Chapter 8- Commando

Chapter 8- Commando

Never been in court too much, but hey, c'est la vie. Well, I haven't got much to say, so, enjoy the story!

"Joseph!" Joey cringed at the sound of his birth name. "Yes, Mrs. D'angelo?" He asked. He hated how he was treated differently from his foster siblings. He wasn't allowed to call his foster parents Malcolm and Eliza, he had to call them Mr. And Mrs. D'Angelo. And God forbid he ever call them Mr. And Mrs. D. There'd be hell to pay if he did. All he ever wanted was to have a family where he belonged and he could tell that if he ended up living here, he'd run away. "Joseph, Come down here!" She asked. Joey sighed and thumped down the stairs. "Yes, Mrs. D'Angelo?" He asked. She pointed to a chair. "We're going to shave your head, so it can get the proper color back." She said. "No Thank You, Ma'am." He said. "Yes, you are having it done." She said. "No thank you." He said. "Why not?" She asked. "Because this represents the freedom of my expression, which as I believe is the first amendment of the constitution of the United States." He said. He looked at her. "But, this is also the style for teenagers in America." She said. "Yeah? I like this style better. Besides. I'm Jewish. Taking on the appearance of a skinhead would make me a hypocrite." He said, knowing that he'd won that battle. "Oh. I'm so sorry, Joseph." She said. "It's okay, Mrs. D'angelo." He said, going out the door. He found his bicycle, which had been taken from his dad's home. "I'm going to Al's house!" He said. He hadn't told them that he called Alex, Al. They thought Al was a male friend that Joey had had at one point in time. He also liked to call her Alley Kat, but that was just one of those names that young-lovers give each other. He let the wind flow in his face and he pumped his long legs until he was on the other side of suburbia. It had been a week or two since he had fallen in love with Alex, and of the girlfriends he had, he felt in his heart that this was the one. He pulled into her driveway. She was sitting on the front porch, reading a book.

"Alley Kat!" He called. "Joey!" She said, running up to him and giving him a giant hug. He kissed her gently. "I love you." He whispered into her ear. She smiled and squeezed his broad shoulders in response. "Come here." She said, opening her front door. They went inside and she shut and locked it behind her. "My parents aren't home this weekend. They went to some convention somewhere. I'm all alone." She said, walking up the stairs. He knew she wanted him to follow, and he did. When he got up there into her room, he couldn't find her. "Alley? Where art thou?" He asked. All of a sudden a smaller body tackled him from behind. He knew it was her as he landed on the bed. "Gotcha!" She said. "He rolled onto his back and she got on top of him. She laid her head on his shoulder gently. He reached up and stroked her long hair. She giggled a little bit. "You must be nervous!" She said to Joey. "W-Why is that?" He asked, thinking she knew about his, well, you know. "Your heart's pounding like the cops are after your cute ass." She said. He smiled nervously, and sighed. "And don't think I notice the other thing on you." She said. Joey cursed. "Sorry about that." He said, sheepishly. "Oh, it's okay. It doesn't bother me." She said. She moved up and kissed him softly. "Do you believe in fate?" She asked. "A little. I mean, I think that people can change the outcome of some things, but other things are just meant to be." He said, looking up at the ceiling, that had a rough texture, with sparkles all over it. "Why do you have glittler on your ceiling?" He asked. "Oh. I used to love all things bright and sparkly. I still like the color on my walls, sunshiney yellow, and the glitter, but I hate the pink trim I have." She said. "The room is peaceful. The one in my dad's house is navy blue. I wanted to paint it black, but he went on a tirade, and I ended up getting beaten for it." He said. She looked up at him sadly. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "Don't be, Alley. It isn't your fault, and it wasn't mine. It was fate, I guess." He said. "Fate." She repeated. "Y'know? I think fate brought you and I together." She said, kissing his cheek. "Maybe so, maybe so." He said, in a fake-slick voice (Think Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley) She laughed. "I love you." She said, moving up to kiss him. "I'm scared." He said. "Why?" "What if I don't get to live with Dave? I mean, I'll live with those god-awful D'angelo people. They want me to cut my hair and become a nice little Christian. What they Don't know is that I hate organized religion. I respect it, but it has been used to justify evils committed in history." He said. "All will end well, honey." She said. "I hope so." He said, cuddling her closer, and closing his eyes for sleep to come.

A few hours later, he awoke with a start. He remembered where he had been and he looked down at Alex who was still asleep. He gently shook her. "Hey, Sleepyhead." He said softly. "Mmmm… hey." She said. "It's 3 o clock. We still have time to kill." She said. "Hmmm… Well, there are a few ways we could kill time, you know." She said with a glint in her eye. He smiled. "Oh, and how are we going to kill time?" He asked, looking at her with the same glint. She leans over and gently whispers in his ear. "Are you really ready for that?" He asked. She nodded. "But, I- I can't do that, yet." He said, ashamed. "Why not?" She asked. "I've never done it before." He said ashamedly. "I'll teach you." She said, pulling him up.

Meanwhile, Dave was laying in bed in his apartment. He had to go pull an all-night shift to cover for Greene, who was out since the birth of his daughter. He sighed and wondered where Joey was. He had always wanted to be a father. He wanted someone that would look up to him, love and admire him, no matter how many jokes or stupid things he'd done. Joey was that kid. He would love Dave, even though they weren't too awful far off in age. 15 years. Not too much, and it made it easier to be friends with Joey. A tear slipped past his eye as he worried about Joey. He rolled over and then the phone rang. He wanted to leave it ring, and hope the machine got it. He just wasn't ready to deal with anyone right now. "Malucci. I'm not in, or I would probably answer, so leave a message at the beep." He heard his voice say. "Hey, Dave? This is Joey. I'm over at Alex's right now, and I just wanted to say that I miss you. I'll call back some other time." Dave rushed to the phone. "Hey, Joey?" He asked. "Dave?" Joey asked. "Joey. I miss you too." He said. "I'm okay, Dave. Mrs. D's a bitch, and so I want to be with you again." He said. "Why is she a bitch?" He asked. "She wants me to shave my head, so I used the Jewish/skinhead excuse." He said. "Well, that doesn't seem so-" "She wants me to listen to Christian music, and go to church, and quit dating Alex, and stop listening to my music. She wants me to be, something I can never ever be!" He said. Dave nodded. "Soon Joey. Court's on Friday. We'll get through it. I promise." He said. "I hope so. I have to go, and go home to the mother unit." He said. "Well, I'll see ya. I love you Joey!" Dave said. Joey smil4e. "I love you too." Joey said. They hung up and Dave sat on the couch. He had to win this case.

Joey moved forward. "I…Don't…know…what…to…do?" Joey whined. "Oh, quit being a wussy!" She told him, as she moved forward and flipped on the stereo. She put in Placebo, and turned it to 'Commercial for Levis'. As the music started she moved into his arms, and began to dance with him. "You are pretty good at this, for your earlier complaint of 'never done it before'. She told him. "Thanks, I guess." He said, blushing. She liked it when he blushed. He was so darn cute! They began to dance really slowly to the next song that came on. He had never felt so happy in his life, and only one other thing could make him happy; living with a family.

That Friday:

"All rise for the honorable Judge Hyde." Everyone stood up. Jing-Mei had come along with Dave for support. Joey was there, his pink hair tied back and his various rings taken out. Joey looked over at Dave and noticed he was wearing the necklace and he was rubbing the little charm. He smiled and looked forth. "This is case number 155123-H, Child abuse and adoption." The dude said. They sat down and the prosecutor stood up and called Sean to the stand. "What is your name?" He asked him. "Sean Ofarim." "Where were you born?" "Munich." "When did you come to the US?" "When I was 3 years old. In 1960." "Very good. Were you in an abusive family?" He asked. "No, sir." "Did your parents ever punish you?" "Nothing more than a stern lecture, or a spanking." He said. "Hmmm… Is it true that you beat your son?" The prosecutor asked. "Yes, but it was only a few times. I never get that angry anymore." Joey squirmed in his seat. "That's because I haven't been living with that fucker for two weeks." He said under his breath. "No further questions, for now your honor." The prosecutor said. "Next, I'd like to call Joseph Ofarim to the stand." He asked. Joey went up, swore on the Bible, and sat down. "How old are you, son?" "16." "What happened to your mother?" "She died while giving birth to me." Joey said, looking down sadly. "I'm terribly sorry for the loss, young man. Does your father beat you?" "Yes sir." Joey said. "Tell me about it. "He'll get mad for no real reason at all and then he'll beat me up." "When was the first beating? When did it start?" "When I was about 7. I came home from school and he was really mad at me, and he started yelling things at me, and he beat me until he grew tired." "Do you remember what he said?" "He said, and I quote, "You little bastard. I'll teach you to kill my wife.' And 'you'll pay dearly for this.'" Joey said. "THAT'S A LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sean screamed, his black hair flying upwards. ""BULLSHIT DAD! YOU REMEMBER IT DAMN WELL, AND SO DO THE NEIGHBORS!" Joey yelled. "ORDER!" The Judge yelled. "No further questions." He said. Stefano stood up. "Your honor, I have some evidence, here." He said. "Explain." "These are photos taken at Joseph's 13th birthday party. If you'll notice, when the kids are swimming, there are several bruises that seem to be shaped like hand prints." He said. The judge and the jury both viewed them. "Also, there is this picture…" He pointed to a slide projector. IT showed Joey's ear, and how the lobe was torn in two. "Joseph says that his dad grew angry and pulled on the earring during one of the punishments." He clicked to another picture. It was of Joey's face, the day he first went to Dave's. "This happened the day he was last beaten, the day that Dave Malucci treated him at Cook County General. He seemed ashamed at first, but then he opened up to Mr. Malucci, and told him everything…"

Hours Later:

"And then my father threw my CD out the window in a drunken rage and then threw me onto the bed and proceeded to beat me with his bare hands. Then, apparently unsatisfied with the pain I had to endure, he went out to get a baseball bat…"

More Hours Later:

"We the jury find the defendant, Sean Ofarim guilty of child abuse and endangerment." "The court rules in favor of Joseph Ofarim and Stefano Malucci. Sean Ofarim, I hearby sentence you to 15 years in prison." The judge cracked the gavel and court was adjourned. Joey hugged Stefano happily. "Thank you, Mr. Malucci." He whispered. "You're welcome. Tomorrow, we'll reconvene in front of the courthouse. I hope the Gods are with us on this one." Stefano said.

Hmmm… A Half-Ass Cliffhanger. Since it's so late, I'll post this chapter, go to bed, and hopefully at 6 when I get up tomorrow, it'll be ready for everyone's reading satisfaction…

Hey-y-y-y-y…. Erik, Deanne, Bono (of U2) and Jill's birthday is up on Thursday (An ER day no less!) Happy Birthday…