shut up—You're not fine," she snaps.
Megan comes over then with a kit, and mom gets out the bandages she needs. She cleans the area, and dad winces away, gasping a little from the sting of the alcohol.
"You big baby," she says smiling gently as she continues to clean it out.
Dad just rolls his eyes
Once she gets it bandaged up, she nods. "Ok, take off your shirt."
"What?!"
"Your rib is hurting. Take off your shirt so I can check it," she says, losing her patience.
"How could you possibly know that?"
"Your breathing is labored."
"The kid's good," Keegan says quietly.
Dad is getting really flustered by now. "For someone so tiny, you're sure a pest," he says as he takes off his shirt.
Mom doesn't appreciate all the laughter that erupts with that remark.
I glance over at Megan—It's obvious that she's pleasantly surprised by how ripped dad is. She looks away quickly, before someone notices her staring.
Mom starts feeling around, making dad groan in pain several times. "Good. Nothing's broken. You're gonna have a major bruise, though. I'm going to go grab you some ice."
As she leaves, dad looks at me and smiles a little.
"Sorry bud, I didn't mean for you to see me like this."
"This was a drug bust?" I ask, understanding why he's been on my case about drugs so much lately.
Dads nods silently and looks at me hard. "Drugs suck—Be better than that," he says, causing the room to go silent.
I simply nod.
Mom comes back and gives him the ice, and some Tylenol.
A while later once mom decides that he is, in fact, ok, we leave.
I try not to think about the fact that my dad got so hurt. Why do both of my parents have to have such dangerous jobs?