Tall Trees and Sea Monkeys.
Disclaimer: see chapter 1.
Spoilers: No, not really.
A/N: This piece takes place 2 years later when Tony is 10yrs old. Apologies for the extreme angst, I'm obviously feeling the need to torture poor little Tony at the moment.
1982
Tony! Tony please come down, piccolo mio," Sofia's voice called to him as he sat straight faced, staring through the trees, to the fairy lights that lit the big white house in the distance.
He vaguely heard Sofia talking quietly to the two police officers at the foot of the tree, their words drifting up to him on the chilly evening breeze. The end of his little nose had already turned red and was stinging and the tears that had settled on his cheeks had begun to crystalise.
"His father, Senor DiNozzo, is away in Los Angeles. A business trip, you understand. Povero bambino. To find her like that…." Sofia wrung her hands together and dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron.
"I was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes after supper and Tony was helping me. I asked him to go and see if his Mamma, Signora DiNozzo, wanted anything before I left and he….he found her lying on the floor," the elderly housekeeper crossed herself before continuing.
"Take your time, Ma'am," the officer said, trying to calm the distressed woman.
"I heard him screaming and I thought that he had hurt himself, so I ran upstairs and there she was. The bathroom door was opened and…and the blood was everywhere," she shuddered at the memory. "Tony was trying to wake her. He had a towel and was wrapping it around her hands and crying "Mamma, Mamma, please wake up Mamma".
The elderly housekeeper paused and blew her nose gently before continuing.
"I could tell it was too late. I went to him and took him in my arms and he cried his heart out povero bambino," Sofia started to weep softly as the older police officer recorded her statement and took down the contact number for Tony's father.
"Please, officer,…can you get him to come down?" Sofia begged.
The younger police officer shone his torch up the huge old Pine tree and located the small boy perched at the top. He tossed the torch to his partner and asked him to shine it up the tree trunk, then began to climb.
Tony heard the creaking of branches as the police officer came steadily closer. He concentrated on staring at the house in the distance, his little brow creasing with the effort to ignore the man climbing up to meet him. Please go away! He thought.
Tony didn't look down, but he felt the branches shudder slightly as the officer stopped, just below the spot where the boy was perched at the top of the tree. The man couldn't climb any higher, from here on, the branches were starting to get very small and would probably not support his weight.
The officer settled himself against a sturdy branch, just below where Tony sat and eyed the boy for any signs of harm or injury. There were dark stains on the front of his shirt and pants and his hands were covered with, what he figured, was probably dried blood from his mother's wounds.
God, the poor kid. He thought. What a shocking thing for him to witness.
"Hey Tony, my name's Michael, I'm a police officer," the young cop tried to get Tony's attention but the boy ignored him, staring resolutely toward the lights that twinkled in the distance. He followed the boy's gaze and noticed the large white house covered with fairy lights.
"Nice place. Belongs to the Carson family I think," he nodded toward the house in the neighbouring estate. "Sometimes I put my wife and kid in the car and drive up along this way so they can see all the big houses lit up with lights."
"My little boy calls it fairyland," he smiled to himself when he recalled the look of wonder that spread across his 4 yr old son's little face and the wistful sigh from his wife as she gazed at the sheer proportion of some of the homes in this estate.
If his wife only knew what heartache existed behind some of these impressive front doors? He thought. Maybe she wouldn't envy the people who lived in these grand homes quite so much.
He realised that he'd never noticed this place lit up like all the others and wondered why.
Meanwhile, Tony continued to stare straight ahead as though he hadn't heard a word. His breath made little clouds of steam each time he exhaled, an indication of how cold it was up here.
Looking down the officer was reminded of just how high they were and forced down the fear that started to creep into his mind. The branches were becoming icy; he had to get the kid down before he froze to death.
Tony hadn't moved a muscle, hadn't even blinked an eye to acknowledge the officer's presence. He just sat, stony faced and continued to stare at the big white house in the distance.
"Um, I know that you're hurting real bad, Tony, but…you need to come down now, son. My partner's going to call your dad and he'll be home soon to be with you…."
"No he won't!"
The boy's head swung around sharply and he fixed the officer with a cold stare that belied his ten short years. The officer caught his breath at the look of such cynicism in one so young.
"C'mon, Tony, sure your dad's going to come home just as fast as he can. You'll see. Let's get you down now and we'll see if Sofia can rustle up some hot chocolate and a warm blanket. You must be getting cold by now!"
Tony was silent for another minute whilst he considered the officer's words. "She's dead isn't she?" he asked, his voice flat.
The officer drew an unsteady breath and looked hard at the young boy. Given their current position he wasn't really sure how he should answer that question. He was really worried that Tony might become distressed, lose his grip on the branches and fall. He shifted his position slightly so that he could better catch the child if he started to slip.
He nodded, answering softly. "Yeah………..I'm sorry, Tony."
Suddenly the boy turned toward him and looked him straight in the eye. "Do you play with your little boy, Officer Michael?" he asked, surprising the officer with an apparent change of subject.
"Aaah..Yes, Tony, I do, just as much as I can. We go to the game on weekends and I take him to his swimming lessons on Thursdays," he replied smiling. "If I'm not working the night shift, I'm in charge of bedtime stories too."
Tony's eyes widened as he listened intently to the policeman's reply. "My Dad never plays with me. He tells me to go away 'cos he's busy," Tony confided. "He says 'Later, Tony, we'll do something later.' But I know he doesn't really mean it."
The Officer closed his eyes briefly and cursed the boy's absent father. Couldn't the man see how much his kid needed his attention?
Tony thought a moment longer and continued "What about your little boy's Mamma? Do you love her? 'Cos my Dad doesn't love my Mamma, he's got a girlfriend and Mamma….Mamma says he can't be trusted".
The young officer filed that information away for his report as he searched desperately for words to answer the troubled child.
"Tony, sometimes problems…." he hesitated."There are all kinds of grown up things that can go wrong between mums and dads and sometimes, they don't know how to fix them. They don't mean to hurt each other or their kids."
Tony's brow furrowed. "I don't understand, Officer Michael. What kind of things?" he asked.
"Lots of things….money problems, for instance," the Officer said looking around at the expanse of beautifully manicured gardens and the grandiose house and cringing as he realised how silly that must sound to the young boy.
Tony shook his head so vigorously, that Michael was afraid he'd fall from his precarious position. "My Dad has lots of money."
"Sometimes having lots of money means having lots of money problems. I bet your Dad has to work really hard to make sure that you and your Mum and Dad can live in this wonderful home."
"But my Dad's never home. He's always at work," Tony said bitterly. "Usually it's just me and my Mamma."
"Now I'm all alone," he sobbed. "What's going to happen to me now?"
"Right now, Tony? I'm going to need you to help me climb back down this big old tree and we're going to sit in the kitchen where it's warm and drink some of Sofia's best hot chocolate. And then we can talk, for as long as you want," he assured the boy. "Then I'm going to have a long chat with your dad when he gets here."
Tony considered that for a moment. He looked back across the estate to the big white house that he loved so much and wished he was there. He wished that tonight had never happened and that his Mamma was waiting for him in the house.
"Tony?" Michael prompted him softly.
Tony looked down at the base of the tree to where Sofia and the other police officer were anxiously waiting and then over to his own house. A white van with no windows was pulling up in the drive next to the police car, its lights flashing brightly across the lawn.
His little chin wobbled with emotion, fresh tears pooled in his eyes and he caught his lower lip between his teeth to keep from crying out loud.
"I'm scared," he whispered, as he turned slowly to face the young policeman.
"You can trust me, Tony," steady blue eyes met and held frightened green ones and the officer reached out his hand toward the boy. "I won't let you down."
Time seemed to stand still; Michael caught and held his breath as the boy searched the officer's face for any sign of a lie.
Then, hesitantly, Tony let go of the branch and placed his cold little hand in the young officer's, warm fingers closing around it and holding on tightly.
"Attaboy Tony!"
