Oh my gosh... I'm back from the dead! Hello all of you people that I assume are mad at me for not updating this in so long. I don't blame you. :) I am so so sorry for the two months you've waited for this. Honestly, I feel so bad. But here we are. You finally made it.
Urinetown is over guys! For those who don't know, I was in my last high school show as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown and it was the time of my life. I loved it. But now it's over and I can focus on writing for a bit. :)
StoneyT456: Haha sorry for such a long wait. The "next plot point" is coming soon. Hopefully. I swear I need to focus on one story at a time. But what's the fun in that. I'm working on about a million things but it's okay. Haha thank you for sticking with me! Thank you so much!
BroadwayIsMyPuroseInLife: Thank you so much! I realize that most of my stories are based off of how I see character's relationships. But I love it. I'm glad you like it too!
missmysterious56: Okay it literally makes me so happy that I could do that. Please cry! It's okay! Sometimes I'm almost in tears while writing these things, lol. Thank you so much!
Guest: I'm so sorry that this story has taken over our life and that I'm awful and make you wait so long for updates. Thank you so much for reading this! It makes my whole life!
inactiveuser2017: Thank you so much!
Les Phansie; Aww Thank you so much! I can't wait to see people's reactions when they see that this is finally updated. Haha I'm so sorry...
thelonglostmarauder: Thank you! Ive read the story you posted. I literally just went to check if you had posted anything and saw your fic. I know I'd read it before but I don't remember why I didn't comment or anything on it. Typically I do. I do like it a lot! Thank you so much for reading my story! It means so much!
elliebell grieve: That's all I wanted. Portraying the characters and the relationships right is the most important thing to me. Please call me out if you think I'm doing something wrong. Thank you so much for this! Thank you for reading and reviewing!
brighteyes421: You are so right. May does need to wake up. I hope you like this chapter! Thank you so so much for reviewing!
bexlynne: 28 reviews!!!! Maybe more! I stopped counting after a bit. I don't know any more. But yes!! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. Honestly I don't know where this story would be without you. Thank you so much for absolutely everything!
unofficialfansie: Thank you so much! So sorry for the long wait!
The Warrior Sif: When k saw your review I was so freaking happy! It made my day! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like this story! Yeah, I know that Race and Crutchie are gonna have to adjust sometime. But they don't really know any other way of living yet. But you're definitely right. And thank you so much! I'm so glad you like Davey and Kath. I love them both and I need to involve them so much more than I do right now. Two of my hero's, honestly. Thank you so so much for your review! Again, I am so so sorry for the long wait.
Fanz4life: Ah you're amazing! You literally put a smile on my face every time you send me a review. And I will always reply to you, hon. You're amazing! Thank you so much for that perfectly dramatic response! I love you so much!
JustWatchWhatHappens: I'm glad you feel the emotion is real. It's truly what I aim for. Thank you so much!
Guest: Don't even worry, honey. Torturing Race is like my calling in life. It's basically my favorite thing to write. (I know. I'm awful.) but we will see more protective Race. A lot more, probably. And thank you so much for loving this story! It means so much to me!
Guest: Aww I'm glad my writing is comforting! That made my day! Thank you so much for saying that and I'm sorry that I haven't been updating so much! I'm gonna be better about that! Thank you so much!
Guest: I know what you mean about the characters being emotional. I know that it's odd but it's truly how I see them. I know not everyone is going to agree with it but I'm gonna just try and explain my way of thinking and hope it makes some kind of sense. So, in the musical, these boys are rowdy, energetic kids. However, these kids all have a fear of one place. The Refuge. I look at this as if the foster home is equivalent to the Refuge. Snyder's in charge and they're terrified of him. So I do believe that they would be more emotional because literally the only thing they've had for years has been each other. And every time they see each other hurt it feels like they're gonna lose one of the only people in the world they care about. I'm actually starting to write a different AU where they aren't as emotional because they are under different circumstances. So if they're crying too much in this one just wait for that one. You might enjoy it a bit more. But thank you for your input. I truly do enjoy reading it! Thank you so much!
equine02: I am so sorry that you have to go through something as awful as PTSD. I don't have it. I've never even really researched it. I'm glad you feel I'm getting it across well, though and I am so glad you can relate to the characters. That's always been important for me. I love when I can write things that are relatable. Thank you so so much
selizabethharrisburg: These stories would not be what they are without you. You e contributed so much and honestly I feel like you can always find something for me to improve on and that's absolutely something I love about you. I love it when you help me improve. It makes my day. (I will respond to you! I'm so sorry for the wait, but I will respond!) Thank you so much! I love you so much, Holly!
doubleenvelope: Aww Thank you so much! That makes my day! I am so so sorry for the long wait, once again. I feel like an awful person. I really hope you guys all like this chapter!
jersey09: You literally made my day. Such amazing and kind words. It makes me so happy. Don't worry, it's not over yet. I hope you like this chapter, it's a bit different but I still hope it's enjoyable. Thank you so much! (Also, sorry for making you cry but that makes me so happy to hear.)
queenlmno: It's okay, honey! It's all gonna be okay! I promise! Thank you so much for reviewing!
Guest: I am so glad you love this story! Makes me so happy! This one seems to be everyone's favorite. I want a challenge. I should write something to top this, lol. But seriously thank you so much!
NinjaOfFire7: Snyder's awful. It's gonna be bad. But I'm so glad you like the relationships between the characters. By far, it's my favorite thing to write. Thank you so much for your review! It made me so happy!
FuriedNjght: No worries! I love You're reviews no matter how late they come. :) Okay, so May... honestly... he didn't start as an OC. Originally, he was the mayor, from the musical. Snyder's boss. And I had written him completely different than how he turned out. But then I kind of wanted him to be on the boys' side. So I introduced him in chapter 7 or 8, maybe. But he's not like a canon character, I don't think. Call him what you will. A mix of an OC and a very very minor character basically. Thank you so much!
R: OMG thank you so much! Made my day!
Guest: Haha I am very sorry about the long waits. I really am. And if you have any ideas for future chapters I would absolutely love to hear them! Thank ou so much for asking!
Wow. Guys in response to everyone's review this A/N is over 1.3K words. That's a lot! I love it! Please keep the reviews coming! I read every single one of them because they all literally make me so freaking happy! I love you guys.
Alright, PSA: Guest reviewers! If you want it to be easier to find my response to you, leave a nickname. I can't trace it back to you. I literally have no hope of finding out who you are unless you actually tell me. Don't worry about it. I'd love to see more names so that I know who's who when they review. My guest reviewer names were different for like every story I reviewed. I used to be Obsessed2k17 and MusicLover or Julia Morrison. Random things like that. Id love to be able to pick you out as an individual! Please keep that in mind! I love you all!
Almost 30 reviews. Please keep that going! Please!
Alright, so I do apologize for everyone who was truly waiting for another chapter full of action and abuse. I wanted to try something different. I'm sorry. This chapter is a bit (not fully) more mellow than the others in this fic. But I still hope you enjoy it. I really wanted to get to know a certain character and I enjoyed this journey of doing just that.
Please enjoy!
May paced back and forth in the waiting room. Being the detective he was, he tried and tried to place together every piece of the puzzle. No doubt in his mind that the boys weren't telling him the truth. Not when Race's eyes went wide like they had as Crutchie began to speak. As Crutchie began to lie. But why? That was the question. Why would they be lying to him of all people?
"You're gonna carve a whole in the floor if ya keep pacin' like that," a calm voice laughed. One that had a slight strain in it. One that he recognized instantly as one Miss Medda Larkin. He could see it in her eyes that she knew something he didn't. He prayed it wasn't what he had to assume it was. He couldn't have been overlooking that. He couldn't have been so cruel to those boys. No way. He would've known... right?
The chief of police shook his head and collapsed in the chair next to the theatre woman. "What the hell did that boy do to land himself in here... like this?" His own hand carded through his thick brown hair and thought hard, recalling practically every encounter and every conversation he'd had with those kids...
They were so young. That was what he first noticed that night. In his head detective's apartment. So small and fragile and clinging to each other without letting their guardian know how vulnerable they truly felt. How absolutely terrified they were. They sat on the couch. The biggest of them in the center. His green eyes looked like they'd seen too much in his small amount of life. If one could call it that. May wasn't sure he could. Those green orbs had been through hell, leaving a thirteen year old boy with eyes much too old for him to bare.
"They're half-brothers," Snyder explained in a gruff voice that made one of them flinch more than the rest. The one on May's right. He was pressed into the corner of the couch, letting his brother hold him tightly. But one thing that stood out more than anything else were those blue eyes that would soon be everyone's undoing. They looked so damn innocent, yet hurt in so many ways. "They had been separated for two years, a couple of years ago and the system thinks they need to be separated again."
Those poor boys wouldn't look up from the ground. They huddled together like they sought each other's touch. Like they craved it. And after that sentence, they just held on tighter as tears fell down the smallest boy's face. The one with the oddly twisted leg. And it struck the man right in the heart. So he did what his colleague wasn't doing. He met them where they were, slowly kneeling down beneath the boys.
"Hey there, kiddos..." His gentle smile didn't seem to get through to them. Only the oldest would look at him. Couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen. He pulled the other two closer as the man reached out to carefully touch his knees. "It's okay... no one here wants to hurt you. You're safe."
The littlest one shifted at the kind, gentle words. They seemed foreign to him. The calming, welcoming tone was one that he clearly hadn't been exposed to in a very long time and those wonderful green eyes peaked up at him from his big brother's shirt. It was the other boy who refused to look at him. The one who had his knees rolled up to his chest in attempts at blocking himself from harm. May had seen it before. The job of a detective was never easy. "My name is May. I'm the chief of police. Your new foster dad works with me," he explained gently with a very small, very gentle smile. "What are your names?"
May could feel Snyder pacing behind him. And their social worker was no doubt somewhere back there too. But it didn't matter because all of the sudden, he wanted nothing more than to be able to envelope these tiny boys in a hug and protect them from the world.
The boys hesitated. The oldest ran hands through his littlest brother's hair, trying to reassure him that he was there. All he could do with the other was rub his back, calmingly, trying to assure him that no one was there to hurt him. May could see the bruises that littered all of their skin. What he couldn't see was what happened on the inside. The emotional pain and torture that they'd likely been through. But after a long time, green eyes locked in on his own blue ones.
"'M Jack..." The voice was so small. So incredibly terrified of saying the wrong thing and getting someone hurt. Then he carefully nodded to the smallest of them, next to him, curled up at his side with his crutch in his hand. A means of defense. Something he never truly would grow out of. "Th's 's Crutchie..." May chose to ignore the odd nickname. He'd learn the boy's real name from his detective, that was sure enough. But then his eyes landed on the last boy and he quickly found those blue eyes. They wouldn't meet him. And all he could do was give a warm smile as the boy -Jack- looked over to the curly headed kid. "N' th's 's Racetrack..."
The chief smiled and nodded genuinely, making sure to hold his hands in places where they could see them. Making sure they felt safe in his presence and then glaring back at his head detective when he noticed Crutchie shifting at the continuous footsteps of the man. "It's very nice to meet you, boys." None of them moved. Not a single one. The just held onto each other tightly as Jack eyed him, trying to make sure he was being genuine.
It was clear from the beginning that they were scared. That they'd been abused. That they deserved so much better. It was obvious to May. And there was nothing more he wanted than to give them the world. They were so small and scared and desperate to stay with each other, it was a miracle that Jack lifted his arm away from Racetrack to shake the man's hand.
"Nice ta meet ya, Mr. May..." he whispered politely. And May grinned. But he knew it wasn't gonna be easy gaining their trust. After all, once you've seen people at their worst, it isn't easy giving into others.
"You boys are gonna be okay here," he promised. "Anytime you need help, you just call me or find me if your foster dad's not around, alright?"
The curiosity in Jack's forest green eyes was astounding. A look of a dreamer with hopes of a future in that moment. It was a spark that May would never get tired of seeing. Jack wanted to go places. And May wanted that spark to stay forever. A spark of hope. A spark of hope that they might have a friend. Someone looking out for them.
And that was how it all started.
Thinking back to that day at this moment made May nauseous. He could vaguely feel a hand curl around his. Looking up, he found Medda's tear drowned eyes. They were big and sad and May glanced around the room. It was them and the teacher. Kloppman, he believed. Race's teacher. The one that was so incredibly concerned. He could see Snyder and Wiesel standing outside, having a conversation about something. No one knew what about. But thinking about it made so many emotions stir up in the man that he wished he could snuff out.
"Please... please tell me that I'm looking at all of this the wrong way..." He was practically begging the woman at his side. But she stayed silent for too long. Wouldn't respond to his desperate plea. And he knew that he'd failed. He'd failed those boys.
"It's not your fault, May..." the woman tried, but the chief shook his head.
"I let it happen."
Medda grasped onto his hand tighter. "He's a friend. It's hard to see the bad in him when you've been through so much together. Believe me, I know..." Her voice was so knowing and broken as she spoke, May couldn't help but feel his heart break.
"We've been friends since his first day on the job..." he sighed, remembering it all so clearly. Medda nodded and glanced out the window as well. Kloppman was listening to the quiet conversation. They all chose to not comment on it. "Before I was chief... he was my first partner. Saved my life so many times..." It felt like the world was coming down, crashing all around him. "How did I not see it?"
Medda let tears slide down her cheeks. "He wouldn't let you..."
She was right.
It was a few months after the boys had been taken in. Snyder was much more tense. May had assumed it was because taking care of three growing boys couldn't have been easy. Not a single bit. He decided to grab some take out and head on over. He wanted to see if the kids were adjusting. He wanted to see how they had been.
When Snyder let him in, he hadn't expected to see little Racetrack on the couch, being rocked back and forth by his big brother as his little brother dabbed his bleeding elbow with a wet rag. The poor child looked like he'd been screaming. And May rushed inside.
"What happened?"
Snyder easily walked over and sat on the arm of the couch. "You know how boys are. They were wrestling and he hit the table." No one argued. Jack didn't look up from his brother and Crutchie sniffled as he tried to clean up the blood from the injured boy's arm. All May could do was slowly make his way over to the kids, carefully picking up the youngest- ten years old at the time- under the armpits and gently set him down on his lap, doing all he could to soothe the child when he gasped and tried to get away. May shushed him and moved his small crutch to his side so he couldn't try to hurt anyone. And then he carefully took Crutchie's hand in his, guiding the rag over the wound in a way that would hopefully stop the bleeding.
The brotherly grip tightened a bit as Race gasped and squirmed to get away, but May didn't move, wanting the wound to heal instead of get infected. It was a deep cut. No doubt it could've been from the sharp edge of the coffee table. The story made sense. And it came from someone he'd trusted his life with. So he didn't question it. "It's alright... just a little cut. Don't worry, buddy..." Oh how he wished he had questioned it...
Race still didn't relax into his hold, but Jack held him still and the fussing stopped soon enough. Soon all that was heard were small gasps as May lifted his and the youngest boy's hand to take a look at the cut. May hissed as he saw it and the boy buried his head in Jack's shoulder. "It's okay, kid... nothin' that won't heal."
The youngest boy nodded and wiped at his scared tears. May thought they were scared. He thought they were just nervous because past homes had been bad. One screw up and they were out. He wanted to tell them it was okay. "Snyder, do you have any disinfectant?"
Within the next few minutes, May had set Crutchie down on the couch and was helping Racetrack reluctantly sit up so that he could help him from his position on the coffee table and disinfect the wound. "This is gonna sting a little bit. Are you ready?"
The way the boy hissed at the contact made May's heart hurt. He tried his best to be gentle. The kid was so small and fragile he was afraid he might shatter. Nothing less than glass. The cut wasn't too bad, though. And the rest of him seemed okay, save for a few bruises that littered his skin.
Crutchie looked so guilty. All May could do was give him a reassuring smile. A nod. A silent promise that everything would be okay. That Race wouldn't get hurt again.
But boys will be boys.
It was an awful whirl of emotions. How could he have believed it for so long? The same old excuse and the same old bruises. Boys will be boys. It wasn't true. Jack and Race and Crutchie hadn't been wrestling and the realization sent tears down May's face.
"They won't blame you, May," a soft voice broke in. "They were so scared of being torn apart that they hid it from you. And it's not your fault." It was an attempt of reassurance that May felt he didn't deserve. A rush a words that just made his stomach turn.
"He might be my friend, Medda..." he sighed, grasping her hand tighter. "But those are my boys." Practically his own. The boys he loved dearly. "How could I have been so blind?"
No response. Nothing. Just silence and three adults wondering how they could've let three innocent little boys be put through such tortures.
More memories ran through his head. More wonderful memories of those precious children when he chose to look the other way and miss what was standing right in front of him. Crutchie in the hospital with a concussion...
"We were out at the park and he fell of the swing."
Jack with a broken wrist.
"He just tried to show up some neighborhood bully today."
Race and his tears and his bruises and scars that were just everywhere.
"This one just doesn't know how to stay out of trouble."
It hurt him to think about. He always saw their hurts and he was always there to help them, never truly noticing that Snyder hadn't been there, doing what should have been his job. Doing what any parent should have done. May cleaned their wounds. May kissed their heads when they were crying. May tickled them when they were frowning and picked the up when they were smiling. May cared. And it was at that moment when he realized that Snyder had always just been in the background somewhere, silently warning the kids to keep their mouths shut. To obey him. And it hurt.
It was amazing how May had managed to gain their trust. At first it seemed they were too closed off to even think about befriending him. But the long journey it had taken to get where they were was so complex and awful, now that May had the realization. The realization that they trusted him because the person that was supposed to care for them... didn't.
The trust had been slow and excruciating to gain at first. The littlest one had been the easiest to win over, that was for sure. When they'd first moved in, that little boy was the one May made smile every day. He picked him up and carried him around and made him feel loved and cared for by being in his arms.
It was the others that were harder to win over.
Jack took months. Months of hushed voices and kind conversations and caring for his brothers. Months of hesitant phone calls whenever Snyder was out and they needed something.
But the one that May would never be able to forget was the day that he'd been able to win over Race. It wasn't slow or gradual. It was a day that he'd almost lost everything. A day both of them had almost lost everything. And it made May sick to now understand who's hand it was at.
May remembered that day so clearly...
"Chief May...?" The voice had been so small and so scared. And it caught May's attention immediately.
"Anthony?"
Sniffles and sobs came through. It was so vividly clear that this young, twelve year old boy was trying desperately to hold it together. To get words out. To try and make someone understand. "May... help... please... I-I don' know what ta do!" The words were so choppy with panic and May's heart started beating faster as he headed to his own door, suddenly rushing to get across town and stop the panic.
"Calm down, kiddo. What's wrong? What happened?" Fear stabbed at his heart. Race almost sounded hysterical. Breathing so hard and fast. It was a miracle he was still grasping onto the phone. Murmurs and choked cried were heard from the other end and May tried to keep himself from lashing out and screaming for the boy to explain. Instead he rushed out of his own apartment, booking it down to his car and not hesitating to turn on the lights and the sirens. "Tony?"
"Someone broke in!"
He honked his horn and blared his sirens. The world was moving in slow motion. Nothing seemed to be going fast enough for the chief. But damn it, he would get there. He had to get to those boys. "Racetrack, keep talking to me. What happened? Where are your brothers? Where's Mr. Snyder?"
Sobs came in harder at that. May would bet the tears could beat the rain that was pouring outside. "Gone..." the small child choked out. "S-Snya's gone..." Race was clearly about to go into some sort of panic attack. It was clear that he wasn't breathing right or thinking straight and all May wanted to do was calm him down. But he had to know what he was dealing with. So he waited for the boy to continue speaking. "Don' kn-know where..."
"Okay buddy... it's okay... are you alone? Where are Jack and Crutchie?" May almost regretted asking the question as soon as it left his lips.
Race gasped for air, trying to calm himself. Nothing worked. It was a mess of snot and tears and all May could tell was that he was still breathing. But he feared that with how hard the kid was sobbing and panicking he must've been seriously hurt. "Th-they're here... I don' know what ta do!" May pulled up just as Race was able to fully tell him why he was panicking. "They're bleedin'! Ya gotta do somethin'! Please!"
May was out and running faster than he could comprehend. Nothing or no one was stopping him in his panicked stride. Flying up the stairs he was able to make one small request of his young friend. "Unlock the door, Racetrack. I'm almost there." The boy did so without a word and by the time May got to the door, he was already away, in the center of the room, sobbing hysterically over two small bodies. And May could see red. So much red. It was one of the most terrifying scenes of his life.
Race was on his knees between them, sporting a sort of impressive shiner around his right eye, trying desperately to keep the other two boys awake awake. It was all the little boy knew how to do. But it was t going to work for much longer. Not with those kinds of wounds. Jack's head lay close to his brother's knee. Blood seeped out of it sluggishly, a cloth lay underneath it, like someone had tried to stop the bleeding. It hadn't been working. That along with the odd angle of the boy's forearm were the worst of that kid's injuries. And Crutchie didn't seem to be doing much better. The youngest boy looked even smaller than normal. His bad leg was twisted up and his eyes were drooping further than Jack's. His nose was bleeding profusely. And more blood dropped from his lower left side. It looked like he'd been nicked with a small knife.
The chief of police jumped into action as soon as he could. He quickly dialed 911 and rushed over to the kids, gently pulling the young boy away from his brothers, trying to calm him as he screamed and cried. Jack winced at the loud noise and May shushed the frantic children.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"I need an ambulance. My kids are hurt." It slipped out. After knowing them a year, it truly felt like he spent so much time around them that they might actually be his. He didn't dwell on it or the fact that Race was too busy drowning in his own tears to react at the words. So he gave the operator the address and then hung up, throwing his phone aside and trying to blot the wounds of the boys.
"Anthony!" he called out. The boy gasped and looked at him, not saying a single word. May motioned toward Crutchie with a nod and grabbed the the cloth that lay below Jack's head, placing pressure on the dangerous cut. "I need you to put pressure on that cut, alright? Can you do that for me?" The boy hesitated before the man looked over at him, a desperate kind of look in his eyes. And the kid nodded, rushing over to his baby brother, slipping out of his own sweatshirt and pressing it to his brother's side.
"Race..." the youngest boy breathed, reaching up for the twelve year old's hand. He took it with out question.
Blinking back tears, it was all May could do to stay calm. And the next few minutes was a rush of sobs and screams of Race trying desperately to speak to his fading brothers. But eventually, May heard the sirens and picked Jack up in his arms, one hand behind the fourteen year olds head and the other underneath him. He ran the boy down the stairs to the stretcher and then sprinted back up, taking the steps two at a time to get back to Crutchie.
The way Race looked at him when he came back was absolutely heartbreaking. The tears wouldn't stop coming. And May had to scoop Crutchie up in the gentlest manner he could, letting the boy run behind him, his baby brother's crutch still in his hand.
They'd barely made it to the hospital. May remembered that much. Jack didn't wake up for three days and Crutchie almost completely bled out. When the chief asked Race to tell him what happened, he got the simplest answer.
"Someone broke in..."
"Did they take anything?"
A simple shake of the head and eyes that wouldn't meet his was his only response. The case went cold a few weeks later. They'd caught several other burglars and thieves. Race had said he didn't know what they looked like. That they wore a mask. And May believed him. They assumed they'd caught the criminal.
Damn it he wished he could've gone back to that day and done his job. Investigated. Found anything. He would've caught it so much earlier. Why did it take him till then to see it?
But something had distracted him.
"He ain't neva' done that 'fore..." a weak voice slurred, gaining May's attention. He looked to the hospital bed he sat beside and then down at what the boy on the bed had been referring to.
Race was asleep, head of blond curls a dead weight on his thigh and small hands near his peaceful face as he contently rest on the man. And the awe in Jack's eyes made it clear to May what he was talking about.
Race had never trusted anyone enough to fall asleep near them. No one but his brothers. And May had been distracted. Too wrapped up in the boy to see Jack flinch when Snyder rushed into the room or hear Crutchie whimper when the man got too close. He missed it. And he could've stopped it so long ago if he would've only opened his damn eyes.
For the life of him, May couldn't understand why this time was different. Why something clicked this time. Maybe it was the teacher that kept glaring at the man outside the door or the way Race had tensed when Snyder grabbed him, but one thing was for sure, May had messed up. He'd turned his head for far too long. Now he was looking right at the monster who would dare lay a hand on those innocent boys.
Well... mostly innocent...
Racetrack sat in front of him, a scowl on his face, not ready to speak. Not even willing to look him in the eyes. He was slouched in his chair, arms crossed over his chest as his blue eyes looked all over the ground, never deciding on a place to land. His knee bounced up and down, anxiously. And as much as May wanted to be normal with the kid, he knew he had to put on the stern face and an unbreakable posture.
"You gotta talk to me, Anthony... sitting there in silence isn't going to get you anywhere." For a split second those blue eyes found him. But that moment was fleeting. Race went back to studying to floor, most likely praying for some kind of escape. He wasn't getting one. Not with May there. No way. "C'mon kid, out with it. Where did you get them?"
The silence was choking both of them. Race wasn't one for silence, May knew that much. He loved to talk. The fourteen year old was quite the hand full and to be where they were right then, sitting in silence, it was a full blown miracle.
They were in the police department. They were sitting at May's desk. There were bruises forming on the boy's wrists from where the cuffs had been. "I barely got there before they just took you, do you understand that?" Still nothing. Still not a sound. It wasn't a mystery to figure out why. Shame, regret. All of it. Race was utterly terrified and there was nothing to stop it. "Stop ignoring me, bud... I'm just trying to understand."
"I ain't..." Race finally muttered, shrinking in on himself more. May sighed in relief.
"Tell me where you got them from." It was a gentle, calm demand. But the kid wasn't one to follow orders easily. So he bit his lip. "What can I do, kid? What am I gonna have to do to get the truth out of you?"
Race had been trying to keep it all in, May knew it. But once it was clear to Race how much trouble he was truly in, the tears began to slowly roll down his face as he sniffled, trying to blink them back. "I wan' Jack..." he admitted, brokenly, practically begging the man in one sentence the let him see his brother. Then he wiped at his nose, trying to hide his voice crack and the tears that wouldn't stop. And May sighed.
"We can do that, kiddo... it's okay..." The hope that grew in those big, watery eyes almost killed May. "But you have to talk to me first. Otherwise, we are gonna have to take you down to a holding cell." The mere thought of being stuck in a cage made the boy's eyes widen in fear, not to mention he wouldn't even be down there alone. Oh no, they didn't have any empty cells and no one knew better than the chief that putting a child down there for holding was dangerous.
Race's mouth fell open as a look of helplessness crossed over his features. And May felt like he'd just betrayed the boy by the way he stuttered and struggled for some kid of reply. "May- I..."
Placing a calming hand on the boy's tense shoulder, May began to gently whisper, "Breathe, buddy... Just tell me what happened, yeah?" The kid was a wreck. He'd been caught. And it was becoming more and more real by the second. His hands were shaking as he tried to breathe normally again and he blinked back tears and sniffled constantly, trying to contain himself.
"I don't know, May!" Race pulled his knees up to his chest. "I just... It jus' happened! I won't do it again! I promise!" His voice broke too many times for May's liking. And the man leaned back on his desk, crossing his arms, desperate not to give in. But it was so incredibly hard when those blue eyes caught him like that.
"It just happened?" the chief questioned. "You just stole a box of cigarettes and smoked half of them? That just happened? No reason?"
Even the boy was hardly buying his own story. But he shook his head. "Please... I won't do it again! Ya gotta believe me!"
May knew he shouldn't have. He knew he needed to stand his ground and get some truths out of the kid. But he just looked so trapped in that moment and all May could think to do was give a wave of his hand to the windowed door behind his young friend. And before they knew it, two boys were rushing in and Race was wrapped up in a mess of familiar arms.
"What the hell were you thinkin'?!"
"God, Race... please don' eva' do that again!" A whirlwind of scolds and relief washed over the child and all he could do was sob onto them, knowing May stood over him, protecting him.
"Sorry... I'm so sorry!"
He would never do anything less. Never. He had to protect them.
"May, calm down..." It was only then that he realized he was shaking. It was only then he felt the tears working down his cheeks.
Jack. His little Jack Kelly had almost died. Had almost stopped breathing. And no one was gonna get away with that.
"He's gonna pay for this, Medda. I can promise you that." It was a promise he didn't even need to make. The look in his eyes said it all.
"How?" The teacher sitting next to them suddenly stood, also enraged for the children he hardly even knew. "We don't have proof... and those kids sure as hell aren't going to say anything." It was true. No way would the brothers say something that could potentially get them taken away from each other. They were terrified kids who truly believed they were doing the right thing.
May's head shot over to the other man, considering the information. He knew that. He knew there was nothing he could do without any proof. He just needed to do a bit of digging. Then he could nail him. His old friend. Arrest the man he'd had to trust his life to for child abuse.
It hurt.
But there was something he had to do first.
"I'm going to go see my boys." He was out of the room before any of the other adults could protest.
I liked this chapter. It's a bit of a different style from how I normally write this story, but don't worry. I should be getting back into the groove soon.
As always, thanks so much for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya babes!