Chapter 12
Normal POV
Mr. Bradley sat at his desk in his study, searching through the phone book for any signs of a Braxton family in close proximity to Reefton Arms.
"He has to have some family somewhere," Mr. Bradley mumbled to himself.
Finally he came across a C and D Braxton in Mangrove River.
"Well this looks like the closest I can find."
Mr. Bradley picked up his phone and dialed the number.
Brax groaned as the home phone rang again.
"Aren't you going to get that?" Heath asked from the couch.
"I suppose I better," Brax groaned and pulled himself up from the couch.
He had worked another double shift, having started at six that morning and he was just beat.
"Hello?" Brax said with a groan.
"Hello, my name is Dean Bradley and I am looking for a C or D Braxton," Mr. Bradley said.
"What do you want?" Brax asked.
"Well I was hoping that someone at this address was related to a young boy named Casey; I am trying to track down his family."
Brax's face turned white as a sheet.
"How do you know Casey?" he demanded.
"I am, or I was one of his teachers at Reefton Arms Public school," Mr. Bradley explained.
"How did you get this number?" Brax demanded again.
"I searched the phone book," Mr. Bradley replied, "Now are you any relation to Casey?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah he's my little brother," Brax answered, "Wait what is all this about; is this some kind of joke?"
"No, this is no joke. Let me explain. I have been teaching Casey for the past five months and I have noticed a significant change in his behaviour, so I notified social services."
"What kind of behaviour?" Brax asked with curiosity.
"The kind that had me suspecting child abuse," Mr. Bradley answered.
"What; you are sick, why would you even call me up and tell me that? My little brother is gone and as much as I hate him being in the social services system they just wouldn't place him in a home like that! Who-ever the hell you are: don't call me again!" Brax yelled into the phone and abruptly hung up; feeling disgusted by the very thought of Casey being abused.
"What was that about?" Heath asked.
"Some jerk claiming to be Casey's teacher at Reefton Arms and saying that Casey was being abused," Brax spat.
Heath raised his eyebrow.
"Wow that's intense; do you think it's true though?"
"If it was, surely he would have told us about it when he saw us," Brax said with a sigh and flopped back down on the couch.
"Maybe it wasn't happening then?" Heath suggested.
Brax turned to face his brother with a look of doubt on his face.
There was just no way it could be true? Otherwise what kind of brother was he not to have noticed?
The following morning after spending the night thinking over the phone call, Brax decided to give social services a call.
"Mangrove River Social Services Department, Andrea speaking."
"Hi, my name's Darryl Braxton, and I want to find out if my little brother has been placed back in care," Brax demanded.
"Okay, what is the name of your brother?" Andrea asked.
"Casey Braxton."
"Yes I see that he has been placed back into the group home and it says pending an investigation into abuse," Andrea explained.
Brax's heart skipped a beat; the man was right.
"What the hell do you mean pending an abuse investigation? What the hell happened to my little brother? I want him back home to me and I want him back home now!" Brax shouted.
"I understand your concerns Mr. Braxton but that is not for me to decide. I will put you on to Rachel the head supervisor," Andrea explained as calmly as she could, considering Brax's fiery reaction.
Brax waited for the phone line to pick up again.
"Hello Darryl; this is Rachel. I understand you must be frustrated upon hearing the news."
"How could this happen; how could you, let this happen? I want Casey back home with me where he belongs and I will damn well fight it if I have to!" Brax yelled.
"Please Darryl. I am in the process of investigating how Casey could have been placed in such a home, so he is safe at the group home for the time being," Rachel assured.
"No, I don't want him in some damn group home; I want my little brother here!" Brax persisted.
"Look, the best I can do is review your case and if I see that you are able to provide for Casey I will allow him to go back to you, but I cannot make any promises. Leave it with me and I will call you back later today," Rachel informed.
Brax let out a heavy sigh and hung up. He was so angry; angry that he hadn't been able to protect Casey and angry at why he was hurt in the first place.
Several hours passed and Brax remained on edge the entire time just wanting to go straight down to the group home and snatch Casey into his arms.
Just when he was at his last tether the phone rang again.
"Hello," Brax quickly spoke.
"Darryl, it's Rachel from Social Services again."
"So: what did you find out?" Brax demanded.
"Well it seems that somehow, someone, paid a large sum of money to have Casey removed from the group home and into this other home," Rachel explained.
"What; like a set up?!" Brax raged, "How could this happen; does nobody do their job?!"
"I understand you are upset Darryl and so am I and I assure you I will get to the bottom of this, but I also wanted to notify you that I have reviewed your statistics and can see you have managed to maintain a steady good job and that your other brother is doing well enough in school, so it is with my pleasure to tell you I am happy to release Casey back into your care."
Brax's expression turned from enraged to that of relief.
"What; when I can get him?" Brax asked frantically.
"I will get him ready and you can pick him up in a few hours," Rachel informed.
Brax hung up the phone and a smile spread across his face; his baby brother was coming home.
Brax fronted up at the group home just after two-thirty where Rachel was waiting.
"I am so sorry that Casey had been neglected and placed into a home where it was reported he had been hit," Rachel simplified before making her way inside the group home.
Being reminded of his brother's torture made Brax angry again and more determined to figure out who would have paid to get Casey out of the system.
Before Brax could stray on his thoughts Casey came out the main doors of the group home and into the foyer.
"See I told you someone is here waiting for you," Rachel gently informed Casey.
Brax smiled widely seeing his little brother again and knelt down to match his level.
Casey glanced up with his backpack over his shoulders and smiled at the sight of Brax.
Casey ran up towards Brax but stopped before he reached Brax's open arms; he was afraid to be touched and the sudden threat from Johnny played back over in his mind: "beaten so badly they will forget they had a little brother."
"Casey I'm so glad to have you home," Brax exclaimed.
Casey gave a weak smile but did not have the same glint in his eye of a happy care-free boy.
"Come here," Brax encouraged.
Casey remained stationary and silent.
Brax smiled at Casey empathetically and pulled Casey into a hug.
Casey went ridged in Brax's arms and did not hug him back.
Brax's heart sunk at his little brother's behaviour.
Brax pulled away and smiled at Casey in an attempt to hide his anger and fear over what had happened to Casey.
"How about we go and pick Heath up from school? He'll be happy to see you, then what's say we celebrate with pizza; your favourite," Brax said with a hint of enthusiasm.
Casey gave an unenthusiastic nod and turned his gaze to the floor as Brax stood up and turned his attention to the social worker.
"So have you got answers? I mean look at him; he's barely happy," Brax spat out a whisper.
Rachel sighed, "It is still a mystery as to how Casey could be homed given only a large sum of money."
Brax huffed, "I told you he should have stayed with me, and none of this would have happened," Brax spat.
"It was a big mistake on our behalf and we are very sorry," Rachel said sincerely.
Brax ignored Rachel's apology and turned back to Casey.
"You ready?" he asked.
Casey gave a shrug and reluctantly took hold of Brax's hand he had held out.
"Goodbye Casey," Rachel fare-welled.
"Bye," Casey mumbled.
Casey sat in silence on the way towards the high school, with Brax glancing over at him on numerous occasions.
"You ready to wait for Heath?" Brax asked. Casey looked over at his brother and nodded.
Waiting at the gate, Brax gently placed a hand on Casey's shoulder and watched as the young boy flinched.
"Sorry," Casey mumbled.
"It's alright Casey," Brax assured.
Before anything more could happen, Heath appeared out of the school doors.
A wide smile appeared on the teen's face and he ran towards his family.
"Case!" Heath shouted, "How did you...?"
Heath didn't finish his sentence before he unthinkably grabbed Casey in his arms and swung him around.
Casey screamed in shock at the outburst and touch, and started to cry.
Heath set down Casey and rubbed his shoulder, only for Casey to pull away and cower.
"I'm sorry Case; I'm just glad to see you," Heath said and gave Brax a confused look.
"No...you don't want me...shouldn't..." Casey mumbled as he sobbed.
Brax grabbed a hold of Casey's upper arms and knelt down in front of him, ignoring the flinch the young boy gave.
"Casey of course we want you. I fought to get you back every chance I could," Brax assured.
Casey shook his head.
"I want to go home," he sobbed.
"Yeah alright; we'll go home," Brax assured.
Casey immediately stood up and ran back to Brax's car, ignoring his brothers.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Heath apologised, "Why'd he just do that?"
"It's fine mate; it's not your fault. It's from whatever place he was subject to and who-ever led him to such a place to be hurt, I'm determined to find out; he's traumatised," Brax answered.
By the time they got home, Brax took Casey's bag and began to unpack.
"Would you like to go down to your old room?" Brax suggested, "Maybe even have a wash before I get dinner?"
Casey nodded just to please his brother but let out a small request.
"Can I lock the door?"
Brax furrowed his brow.
"What for Casey, you know I don't like you being in the bathroom with the door locked," Brax answered.
Casey stared down sadly.
"Look, it's just because I don't like the thought of anything bad happening," Brax assured.
Casey nodded, "Sorry I asked," he said quietly, but inside butterflies were flowing through his stomach thinking if his brothers would come in and touch him like Johnny used to.
"It's okay Casey," Brax assured.
Before Casey left towards the bathroom Brax pulled out his broken transformer that Casey had hidden at the bottom of his bag.
"Goodness what happened to this?" Brax asked.
Heath chuckled, "Looks fried."
"Casey, how did this happen?" Brax questioned again.
"It was put in the microwave," Casey answered softly.
"Why?" Heath asked.
Visions raced inside Casey's head over the abuse he suffered that day and he couldn't tell his big brothers.
"I was playing and wanted to see what would happen," Casey lied in all but a quiet whisper.
"So you did this?" Brax asked, finding it hard to believe.
Casey stared down and shrugged.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble," he apologised.
"Never-mind, I'll get you a new one," Brax said.
"Are you mad?"
"No I'm not mad, but you promise me you won't do anything dangerous like that again," Brax affirmed to which Casey gave a nod.
Once Heath went with Casey to run the bath water, Brax's mind went into thinking mode again; who would be corrupt enough to pay off the foster care system? Then it hit him: Casey had once said the boy's names he was living with were Andy and Josh Barrett, and their Dad had been friends with a guy called Johnny Barrett. Why hadn't he picked up on this before?
Brax quickly finished unpacking Casey's bag and rushed back down the hall, just in time to see Heath shutting the bathroom door.
"I need you to keep an eye on Casey," Brax said in a hurry.
"What; why; where are you going?" Heath questioned.
"There's just something I have to do, so keep an eye on him; would you Heath?" Brax said abruptly.
Heath nodded and watched Brax dart out of the house.