His chest on fire and his stomach clenched hard in response to Warren's words.
Forcing himself not to raise his voice, to keep his voice level, he said in clipped words, "What you're saying is she's going to get off scot free? That once again the wheels of justice are not just moving slowly but they aren't going to turn at all."
Warren used his best judge voice. "Unfortunately, it's in the children's best interest."
Nostrils flaring, his stomach knotted. "Warren, she can't just get away with beating this kid up, with torturing all of them for months. This can't be happening."
"Oliver, I wouldn't put it quite like that. But exactly that's what's going to happen."
"It's not." He had nasty thoughts about what he'd like to do to the woman himself but this wasn't his city so he knew he couldn't go there.
No matter how much he truly wanted to pay Josh's aunt a little visit.
"Sorry but prosecuting her is not the way to go." Warren had the good grace to duck his head before he reached and picked up a file folder from his overloaded desk.
"I disagree. She needs to be made an example of."
"I agree but trust me it will never stick."
"That's hard for me to swallow."
His chest tight and aching, he wanted to punch something hard, to use his fists and to do some extreme damage to something.
But he couldn't. No instead he sat there and let Warren's next words wash over him.
"Welcome to my world. The one where I hold kids' lives in my hands. The one where most of the people I deal with are druggies, uneducated and repeat offenders. And their kids are major screw-ups. Just like Josh. Here, I want you look at Josh's school records."
The man threw the file across his cluttered desk as he added, "Look at the number of fights he's been in the last month."
Snapping the thick file open, he noted the number of incident reports and bit his lip as he realized that Josh had been in over ten fights in the last month.
And there was a pending Family in Need of Services petition in the file.
Josh had been headed back to court.
Regardless, he knew Josh was on probation, heck all of his players were on probation, and Josh shouldn't be in one fight let alone ten fights in one month but he managed to keep a straight face.
Yet, Warren gave him a half smile. "Oliver, understand if we prosecute, her lawyer's going to have a field day making the state look like a fool, and truthfully, as you see the paperwork was already filed and he's headed back to court. One look at all those fights and I'd have revoked Josh's probation, and he'd be sitting in detention right now. And that point's going to come up."
"He's past angry. And from my experience anger's something people share. The rage comes out and with teens, it comes out with their fists."
"I know that. That's exactly the reason that I wanted to make a go of this soccer team. These kids need another outlet."
"Well and maybe it's working for some of them."
"Really?" Warren looked over his glasses at him.
"Really. The teens banded together as a team and helped looked for Josh and the others. They stepped up."
He watched Warren tent his hands together and give slight grin before he added, "Now I know it's too soon to tell what's going to happen but what I do know is they worked as a team to try to find those teens. And I know Josh was getting beat up at home and that's what led to him fighting at school. Look at it as him sharing the pain."
"I understand that but I'm seriously thinking about revoking his probation. Ten fights in one month, if I let him get away with that, what message am I sending?"
"That you are a good judge since you need to side stepped that mistake. Josh is a freaking genius and the last thing he needs is to go into illegal 101."
"I've not noted that genius side of him showing, since every time I've seen him he hasn't proven he's very smart since I could send him to detention for the next couple of years."
"Well, note now that he's smart. Extremely clever." He looked hard at Warren, who snorted in response.
Oliver fought his grin as he added, "You do realize Josh was locked in a room and took two old antique broken rotary phones, two old flashlights and jump started an ancient land line to save two teens he wasn't even sure he was friends with at the time? I would have died in that room. What about you?"
"Seriously? The kid Macgyvered his way out of that room?" Warren looked over his glasses at him, and he suppressed his small grin.
"Yeah, that's a good way to look at. Josh totally Macgyvered all of them out of that room, and he was smart enough to be a team player and teach Stan how to send out the SOS. And this was after he'd taught Stan to field splinted his own leg, then got Stan to splint his broken arm, and he made the decision not to dig Jordan out of the debris so the kid wouldn't bleed to death before help could come."
"You're sure about that?" Warren said in a deep voice.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Got pictures if you want to see them. And then he proceeded to teach Stan how to use the handset to not just dial out but to tap out SOS enough times to my phone that Felicity realized out it was a cry for help. I didn't get it at all but still he managed to save all of them."
"I still find that hard to believe."
He looked hard into Warren's eyes before he said, "Believe it, without Josh, all of them would have died. And who knows when this town would have finally found their bodies or rather their bones?"
"Show me the pictures."
Pulling out his phone, he handed it to the man.
"That's plain genius. Look he connected the two batteries."
"Yeah, which gave him enough volts to make the phone work but not right."
Warren handed his phone back. "Alright, I won't revoke his probation, but we can't go after Janie, not with Josh's history. Trust me, Oliver, we'll lose if we push this. We have to let her go."
And his chest tightened and he hated this.
"So, what you're telling me it that since he has a history of fighting, Janie Hall's going to get away with beating him up for over a year. Did you look at his bruising? Did you see all the stages of bruising he had? This wasn't a one-time thing."
"No. But that doesn't change the fact he's violated his probation repeatedly."
Snapping open the file folder, he scanned the records again and read the ten records of fighting in the last thirty days, the last being Stan and him fighting in the lunch room. His stomach plummeted as he said, "Warren, she darn near killed him the last time. His bruising shows that she knocks him around on a normal basis. Understand that?"
His chest tightened, and he found that he wanted to beat the woman up himself, to show her how it felt to be defenseless and have someone bully you.
Unable to stop himself, his hands became fists. But he didn't hit women, unless they put themselves out there and fought him.
Something he knew Janie Hall would never do.
Yet, sometimes, he wanted to make an exception, and Janie Hall could be that exception.
He knew that this wasn't over.
No, not by a long shot.
Warren looked unhappy. "I'm aware of that. But the DA doesn't think he can make the charges stick. She's already hired a lawyer from Dallas, who's clearly stated that they intend to fight every step of the way. They're not standing down."
"Can't you do something?" He shut his eyes for an instant and sighed, knowing he'd lost this battle.
"No." Warren said with a slight wince. "My hands are tied. And the last thing I want to do is put those three kids through a trial. Talk about a nightmare."
"I hadn't thought about that."
"Well, think about it, and how well do you think Josh will do on the stand talking about his aunt beating the hell out of him on a normal basis?" His frown hard, Warren added, "Me, I'm thinking not well."
Frowning, knowing he'd agreed, he said hopefully, "You could clear the room. Give him some space."
Warren shook his head. "I won't be the judge this time. I do juvie. I don't prosecute. It's not my thing. Judge Sanders will be the judge if this goes to court."
"He could clear the room. Close it."
Warren held his graze as he said, "Yes, but even if Sander's closes the room, Josh and his siblings will still have to testify in front of people. Oliver, the Sixth Amendment gives Janie Hall the right to face her accusers and it won't happen in my court room. I won't have any control of the situation. Her lawyer will cross-examine, and he'll do everything he can to make these kids out as liars."
"Damn." He looked at his boots and exhaled.
"Yeah, damn. And trust me, they'll not play fair. All of the kids will have to testify."
"You don't think Josh could handle it?"
"No, I don't. Honestly, I don't think it would be good for the others either but it would be especially hard for Josh. Think about it. Could you sincerely get up on the stand and admit that your aunt beat you up on a regular basis and then go back to high school and face the bullies?"
He frowned hard as Warren said, "Then it will get worse when the papers pick it up. The press will eat it up. It will all come back. Josh's dad worked for Google, his parents' tragic accident, and Josh's being a hero and saving the other two will be trending on Twitter for God's sake. Frankly, Oliver, this will turn into a media circus. I know you've been in the spot light in the past. Do you want that for Josh and the others?"
Shutting his eyes, he sighed and then opened them and closed Josh's folder and tossed it back on the cluttered desk with the words, "No, but there has to be another way. She's not going to just get away with this. I don't want her to get away with this."
"I agree but remember we're dealing with three children's lives, and really more lives than that since Stan and Jordan and all their families are going to get pulled in too."
He sighed and said, "Okay so what can you do?"
"This." The man ticked off on his fingers. "One, I can remove the children permanently from her home."
"And you should."
Warren gave a slight grin before he added, "Next, I can terminate her rights. I can find her guilty of abuse and neglect and put her on the child registry, so she'll never work around children again. With time, I might even get her replaced at the library and get her off the city council but those are maybe's."
His stomach knotted at the unfairness.
And he found it hard to tamp down the hate as he spat, "She should at least lose her job. I mean she's still working around children."
Warren looked pained as he said, "Not happening. She's been the library director for fifteen years with a pristine record. I've checked into it. Unless she makes a huge mistake and hurts a child on the job, we can't touch her. And Janie isn't stupid so no way she's going there."
"Okay, but what going to happen to the kids now? They have two uncles from California willing to step up and take custody."
"It's not that easy."
"Sure it is. They had custody of them before the aunt showed up. They've passed a home study. They are willing to step up."
"All of these kids are wards of the state now. There are rules. I can't just sign them over and let them move back to California. Josh still has months of probation left and there's talk about charging him with trespassing and maybe."
Darkly, he interrupted the judge, with the words, "That's the aunt. I heard her threaten to get him locked up until he's nineteen. I came in after she tweaked his broken arm in an attempt to silence him."
Warren frowned again.
"She's making Josh out to be the bad guy in this situation. The aunt's still attempting to control the situation. Those kids spent two days trapped in hell in that cannery. Jordan Franks may still lose both his legs, Josh is headed into foster care, and Stan got off easy with a broken leg and severe dehydration. I'd say they've paid for their sins of being stupid boys that wanted to beat each other up and fell through a roof into a living hell."
The judge crossed his arms in front of this chest and frowned before he said, "I don't control those things. That's up to the precursor."
"But we both know that you can make a call and make it go away. Make the call. Make it go away. Josh deserves better. He's already paid his dues."
"Are you asking me to break the rules?" Warren's voice and eyes were hard, and Oliver could see where he would be unbending in the courtroom.
But that wasn't the point.
No, Josh and his sibling needing help was the point.
"No, just bend them a little." He gave the man one of his winning, slash convincing smiles. "And give his uncles a chance. I've spoken with them. They're willing to establish residence here until Josh finishes his probation. They honestly seem to care about these children, and truthfully, these kids need someone who cares about them. They've been living in hell for over a year and no one noticed, including myself. We need to cut them a break. Haven't they suffered enough?"
Warren refused to meet his eyes. "They need to understand that Child Protective Services will be keeping a close eye on them? Are they ready for that?"
"They understand that. And believe me, they get that there'll be hoops to jump through."
The man's lips formed a straight line before he said, "Alright, I'll have my admin set a hearing date and get them on the docket."
"Could we make it this week?"
"You're pushing."
"Maybe, but it'd be nice if Josh never had to go into foster care, and he's still in critical care. It's been two days and his doctor hasn't downgraded him. But the sooner we get those kids settled in a stable place the better. They need to sort out their lives."
"Okay, I'll work them in." The man made a note on a yellow notepad before he ask, "Now, how's the team coming along playing soccer?"
Swallowing, he resisted the urge to crack his neck. "They're coming along."
"I'll be at the first game."
"You and most of the town from what I hear. Can't say it's going to be pretty."
Standing, Warren extended his hand, and the man stood and shook his hand with the words, "Not looking for pretty but it's next week right?"
"Right, next Wednesday."
"I'm looking forward to it. And Oliver, thank you for the great job you've been doing with these teens."
He sighed as he stood and shook the man's hand.
Then he turned and left the room.
####OQ####
Josh
Josh turned over when his uncle entered the room.
His heart pounded.
Loudly.
Truly loudly.
And his throat went dry.
"So you're changing it up? Bet you and Chad had a huddle." He said, refusing to look at his uncle, although he wanted to look.
He truly missed his uncles.
A lot since they reminded him of a home he didn't have anymore. A home that had disappear with his parents.
And his heart ached as he refused to allow hope to enter his mind.
Hope was a foolish emotion and he knew it. He couldn't afford to hope. Not anymore.
Since hope hurt too much and he didn't need it.
"Yeah, I lost the coin toss. So hey, Josh. "
He threw his arm over his eyes, totally shutting his uncle out, while refusing his smile.
"Okay, I get that you're mad."
"Damn right I am. You can leave now. " He was rude and didn't care.
"Okay, I'll give you that I deserve that. And I understand that we failed all of you but your aunt honestly threatened us. We were."
"Don't make excuses. I don't want to hear them. Don't need it."
"Alright. How about we start over?"
The bed moved and he knew his uncle had sat on the bed beside his turned back.
He shuttered as his uncle's hand settled solidly on his shoulder with the words, "Please, Josh, would you consider you and your sister and brother coming to live with us?"
Now his heart raced hard.
He shrugged his uncle's hand off. "You don't deserve to touch me."
Extreme feelings overpowered him as his uncle removed his hand and added, "I'm truly sorry. We both are. We should have come and visited. Made sure everything was all right, especially when you started having problems. I know we dropped the ball but we can still salvage this. We get that we messed up."
"No, you fucked up."
He heard his uncle inhale sharply before he said, "Yeah we did. And I'm sorry but come on, Josh, I need you to just work with us here."
"How?" The word came out in a croak, and he cleared his throat and swallowed hard as his brain tried to grasp that his uncle had just apologized to him, had said that he was sorry.
"Well, we will have to move here for a while. You're in the court system and you need to stay in school here."
"I hate school here. They don't get me."
"We know that. But give us a chance. Things will change. You can go part time to public school and also do some classes on line. We get you back in the advanced classes, back to stuff you liked to do. Back to coding and programming again. Back to something that challenges you."
Unable to stop himself, he turned and looked his uncle in the face for the first time. "Really?"
Then he instantly pulled away again since he was afraid to hope, afraid that this wasn't real.
After all those times she'd hurt him, he found hoping for better times hard since he was used to times being bad.
But his uncle played hard ball, with the words, "Really! Please, give us a chance. I know your dad and mom would want that for you and your sister and brother. Things could be better. I mean it."
"Don't talk about them."
"No. I have to. But I'll wait until later, when you're ready. But for now I'm kind of missing your hugs. Think you could give me just a tiny one?"
"I don't hug anymore, Uncle Chad. I'm too big."
And he looked away, refusing himself the contact.
His uncle looked sad. "You're never too big to hug me, Josh. Do you think you could you humor this old man for a minute? I've really missed you."
"Have you?" He had a hard time believing it.
Uncle Bill's hand reached and smoothed his neck. "Yes, I've missed you a lot. Josh, I want you to know you were really special since you were my first nephew."
He was caving.
His chest was imploding.
Totally imploding.
"I'm not special. Not anymore. Stop blowing smoke up my ass."
He had to get that out there.
No way was he special.
But instead of pushing him away, his uncle reached and unable to stop himself, he allowed the man, his uncle, to enfold him gently, to pull him into his body, and he bit his lip, as he stopped himself from crying out as his uncle rocked him into his body. "Shut up. I love you, Josh, always and forever. Things will work out, I promise. I have to make this right for you and for your brother and sister."
Unable to help himself, he squeezed the man tight against his aching chest. "Don't promise something you can't do. I don't need that shit."
His hands pulled tight but he looked at the ceiling.
"Watch your mouth, and trust me. We'll do what needs to be done. We're looking into places here. We've got you and your sibling back now."
He pulled back.
"You're really going to move here?"
His heart raced.
"Yeah, we'll here for the long haul, and we'll do what has to be done to get you out of the system. Then we'll move all of you back home. And Josh, I promise she'll never touch you again. Look at me."
He looked and found his Uncle's brown eyes.
The man nodded and glared hard before he said, "I mean it. She'll never touch you again, Josh. We'll keep you safe now. You can lean on us, on me. And believe me, your dad would kick my ass if I didn't, if we didn't keep you and your siblings safe. And your mom, Josh, let me tell you I don't even want to go there."
"She was something wasn't she?" Josh said quietly.
"Yeah, she was past awesome. And she would have fought for all of you. And believe me, she's been kicking my ass for a while even from the grave. So don't worry about me, about us. We've got this now and we're in this for the long haul."
"Truly?"
"Truly! And we're never backing down again. Believe me. And we've explained that to your coach that we're here and we're staying here. We're going to rent something that's big enough for all of us. And until you're over probation, we're here. Give us another chance."
And he sagged as he relaxed and let his uncle hold him with the words, "Okay, I'll give you a chance."
His uncle pulled him closer and patted his back with the words, "Awesome, Josh, since it's time you came home."
"I want to come home." He realized he had just said that out loud.
"Then welcome home, Josh."
He looked down before he said softly, "Thanks!"
"Yeah." As the man held him close and he allowed it
#####OQ#####
Oliver
Felicity was slightly smiling as he opened the door of their cottage.
"Glad to see you're home. Finally."
"Finally?"
"Yeah, you do realize that Anna and Riley are coming for dinner in like twenty minutes?"
"Crap."
"Yeah." And then she moved into his space and kissed him, using her tongue, letting him know he turned her on before she released him.
He absorbed her before he forced his lips from hers and said, "Pizza?"
"Yeah," she said as she pressed herself into him. "Totally love you, babe. I'll call it in a minute but for now give me your mouth."
"Did I mention I love you?"
"Good to know." And his mouth found hers before they ordered pizza.
#####OQ#####
I'm back. Hope you liked it. Please review if you have any time.
